Pawsitive Vibe Fitness

04/07/2024

Dog Agility Course for Beginners or more advanced dogs starting soon! Learn how to jump, weave, tunnel and more at Agility Training! 8 weeks course only for $350 with no more than 5 dogs in the group. If you have any questions, please reach out! We are looking forward to hearing from you! 🐶🧡 Contact us here via messenger, comment below or visit www.pawsitivevibefitness.com/agility for bookings.

10/04/2024

Hi there!

Dog Agility course starting in your local area soon! 🐶

Beginners courses, ‘8 weeks Agility Courses’, are suitable for dogs of small and large breeds, younger or older!

Come and join us on fun from the 29th of April after school holidays!

You will learn about:
- Importance of Motivation
- Recall Training
- Building confidence around obstacles such as tunnel, moving planks and jumps
- Building handler focus
- Mat Training

This sport is great for anybody who enjoys to spend time with pup doing fun activities in your local park!

Our classes are limited for 5 participants per group so please don’t hesitate and reach out to us about availabilities via contact form at www.pawsitivevibefitness.com!

Looking forward to hear from you! 🙂

Improve your dog's agility, fitness, and obedience with Pawsitive Vibe Fitness's training classes. Led by experienced trainer in a fun and positive environment. Sign up now!

31/03/2024

Hi Everyone!

Bookings for our 8 week Agility Course in Randwick are open now at our website!

Agility is a great opportunity for you and your pup to bond through fun activities, learn new skills or just to spice up your morning routine for you and your dog!

Beginners course is good for all types of dogs at any level of obedience and physical attributes 🐶

Would you like to give it a go? Register today via our website in BIO or contact me for more information!

We take only 5 dogs per group so please register asap since spots are filling up quickly! :)

Thank you!

21/03/2024

Pound Paws is a non-profitable organisation bringing awareness of pet adoption and education for the community about responsible pet ownership!

They do all of that through many fun events such as ‘Sausage Dog Ninja Warrior’, ‘Bondi Doggie Lifeguard Challenge’(which we are proudly participating on), ‘Pound Paws Dog Day’ and more! 🤩

Thank You for generously including us in your Business Directory to help with a promotion this small business and especially for finding loving homes for many many pups! 🐶 ❤️

26/01/2024

Hi everyone, Agility Course in Centennial Park (Randwick) and Burns Bay Reserve (Riverview) is finalising it’s bookings for this term, this Sunday!

Agility is a fun sport for both, dog and the handler! Don’t hesitate and sign up today via website or contact us for more information! 🙂🐶

Www.pawsitivevibefitness.com

Looking forward to hearing from you! :)

Improve your dog's agility, fitness, and obedience with Pawsitive Vibe Fitness's training classes. Led by experienced trainer in a fun and positive environment. Sign up now!

17/01/2024

Hi Everyone and especially dog owners!

As a dog owners, we understand, how important it is, to have a nice bond with our dogs! I would like to let you know that Agility is one of sports which is based on trust and good communication between handler and their dog! Agility can get very fast and it’s fun! And this month, we are kicking off 8 weeks Agility Course which you and your pup can join!

From the 29th of January in Randwick, Centennial Park and Burns Bay Reserve in Riverview! There are no limits to age, size, level of obedience, or training experience! Everyone is welcome!

I’ve included all necessary information on my website below in Q&A section if you would like to learn more. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions, and hopefully you would join us on some fun this year! 🙂 

Private sessions are also available!

Thank you. Marek

Www.pawsitivevibefitness.com/agility

24/08/2023

Routines ❌ vs Consistency ✅ in correlation with Dog’s ANXIETY 🐶

Dogs, similarly to humans are creatures of habits. Habit can be good and bad. Good habits/routines for us as humans could be brushing our teeth every morning or having a good body stretch after long working hours.

Unlike humans, dogs might suffer from having same routines over and over again.

Since dogs don’t generalise training they can find very difficult to adapt to changes. New environments and situations they haven’t been exposed before - dog minding with strange people at new place while being fed at different times of the day.

