Dog Training Newcastle

Dog Training Newcastle I post force-free dog training and behaviour information. Send a private message to request free handouts about all dog care, training and behaviour topics.

I’m retired but provide referrals to force-free trainers. I volunteer with Dog Rescue Newcastle. I sell dog walking harnesses, snuffle mats, snuffle balls, tug toys and bandanas. The list of products and ordering information is on my website: http://dogtrainingnewcastle.com.au/products.html

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Looking for a puppy or dog training class or one-on-on training? I have a list of hi

ghly qualified and experienced trainers on my website:
http://www.dogtrainingnewcastle.com.au/refer.html

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-> My Qualifications and Professional Affiliations

The RSPCA seem to exist mainly to collect $$$, build up a huge cash stockpile, and pay their senior management very good...
27/11/2025

The RSPCA seem to exist mainly to collect $$$, build up a huge cash stockpile, and pay their senior management very good wages. The workers in their facilities struggle to manage with limited resources and cope with ☠️☠️☠️

"RSPCA continues to do less each year - apart from fundraise, that is - with dog intakes down to 2757 (20% of 10 years ago), and cat intakes less than one third. And kill rates continue to climb.

"Dog entering RSPCA's 'care' now suffer a kill rate of 32.4% (39% of those not reclaimed), even higher than its cat kill rate of 31.6%."

Support your local rescue group such as Dog Rescue Newcastle. No one is earning money, but volunteers are saving lives in your local community.

RSPCA NSW has FINALLY released its much-delayed Annual Report for 2024-25.
When you get past all the glossy, self-congratulatory BS, you get to the animal statistics. RSPCA continues to do less each year - apart from fundraise, that is - with dog intakes down to 2757 (20% of 10 years ago), and cat intakes less than one third. And kill rates continue to climb.
Dog entering RSPCA's 'care' now suffer a kill rate of 32.4% (39% of those not reclaimed), even higher than its cat kill rate of 31.6%.
To put those kill rates in perspective, RSPCA's kill rates are much higher than the average NSW council pound, even including the remote rural ones.
Yet they still scrounge 17 million in government grants, 40 million in donations and bequests, all of which could be put to better use by an organisation without $75-odd million in cash, shares and investments. (And that's after they lost $5.6 million last year playing the stockmarket).

📌Buy a raffle ticket to support Hunter, Central Coast and Port Stephens dogs and cats in foster care and maybe win a big...
10/11/2025

📌Buy a raffle ticket to support Hunter, Central Coast and Port Stephens dogs and cats in foster care and maybe win a big prize! Click on the image for details.

🎟️🎄CHRISTMAS RAFFLE! 🎄🎟️

Our Christmas Raffle is officially LIVE and packed with over 20 incredible prizes (more being added) generously donated by local legends in our community - worth over $5,500!

🎫 Purchase your raffle tickets here 🎫
https://www.raffletix.com.au/?ref=38kpp

Some prizes include:
- 7 night stay at Port Pacific Resort in Port Macquarie
- $1,000 Mecca Skincare Hamper
- Luxe beauty treatments
- 6 months worth of brow treatments
- Gourmet hamper baskets
- Vouchers for local cafes
And SO much more!

Every single dollar raised goes straight to helping dogs in need AND to our dream of building a rehabilitation pool at our shelter in Fullerton Cove - a game changer for dogs in need of healing and recovery.

Tickets start from just $5 and are available to purchase up until 7pm Sunday 14th December 2025.

Winners will be drawn at 7.30pm on Sunday 14th December 2025 - just in time for Christmas!

Give the gift of love this year - to a special someone in your life (or keep for yourself!) and to rescue dogs who need a second chance.

🎫 Purchase your raffle tickets here 🎫
https://www.raffletix.com.au/?ref=38kpp

💙 Dog Rescue Newcastle

www.dogrescuenewcastle.com.au

👻Halloween can be scary for dogs: lots of strangers in unfamiliar costumes roaming the streets and knocking on your door...
26/10/2025

👻Halloween can be scary for dogs: lots of strangers in unfamiliar costumes roaming the streets and knocking on your door. If you will be opening your door to Trick or Treaters, be sure to keep your dog away from the door, maybe behind a baby gate, in another room or in the backyard. Be sure your fences and gates are secure.

🍫 Keep all chocolate out of reach of your dogs! An emergency vet visit after hours would be very expensive.

🔥🔥🔥 It’s going to be dangerously hot in NSW today. Keep your pets safe by leaving them inside with fans on. If you have ...
21/10/2025

🔥🔥🔥 It’s going to be dangerously hot in NSW today. Keep your pets safe by leaving them inside with fans on. If you have to leave them outside, provide lots of extra water, ensure plenty of shade is available all day and ask a neighbour to check in on them.

If you haven’t done your walk in the morning before it hits 28 degrees then skip it today and provide extra enrichment for your dog at home instead.

