Leading K9

08/12/2024

Love this 🙌

The adolescent stage can be a challenge to navigate. Check out Tim’s video below for some great tips to help keep your dog’s development on track during this time.

Also how handsome is his Labrador, Sport 😍

02/12/2024

📆 our books are full for December!

🎄we are taking some time off over the holidays, from 23 December to 2 January. Any calls, emails or messages received during this time will be attended to when we return on 3rd January.

🐕 we have limited spots available for new client bookings in January. Get in touch today for a free phone assessment, to discuss your training needs and book your session.

28/11/2024

We all know that exercise and outdoor activity with our dogs, needs to be restricted to the cooler parts of the day in summer.

But that doesn’t mean we have to do absolutely nothing with our dogs, if we find ourselves with time to train in the hotter part of the day. It’s just about getting creative!

Rhu and I’s lunchtime activity today, was searching for her new ball from (watch this space for our review). Rhu is already on multiple odours, so we set this game up totally differently so as to maximise clarity:

- different start line
- different search cue
- no expectation of an indication / trained final response
- different reward event

Keep your eyes on our page for more info on scentwork in 2025 😍

28/11/2024

Gotta love a reliable down stay for getting those group photos 😂 Who posed better - Team Boy or Team Girl?

💙Team Boy - Gary & Koda at La Balsa today

🩷Team Girl - Sunni & Misty at Cotton Tree yesterday

20/11/2024

Two empty beaches. Twenty mm of rain. Two sassy herding girls.

This has gotta be top 5 Wednesday mornings ever ❤️

29/10/2024

Always a good time catching up with Team Misty 💫

Little ma’am is maturing into an awesome dog. She maintains her spice and sass, but is doing better at controlling her impulses. What a little legend.

Special guest appearance from Sunni, who tagged along to be my trainers helper after her own session this morning. I’m not sure I’ve got her fully sold on the job role ongoing 😂 but she was a cracker assistant in today’s session.

22/10/2024

Is it even a trip to Cotton Tree Park if you don’t climb the tree? 🤔

It’s been an intense few weeks here at Leading K9 HQ. We are back on deck and all cylinders firing. A reunion with Sunni, cruising in the sun and enjoying our time together, was just what the Dr ordered 💛

Slowly slowly this little lady is convincing me that maybe I should look into getting myself a Labradork….😂

29/09/2024

EDIT: Dottie has been found!!

Dottie slipped her leash last night on Bradman Ave and was hit by a car. She ran off and was last seen around Baden Powell / Horton Pde.

Friends in Maroochydore, please contact me asap if you spot her.

This is Dottie.

Dottie is a recent rehome. She arrived a little low in confidence, and with some big feelings about dogs.

I caught up with Team Dottie yesterday for their second session, and it was the kind of lesson that makes your heart sing. Dottie has a wicked game of tug. She’s motivated and clear in her obedience, leash communication is strong, markers are established, human is confident in her handling skills.

“Rescue” is not a breed. It’s not a personality type. And it’s not what defines who your dog will be for the rest of their life.

It’s truly amazing what can be achieved with consistent application of training. Do the work, get the results.

I am beyond proud of these ladies. Dottie is on the fast track to a big life. Great work Team Dottie 💫

27/09/2024

This is Dottie.

Dottie is a recent rehome. She arrived a little low in confidence, and with some big feelings about dogs.

I caught up with Team Dottie yesterday for their second session, and it was the kind of lesson that makes your heart sing. Dottie has a wicked game of tug. She’s motivated and clear in her obedience, leash communication is strong, markers are established, human is confident in her handling skills.

“Rescue” is not a breed. It’s not a personality type. And it’s not what defines who your dog will be for the rest of their life.

It’s truly amazing what can be achieved with consistent application of training. Do the work, get the results.

I am beyond proud of these ladies. Dottie is on the fast track to a big life. Great work Team Dottie 💫

22/09/2024

Sunni is here for a staycation whilst her humans are off on an overseas holiday.

I adore this little dog. She’s trained with us in class at The Good Dog Project since she was a wee pup and is now in our top level class! Today she was my class helper and she did a wonderful job.

We are very privileged to get to be a part of so many dog’s lives, watching them grow up and having a part in guiding them through their development along the way.

She really is a little ray of sunshine. Love you SunSun ☀️💛

19/09/2024

❓ 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗬𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗘 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩)

We have recently seen an increase in the amount of new puppy owners taking on littermates or 2 puppies at the same time. As trainers approached by these puppy owners, there is a tough conversation to have.

🫣 The unfortunate reality is that this scenario is fraught with risk; it presents many challenges not only in the short term, but also with regards the ongoing life and development of both dogs.

Our best advice to clients who have brought home littermates is to give one of the puppies back to the breeder, or rehome to another owner. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.

👉 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻?
Atleast one (if not both) puppies will not develop fully in terms of confidence, resilience, coping skills, independence, and ability to navigate and function successfully in the word. This can contribute to a range of behavioural issues we commonly work with in adult dogs, this is then made more complex to resolve in a littermate situation.

