The Dog Project

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Australia
Wollongong, NSW
The Dog Project

The Dog Project was founded in 2010 to provide the local community with easily accessible dog training classes and advice.
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The Dog Project provides dog training classes & individual consultations for puppies and adult dogs, behaviour modification solutions for common problems, and guidance and assistance with any dog related behaviour enquiries. We work throughout Wollongong and the Illawarra. The Dog Project's mission is to help Australian dog owners better communicate with their dogs so that they can live happily to

gether. We focus on developing a great relationship between owner and dog, balancing obedience and calm with lots of fun. We use positive rewards-based training methods which are fun, but most importantly, effective.

14/11/2024

More puppy brightness for a cloudy drizzly day 🌞
Congratulations to Bowie, Jalepeno, Jagger, Zanthie & Bonnie on graduating Puppy Preschool last week!

12/11/2024

If dogs charging your door are a challenge or potential safety issue (either re escaping or reactivity) then creating a highly reinforced safe-space where they also can't access the open door can be a win-win. More tips from the Pet Professional Guild Australia here...

11/11/2024

Jojo, Scouse & Willow graduated Puppy Preschool on the weekend. Congratulations gorgeous team!

We've got 2 more puppy schools starting before the end of the year: Sat 16th in Gwynneville & Thurs 21st in Dapto.

04/11/2024

Congratulations to our recent Puppy Preschool graduates Baxter & Bobbi!
Little super stars 🌟🌟
Baxter quickly loved the tunnel while Bobbi made-up her graduation class by joining, & smashing, a Dog Skills class.
Clever pups ♡

31/10/2024

Shadow's Halloween outfit can only be appreciated via video ♡🎃

31/10/2024

Happy Halloween 🎃
Alfie & Willow rocking some spooky (?) (cute!) outfits in Dog Skills & K9 Nose Work 😍

28/10/2024

3 very different breeds & 3 pups who played fabulously together. They even changed their style a bit depending on their play mate 😍 Such a great group of pups.
Congratulations Bronte, Ellie & Daisy!

Our final Puppy Preschool for Kiama this year kicks off next week!
Tues 5th Nov at 7pm with a live-online theory session then 4 weeks of practical fun with the pups.
See our website for full details: https://thedogproject.com.au/puppy-training/

24/10/2024

We've met a bunch of new clients over the past 2 weeks including this stunner. Bruno is in fabulous hands. He was a total show-off with his lead-walking skills (his handler was just as clever, picked it up so quickly). Dogs are living, breathing creatures so behaviour fluctuates but Bruno & his family are building a strong reinforcement history for desirable outcomes, & lovely confidence to boot.

17/10/2024

It's the girls' turn now. Gorgeous Penny, who is also deaf, & Daisy are off to Level 2 🌟

Being deaf means ensuring clarity with hand signals, & this team are rocking that.

13/10/2024

These boys have graduated a level of Dog Skills 🌟
Zuko to Level 2 & Louie to Level 3.

Louie is a little special in that he's deaf. His handlers are awesome in their clarity with hand cues. Lack of hearing doesn't impact his focus or skills ♡

Zuko is very motivated & has come into this term much more able to split his attention away from our Instructors.

Great job boys!!

11/10/2024

DOG SKILLS is back from tomorrow!

Come join the fun & camaraderie at our fabulous venue.
We teach you to teach your dog lots & lots of useful skills, focused on real-life applications. Enjoy your lead walks, build a reliable recall, comfortably navigate vet visits & the cafe. And lots more.

More info here: https://thedogproject.com.au/dog-skills/
Existing members renew your package here: https://thedogproject.dogbizpro.com/Public/Registration/Packages.aspx

And, if you graduated puppy preschool with us or Sonia Says Sit, no Welcome class is needed!

18/09/2024

Benson, Kovu, Moose & Hope graduated Puppy Preschool recently 😍
Super cute & clever - lots of helpful tricks on board plus fun ⭐️

13/09/2024

Our inaugural Puppy Preschool graduates from Kiama Vet. Congratulations to Margot, Rocky, Chilli & Oakley 😍

12/09/2024

Spring is sprung, so some spring-themed hides in K9 Nose Work classes today.

09/09/2024

Starting off the week with cutie Puppy Preschool graduates from Saturday. Great job Ollie, Artemis, Mabel & Sadie ⭐️🌟🤩🐶

08/09/2024

Over the years we've met a number of dogs who have found their forever home through The Dog House. If you're in the market for a dog, and comfortable with TV, this might be a good option.

