Toowoomba Canine Academy (2024)

09/12/2023

Our level 3 agility class, learning the tunnel and enjoying the cool breeze 😎 ☀️ 🐶

02/08/2023

Limited spots for our Term Four Classes left! 🐾

Current placements left are as follows;
Saturdays:
- 10.30am (level one), 1 spot left
- 12pm (level two), 3 spots left

Fridays:
- 4pm (level one), 3 spots left

Our classes are a mixture of obedience training, reactivity training, engagement and confidence building. Over our 6 week course, your dogs will learn the basics of obedience, the basics of agility training, species appropriate social skills, confidence in themselves and you as their handler, learn to engage with you better in distracting environments, and learn to ignore the other dogs and distractions whilst working. 🐕

Our classes are designed for pups of all ages and level of social skills! ✨

Not sure if it’s the right fit for you? Send through a message and let us help guide you through the sometimes daunting but exciting process of training your pup 🐶

29/07/2023

NEW CLASS ALERT! 🐕

TCA is excited to announce we are opening a third class on Friday afternoons! Due to interest, we have had to make space for more puppies to join in on their training journey. Let us know if you’d be interested in Feiday classes and we will send you some more info! 🐾

Here is a cute video of our little Ned learning to work between his mums legs. 🖤

29/07/2023

Frida’s first day learning the ‘selfie’ command! I think she got it mistaken for the “pretend-to-be-a backpack” command, but she still did amazingly and looked super cute doing it! 🖤🐕

29/07/2023

Some happy snaps from today! Getting all prepped for graduation next week! 🐾🖤

Featuring the three musketeers back at their post-class-play 🐶🐶🐶

24/07/2023

From impossible to manage to a reformed citizen!

The great Murphy, a St Bernard x Poodle. As you can see, Murphy could easily get mistaken for a bear 🐻 and when working with dogs of this size, it can be very challenging. When I first met Murphy, he was jumping fencing, lunging and push over people, mouthing and biting hard enough to break skin and tear clothes, and was near impossible to walk.

Now, after a couple of months of extremely hard work from his mum and little bit of guidance from TCA, we are able to take him outdoors and work with him in public.

Murphy is very aware of his size and in the past has used it to his advantage, whether to pull someone to ground, break free or just general destructive puppy behaviour. Now with the hard yards we’ve put in, we are able to work with him on some more advanced training and are hoping Murphy will be joining us for our next round of classes 🐻🖤

24/07/2023

Check out the beautiful Winnie, our resident Aussie Shepherd, absolutely acing learning to walk between her mums legs. Way to go Winnie! 🐾🖤

24/07/2023

Due to the nature of our new classes, it’s been very tricky to get photos as we have progressed onto doing some basic agility training which is a very hands on style of training. 🐶

Here are some of the snaps I have been able to get over the last couple of weeks (please enjoy the first photo of my very “elegant” Great Dane working with another handler). 📸

We have been working on some fun things like Touch, Middle, Weave, Shake and are progressing to teaching some of our dogs the “Selfie” command.
Our dogs have also learnt to be comfortable with strangers handling them which can be very tricky for a lot of our pups (including my own) but they’ve all done exceptionally well.

A couple of months ago, we were looking at some very reactive dogs with a very strong lack of social skills. Now they can work together in tight formation, play together happily and relax and enjoy some snuggles from the TCA team 🖤

It’s been so much fun working with all of you incredible people and watching your dogs come in leaps and bounds 🐾

24/06/2023

And we are off and running again! 🤩

Term 3 started today and I have to say how impressed I am with all of our dogs and their handlers. 🦮

Our level two class commenced today with our 7 dogs who have already completed level one and it barely looks like a reactive class anymore. They’ve gone from having poor socialisation skills and lacking general obedience to a group of well behaved dogs that listen in distracted environments, but most importantly, all get along with each other. Considering it’s been 3 weeks since they’ve seen each other, this is absolutely incredible to witness. 🐶

Special shout out to Ned today who won our Long Stay Competition and earned himself some goodies! Followed very closely by Teddy our 8 month old little Labradoodle. 🐕

We also have Apollo, our big beautiful jet black GSD, coming back for another round of level one and his progress is sensational! From being muzzled and unable to be in the vicinity of other dogs to work between them at close proximity today. 🐾

Amazing work everyone! I’m excited to see what another term brings 🖤

19/06/2023

Happy birthday to this handsome little student of ours! Arlo turned 1 yesterday 🥳

It’s been an absolute pleasure working with him and I’m excited to see him progress in our level two classes 🖤

Here’s some cute snaps of Arlo and his Mumma 🐶

27/05/2023

Term 2 Class Two Graduates! 🧑🏼‍🎓

It’s been my absolute pleasure working with you all and your dogs. It’s been incredible to watch their growth. When we started our classes, our dogs started each class about 7-8 metered from each other and over the weeks we have built confidence, obedience and helped desensitise them and drastically improve their reactivity to the point we were able to place our dogs in a very tight circle together and have them all remain calm and listening.
I’m excited to see the most of you continue onto level two and watch them grow further!

