Dog Sense Training and Behaviour

27/04/2025

Search for ‘Dog Training Matters’ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen!

PDTA PODCAST FINALLY HERE!! 😁🤩

DOG TRAINING MATTERS..

We are extremely excited to announce that our very first Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Search for "Dog Training Matters".

We will also be launching it on Youtube and will let you know when this is up on the Youtube platform.

Here is information on Podcast #1

Dogs and the Law - Episode 1 : Understanding dog laws

Do you know what the Local Laws are around dogs escaping your home?
What about if your dog attacks another dog or person? Or the Council officer knocks on your door to seize your dog?

What do you need to do if this happens to you or a client of yours?
In this multi-part podcast series, Dogs and the Law, we speak with Michael Faltermaier from Michael Faltermaier Lawyers about these very matters.

In this, episode 1, we delve into what your rights and obligations are if your dog gets into trouble. We ask Michael the questions with regards to your rights if your dog being seized by local Council officers.

Join us for this very interesting topic, on this, our very first podcast for the Professional Dog Trainers Australia (PDTA).

Podcast hosts:
Trish Cavarra (PDTA Board member)
Steve Courtney (PDTA President)
Boyd Hooper (PDTA Board member)
Email: [email protected]
Web: dogtrainersaustralia.org

Guest:
Michael Faltermaier, Michael Faltermaier Lawyers.
Email: [email protected]

Podcast Editor:
Malachy Pedder (THANK YOU for all your help and patience 🥰)

Happy to read your comments and feedback on the episode in the comments.

We hope you enjoy!

19/03/2025

A few days ago we lost Atlas.
He was knocked by a tree pruning as branches were moved off the grass. They weren’t any thicker than a carrot but somehow one caught him on the side of his head. Any other dog would probably have been fine.
We lost him almost instantly.
I’m finding it hard to comprehend and struggling to accept that he’s gone. He’d only just turned two last week. He was our daughter’s first dog & Halo’s best friend.

I’m taking some long over due time away from social media, but will get back to posting soon.

14/03/2025

What ACTUALLY Transforms Industries

It’s simple: products, technologies, treatments, or methods that are OBSERVABLY superior.

When something works better, it speaks for itself. There’s no need for smear campaigns, defaming competitors, or endless TALK about being more advanced.

If a method is truly superior, people will see it and experience it. That’s what drives change.

Proof is in the Product:

* Car manufacturers didn’t need to attack horse and buggy drivers to sell cars. They just showed people what cars could do.

* CBT practitioners didn’t need to defame other therapy styles. They simply demonstrated how effective CBT was.

* Netflix didn’t need to take down Blockbuster. They just gave people an observably better option.

In each case, the results spoke louder than words. The others simply couldn’t compete.

The Tactics of Smear Campaigns (get your bingo card ready):

* Defamation: Undermining the public’s trust to damage credibility.

* Misrepresentation of Facts: Cherry-picking data or twisting information to suit an agenda.

* Fear-Mongering: Creating fear to steer consumers away from competitors.

* Taking Quotes Out of Context: Manipulating language to mislead.

* Organized Trolling: Harassment and intimidation to discredit others.

If a training method or product truly works, why is any of this needed?

The Simple Truth:
Superior methods don’t need to convince you – they show you.

Want to transform an industry?
Stop talking. Stop smearing. Just SHOW US it works.

10/03/2025

Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story

05/03/2025

For those who share this assumption, I have two pieces of important information:

1. This comment would have been better presented as follows:

'Aren't breed bans based on actual maulings?!

Far more polite, less presumptuous 👌🏼

2. Below is a link to an article l've written that will provide more information on the topic:

https://tinyurl.com/mvn659ns

02/03/2025

What a fantastic three days of education. Lars Lentz three-day seminar on tracking completely blew my mind. Can’t wait to get started with this system.

Thanks to Kaizen K9 for putting on such great education.

14/02/2025

Some foundational concepts I always teach clients are:

✅Motivation
✅Value
✅Clarity

Regardless of whether the goal is puppy development, reliable obedience, or rehabilitating behavior issues, these concepts still apply. The more you focus on them, the more success you’ll have in training, and the stronger your relationship will be with your dog.

💡Motivation
What ever motivates your dog to focus, train etc.
Usually it’s food, toy/play, but it can be other things.

💡Value
How high is the motivator’s value & how can we maximise that value so it’s higher than competing motivators in the environment (like Oodles 😜).

💡Clarity
Clarity in how the motivator is accessed, when it’s available & when availability ends via clear communication.

These concepts all come together to build YOUR value.

In Halo’s case, we’ve always focussed on building the value of things that come through me, so she craves opportunities to access them. Subsequently, we’ve never built the value of things that are external to me (playing with dogs).

This is why I didn’t need to call her here. She chose what was of more value to her.

11/02/2025

Great. It’s 11pm & I want to go to bed.. but looks like we’re sleeping on the coach 😩

11/02/2025

Guess the mix!

This is Ross. He’s super cool & bigger than he looks in the pic 🖤

06/02/2025

**** UPDATE! Feb/10

New Jersey Bill “has been held by the sponsor after OVERWHELMING opposition & concerns were raised”.

Well done to everyone.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Make no mistake - this pseudo-scientific ideology is now at such a level that this type of legislation will begin to be pushed everywhere. Beyond just tool bans, but bans on any method that doesn’t meet this force free agenda. Showing your work is important, but not enough.

Trainers need to get involved. Become members of orgs like Professional Dog Trainers Australia (PDTA) who are working hard to have a voice in these matters. Be involved when legislative submissions are called for and have the knowledge required to make a difference. And continue to upskill to be the most competent trainers possible.

******

To be clear, I’m requesting research showing any SPECIFIC R+/Force Free method for dog-to-dog or dog-to-human aggression, or predatory behavior, that is ‘evidence/science based’.

This post is not asking for anecdotal evidence, opinions on aversive methods, emotive rhetoric, or generalised statements. If you can’t provide the requested evidence then don’t bother with negative comments.

If only trainers using solely R+ methods may be licensed, then the evidence showing efficacy for SPECIFIC methods MUST be substantial.

For a treatment to be considered “empirically supported” or “evidence based,” it needs to have numerous large, well-designed studies demonstrating that it leads to positive outcomes for treating a specific problem”.
(Sorenson 2013)

29/01/2025

Genetics matter. It’s not all in how you raise them. Breed characteristics are a thing,
BUT,
not when it comes to child safety in a context like this.

No individual dog or breed should be expected to put up with being crawled on, leaned on, or physically invaded by children.

Social media is perpetuating a false representation of dogs & dog behavior, and the knee jerk reaction to focus on breed, whether positive or negative, confirms that people aren’t educating themselves, but instead, rely on assumptions & their biased personal experience (survivorship bias).