Pet Professional Guild Australia are big fans of - If thinking of adopting and based in the Sydney region, reach out to the doghouse via the link below
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶

The Dog House Australia is a heartwarming television show that sees people of all kinds matched with the perfect rescue dog to adopt.

The hit Network 10 TV show is about to start filming its 5th season, and applications are still open to take part.

The Dog House Australia works hand in hand with the Animal Welfare League NSW to find the right dog for you and your family.

Their shelter is at capacity, with an 8-month waiting list to surrender, so it's more important than ever that more Aussies give a dog in need a fur-ever home.

If you've been thinking about adopting a dog, you can apply today at https://shortaudition.tv/The-Dog-House-S5

If you'd like to watch past episodes, you can do so at: https://10play.com.au/the-dog-house-australia

06/09/2024

Our Term 3 eNewsletter has just dropped!
Class updates, a blurb on adolesence and a little case study on the girl in this pic 😁 Plus a discount code for a FABULOUS book all about teenage dogs.
Check it out online https://thedogproject.com.au/blog/

Subscribe to receive it direct to your inbox:
https://forms.gle/pVzpHHobZvLPjw7u5

04/09/2024

Clever Flip & Digby are off to Level 3. Well done boys!

Address

Wollongong, NSW
2519

Website

http://www.thedogproject.com.au/, http://www.youtube.com/user/TheDogProjectAU, http://twitter.com/#!/TheDogProject

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Videos

Shadow's Halloween outfit can only be appreciated via video ♡🎃

Happy International Dog Day! A little dog play for fun. It gets a little heated but these two have great communication & calm things down themselves. Dog play can look & sound scary, so it's important to know your dog. I may have intervened if it had been a different duo, but these two have lots of trust in each other. I love watching them. 🥰 #beagle #goldenretriever #dogplay

Our Monday lunchtime Intro to Birch class are smashing it. Half way through & all definitely know birch is relevant 🤩 #nosework #k9nosework #scentwork

Thank you SO MUCH to Sutherland Shire Raw for sharing their space with us for a K9 Nose Work adventure yesterday! More pics to come but first of all check out the joy in Willow's body language as she works out there is birch hidden in HER shop 😍

Recently I saw a trainer using a prong collar on a Labrador at Stuart Park. Prong collars are banned in Victoria, Queensland & Tasmania, and are illegal to import into Australia. If you'd like to see what one looks like, check out this article: https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/are-pronged-collars-harmful-to-my-dog/ I asked them (politely) why they were using it. They gave me a number of reasons, and over the coming weeks I'm going to offer facts to challenge each & every one of those. First up, they said "harnesses teach a dog to pull". Dogs don't need a harness to pull. If an animal wants to head in a certain direction and is frustrated in their attempt, they are likely to first of all increase their force to try & counter the resistance. Some harnesses enable this force, and can make it tricky to handle a big, strong dog (or even a small strong dog!). However there are many harnesses that don't enable this: they work to counter that increased force attempt, but without inflicting pain. Search for "front-attach harness" or "front range harness" in a search engine and loads of different styles will pop up. There are even ones that help with dogs who can slip out of a harness. There's no need to inflict pain to reduce a behaviour when there are viable options to get the same result. This training walk video with Tucker isn't perfect, but we're focusing on reinforcing desired behaviour, and limiting unwanted behaviour via a front-attach harness. He's an incredibly strong dog.

Plus Red's super-cute roll over 🤩

I love this 'take a bow' cue 😍 Whippy in Dog Skills this week.

Some "can your dog read" fun in Dog Skills on Saturday. New skills can be tricky under distractions! A good party trick once fine-tuned 😊

Loose lead walking PROGRESS. Learning is never linear. It's wriggly up & down, but these guys are showing lovely recognition of the reinforcement zone. No harsh equipment required thank you 🥰 Dog Skills Level 2.

How do you teach loose lead walking without force? We focus on two elements: one is an 'enjoyable walk' (don't have to be in heel position - totally fine to explore & sniff as long as human's should is intact!) & the other is 'heel' (close to you - for short distances & to navigate busy spaces etc). And by working on 'heel' with engagement & cooperation from our dog, they start to offer it spontaneously more & more <3 Zali here is demonstrating one of the fun heel-work games we play in class: a couple of steps forward, marking & rewarding for position, then 'hey - chase me!' A lovely exercise to build engagement & value in that zone. #forcefreedogtraining

At 10 months old Flash is displaying many typical adolescent behaviours. Curious & confident, but then momentarily spooked by something, even if he's experienced it before (we were here a couple of weeks ago & he just trotted happily along 😜). It's normal & pups who've had lots of positive life experiences typically recover quickly. Flash finished his pier experience with much less startle body language & lots of curiosity. Perfect.