Other example could be a puppy who hasn’t been yet crate trained, and is exposed first time to Groomer or vet. Staying in the crate for the first time in its life without any family member or support nearby. Can be quite scary!

What about staying in new Airbnb or flying overseas with dog in the baggage area?

In order to keep your dog healthy and resilient to changes apply tiny changes in your daily life.

1. Change location of the food bowl
2. Eating from hand instead of bowl
3. Having dinner at 5pm instead of 7pm
4. Sleeping in the living room instead of bedroom
5. Going for walk at different time
6. Take different route to the park
7. Take your dog for swim instead of going to the park

Is there any other way you can make change to your pups daily routine?

Consistency with training at new locations and changes in daily routines can significantly improve dogs resilience and recovery after being exposed to a new change!

Stay consistent with training, not habitual!

05/08/2023

GENETICS 🧬 🐶

Genetics play important role in dogs life and certainly it will affect the training and all aspects of dogs life!

I love Jen & Ryan Tate’s advice in their book ‘How to train your dog’ to think of some behaviours as a ‘Genetic Gift’ rather than ‘Behavioural issues’!

Different dogs often display different behaviours such as Labradors running while mouthing different objects in the house, Beagles wondering off when sniffing, Jack Russels chasing small animals.

Instead of stopping and suppressing those behaviours we should harness them and use them as an outlet for our dogs. Therefore it’s important before getting a new pup to choose one, which will meet our needs and lifestyle!

I remember back in Slovakia, people used to own mostly large dogs for protection. Now in Australia I own large French Mastiff Cross as a result of my past where I felt safer with a large dog and now we also have Cavoodle for its therapeutic skills, making me and my wife happy!

Here are some examples how genetics can affect the future of the dog regardless of training or further investigation:

1. Pug who’s parents had surgical adjustments of breathing ways might indicate that all puppies in the litter will have same issue.

2. If you buy German shepherd who’s parents were nervous and barky towards people might develop in puppy aggressive traits before turning 2 years old if not trained and socialised properly.

3. If you get Rotweiler who’s parents had hip dysplasia, that might affect puppy’s health and might need to avoid high intensity exercises in the future

4. Kelpie who comes from very strong working line might enthusiastically start nipping ankles and herd people or other animals.

There is no perfect dog or breed. Every dog has a different special gift and traits which will suit different peoples lifestyle or tasks to perform.

📚Information above are taken from Jen & Ryan Tate’s book ‘How to train your dog’. Simply written, easy to read book for beginners or more advanced trainers!

25/07/2023

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Similarly to the song, today I woke up so thankful! I was pondering how thankful I’m for my beautiful wife, stinky dogs 😄, loving family, dream work and all people I’ve met 🙏

There is a crazy amount of things to be thankful for. Sometimes it’s easy to forget about all good things we got and instead, focusing on ONE thing which doesn’t go right at the moment! ❌

What things are you thankful for? Are there any difficult moments in your past which made you better, kinder, more humble or stronger?
.I’ve definitely got more humble after leaving Slovakia 🇸🇰, sweet home where I had everything! I arrived to the other side of the world 🗺️ 🇦🇺 where I had nothing, but freedom to explore what is the world about ❤️

24/07/2023

WHAT DOES WIKIPEDIA SAY ABOUT DOG AGILITY?

“Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. The handler's controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler.”
.And it’s fun! 🤩 🐶

🔍 Www.En.wikipedia.org/wiki/dog_agility

18/07/2023

4 THINGS TO REMEMBER BEFORE YOUR NEXT TRAINING SESSION 🐶

1. Low distraction environment with dog on the leash
2. Pouch full of high value rewards
3. Short and Fun session
4. Don’t repeat yourself!

#1 Choosing environment where dog can focus is a key. If we don’t have dogs attention it makes it difficult to try to explain something new!

#2 Usually smelly and wet treats seems to work best.

#3 In other words, finish on HIGH! If your dog showed signs of tiredness or being bored such as yawning, sniffing, looking away, shaking .. you probably finished session when you felt good about it but not when dog did. Next time we might finish a bit earlier on a good note!

