TATE Animal Training Enterprises

31/08/2024

Phytophthora is the second most damaging invasive species in our country. Impacting more natives than cats, pigs, goats and foxes.

Finding a target that is invisible, highly variable and often difficult to verify post indication is incredibly draining as a handler. It is often a source of a lot of lost sleep and nerves before a job. But it pays to have someone in your corner who knows a lot more than you do. Professor David Guest a world renowned guru in the plant pathology space and has been the coolest cat in our corner, calmly explaining how things work and how we can continue to improve and what to celebrate. He keeps our whole team in the moment and just doesn’t stop smiling. In front of a crowd of Patholgists over the weekend at the Australasian soilborn diseases symposium Alice blitzed her demo’s at Anderson’s nursery and then Moogerah Peaks National Park. It was the hottest conditions she’s ever worked in and she did wonderful vehicle inspections and correctly identified Phytophthora infected trees in an experimental killing field and then alerted to some very sick grass trees, and a foot wash station! The best part of my job is meeting so many passionate experts who help us determine where the dogs can fullfill a niche to help our environment!

Bring on more disease detection! 💪💪🕺 🌱

29/08/2024

Bio=Life 🍃
Security =safe 🕵️‍♂️

We have spent the last two days at on the Gold Coast, attending the 2024 Biosecurity symposium.

With the help of Alice and Dash, I presented on the evolution and innovation of biosecurity dogs in this country.

I thoroughly enjoyed connecting with so many passionate people in this space. It may not have the most catchy sounding name (Biosecurity Symposium 🥱) but the speakers, posters, and the coordinators of the whole event made it a very motivating and enjoyable couple of days.
was the MC. The hype about this bloke is so real. He is genuine, self deprecating, hilarious and has an infectious enthusiasm for science and our country.

27/08/2024

We’ve been privileged enough to know a lot of the team at SeaWorld for nearly 20 years now. I remember my first visit back of house some years ago there was a sign at the staff entrance that said "through these doors walks the best employees in the world". Yes it was a touch cheesy, but there is a real admirable sense of positivity and pride in the work the employees here do.
So much amazing research and rehabilitation goes on behind the scenes that the average person doesn’t get to witness or hear about. We truly believe that our wildlife is better off because of organisations like seaworld on the Gold Coast - the team are always ready and (frequently do) drop everything and attend strandings, entanglements and boat strikes with whales, sharks, dolphins, turtles and dugongs on the east coast.
Yesterday we took the kids to meet some amazing animals and experience their beauty up close, hear about their stories and their wild counterparts.
Tomorrow, SeaWorld is hosting the 3rd annual Australian biosecurity symposium which we are grateful to be attending with our dogs.

Definitely worth the visit if you are ever on the Gold Coast.

A special mention to Tach, Nora, Lauren, Peter (and those whose names I didn’t catch) for donating your time to share training sessions, stories and your expertise with us.
The kids are asking if we can go to Ontario to visit the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat now to see where Henry lives.😅

19/08/2024

For the birdo’s (and Tor),

Whilst this may not be the most stunning visual of a wild encounter, it captures the raw emotion we all felt watching these brolgas fly in and bond through dance. (Videos were never going to properly translate the feeling and the raw beauty of this place.)

The experience was made greater by sharing it with an older German man in camouflage, equipped with binoculars and a thick accent. He has been coming to this spot, every day, for the past 20 years to watch the brolgas come in at dusk. He said some days up to 1000 brolgas would make their descent into the swamp. We saw approximately 80 fly in, cannot fathom how spectacular 1000 would be!

The Bromfield swamp is a shallow crater of an extinct volcano found in the Atherton tablelands.

Lennox also spotted a wild dog hunting around the edge of the swamp, moving swiftly between the open paddocks.

18/08/2024

Day 2 of Townsville resulted in lockdown of all dogs while a snake catcher attempted to remove a large and cranky eastern brown snake from the driveway to the facility. Everyone was safe and we all left the day with a little adrenaline in our bellies!
This was our second brown snake encounter in only a few days. What a ridiculously handsome and fierce creature.

