Amanda’s Dog Training Services

24/06/2024

Lyka are now offering 50% off your first box, only until July 1st! Use the link below 🐾

https://lyka.com.au/join/AMANDATRAINER

07/06/2024

Little bit proud of this one ☺️

24/05/2024

Last session with the beautiful Teddy ❤️ I will now be taking a break from the business as I focus on other things 🌼🐶

27/04/2024

Fitting in with those Autumn colours 🍂🍁

20/04/2024

I believe one of the best things we can do for our dogs is look at what’s driving their behaviour, before we jump to labels such as naughty, stubborn, attention seeking.

If we look at every new behaviour, desirable or undesirable with curiosity and as new information. We can be more perceptive to discomfort, in tune to our own behaviour and understand our dogs better.

As soon as we decide our dogs are doing something out of stubbornness, spite or manipulation, we shut down important communication.

03/04/2024

Fred doing amazing at Leslie McDevitt’s ‘superbowl’ pattern game! Today was our last session together ❤️

31/03/2024

Happy Easter everyone! Maxi enjoying his dog friendly yoghurt Easter bunny egg 🥰🐣

21/03/2024

19/03/2024

Some fun with the beautiful Roo & Chip ❤️

12/03/2024

TRAINING TUESDAY
What's something new you can do with your dog this week?

07/03/2024

Happy Thursday! ☀️🐾

01/03/2024

Friday afternoons with Teddy, Chip & Roo ❤️

16/02/2024

I was so happy to receive an email from these guys to be apart of their partner program as I have had Maxi on Lyka for a very long time now and he loves it! A good, nutritious diet goes a long way in not only their health and wellbeing but also behaviour and quality of life 🐶

So, feel free to make the most of my discount code if you want to try out Lyka for your own dogs! 🐾

https://lyka.com.au/join/AMANDATRAINER

11/02/2024

Hello everyone!
It’s been a little while! Turns out burn out is the real deal, so with that said, I’ll be taking a break! This means no new clients for now. I will be back (not sure when) and with that will come new and exciting services I hope to offer, but for now, the books are closed. My current clients I will be seeing through. As always, I will still be here to offer support to my current and past clients 🐾

04/02/2024

Changing behaviour does take time, it’s a process and does require commitment to see results. I love how it is explained as a ‘behaviour puzzle’ ❤️

THE BEHAVIOUR PUZZLE

Changing behaviour is like building a puzzle.

All the different pieces need to be looked at and put together for the result to be successful.

Trying to stop a behaviour with a quick fix, is unlikely to have lasting results last and often results in an unwanted behaviour surfacing in a different way.

Behaviour needs to be looked at holistically.
Understanding what the function of the behaviour is, what a dog is trying to communicate, using management to prevent the behaviour from being rehearsed or practiced, ensuring that a dog’s needs are being met and showing dogs what to do instead of what not to do are some of the important parts of solving the behaviour puzzle.

Changing behaviour takes time, it’s not a quick fix, it requires understanding, consistency, patience and commitment, but the results of solving the puzzle properly are worth it.

31/01/2024

Such a great idea!

28/01/2024

Sunday walks in the forest ❤️

Being summer here, snakes are very much out and about still and if bitten can be fatal, so I put Maxi on a long line during these hot months for safety until I know I can reliably trust him to leave a snake if he was to come across one 🐍

Hope you’re all enjoying the long weekend! ☀️

23/01/2024

Happy Birthday beautiful Marli ❤️

20/01/2024

Another great post I had to share!
We expect our dogs to live and cope in our human centered world and some really really struggle with this. They are not born knowing how to sit calmly at a cafe or walk nicely on lead, this is what humans have decided is appropriate, so we need to invest in our dogs and understand it can’t just be about us. Some dogs may never get to the point of being ok sitting at a cafe for example and we need to be able to adjust our desires to their needs, not just look at what we may want but look at what the dog in front of us is capable and comfortable with.