#4 If your dog doesn’t respond even after repeating command, you teach your dog to ignore you. Dog is learning that our commands are only optional. The most challenging time can come when it comes to recall! Use commands only in the situation you trained before and you are confident that dog can do it!

18/07/2023

4 things to remember before the Dog training!

1. Low distraction environment with dog on the leash
2. Pouch full of high value rewards
3. Short and Fun session
4. Don’t repeat yourself!

#1 Choosing environment where dog can focus is a key. If we don’t have dogs attention it makes it difficult to try to explain something new!

#2 Usually smelly and wet treats seems to work best.

#3 In other words, finish on HIGH! If your dog showed signs of tiredness or being bored such as yawning, sniffing, looking away, shaking .. you probably finished session when you felt good about it but not when dog did. Next time we might finish a bit earlier on a good note!

#4 If your dog doesn’t respond even after repeating command, you teach your dog to ignore you. Dog is learning that our commands are only optional. The most challenging time can come when it comes to recall! Use commands only in the situation you trained before and you are confident that dog can do it!

25/05/2023

Great article about Dog Owner’s Responsibilities from my friend Nadia who worked as a ranger and now as a dog trainer in Drummoyne, Artarmon and Lane Cove Area. She runs great group and puppy classes. Visit her at Training Mutts! 🐶🐾

Do you know what your responsibilities are as a dog owner?

I worked at the City of Sydney council for almost 9 years. A large part of my role was working in the Companion Animals section. I loved meeting dogs in the community and being involved in pet days, but there was another side of the job role.
Being surrounded by clowns was mandatory, I investigated numerous dog attacks, attended to barking dog complaints, transported many dogs to the pound, patrolled the parks for dogs off leash, issued animal registration letters, made sure dogs were not in prohibited places such as (children’s playgrounds and ovals) and made sure owners cleaned after their dogs.

Whilst the Companion Animal Act can be quite broad in its description of a dog attack. It is pretty straightforward when it comes to owner obligations. But there is a stack of them..

Below are the most important things for you to know..

✔️Your dog must be microchipped (This should be done when you get your puppy)

✔️You need to put your details on your dogs microchip so that it can be returned to you if it goes missing

‼️Remember to keep this updated if you change any of your details like your address or phone number. (The majority of found dogs reported to council end up being transported to the pound due to incorrect contact information on the dogs microchip details)‼️

✔️You need to register your dog with your local council. Dogs, must be registered by 6 months of age. The registration fee is a once-only payment, which covers the dog for its lifetime in NSW. (it is cheaper to register them if they are desexed)

✔️Your Dog needs to wear collar and tag with your details on it

✔️A dog that is in a public place must be under the effective control of some competent person by means of an adequate chain, cord or leash that is attached to the dog and that is being held by (or secured to) the person.
‼️(The person must be above the age of 16 years)‼️

✔️You must pick up after your dog and dispose of it correctly in a bin

❌Your dog cannot be in a children’s playground or other prohibited zones‼️

‼️Read the park signs for on leash or off leash notifications‼️(Living in Lane Cove dogs are permitted on most ovals, in the City of Sydney Council area, dogs are not allowed on ANY oval)

‼️Please be aware that each ranger is different and some council areas do not allow for warnings, only fines for non compliance ‼️

14/05/2023

The most important thing to consider before we jump into a training with our pup is dog’s motivation. Motivation to perform our chosen set of skills.

Let’s have a look on the Motivation types. Similarly for humans and dogs we have Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation.

1. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Inner motivation is when dog does things because he loves it or feels better afterwards.

For example:
Running because dog feel fulfilled and happier
Chewing on the bone because it helps them to relax their mind

Motivation differs for each dog. What can be motivating for one doesn’t have to be for the other dog.
For instance my Toy-Cavoodle, Missy, loves sun baking. She finds the smallest part of the sun and stays there for hours. However this might not be as pleasant for Husky with very warm coat. My other dog Jake who is Mastiff X loves chewing on toys and ripping them apart, however other dogs like Cavalier might not enjoy this kind of activity.

Intrinsic Motivation is an act of doing something without external reward.

2. EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Motivation to do something in order to enjoy the reward, treat, praise, game or their combination.
Dogs start doing what we train them for initially, because of the motivation behind that (chicken, cheese, play..). This is called Extrinsic Motivation.

Do you know what your dog enjoys the most with you? Is it tug of war? Ball fetch? Wrestle? Chase? Treats? Find it out and have a fun time with your dog.
Genetic predispositions of the dog can help to choose the game. Retrievers may enjoy fetch games, terriers may enjoy tug of war.
If we choose treats, not just dry treats but some with moisture as well.

If the motivation isn’t too great, or work is too hard, motivation to keep trying for it decreases. Therefore, keep training simple and fun!
Break steps of each exercise down and prepare your dog for success. Lastly, follow it by amazing reward! Reward is crucial to bring it to the next level.

Once your dog learned new skill and is able to perform it for less and less treats it may become an Intrinsic Motivation what generally leads to the most pawsome outcomes!

30/04/2023

How to approach a strange dog?

We often think that every dog especially those cute one enjoy patting and an attention from others 🐶

Since the Covid pandemic has started we have been able to identify more of the dogs that are suffering from anxiety due to lack of socialisation.

Therefore, many dogs don’t enjoy being patted or even approached by any strangers.

Other dogs might avoid only particular people with specific visual features, smells or movements which may be related to their past bad experiences where they have been abused or exposed to the stressful situation.

Dog who suffers from any kinds of anxiety could show fear aggressive or aggressive behaviour towards the stranger by showing warning signs in a good scenario. However, some dogs may learned that there is no point in showing any warning signs and they will attack without letting know ⚠️

To keep everyone feeling and actually being safe follow mentioned steps in the slideshow when approaching a dog.

📖 Credit to Steve Austin’s workshop ‘Dangerous Dog’.

21/12/2022

First bunch of photos from our Christmas party 🎉
Few photos from our Friday group!
Congratulation for being the best! Overall winner 🏆 🤩🎉👏

Thank you guys for all your help with preparation of this event ! ♥️j and Tom and Trish for packing up🙏

Thank you for generosity and support with photos of the event! 🙏

21/12/2022

Our Friday Group at Christmas Pawty!
Congratulations to Ted to his pawsome first place! 🏆
First photos done from Eternity Focused Photography 🤩

08/12/2022

Learn how to prevent Fear Aggression in dogs 2

It wasn’t that far ago when Ivan Pavlov introduced Counter-Conditioning back in 1927 and changed the history of the dog training! Pavlov found out that after presenting food to the dog, it started to salivate. After this realisation Pavlov started to ring the bell before presenting food. After some repetitions dog have associated the ringing bell and food together and therefore have started to salivate after hearing the bell 🔔

Applying Pavlovian Conditioning to dog training we can start use those triggering situation (tall men, other dog, hoover) as a ringing bell! Dog sees the trigger and get a yummy treat! Important is to reward a dog when he/she sees the trigger but being neutral rather than displaying lunging, barking or growling. To achieve that, we can increase distance between dog and the trigger to distance which is comfortable. So, dog sees the trigger but still being under the threshold.

Remember to teach your dog rather than what NOT TO DO, teach what TO DO. They could come back to you for a treat or fun game when seeing a trigger!

Other important thing to remember is that if we train our, let’s say, guarding dog, for 5 minutes per day being calm while trigger is nearby, but dog will spent other 10 hours ⏱️ of the day showing aggressive behaviour towards the trigger behind the fence while we are away, we are not going to influence and improve the behaviour. Opposite to this, it might get worse!

Article based on 📖 Jen & Ryan Tate
How to train your dog

03/12/2022

How to prevent Fear Aggression in dogs🐕
PART1

Behaviours such as aggression, fearfulness can be displayed as a learned behaviour after specific events or as a result of the longterm breeding. Some particular skills such as guarding, chasing the prey, have dogs learned due to breeding for many generations 🐺. If both mother and father of the litter were displaying for example resource guarding it’s very likely that puppies🐶 will act in the same way. Therefore, get to know the breeder from litter you want to obtain the dog or get as much information about history of your chosen dog from the pound.