All of our students got their certificates and a special treat for graduating🐾

Well done and congratulations puppers! 🖤🐶

27/05/2023

Term 2 Class One Graduates! 🧑🏼‍🎓

It’s been my absolute pleasure working with you all and your dogs. It’s been incredible to watch their growth. When we started our classes, our dogs started each class about 7-8 metered from each other and over the weeks we have built confidence, obedience and helped desensitise them and drastically improve their reactivity to the point we were able to place our dogs in a very tight circle together and have them all remain calm and listening.
I’m excited to see the most of you continue onto level two and watch them grow further!

All of our students got their certificates and a special treat for graduating🐾

Well done and congratulations puppers! 🖤🐶

17/05/2023

Some snaps from our weekend classes 🖤🐶

08/05/2023

How beautiful is Keith?

Keith is an 11 month old Cattle Dog who has a great fear of the outdoors, generally triggered by humans.

A great question is, what causes this? the cause is not always easy to figure out. Some dogs are genetically predisposed to a fearful nature, others may have had their boundaries pushed by humans to often when they were puppies, or some could of had traumatic experiences. No matter the cause, it’s important to integrate our dogs back into these environments that cause this stress so we can help desensitise them to the triggers, without pushing their boundaries to far.

Before today, Keith would be very skittish as soon as he was in public, tail would be tucked, eyes darting around, extremely nervous and constantly pulling and lunging on lead out of stress. After today, we had Keith walking calmly on a loose lead, tail relaxed, curious of his surroundings, walking past humans without reaction and we even got a few bum wiggles during our recall game. This is huge progress in a short time and I’m excited to see how far Keith goes.

Great work 🖤🐾

08/05/2023

From Great Danes to Toy Poodles, we cover all shapes and sizes. 🐾

This is little Flossy who had some trouble figuring out how to walk on a lead. Thankfully she’s a very clever little puppy and her mum and dad are very dedicated to her training. I can’t wait to see what other work we can do together 🖤

24/04/2023

Say hi to big boy Mack! 🐕

As you can see, Mack had no idea how to walk on a lead and as most of our big puppies do, he had no idea of his size and strength. 🐾

There was 30 minutes between the before and after below. 😏

A little bit of psychology, some proper fitted equipment and a few adjustment to how we walk him and this is what we get. Isn’t it amazing? 🐶

Great work Mack 🖤

23/04/2023

Lots of happy snaps from our classes over the weekend 🖤🐶

15/04/2023

A huge welcome to Apollo and his mum! 🐶

Apollo is one of our most reactive dogs in our current class, he was almost unable to get out of the car due to his massive fear of other dogs causing his aggressive behaviour. After a bit of work, time and love, we were able to get him walking around our group of dogs without any lunging or barking which is a huge effort from both Apollo and his Mum. 🐾🐕

It’s never too late to start, and our classes are open to all dogs, no matter their temperament. This is the progress we made in just one class, imagine what we can do with a full term. 🤩

Make sure you’re following along for updates on Apollo 🖤

15/04/2023

How stinkin’ cute is Teddy? Teddy is a 6 month old Labradoodle who is having trouble with his confidence.

This had lead to struggling to walk on lead, meet people and dogs, and his basic obedience.

I have had the privilege of being able to work with him privately and now have him join classes as well. He has already come so far in such a short time and progressing in leaps and bounds everyday.

Amazing work Teddy 🐕

15/04/2023

Term 2 is off and running and what an incredible group of dogs and people we have! 👏🏼

We have a great mixture of reactive, agressive and just straight up naughty pups to work with over the next 6 weeks. I’m excited to watch them go through their journey and grow into the beautiful confident dogs I know they can be. 🐕

So say hi to our newest students and keep your eyes peeled to watch their progress 🐾

07/04/2023

“Have a fantastic long weekend everyone!” - Zelda, The Great Easter Dane 🐾🖤

28/03/2023

Meet Willow! The 8 month old spoodle who absolutely loves cuddles and belly rubs. 🐕

Willow struggles with reactivity quite badly and when I first met her she was unable to be walked, she would pull, bark, flip around, jump and lunge constantly. After just one session she is now able to walk nicely on the lead, with much less reactions and when she does react, she can calm down a lot quicker. 🐶

Willow will be joining us for our classes next term and I’m excited to see her flourish! 🐾🖤

27/03/2023

And there it is! Our first term is done and dusted.

I am so unbelievably proud of how far each and everyone one of our dogs. The remarkable difference in their temperament, obedience and confidence has been absolutely amazing to see. 🐕

Some of our pups will be continuing on to the next level and I’m excited to watch them progress. 🐾🐶

Our next term is starting on the 15th of April where you’ll get to see a brand new lot of pups beginning their training journey so keep an eye out for them in the weeks to come.