Only in Townsville!! Thanks for another fun day everyone.

𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 🐍𝗦𝗦𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘀𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿...

𝗢𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 🐍𝗦𝘀𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗤!

What an interesting turn of events, a BIG thankyou to everyone who responded accordingly to having a very large and VERY CRANKY Eastern Brown Snake perform a surprise visit this afternoon. Cheeky bu**er just cruised up the driveway to see what all the excitement was about.

That's how you make hosting an event, something nobody will forget!🤦

𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲/𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮 🇦🇺 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

A massive THANKYOU to the rapid response of our local Snake Catchers, you guys rock! 👊💥

@

17/08/2024

Thanks for a fun day 1 in Townsville The Dogfather Dog Training
Looking forward to getting into the nitty gritty of scent detection with everyone tomorrow. 💪

16/08/2024

Yungaburra QLD - what a special place!

The town itself was the cleanest, most beautiful little place, it felt like we had stepped into a movie set.

And then the wildlife we got to tick off.
Firstly platypus shuffling around on the riverbanks in search of dinner. The creature wren most wanted to see and the reason we came here.
The next day we spent at least 20 of the 24 hours trying to find tree kangaroos with no luck ☹️. However we drove past the Bromfield swamp the night before and decided to come back and have dinner here the next night. SO GLAD WE DID! We sat, and ate, and watched in awe, while roughly 50-100 Brolgas flew over head and landed in the swamp to begin their nightly dancing ritual.
We packed the car and began driving to Townsville after 3 wonderful days with one last dirt road to check for tree kangaroos. We entered the first with all our fingers and toes crossed and waited for a sign, a sound. Lennox and Jen got lucky. Not a tree Roo, but a pair of Victoria’s Riflebirds flitting through the understory. Another species we’d hoped to tick off!
Driving away from that last spot, thinking we’d lucked out on our tree too chances, Jen spotted one, in the last tree on the edge of the forest!
Our time in Yungaburra, complete. And extremely memorable. Highly recommend this place to any nature lovers out there. We stayed at Miss Bullen’s Cottage which was also perfect for the experience. Quaint, cute, clean and homely.

14/08/2024

Photo 1 - The wonderful Linda who hosted me in Cairns on the weekend. Thank you so much I had an absolute blast working with everyone across the two days. I look forward to coming back in the future.
Photo 2 - Day 2 scent workshop group at the Cairns Show-ground.
Photo 3 - I have no idea what I’m doing here but I promise it was to the benefit of the training session.

10/08/2024

Interrupting your daily dose of Far North Queensland critter videos to bring you back to the dog training world in Cairns. I just wrapped up day 1 of my weekend workshop at focused around brain games and trick training.
These dogs were SO MUCH FUN to watch and train with. Massive credit to all their dedicated owners.
Who wouldn’t want to spend all day with Mollie the Chi and Saphi the Mal?
I wish I snapped more pics of the group. Share any videos of your dogs progress!
Thanks again for having me Linda and to everyone who came. Looking forward to seeing those of you who are coming tomorrow for scent detection.

28/07/2024

We’ve been a little quiet on the old socials lately because we’ve taken off north as a family to complete a leg of workshops, seminars, detection work and symposiums together. Maximising family time while on the road. 💪 (which trumps posting unfortunately).

First stop MACKAY! Sam and Ele you guys are just the best kind of people and such a joy to hang out with. Thank you for having me and offering the space to present a weekend workshop on tricks and scent work!
Thanks to everyone that came. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed getting to know all your dogs.
Any great suggestions for things to do between Mackay and cairns.. send them our way!