Dogs find different events, subjects, animals or even noice triggering/stressful and therefore displaying fearful or aggressive behaviour as a response to it.
It can be a hoover, pram, men with beard 🧔‍♂️, kids or different types of dogs that could become a stressful stimulus for our dogs. We often see this behaviour due to an association with an unpleasant situations (men with beard accidentally stepping on puppy’s tail, kid 👧 pulling dogs ear, dog acting rudely toward the other..) OR no exposure to such a things as a pram, hoover, storm ⛈️ etc. back in the puppyhood.

To be continued in the next post..

28/11/2022

“Every dog's happiness is greatly affected by how many physical activities she is involved in each day. There is an old saying: 'A tired dog is a good dog. Now, of course, the concept of being overtired and grumpy does exist in dogs too, but generally speaking, a dog who is appropriately mentally and physically stimulated is a much easier dog to live with.”

Ensuring your dog has enough outlets is however only a part of the puzzle piece 🧩 for a happy dog!

📖 How to train your dog
Jen & Ryan Tate

I have received the best book from my wife Emma for my Birthday last weekend and wanted to share something from it with you. Highly recommended for everyone!

22/10/2022

Pain Sensitivity 🐕
Winter time is well known as a Bindi time 🤕 That made me think more about different pain sensitivity in various breeds so I’ve looked into it and found one study based on which I made this little article 📖

Since gradations of painful stimuli on canines in order to measure their pain tolerance is bridging with research ethics there were no such a projects done to have exact data available.

However there is a way around this and there are few studies based on veterinarians and dog owner’s, subjective opinion (online ratings) about their specific breeds pain tolerance. In the study below are included 28 dog breeds (1000 dogs).

Both veterinarians and the general public rated smaller dogs (based on height and weight) as more sensitive to pain.

According to this, here are few breeds which were rated as the least sensitive by the veterinarians (1.Mastiff, 2.Pitbull, 3.Labrador and 4.Golden retriever) and 5 by the general public (1.Doberman, 2.Rotweiler, 3.Mastiff and 4.German Shepherd)

According to this, here are few breeds which were rated as the most sensitive by the veterinarians (1.Chihuahua, 2.Maltese, 3.Pomeranian and 4.Husky ) and 5 by the general public (1.Maltese, 2.Chihuahua, 3.Pomeranian and 4.Daschund)

Whole research here ⬇️
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7077843/

Sensitivity of dogs vary greatly depending on the breed and size. Mastiffs and fighting breeds seems to have a more resiliency, however always smiling Golden Retriever and Labrador are still making it to the top 5 based on this study 📚😁

However, back to the bindis! Many pups find it difficult to run on bindis without any padding.

Our amazing buddy Ziggy from the Agility recommends to all his furry friends using booties (socks underneath for more padding) for a quick training session! 🐶

26/09/2022

Multi-pet Household

My wife Emma and I have two dogs and it wasn’t always easy with their introduction.

Jake is a large almost 50 kg breed who loves to play rough and Missy 5kg Toy Cavoodle who is very gentle, but both are energetic.

Here are some tips when it comes to a new dog.

Start with introducing new family member to an older dog in neutral territory, outside of the house where they can meet and play. Especially with two older dogs who might have predispositions to protect their territory from strangers, like Jake (Mastiff x). Introducing puppy to the family might be easier as they’re prone to submit if needed.

In case of a new puppy, It’s very common that we can get fussy about them. Be careful to not to exclude older dog and share attention to both of them evenly.

The most important advice I can give is to teach them how to settle down. When dogs like each other they might act overexcited when see each other. I love to see my dogs play, but I personally prefer to let them enjoy outside in the garden or at park. Home is a calm place where we all can relax and enjoy each others company in a safe environment not to worry about anything.

Keeping them separated in your absence is a good idea to avoid any conflicts or broken vases :)

📖 David Alderton - Your dog interpreter

04/08/2022

🎓Offered Attention (Eye contact)
Offered Eye Contact is a great skill where dog pays close attention to it’s owner. It can be a substitute for unwanted behaviour what could be pulling the direction where the dog wants to go, jumping or barking. Eye contact can be a great communication skill which can be automatic so you don't have to ask for it. 