Don’t forget birds and reptiles. Put some water out for them too, in a place your dog or cat can’t get to it.

In a bizarre twist to the tragic story about the dog being kicked and beaten while tied up outside of Marketown in Newca...
10/10/2025

In a bizarre twist to the tragic story about the dog being kicked and beaten while tied up outside of Marketown in Newcastle, it's revealed today that the owner had made up the story.

Few details have been revealed but police have charged Sasha's owner with making a false statement to police.

Turns out Sasha, being a senior dog, had a known history of arthritis and that was the main reason she was euthanised. I'm sure there's a lot more to this story which will be revealed in due time.

People who donated to a reward for information about Sasha will be contacted about receiving a refund.

A dog owner has been charged for allegedly making a false report of an animal cruelty incident in Newcastle.

On Sunday 5 October 2025, police were allegedly told that a rottweiler had been injured by a group of young people while tethered to a tree in Newcastle West on Friday 3 October 2025, and because of the assault, was euthanised by a vet due to the extent of her injuries.

Officers attached to Newcastle City Police District commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

While undertaking inquiries and an extensive review of CCTV, police will allege that the dog was not in the area on the date of the reported incident. It was also established that the dog had suffered a history of chronic hip and osteoarthritic pain prior to the reported incident, which informed the euthanasia of the dog.

About 2.40pm today (Friday 10 October 2025), detectives attended a home in Charlestown and spoke with the owner of the dog.

The 42-year-old man was issued a court attendance notice for false representation resulting in police investigation.

He is due to appear before Newcastle Local Court on Thursday 27 November 2025.

😭 This very, very tragic incident is another example of why you should never leave your dog tied up outside of a shop. A...
06/10/2025

😭 This very, very tragic incident is another example of why you should never leave your dog tied up outside of a shop. Also, don’t leave them unattended anywhere else in a public place, including locked in your car. Too many crazy people out there.

10/10/25 Update: It was revealed today that the owner had made up the story. Few details have been revealed but police have charged Sasha's owner with making a false statement to police.

Turns out Sasha, being a senior dog, had a known history of arthritis and that was the main reason she was euthanised. I'm sure there's a lot more to this story which will be revealed in due time.

Reputable rescue groups and breeders who care about their puppies don’t let people adopt or buy two puppies together. Ge...
26/09/2025

Reputable rescue groups and breeders who care about their puppies don’t let people adopt or buy two puppies together. Getting two puppies together, from the same litter or not, leads to many, many problems for the dogs and their guardians later on.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=799511272768578&id=100081291387546

🚫 LITTERMATE SYNDROME FACTS 101 ❌️

Why We Don’t Adopt Sibling Puppies Together

We’ve had a few heated messages about adopting 2 from our current litters and even some on our Jesse and James post, so let’s clear something up.

❤️ Yes, Jesse and James have a heartbreaking story but rescue work isn’t about warm fuzzies and “awww they love each other.” It’s about long-term animal welfare, rehabilitation, and implementing documented behavioural practices. If we keep applying our own emotions on to dogs, we would fail.

🐾 What is Littermate Syndrome?

When two siblings are raised together, instead of bonding with humans and learning independence, they bond primarily with each other. Sounds cute… until it isn’t. Symptoms can include:

❌️Aggression toward each other, especially when high-value resources (food, toys, your shoes 😬) enter the picture

❌️Stunted social development and inability to cope with new environments

❌️Training difficulties (because they tune each other out and ignore you)

❌️ Fights to the death. This has happened more times than people realise.

And here’s the kicker: it doesn’t usually show up at 8–10 weeks. It rears its head around 12 months old, when hormones leap. That’s when we get the desperate calls.

📊 Our Reality

Every single year we take in 40–50 dogs suffering from littermate syndrome. And that’s not counting the ones we didn’t have room for. This isn’t a myth. It isn’t a scare tactic. It’s a brutal, documented fact we deal with on the ground.

🙅🏽‍♀️ “But I had siblings before and they were fine!”

Good for you, truly. Some people can juggle knives blindfolded too, but that doesn’t make it a good policy for us to hand out knives at puppy preschool. Just because it worked once doesn’t make it ethical or safe for us to roll the dice with every pup.

Would you let your child learning to drive a car, learn with no seatbelt? You know the risks but YOU haven't had an accident yet therefore you're living proof that it's ok right? Or would you always apply practices to PREVENT as much damage long term as possible?

💔 About Jesse & James

They’re siblings, yes. But they’re also trauma survivors. Puppies from abusive situations don’t need to cling to each other, it wont help them heal. In fact, it does the opposite.

They need confident role models (older, stable dogs) and humans who can give them individual guidance. Keeping them together reduces their chance at rehabilitation and adoption. They wont come out their shell because both exhibit the same trauma response. They need to watch another dogs healthy reactions and copy them.

