Best Paw Forward Dog Training

Best Paw Forward Dog Training Dog training and behaviour modification in the Greater Springfield and Ipswich region. We offer one

When I'm asked "when is the best time to get another dog", one of the factors that I suggest to consider is if your curr...
17/01/2026

When I'm asked "when is the best time to get another dog", one of the factors that I suggest to consider is if your current dog/s are at the level of training that you are happy with.

If you are actively working on behaviour modification, it can be much more challenging to add a new puppy or dog on top of that.

Our first dog Hades was well and truly a "good boy" before we brought home baby Hexxus. Once Hex was "easy", we then got baby Havoc.

Hades is no longer with us, but Hex and Havoc are good boys and understand the house rules and what is expected of them. Training will continue forever (they are sport dogs so there are always new skills to teach and things to improve on in that space!) but they are so easy to live with.

We have a new foster 🧡 She is a 15 month old GSD. She was raised as an outside dog so we have been getting her used to being inside. Honestly, Hexxus and Havoc have pretty much trained her for me in regards to teaching her how to behave inside 😂

We have a "no playing with each other" rule for indoors. They are allowed to play with toys on their own, but rough housing inside isn't our preference. It isn't wrong if you allow that with your own dogs in your home, but it just isn't what we are okay with our dogs doing. I'm totally happy to expand on why if anyone is interested!

The first time that our foster was inside with the boys she REALLY wanted to play. She booped Havoc with her nose and he proceeded to walk away from her and lay down with her back facing her 😂

Then she went over to Hex who was already laying down and asked him if he wanted to play. He turned his head 90 degrees and ignored her 😂

She picked up that play time wasn't going to happen, and from that moment has just chosen to lay down for a nap while inside ❤️

The point of that long story is, if either of my dogs didn't have a solid understanding of the expected behaviour indoors, my house would have been a doggy mosh pit which would require a heap of management. But because my boys know the drill, when a foster or boarding dog come to stay, it is much easier to teach the new addition the ropes.

16/01/2026

Context is so important, and it is easy to make assumptions from short videos or photos that you see online.

You might have heard that if a dog's ears are back that it means they are stressed.

That CAN be the case, but with body language we need to look at the dog as a whole.

In this video Havoc is on the right, and you can see his ears are back vs being up and forward facing like they usually would be. But that isn't because he is stressed, it is because his swivel ears are tuned into me in case I need to give him instructions like to stop, move to the side etc.

Our new foster dog on the left however has her ears mostly forward, and that's just because she doesn't have the relationship with me yet to care about what I have to say all the time 😂

What treats and treat pouch do I usually use with my own dogs?If you have ever trained with me, you have probably seen m...
14/01/2026

What treats and treat pouch do I usually use with my own dogs?

If you have ever trained with me, you have probably seen me rocking my bright pink Trainers Pouch. It is made from silicone and holds about 500g of meaty dog treats (I usually use Prime100) and is dishwasher safe. Super practical for a big training session!

When I'm taking my own dogs on a walk though, this is usually the set up that I use. This is the OG Stylish Hound Training Pouch with the silicone Pro Trainer insert.

The main pouch can go through the washing machine if it gets grubby, and the silicone insert pouch can go through the dishwasher so both are easy to clean.

Not all of my active wear pants that I wear when I'm not working have pockets, so I love that this pouch has the space for my phone, keys etc and the built in poo bag dispenser is something that I find useful.

The treats that I usually rock and roll with are the training treat varieties from (in this photo I was using the banana training treats).

Hexxus has inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and is allergic to most animal proteins. At the moment he is exclusively on crocodile, and although he eats it, he appreciates some variety in his diet.

The Alfie's Kitchen treats don't contain any animal proteins so are safe for Hex's IBD, and Hex (and my other dogs!) genuinely loves them. The banana and original recipes are his fave but I usually just buy a large bag of each when I do an order to rotate through variety.

I love them because the ingredients are healthy, they are made by an ethical small business, and because they are shelf stable they don't go gross in my treat pouch if I'm out and about for a while.

My dogs are on fresh food diets though so they get particularly excited when they get a "crunchy" treat ❤️

We are allowed to share our discount code which gives you 20% off with the code "HHH20". We don't make a commission, we just love sharing our dogs fave products :)

Havoc is clearly very distressed in his crate 😂A hill that I will die on is that crate training is a skill useful to any...
13/01/2026

Havoc is clearly very distressed in his crate 😂

A hill that I will die on is that crate training is a skill useful to any dog, even if it doesn't get utilized in day to day life.

Our previous GSD Hades unexpectedly slipped a disk and needed spinal surgery.

Hades was the absolute best boy (in my very biased opinion). He never put a paw out of place and was never a hassle. He never needed to be crated at home but it is still a skill that we taught him as a puppy.

After his spinal surgery he had a long road to recovery that involved a lot of crate rest. He wasn't allowed to move around while his spine was healing from the surgery, other than attending his rehab appointments.

It would have been hell for Hades (and us) if his first experience being crated was at the vets for his surgery, then being confined to the crate 23/7. Because he had been crate trained though it was stress free for everyone involved which helped with the healing process.

Injury rehab is just one of the many reasons that we advocate for crate training ❤️

We love dog parks! ... When they are empty 😂I like using dog parks as a safe way to practice off leash obedience skills,...
13/01/2026

We love dog parks! ... When they are empty 😂

I like using dog parks as a safe way to practice off leash obedience skills, with the added distraction of a million doggy smells around.

When there are dogs in the dog park, I love training and playing with my dogs outside the dog park to practice their skills with a higher level of distractions too.

Where are your favourite places to train or hang out with your dog?