The dogs will become overly bonded to each other. This leads to them taking their cues from each other, rather than from any humans in the household. This can also then lead to a "can't live with you, can't live without you" dynamic - serious aggression and fighting between the dogs, usually beginning in adolescence, is common in these situations.

👇 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳
For at least the first 6 months home, but should be in place through to maturity.
This means sleeping in separate crates, separated while you are at work and separate one on one time with family members.

𝘗𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨
This means having individual play time with humans, individual training sessions, and individual outings. These need to be happening on a daily basis to make best use of your puppy’s critical socialisation period (3-16 weeks).

𝘗𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥
This means separate crates and play pens or having one outside and one inside. When you are out at work, they should be in separate areas of the house. They should sleep in separate crates. These crates should not be side by side, separate rooms is best.

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.
You must learn how to step in and stop play on cue to prevent rough play leading to conflict, this will require ongoing practice and careful management through to adulthood.

_________________________________

🐕 We want homes to go into this with eyes wide open as often you won’t see the result of missteps during this developmental period present for 12 -18 months after the puppies comes home. If you have found yourself in the position of having 2 young dogs at the same time, we are always happy to chat about strategy and home set up.

17/09/2024

“This is my super serious working face”

Absolute best start to my day being reunited with Spice 🌶️

I adore this girl (no surprises there 😂), sadly our lessons have been on pause as her human is rehabbing through a pretty gnarly injury which is taking a good while to heal 😢

Spice has been doing sessions with the wonderful Salty Pack for a while, and has added in sessions with Woofer Wagon and me, to keep this busy bee working whilst her person recovers.

What an awesome group of boss ladies we have supporting this team right now!

16/09/2024

This is Indie.

Indie is a sweet natured young Border Collie. She came to us via a referral from her physio, as Indie has some back pain from doing mad zooms in her terraced yard chasing planes flying overhead.

Expressing drive by chasing inappropriate targets (commonly cars, which Indie will also do), is dangerous. Indie has fantastic humans who have changed their yard setup to prevent Indie from chasing the planes - fantastic first step. We are currently working on nailing down some basic skills and providing Indie with appropriate outlet for her drive expression - she and her human are both loving their structured play together!

Once these pieces are on the board, we will then address the car chasing directly.

Love working with this team!

13/09/2024

Always a great time visiting our friends at Holistic Animal Physiotherapy ❤️

Gary and Rhu came along today to meet the new res students, giving them hands on experience to help with their learning on dog anatomy, soft tissue palpation, safe handling and a bunch of other material. My gosh these guys have to do a huge amount of study to get across the line as qualified animal physios.

Both dogs were happy to help out, Rhu in particular enjoyed the extra cuddles whilst she is peak emotion 😂

Holistic Animal Physiotherapy you do wonderful work!

11/09/2024

This is Ollie.

Ollie is a Border Collie x Kelpie. He has some big feelings about people, and of late has escalated his behaviour when moving them out of his space.

Behaviour is driven by emotion, and Ollie is scared. He’s pretty nervous and low confidence, has found a way to keep himself safe, and if it works - keep at it.

We had a wonderful first session together. We had clear, meaningful conversations in play and with the leash, and Ollie learned that new people can be kinda awesome.

Behavioural problems are the symptom, we must address the cause. Often the answer is not just to tackle the issue head on, but instead to develop the dog.

I’m really excited to work with this team. We have plans to develop advocacy from his humans, build generalised confidence, implement clarity, provide breed-specific fulfilment, and a bunch of other measures to equip Ollie to be more at ease in the world he lives in.

Exciting times ahead for Team Ollie 💫

06/09/2024

Maggie is holding down the fort this weekend whilst I head off to NSW for the Northern Rivers PSA mock trial.

There’s a bunch of road closures so make sure you leave extra time to get there for your awesome classes with her!

𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙: 𝘚𝑢𝘯𝑑𝘢𝑦 8𝘵ℎ 𝑆𝘦𝑝𝘵𝑒𝘮𝑏𝘦𝑟

🚗 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲
Due to the Ironman on Sunday 8th September, the Sunshine Motorway will be closed between Buderim Avenue and Coolum Roundabout on Sunday morning.

Alternative routes may be congested. Please leave additional time to get to and from class if you attend this week.

🐕 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
Due to being a trainer down this weekend, Excellence will be training at 9am with Reliability

06/09/2024

This is Addie. Addie is wonderfully bonkers ❤️ Little dog, giant personality!

Ads is a recent rehome. I’ve been working with her fantastic humans to help her settle into her new home and integrate with sweet older boy Rossi the JRT (second pic).

Addie has some pretty big feelings about dogs, so we are currently developing some tools for the toolbox to tackle this.

These two littles have an amazing human team supporting them. I look forward to every session with these guys and seeing them make progress.

05/09/2024

Little Rhu is having a rough time of it today 🥺

She’s come into season, which is an emotional time for an already very emotional dog. To top it off, she’s shredded both her front feet and is having a hard time moving around.

I foresee rom-coms, cuddles and snacks in her immediate future 😂

A few days of rest and fingers crossed her feet will be back to rights. We both miss the work when we can’t do it together. Fortunately, her appetite for training doesn’t diminish when she’s in season.

Rest up RhuRhu, I’ve got cool stuff planned for us to train!