09/07/2024

4 and a bit years ago life went topsy Turvey with the premature birth of our daughters amidst the east coast of Australia catching on fire.
Working alongside the koala hospital and meeting a host of wonderfully passionate people along the way, Taylor and Ryan spent every spare moment helping locate displaced or injured wildlife, particularly koalas.
Miss you Tay. ❤️

26/06/2024

PUPPY BARKING

The most common complaint the council receives regarding dogs is related to barking. Many people find themselves at the receiving end of an anonymous letter from a neighbour or with a council ranger visit. This naturally leaves the owner feeling very stressed and looking for quick fixes. Much to their disappointment, trying to train an adult dog out of entrenched barking habits takes time and usually a holistic approach.
It’s definitely worth identifying why a puppy has started barking and work to prevent it from further occurring, rather than taking the ‘they will grow out of it’ approach.
The three main reasons puppies bark are:
- separation distress
- fear
- to gain attention from someone or something
Determining the driving force behind the bark will alter how you deal with it. This requires a little time and patience... and a bit of barking.
Our first piece of advice for all new puppy owners is to send your neighbours a letter inviting them to contact you if they hear any barking. This opens the lines for communication and allows you to explain the efforts you are going to to help your puppy develop into a well-rounded neighbourly dog.

25/06/2024

Phytophthora cinnamomi has been without a doubt our hardest and most cryptic target to train dogs on. Truth be told there has been half a dozen times where we've had serious chats about abandoning this one.

When working on very clinically prepared samples in controlled settings the dogs have always been bullet proof for about 12 months now, but as many dog handlers will agree that doesn't mean a thing if you can't find the real deal in the field or discriminate between wild samples.

Refining how we read the indications in the field and when we reinforce the dogs has been one of the hardest parts of this process because in order for you to be truly sure the dog is correct, you have to take a sample from the earth send it to a lab wait a minimum of 14 days and then you'll know, kind of pointless throwing a tennis ball 14 days later.

When we trained dogs to find live koalas often they would alert on one tree, but the koala may be 2 or 3 trees over. Due to the wind, temperature humidity e.t.c. the dog would pick up on odour in seemingly obscure places, but because we would have expert koala spotters with us finding the animals quickly we worked out how to read that indication and when to reinforce the dog. THEN in future we knew how to read the indication based upon the conditions and thus find the koalas very efficiently.

Well last week we got to work with Phytophthora spotters - "Die back interpreters" as they are known in WA.

This crew and their lab techs transformed the way we handle the dogs, giving us access to perfect sites, hundreds of samples, and standing right beside us saying "it's a bit early to reinforce" or "bang, right now, they are 100% right".

We finally feel like we can hold our heads high and say without doubt, these dogs find Phytophtora cinnamomi, and they are lightning fast.

In the name of Dr Seuss..

“The dogs can find it here and there, They can find it anywhere! In a shovel, on a car, In a bucket, near or far. In a bag, below a tree, In a pot—oh yes, indeed! They sniff and snuffle, search and see, Dogs find it all, as quick as can be!”

There has been so many people involved in making this successful, actually it's taken more stakeholders to make this one happen than any other target we've worked on. A lot of people with a lot of expertise. Plant pathologists, lab techs, mycologists, ecologists, rangers, researchers, universities, horticulturalists, field staff a handful of dog trainers and two very, very good dogs. Alice the Springer, and Echo the very french working line Brittany handled by my outstanding colleague Avery Keller from Apex Canine.

19/06/2024

Children can be a real motivator for adding a puppy to the family home but without enough prep work and planning in place, raising a puppy alongside kids can be a real challenge. In our experience, the more prepared, educated and involved the kids can be, (not just with chores and cuddles), the smoother the puppy phase will go.

💡 Heres an idea!! Instead of giving kids chores like picking up poo and feeding the puppy (which are bound to expire sooner rather than later), Give each child in the family a special puppy raising role:

📦 Enrichment coordinator (4 + years)
This important role requires a creative mastermind to come up with daily problem solving puzzles, made from recycled goods from around the home for the purpose of keeping the puppy entertained during times when he or she is learning to be independent from the family in puppy pens or separate spaces. The more creative the design, the longer it’ll take for the puppy to reach the treasure (food treat) on the inside.

🦆 Socialisation Supervisor (7 + years)
This job requires a psychology crash course in reading dog body language & reporting back to the the rest of the family with their findings. They are also responsible for ticking off the socialisation and environmental check list whenever the puppy has a pleasant experience with something different or new in the critical phase.