If we let human emotions override logic and evidence-based practice, we’d be running a sham organisation. That’s not who we are. Dog welfare comes first, always. The comments on the Jesse and James post were out of passion and heart, we know that but when people start coming into our inbox with abusive messages, we will draw the line.

✨ Our Policy (and your attitude)

Circle back to examples like this one here who we politely declined to adopt 2 from the same litter and we gave the explanation of littermate syndrome.

We won’t adopt littermates together. It’s that simple. You can be upset about it, but being rude to us won’t change the fact that science, logic, and welfare outweigh “but they look cute together in photos.” Also using your work email to be rude was a bold move before I've had my 3 earl greys.

We’re here to do what’s best for the dogs, even when it’s unpopular. And if you truly love Jesse, James, or any rescue pup, you’ll understand that putting their future first sometimes means making the hard calls.

Trivia: A dog’s nose print is as uniques as a fingerprint.
26/09/2025

Trivia: A dog’s nose print is as uniques as a fingerprint.

A walk might feel like just another task on a busy day, but to a dog it’s the highlight of their world. The sound of the...
17/09/2025

A walk might feel like just another task on a busy day, but to a dog it’s the highlight of their world. The sound of the leash, the smell of fresh air, the chance to explore and be by your side - it’s pure happiness for them.

Our dogs wait patiently, sometimes for hours, just for that simple moment. They don’t care about the weather, the time, or the miles. They only care that you’re there, sharing it with them.

When life feels heavy and routines turn into chores, remember how much this means to them. That walk is more than exercise. It’s a gift of time, love, and connection.

Slow down. Let them sniff, wander, and enjoy. You might find that in giving them their favorite part of the day, you discover a little peace and joy for yourself too.

(Copied from unknown original source)

16/09/2025

Can you identify the stress signal in this video? Much of dog body language is quick and subtle and you will miss it if you don’t know what to look for.

BRING BACK THE BAN ON GREYHOUND RACING📅 Friday 17th October 2025🕔 5:00pm📍 Wentworth Park, Wentworth Park Rd, Glebe NSW 2...
14/09/2025

BRING BACK THE BAN ON GREYHOUND RACING

📅 Friday 17th October 2025
🕔 5:00pm
📍 Wentworth Park, Wentworth Park Rd, Glebe NSW 2037

Greyhounds are dying every day on Australian racetracks.
In 2024, 128 dogs were killed and over 11,450 were injured.

Already this year, at least 26 greyhounds have died and almost 2,000 have been injured in NSW alone – the highest injury rate in the country.

Yet the NSW Government continues to hand over millions of taxpayer dollars to keep this cruelty alive. And now, in the heart of Sydney, Wentworth Park, Crown Land meant for the community, is still leased to the racing industry, where hundreds of dogs have suffered.

It’s time to show decision-makers that enough is enough.

https://facebook.com/events/s/million-dollar-disgrace-rally-/768246572334468/?







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150 Rae Crescent
Kotara, NSW
2289

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Learning Shouldn’t Hurt

Small group classes, in-home Puppy Pre-school, Walk and Train, Day Training, Private Lessons, Behavioural Consultations in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, NSW. Prices on my website www.dogtrainingnewcastle.com.au *** SMALL GROUP CLASSES *** Level 1: Foundation Program = essential manners for all dogs.

Level 2: Intermediate Program = make the basics stronger and learn new skills.

There are 6 x 1 hour lessons taught over 6 weeks on Saturday mornings. Location: Kotara South Public School, under cover (protected from sun and rain) and private (no other dogs). Class size is limited to 5 dogs. Dogs need to be 6 months or older (no upper age limit) and fully vaccinated. There are no group classes from December through February but I offer private lessons year round (see below). *** PUPPY PACKAGE *** Puppy Preschool comes to you. Private lessons, in your home, scheduled at your convenience. Instead of going to a group class, we bring the training to you. Four private lessons conducted in your home you'll learn the same things as puppy preschool. Available for puppies from 6 weeks up to 6 months old. If your puppy is 6 months or older please consider our classes or private lessons. *** PRIVATE LESSONS *** There are many reasons why private lessons or behavioural consultations would be suitable for you and your dog: * Your dog has problem behaviours that you need help with (fear or anxiety; barking; unsuitable reactions to other dogs, people or objects; resource guarding; defending food or toys; etc). * Your dog is not comfortable near other dogs. * You have specific skills that you want to teach your dog that aren't covered in class. * Private lessons are a more efficient use of your time because you and your dog get individual attention and can learn more in a shorter period of time. * Your schedule doesn't allow you to attend classes. * You appreciate the convenience of lessons at home instead of driving to classes. * There are no suitable classes near you. * Group classes aren't available during the summer. All lessons are one hour. Unlike group lessons, I focus on your specific requirements. I'll give you printed handouts covering the topics which we cover in the lesson. I can book you in for a private lesson on any day of the week between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

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