How long does it take?

How long does it take for a child to be able to walk proficiently on all or most surfaces, at differing speeds, when there are different things going on around them?

Around 4 years.

How long does it take an adult to learn how to drive well, under all conditions, or even at a safe, basic level under various conditions?

Dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of hours.

How long does it take us to teach a child to sit quietly in a restaurant or train and for them to learn how to deal with boredom (church as a child), hunger, being cold etc

As an adult, how often do you do social activities that you don't really enjoy? If you like quiet places, do you meet your friends in a noisy bar where you can't hear each other talk?

Let's shift perspective.

We expect our dogs to magically walk well on lead from puppies as if they somehow come with preinstalled software which allows them to do so. We expect them to do it over all terrain, when it's busy, exciting or scary. Can a human adult learn quickly under those conditions? Most can't but we expect our weeks or months old dog to.

We expect our dogs to settle in restaurants without training when we've never deliberately taught them to settle in the house. Our children can't do that unless we teach them to.

We expect them to like all the things we like just because we like them. About a decade ago, I had a moronic couple who would take their nervous dog to parties with lots of drink and drugs and wonder why she started biting. It never occurred to them to not to take her and when I pointed out that they shouldn't, their response was "but we like taking her."

There are two ways to get results quickly.

1. Suppression. Suppress all the behaviours you don't like using fear and pain (prong collars, ecollars, slip leads) until the dog stops behaving entirely. This is the Cesar Milan model (and other TV trainer model). Looks impressive, miserable dog (there's a lot more to this but I've hugely summarised).

2. We can invest time.and effort in the short term and act consistently for long-term dividends. I worked with a dog yesterday, we had a huge impact on her anxious and excited behaviours within an hour. Her people just need to follow through consistently for longer term results, which I'm sure they will.

Being a being on this planet is hard. Being a dog in a human world is hard. Let's not make it harder for them.

18/01/2024

Couldn’t have said it better 👇🏻👇🏻

Did you know that letting your dog meander and sniff away from you is much better for both you and your dog than making them stay right beside you for the whole walk?

Walking directly beside you is great for crossing the street or for passing other people but aside from that, it’s not really doing much for either of you.

A much better option, especially if you want to tire your dog out, is to let them stop and sniff all of the things. Your dog will enjoy the walk so much more and you might learn that the journey really is more important than the destination 😉

13/01/2024

Friday afternoon with this handsome boy ❤️

I do shorter sessions with Teddy and his dad as we work on Teddy’s confidence on walks. We started in Teddy’s home environment first to build on some skills and tools and now we meet at a quiet location and do a short walk & train session.

Short sessions are so important as we want to keep our dogs in a ‘think and learn’ zone where they remain under threshold. Sometimes if we linger too long or make our sessions long (even at home), this can put our dogs over threshold which means learning stops and it can actually cause further problems and even undoing of previous training.

So, keeping learning short and sweet is important! It’s just like humans, being in a day long conference or even sitting down for 2hours in front of a computer screen is exhausting! We can get to a point where learning stops and we feel quite drained. This goes for our pups too! 🐾

04/01/2024

Last session today with these 2 gorgeous girls ❤️ I have loved training with these 2 and their mum! Confidence building can take time so it’s important to take any little wins and celebrate them 🎉
Well done Florida and Georgia!

03/01/2024

It takes time, patience and consistency when addressing an emotional state, just like with humans.

There is a common misconception that if we just drill concrete skills (aka Obedience Skills) hard enough, or often enough that it will prevent behavior problems. This is not how behavior works. At best drilling a dog through obedience skills might mask the problem, but it doesn't change their underlying emotional cause of the problem. A dog who is reactive and behaving aggressively in response to their fear, discomfort or perceived threat will not suddenly stop feeling those Big Feelings because he's been demanded to sit, or down through them. A dog who starts a conflict with another dog due to over arousal or frustration , or even redirection, will not suddenly stop feeling all those overwhelming feelings simply because they are drilled in a heel for ten minutes. Concrete skills can have their place, and their uses. But they are not skills for behavior change. They provide a mask for behavior that can cause a false sense of security in terms of whether or not the dog has truly experienced an emotional change towards the stimulus. That can be pose significant risk in terms of aggression presenting behaviors, as it will appear the dog's sudden snap came "out of no where."

