Monica Vanthoff - The Gentle Dog Co.

03/11/2024

03/11/2024

31/10/2024

WITCH HAT FUN! 🧙‍♀️

Costumes aren’t always a dog’s favourite thing, especially headbands!. Dogs aren’t used to wearing them, so it can feel a bit strange at first. But with Charlie & Peppa, 2 Staffy girls, I turned this into a fun game! 🐾

Instead of asking them to stay still, I invited them to play with the hat and enjoy some treats along the way. I truly had a great time and couldn’t help but laugh and they laughed too, I swear!. You can see their soft faces, BIG smiles, and even their eyes closing with joy 😄🐶🐶

This is a perfect example of EMOTIONAL CONTAGION in action.
My laughter and joy had a positive effect on Charlie & Peppa, making them feel happy and playful as well. Emotions, whether positive or negative, can spread from one mammal to another. In this case, my joy created a fun atmosphere that encouraged them to join in and enjoy the moment.

Making these human-animal connections is what HOWL-O-WEEN is about! 🎃👻💜

31/10/2024

TOY TIME! 🎃👻🧟

We had an absolute blast choosing the perfect spooky toys for each of our doggy clients! 🐶 From creepy creatures upside-down in a cauldron to bloody knives, every toy was hand-picked with care and love💜

Check out these fun clips 🎥 of us opening the bags of toys at our new Dog Training & Enrichment Center in Hornsby! 🐾 This new space is adding so much fun to our doggies and makes projects like this go so smoothly 😄

31/10/2024

SNEAK PEEK INTO OUR HOWL-O-WEEN! 🎃👻🧙

The First Spooky Bags Are Ready! 🧙

We love Howl-o-Ween! 🐾 It’s always such a fun time with our doggy clients! 🐶 Here’s a little sneak peek as we prep our first SPOOKY BAGS 👻 filled with frightfully fun dog toys! 🧟 Let’s take a look at the first two bags. Don’t they look amazing?. We just know our doggies are going to love them!.

04/08/2024

THANK YOU! 🌸

Check out this awesome gift package we have for our amazing pet sitting clients! 🎁✨

It’s packed with goodies, including our stylish pen 🖊️, handy note pad 📒, and a gorgeous calico bag 🛍️ featuring our beloved Crumpy, the doggie who started it all 🐶❤️

But that’s not all!. We also include a special surprise for our doggies 🐕 It's our way of showing how much we appreciate you and your doggies! 🎉

04/08/2024

TEAM MOLLY & LOUIS here! 🐶🐶

Hi everyone again 😊

Just wanted to share a sneak peek of our fantastic first pet sitting with Molly and Louis 🐾 Their human parents were planning to go away for a few days. called us and we had a free meet & greet at their home 🏡 and we were set to go.

A few days later, we started our pet sitting adventure. We are called ''Team Molly & Louis'' because we work as a team to make sure our doggie clients are well taken care of.

Our first day started playing lots of fun indoor games, including some sniffing games which they absolutely loved. And, in the afternoon, Molly and Louis explored a beautiful big park with lots of bush to sniff 🐕🌳 They were so well-behaved and full of energy!.

Back home, we made a ''snuflle mat course'' for them where they had a ball sniffing and finding their dinner. It was such a joy to watch them use their noses! 🎉

We also made sure Molly & Louis got plenty of cuddles each day 🥰 We sent photos and videos to the their parents daily because them enjoying their break and having peace of mind is very important to us.

We're so grateful for all our amazing clients and we never take them for granted. We always strive to go above and beyond. Looking forward to more adventures with Molly & Louis!

04/08/2024

TEAM MOLLY & LOUIS here! 🐶🐶

Hi everyone! 😊

Just wanted to share these touching photos... This is how we found Molly and Louis when we arrived at their home, looking a bit sad at the window as their human parents went away.