🐶 WHY TO TRAIN IT?  It's easier to have a dog following you, if you have dog's attention! This command can be learned as a default behaviour to get something what they want rather then showing it their own, special, way (barking, jumping..)
🐶 HOW TO TRAIN IT? 
Stand still until your pup look up to you. Reward ASAP with a tasty treat, play or moving the direction (could be over the jump) your dog want's to go.  

🐶 HOW TO USE IT IN AGILITY? Set up your dog in front of the favourite obstacle and wait.. It might take a while at the beginning, so be patient!! As soon as your dog look up to you, give a command (name of the favourite obstacle) and let your dog go for it! Smile and reward pup accordingly! :)) 
🐶 TIP: Being quick with a command after offered eye contact will set up your dog for success and will make him/her faster in doing it! 

📸Always photogenic Bentley going for it, after automatic eye contact, indeed!😄🐶

17/07/2022

17.6.2022 First month with my most beautiful wifey Mrs Emma Contosfalsky (). Can't wait to celebrate with you year after year, my love! ###

Big shout out to for fantastic photos!

14/07/2022

Last spots available! 🐩

Lane Cove - Blackman Park and Eastern Suburbs Agility open from the next week!

Eastern Suburbs
Friday 7:00am spot still available!

Lane Cove West
Tuesday 9:00 am open for Beginners
Thursday 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00am still open for bookings!

Contact me via text message, email or directly book your spot on our website in the BIO (www.pawsitivevibefitness.com)

🐕🐩🐕🐩🐕🐩🐕🐩🐕🐩🐕🐩

08/07/2022

New courses available this July!

All dogs and humans involved in Agility learn new skills, have fun, meet new friends and improve their health! Put your best paw forward and let's get started today!

New courses are starting on Thursday 21st of July and Tuesday 26th of July in the morning hours at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00am.

Group is limited to a maximum number of 5 dog-human teams per class!

Don’t hesitate to contact us today and secure your spot!

The course consists of 6 consecutive sessions for $200 per team.

Dog Agility at Blackman Park, Lane Cove West.

We hope to see you soon 🙂🐶

Contact Form:
https://www.pawsitivevibefitness.com/copy-of-about

06/07/2022

From working animals to pets

Very dramatic shift in dog ownership occurred in the past century. Dogs were before used predominantly as a working companions however they are more pets and household companions.

This can cause difficulties as dogs cannot simply abandon their ancestral past, and become household companions.

Collies for example were used for thousands of years as sheep dogs and they can easily became bored or even destructive if not having sufficient amount of exercise.

Mastiffs are natural guardians and sometimes aggressive in their relationship with other dogs as they origins date back to the days when dogfighting was a popular sport.

All dogs are individuals as we are, and therefore is important to choose a dog accordingly to it’s ancestry rather then appearance.

~ How to understand Man’s best friend David Alderton 📚

03/05/2022

The sun is coming out and Agility in your local park is about to start next week! 🐶

Few more spots left at Beginners Agility- Tuesday 8:30 and 9:30am!

6 weeks course




Only for $200

Follow the link and book in or contact us if you have any questions 😃⬇️ℹ️

https://www.pawsitivevibefitness.com/bookings-open-online

29/04/2022

Agility for newbies! Beginners class introduces you to the sport of dog agility and gives you the foundation skills needed to run courses 🐶

You'll start training jumps and the tunnel, learn beginning handling techniques, and play on moving surfaces and raised planks to gain confidence for contact obstacles.

This class is suitable for dogs of any age, including puppies and seniors, as all obstacles can be modified to make them easier and safer for growing or ageing bodies.

Bookings are available now in Blackman Park, Lane Cove West!
New courses commence on the 10th of May!

We have a limited number of 5 participants per course so don't hesitate to secure your spot.

For more information visit our website or contact us privately ⬇️ℹ️

https://www.pawsitivevibefitness.com/bookings-open-online