When your dog is experiencing a behavior concern, it is because they are having an emotional problem in response to certain stimuli. This is not personal, and it is not a problem that can be resolved by simply drilling the dog to sit more frequently. Under going genuine behavior modification takes time and an effort to address the underlying emotional cause of any behavior disruptions your dog is experiencing.

01/01/2024

🐾 Happy New Year everyone! 🎉

26/12/2023

Obi wanted to let everyone know that that’s a wrap for 2023!! What a year it’s been! 🐾

We are finishing up at the end of this week 🎉 Thanks to all my amazing clients near and far!

Looking forward to what 2024 will bring.. we will be taking on new clients from February 😊 See you in the new year!

24/12/2023

🎄Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄

I hope you all are able to refresh over this holiday period and enjoy time with your animals 🐾

22/12/2023

Friday afternoon walking sessions with Mr Teddy ❤️

19/12/2023

We have been working on Fred’s reactivity to dogs and his confidence around his neighbourhood. He’s such a beautiful boy who has such a dedicated family and I’m really proud of this sweet boys progress 🥰

11/12/2023

I hope you and your pets are all escaping this heat 🥵

Here’s a little food for thought for your Monday…
How I train and work with client’s dogs and my own pets is through reward based methods. Why? Because it is scientifically proven to work and is a humane approach in training other living & sentient beings.

Sometimes training plans fail or we might not reach certain goals in certain timeframes. This doesn’t mean resorting to aversive methods, this means problem solving, re-evaluating and adjusting. I am currently studying a Diploma in Canine Behaviour Science & Technology through CASI and I just LOVED what I just read:

“The solution is education, not coercion”

There is so much to learn about animals, how they learn and how their brains work, it’s pretty incredible!

06/12/2023

EXTREME WEATHER ALERT [PART 3 of 5] Heatstroke and Heat Exhaustion
Normal body temp in dogs and cats: 38-39.2C. Heat Exhaustion is the condition caused by exposure of the body to excessive heat, especially when an animal is exercising in warm temperatures. Clinical signs that your dogis suffering from heat exhaustion include:
• Excessive panting
• Drinking large amounts of water
Heat Stroke: When a dog is unable to dissipate excess heat, heat exhaustion can proceed to heat stroke. Heat stroke occurs when a dog’s body temperature reaches 40.5.

Clinical signs of heat stroke include:
• Restlessness/Agitation
• Heavy drooling with thick saliva
• Bright red tongue/gums
• Weakness
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Racing pulse
• Limbs that are warm/hot to the touch
• Disorientation
• High body temperature
Dogs are more susceptible to rapid changes in climate conditions and overheating than humans: they are unable to sweat (except through glands in their feet) and must cool themselves by panting. Specific conditions or situations that put an animal at risk for
overheating include:
• Dogs with shorter faces and noses (i.e. Boxers, Mastiffs, Pugs, BULLDOGS ) have shorter airways and are more inefficient at cooling themselves.
• Dogs with thick hair coats (i.e. the Akita, Siberian Husky, German Shepherd) and dark hair coats (i.e. Black Labrador, Doberman) absorb and retain heat easily; therefore, have a more difficult time dissipating heat.
• Dogs that have recently moved to a warmer climate or are being exposed to a dramatic change in weather.
• Dogs who are dehydrated, who are overexerted, or who are untrained.
• Dogs with underlying medical conditions such as heart disease or obesity.
• Dogs that have had a prior episode of heat stroke.
• Cats are rarely affected by heat stress injury.