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season ❤️We are interstate visiting family for Christmas so won't be ...
23/12/2025

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season ❤️

We are interstate visiting family for Christmas so won't be able to check any messages or enquiries until we are back in the new year.

I have heard that we are supposed to have a hot and wet summer this year 😬My dogs take (what feels like) a million years...
11/11/2025

I have heard that we are supposed to have a hot and wet summer this year 😬

My dogs take (what feels like) a million years to blow dry, so when I take them out in the rain it makes things so much easier for me if they stay mostly dry with a raincoat.

I love the raincoats from Non Stop Dogwear! They are super light weight and fold up tiny, comfy for my dogs to wear and don't slip around.

Is there something dog related that you want to see or learn more about? We are scheduling some posts for the remainder ...
09/11/2025

Is there something dog related that you want to see or learn more about?

We are scheduling some posts for the remainder of the year and want to make sure that they are useful to you.

If you have a spare 2 seconds to leave a comment with a topic that you are interested in, or if there is anything else you want to see (my routines with my dogs, what I have packed in my treat pouch, what I feed my dogs, etc), that would be so great!

What did you get up to this weekend with your dogs? This weekend was full of birthdays for us so our dogs had a chilled ...
09/11/2025

What did you get up to this weekend with your dogs?

This weekend was full of birthdays for us so our dogs had a chilled one.

It is important to meet your dogs needs (which is different for each dog), but it is really important to me that my dogs are adaptable to changes in routines and the amount of exercise and mental stimulation that they get.

I wouldnt expect my working line GSD's to be potatoes for 2 weeks straight, but they are able to be tolerant of 2 days of doing less than they usually would.

The ability to do nothing is not something that every dog just does without learning how. I love for my dogs defaults wh...
08/11/2025

The ability to do nothing is not something that every dog just does without learning how.

I love for my dogs defaults when we aren't doing anything exciting, is just to chill out. Dogs making good life choices on their own instead of needing to be constantly instructed and micromanaged can make doing things with them a more enjoyable experience.

This photo is of Havoc laying down on his own accord while we wait for my coffee and his pup cup at after a walk around Limestone Park.

Happy Friday! What is the last photo you took of your dog?
07/11/2025

Happy Friday!

What is the last photo you took of your dog?

I was walking my dog Havoc at Limestone park. He had just gone to the bathroom, and while I was picking that up I heard ...
06/11/2025

I was walking my dog Havoc at Limestone park. He had just gone to the bathroom, and while I was picking that up I heard barking.

I looked up to see 2 off lead dogs with no owner around, running in our direction.

There was someone else walking their small dog. The off lead dogs saw them and made a beeline. They barked in the approach and then ambushed the poodle.

Thankfully the roaming dogs weren't aggressive (in that encounter at least) but despite the poodle owner yelling at the dogs to go away, they wouldn't leave them alone. The other owner ended up picking her dog up and carrying him/her.

Then the roaming dogs got bored of that, and came running over to me and Havoc. So what did I do?

When I am handling a dog, whether it is my own dog or a clients dog that I am being trusted with the welfare of, my biggest concern is keeping them safe and I will do whatever I have to do to make that happen.

As the dogs started approaching, I asked Havoc to sit beside me. I was pretty confident that if we tried walking away that the dogs would race up behind us, so we stayed put.

As the dogs approached I rewarded Havoc with treats for staying in his sit position. Externally I didn't change my actions much. I moved at the same pace that I usually would to reward him, I didn't shorten/tighten up on the lead. I just watched to assess the situation. Internally though I had an adrenaline dump. I find off lead encounters with dogs in on lead areas super stressful.

As the dogs got closer, they slowed the speed of their running. I had already seen them ignore the other dog owner yelling at them, so even though that is something that I will sometimes do to try to deter the dogs from getting closer, I figured it would be ineffective in this particular situation and there was the possibility that my shouting at the dogs would put Havoc on edge.

The dogs ended up stopping a couple of metres away and stood there, staring at us. I kept rewarding Havoc for maintaining his position.

After a few moments (which felt like eternity) the dogs decided not to approach us and they ran off to be nuisances elsewhere which was the best case scenario for Havoc and myself.

If the dogs had of continued to approach, I was prepared to be able to quickly step in front of Havoc to be a human barrier (it is why I had put him in a sit beside me) and I would have used my foot to boot the dogs away.

I don't enjoy kicking dogs, I love dogs and it is why I decided to pursue dog training as a career, but back to my original point that my biggest concern is the safety of the dogs that I am handling.

I go off the assumption that I know nothing about the behaviour and sociability of a dog that is rushing us, and I am not prepared to just wait and see and hope for the best. I would rather kick a dog to scare it away then end up having to break up a dog fight.

When I am in an on lead area, and an off lead dog rushes us, particularly with no owner around, I will do everything that I can to stop the offending dog from reaching the dog that I am responsible for. And for me, that means physically getting the dog away without hesitation.

As a summary, what I would usually do in this situation is:
- Aggressively shout at the offending dog to get away. For some nervy dogs that is enough to scare them into running the opposite direction.
- I keep the dog that I am handling under control and behind me.
- If the dog gets within reaching distance, I will use my foot to get them away, as forcefully as necessary.

I don't turn my back on the off lead dog if we are moving away.

It is really unfortunate that we need to be mindful and aware that there could be roaming or off lead dogs around that aren't under control. Even though it shouldn't happen, it does, so when I am out with my dogs I don't use headphones to listen to music or podcasts etc. I am not on the phone to someone, and I am not scrolling on social media. I want to be paying attention to what is happening around us so I have as much time to act as possible when necessary.

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Springfield Lakes, QLD
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