🐕 Training Manager (10 + years)
There is nothing more rewarding than learning how to communicate with a puppy. The training manager learns all about how to train your puppy & then teaches the rest of the family. They are in charge of training equipment like treat pouches, balls and leads and making sure the whole family is being consistent with training.

17/06/2024

Alice and I, along with Avery and Echo just got back from a week long stint in Perth looking for phytopthora. Thanks for having us W.A. And see stories for the media release and more info on our trip.

11/06/2024

TOP TIP FOR NEW PUPPY OWNERS 👉

Think about the kind of dog you want your puppy to be as an adult and the situations you want them to feel comfortable in.

Are you hoping that one day they will accompany you on a walk to the local cafe and relax beside you while you sip a latte and catch up with a friend? If this scenario sounds like the dog owning dream, start by doing this.. 👇👇

Go for an on lead walk around your garden. Let them sniff, p*e and burn off a bit of steam and then tether your puppy to the dining table while you have your morning cuppa. Pop their bed underneath them and sit right beside them and start to make this a normal part of life.

If a dog can’t handle being tethered in a familiar setting like your dining room, we can guarantee you they will be feeling anxious and uncomfortable being tethered underneath you in a busy cafe environment.

Once they are happy being tethered and stationary in your home, then you can slowly start to add in ‘life’s bigger picture’, by varying the locations where you sit and observe the world:

🌳 A seat in the garden
👩🏻‍🦰 A friend’s porch
🤼‍♀️ A park bench
☕️ And eventually, your favourite cafe.

A confident puppy will be capable of accompanying you on many adventures for years to come, but it takes a lot of little steps to harbour that confidence on lead, rather than throwing them in the deep end.

Important info:
👉 Never leave a puppy unattended while tethered somewhere.
👉 Research puppy body language prior to attempting this exercise in new locations so you can better interpret how they are handling the new environment.

This is Piper, a now 3 year old therapy dog. The ‘cafe dog exercise’ was something we did with her at least a few times every day between exercise, cuddles and play. It’s all about the balance. 😊

08/06/2024

All aboard Alice and Echo to your next detection destination!

08/06/2024

Before I was a dog trainer, I was a marine biologist.

When I’m not training dogs, you’ll find me training marine animals in aquariums for voluntary blood draws, ultra sounds and other cooperative care practices.

When I’m not working, I’ll be near the ocean somewhere, or in it - surfing, swimming, splashing around with the kids.
🐠 Happy World Ocean Day. 🐙 🦈

06/06/2024

DO YOU HAVE A BARKER?

Good news! We’ve just added ‘barking’ as a new module on our free LEAVE IT app.

Dogs bark for 4 main reasons; Attention or demand barking, separation anxiety, predatory barking and territorial barking. Identifying the cause for your dogs barking is the first step towards helping to reduce it.

Check out our LEAVE IT app for steps on how to help the problem barker in your life.

05/06/2024

Happy World Environment Day! 🌎 🌱 🐨

The TATE Team is strongly connected and committed to conserving our earth and all of its amazing wildlife and habitats. With the help of our dogs, we’re involved from the ground up!

🌱 Healthy Soil: It’s one of the foundations of life and it’s essential to growing nutrient rich food that we need to sustain ourselves. Alice is trained to detect Phytopthora, a soil-born pathogen. By early detection of the disease in nurseries and lab settings, we can prevent the spread of infected soil into native bushland, home gardens and crops.

🌳 Thriving Habitats: From ancient forests and mountain tops to island ecosystems, the earth thrives on diversity. Trees are not just silent guardians; they are the lungs of our planet. All our dogs contribute in one way or another to habitat protection, preventing invasive weeds from choking out native flora or feral species from entering pristine ecosystems, preserving these unique wild places for generations to come.

🐨 Preservation: Every species plays a crucial role in the delicate balance of nature. Maggie and Dash sniff out endangered species, helping researchers and conservationists protect and preserve our unique biodiversity.