Did you know that dogs feel sadness, just like us?. Sadness is one of the 7 core emotions all mammals (including humans) have, as Dr. Jaak Panksepp’s studies show 🥹💔

But do NOT worry. As professional pet sitters, we understand our doggie clients and are ready to fullfill their basic, social, emotional, and cognition/enrichment needs.

We take our enrichment toys to keep their minds busy 🧠🧩✨ and content. We give them all the love and care 🥰 And we keep pet parents updated daily with photos and videos📷🎥

Now, Molly & Louis know us and will be happy to see us next time 🥳

06/03/2024

𝐃𝐎𝐆 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

A 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲 for Marley & Brady, the world's best buddies 🌏🐶💕

Today, we had another magical 1/2 day doggie daycare just for Marley, the Groodle, once very shy, and Brady, a bit reactive and wary. They've transformed into 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 through our

We started our day at various places, embracing play and socialisation. Our last place to visit was Barra Brui Oval, a huge dog park that is hardly crowded. Marley, in a moment of pure bliss, chose to lie down and chill out (with his next to him) Meanwhile, Brady was scratching his back on the grass and watching the world go by.

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 is essential for our canine friends. Dogs get stressed too and could reach their ''stress thresdhold'' any day and snap to something or someone they used to be ok with like a visitor to your house, a neighbour, a child, another dog, etc.

Marley and Brady wrapped up their adventure with a super fun activity, turning this day into the absolute best! 💯 Check out the next post to find out and do the same for your doggie.

Ready for our 𝟏/𝟐 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬?. Contact The Gentle Dog Company today, and let's create a magical decompression adventure for your dog 🐾🍃✨

06/03/2024

A MAGICAL DOG ADVENTURE FOR CHARLIE & PEPPA 🌳🐶 ✨

Embarking on our weekly adventure to St Ives Showground with Charlie and Peppa, two Staffies, who live in the Upper North Shore. Peppa likes to jump on the front seat and enjoys the ride while Charlie prefers the back of the van. Dogs are unique and they have their own preferences and that's ok.

🎥 Video 1: Look how Peppa likes to take in the place although she's been there before many times. Some dogs need to process a place time and time again because although it looks the same to us, it's not the same for the dogs. Dogs sense of smell are much more perceptive than ours. The same place is never ''the same'' and they have all the right to process it as much as they need it.

🎥 Video 2: Walking & Sniffing, one of their favourite things to do. The girls know they are safe with me and trust me as much as I trust them. I wouldn't dare to walk 2 reactive dogs that could lunge, drag me, and hurt a dog or be hurt by a dog. It's taken baby steps and 100% force free training approach. They've certainly come a long way and I'm so proud of Charlie and Peppa.

🎥 Video 3: Playing & Training in the dog pens. Look at them!. I'm not ordering to stay with me. I'm just giving them the CHOICE to train and stay with me OR go and bark at the dogs in the next dog pens or outside the dog pens. I don't teach obedience. I teach dogs to make the best choices for them.

📷 The photos show the girls back in the van 🐶🐶 Notice Peppa chose to go with Charlie at the back of the van, and of course, that's fine by me. We watched the world for a few minutes and were ready to head back home.

Ready for a magical doggy adventure?. Contact The Gentle Dog Company today, and let's create a magical outing for your dog 🐶🌈✨

16/11/2021

15/11/2021

Pet sitting Alfie & Hank 🐶🐶 again!!!

I loved to spend special time together and play sniffing games with this beautiful teenager Rhodesian Ridgeback and his little buddy, a very shy Boston Terrier. It is the second time I travel to their home to take special care of them.

I also did an online animal behaviour course. I like to print all the modules and articles, and bind them into a book 📒 I always carry my ''blue bucket'' signed by from Domesticated Manners and creator of the a great tool to train husbandry behaviours (clipping nails, grooming, physical examinations, etc).

I am always surrounded by dogs and beautiful people, there is plenty of work and I feel very blessed 🌈










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15/11/2021

Pet sitting a beautiful teenager Rhodesian Ridgeback on the weekend.