04/06/2024

Once upon a time..

01/06/2024

“Our old dog NEVER did that!”

This is a phrase frequently heard in home consultations, typically from owners of a pup that is hitting adolescence and testing boundaries. Often the dog before you is the physical reincarnation of the much-loved, greatly-missed pooch in the portrait on the wall.
However, to our rose-tinted memory, Fido the First never did anything wrong, while Fido the Second still has remnants of the decimated rosebush tangled in his coat.

There are 2 key factors at play here, generally working in tandem. The first is that no two dogs are alike – you are instantly doomed to failure trying to recreate the magic of the past. The other (and this is key) is the human brain is wired to minimise hardship when happy memories can take its place. This is why I start planning my next tattoo on the way home from my last and why younger siblings are able to exist. This is why we focus on training with positive reinforcement, rather than punishment: the positive memories last longer and sit forthright in our mind.

No puppy is without their difficulties. When you have raised a few puppies, as we have, you become better prepared for what is coming your way and more able to write off the challenges as simple steps in the journey. Ari (our Aussie pictured here) made Taylor (spaniel pictured here) feel like the devil reincarnated. But in hindsight, both dogs had their challenges during puppyhood and adolescence and both ended up as dogs we had only dreamed of having join us on this crazy life ride.

23/05/2024

“You cannot reward or punish your dog’s emotional state.”

Let’s break down what this means -

The latest scientific research indicates you cannot reward or punish emotions, you can only reward or punish behaviour, or actions.

When a dog has developed a behavioural issue, it’s crucially important before trying to fix the problem, that you fully understand what’s driving your dog to act this way.

Here’s a couple of commonly misinterpreted scenarios:

Case study 1 - A dog barks or growls at children.

Every time the dog does this, his owner yanks on the leash and reprimands the dog. The owner believes they are punishing the dog for being aggressive and with a few repetitions the dog will probably learn not to act in this way. Problem fixed? No – unfortunately, it’s worse. The dog still hates kids, possibly even more, but he’s now learned that he shouldn’t show this with a bark or growl. The behaviour (vocalisation) has been punished and may cease, but the underlying emotional state (a hatred of children) will remain. This means we’ve now lost a very clear warning signal from the dog and he is also more likely to bite instead of bark or growl next time. �
Case study 2 - A dog runs around the house frightened, pacing and panting every time there is a thunderstorm.

Owners in this situation often worry that if they give the dog any attention or rewards, they will reward him for being scared. However, if they give the dog a few treats for lying down on his bed, the dog may learn, ‘If I go to my bed during a thunderstorm, I get treats and attention.’ There is a bonus here: the dog may start to feel calmer as a result of the training and the act of lying down. When the dog feels good, the fear that was driving the behaviour of running around fades, which means you have helped your dog to feel less scared.

22/05/2024

“WILL HE JUST GROW OUT OF IT?”
 
Dog trainers are frequently called upon to help owners with issues that are well and truly practiced and established. They have been occurring for some time and the owners have finally got to the stage that they can’t deal with it anymore.
 
The kelpie cannot let a car pass by without running the fence line at full herding pace.
 
The foxy barks from the moment the doorbell rings until the visitor has left.
 
The bordoodle is chasing flies. And shadows. And those little dust particles that linger in sunlight.
 
Our frustration is always that we’ve been asked to help late; to fix established behaviours that could have been prevented.
 
“They’re just a puppy - they’ll grow out of it!”
 
There is a kernel of truth in this statement: many behaviours that are tested by the majority of puppies are not displayed by your average adult dog. It is normal for puppies to dig when they smell something inquisitive. It is common for young dogs to bark when surprised.
 
However, future behaviour is based on the consequence of prior experience. This means, simply ignoring such undesirable behaviour when it occurs, in the hope that they simply mature beyond the desire to practice it rarely proves to be a successful strategy.
 
For a dog to “grow out of it”, they must mature while practicing the alternative. All puppies will test the waters of undesirable behaviours. If you immediately correct them by showing a better way to respond, you can ensure it is THAT behaviour they practice in the future. More often than not, in the case of a puppy, simple management in the early stages is enough to prevent undesirable behaviours from occurring.
A great philosophy for raising a “good” dog (or for any animal training) is to ‘SET THEM UP FOR SUCCESS’. This way, you can ensure that they will, indeed, “grow out of it!”

20/05/2024

A post I wrote a year ago about the girls and their relationship with dogs. Whilst things have evolved and Evelyn is far more connected to animals these days, the message remains the same.

A tale of two sisters.

Same age, same womb, same home; two completely different responses to animals.

On the right is Wren. Born with a sensory processing disorder and a gravitational pull to animals. The mere presence of a pony or a puppy, (since infancy), will have her stop anything she is doing to move closer, just to watch. Her eyes soften, her breath calms. An animal will help her overcome anything: sand between her toes, the seam of a sock, the noise of a tractor; all are manageable in the presence of a dog.

Evelyn, on the left, was born with an instinctual caution towards animals. Her initial response is to clench up, move closer and squeeze my hand tightly. With my support, if she feels like the situation is controlled, her confidence will grow, and she will relax. But she almost always keeps an eye on the animal in her periphery.

Both girls have had the same upbringing and same experiences. They have been raised in a home full of animals, with parents who are aware of the importance of managing interactions so they don’t feel overwhelmed and unsafe. And yet, their responses to animals remain entirely different.

We have seen a big change in the last few decades in the way that dogs and their role in society are viewed. Less frequently do they fill an essential function, such as herding or guarding; nor are they simply garden ornaments that just require regular food and occasional exercise. Rather, they are family members and companions. They share our homes, beds and adventures.

In line with this, more places are becoming dog friendly. We see library dogs in schools, therapy dogs in hospitals, moves to allow pets on public transport and previously people-exclusive facilities, such as hardware stores, hotels and even our local mall has recently opened its doors to our four-legged friends.

This places the Evelyns of the world in a tricky situation.

A key thing we know from working alongside Anthony Berrick in The Cynophobia Clinic for many years is how important it is for someone with a fear of animals to feel control of any kind of interaction or encounter. There is no comfort in being told not to worry, or that an animal is “friendly”.

Some people who are scared of dogs will show it outwardly. Many will internalise it, trying not to let the panic show, instead making that trip out in public all the more difficult next time. Seeing the situation is controlled and trusting it will stay that way is the best chance these people will have to harbour more confidence in life and go about their day comfortably.

As for Wren, it feels extremely special to witness first-hand the incredible therapeutic benefits animals can have on us humans.
Particularly those that struggle to regulate in certain situations.

So my hope as a society, is that we can keep an open mind and respect each others' different circumstances. The people that choose to share our lives with animals can continue to welcome dogs into our homes, our lives and our hearts. However with that choice comes the responsibility and respect to our fellow community members by keeping them on lead and under effective control when in public situations.

We owe it to each other.

I look forward to watching both my girls harbour a love and respect for dogs in their own unique way, with time.

20/05/2024

SOMETHING I WISH ALL DOG OWNERS WOULD DO.

Read your dog’s facial expressions and posture!

Every single day I see people putting their dogs in places where they clearly don’t want to be. My young daughters smile and wave at most dogs that pass us by when we’re out on walks. I am constantly astounded by how many of those dogs are then dragged over to us by their owners, despite it being clear (to me) that they are petrified of children.

There are obvious displays that everyone recognises, but here are a couple of more subtle things you should look for that are your dog saying “I’m not comfortable”:

- Sudden closing of the mouth and/or licking of the lips.
- Yawning (when they clearly shouldn’t be tired).
- Quickly looking for an exit route.
- Stiffening their overall body posture.

If you see your dog do any of these things when you’re trying to introduce them to a person or another dog PLEASE give them space or abandon the introduction all together.

17/05/2024

And this pretty much sums up what we will be doing all weekend! 👩‍🌾 🌱 🐶 👧