Enjoy some of the graduation snaps (with a few pups missing due to illness) with some guest appearances. Great work everyone! 🖤🐾

22/03/2023

Can you spot the moment that Spud could no longer regulate his stimulation levels?

For the record, Spud is a fantastic dog whose obedience is actually quite exceptional IF he is not over-stimulated and he is also usually quite happy to work with me. For some dogs, getting to this point happens quicker than it does for others. Each of our dogs has their own personal ‘Stress Ladder’.

What is a Stress Ladder? Imagine you’re looking at a wooden ladder, with exactly ten rungs to the top and each rung is worth 1 point. Every activity or experience our dog goes through has a different point total attached to it. For example; getting washed - for some of our pups, this is worth 1 point but for others, it could be worth 5 points, depending how much they love it, hate it, or simply are not phased by it.

So how does a generally well behaved dog end up trying to nip someone they usually wouldn’t? Because of the ladder. So, let’s make some assumptions about spuds morning:

• Car Ride to training - 1 point
• New smells and people at the park - 2 points
• Training with a group of reactive dogs - 2 points
• Excess noise from over head planes - 1 point
• Extra smells due to being a windy day - 1 point
• Walking through a group of people with dogs on either side of him - 3 points.

Now, we are at the top of the ladder which is a place that our dogs lose their capacity to regulate and are completely over stimulated, resulting in the video below. One of the most important parts of when we get here, is the ability for us as the humans to stay calm, keep our energy low and confident, and give our dogs the space to try and relax. Yelling, scolding or even correcting at this point with the dogs stress levels where they are will not be effective. Take a second, bring your dog back down, correct or redirect.

So what can we do? We can force that regulation. As their owners and advocates, it’s our job to assess where our dog is on their ladder and to know when it’s time to help them down a couple of rungs. This could be as simple as stopping your walk half through to sit down with your dog in a quiet area and waiting for them to relax and calm down. It could be taking a moment regulate our own feelings. It could look like giving your dog 5 minutes to calm down after getting out of the car before continuing to your destination or event.

When we do our part, and help them down, we allow space for them to be able to cope with the next exciting/stressful thing that’s about to come their way.

So ask yourself, what’s your dogs ladder look like? What points would you allocate to their everyday activities? And next time they are climbing to high, what can you do to help?

19/03/2023

Our fifth class! And what an incredible class it was.
We were able to Jam Pack a ton of exercises into this week, including weaving, recall work, positive socialisation and another long-stay competition where our youngest student Bonnie took first prize with Spud being a close second!

We did some work on our heel command and we also did a speed run this week where give our dogs 6 commands at rapid, this is where our high drive working breed, Jude, tends to shine his brightest.

Bunya (our little black and grey lady snuggling with the treats she won) has also comes leaps and bounds in her confidence as she barely pays attention to the other dogs around her now.

Amazing work everyone!

18/03/2023

Say hello to Shadow! 🤩

Shadow is an 8 month old Border Kelpie and an absolute pocket rocket. 🖤

When I first met her she was jumping almost 4 feet in the air, barking, whining and lunging to try and get to me to so we could play as she hasn’t quite learnt her etiquette yet. She was spending her entire walks trying to pull her owners arm out from her shoulder. 😳

After just one session together, she learnt to behave calmly in my presence, stopped jumping and was walking loosely on the lead, even past lots of distractions. 🐶

Like a lot of working breeds, her high drive and high energy lead to an extreme excitement based reactivity but thanks to her incredible owner’s understanding of her needs and seeking training, we were able to get most of this behaviour under control in just one hours work. 🐕

Keep an eye out for Shadow as we are going to be putting her genetics to use and teaching her how to ‘herd’ a remote control car 🐾

17/03/2023

Couldn’t help myself!

Here are some more photos of these two cuties that were giving me all the loving 🐶🖤🐾

17/03/2023

Meet Winnie and Henry 👋🏼🐾

Aren’t they absolutely to die for?
I’m currently having the great pleasure of getting to work with Little Miss Winnie (on the left) on her reactivity on leash. She is already showing such amazing progress in a very short amount of time and I’m excited to watch her growth. 🐕

We’ve done some one on one training to get her prepped for starting classes in our next term so expect to see more shots of her soon!
Great work Winnie 🐶🐾♥️

I truly love that this is what I get to spend my life doing. Being sat on, drooled on and covered in hair, there’s nothing else I love more 🤩

13/03/2023

Our next term of classes is officially open for enrolment! Due to the wait list, there are only a few spots left in each.

Term 2: Level One (for our pups beginning their journey ) is starting on the 15th of April, 9am on Saturdays at Newtown Park. - 2 spots left.

Term 2: Level Two (for our intermediate pups) is starting on the 15th of April, 10.30am on Saturdays at Newtown Park. - 3 spots left.

All dogs are welcome, regardless of the extent of their behavioural issues or lack thereof. Every dog, regardless of where they are in their journey, deserves to live a fun and fulfilled life.

So, if you’re wanting more info or ready to dive in paws-first with some training, send through message.

Please enjoy this photo of my Great Dane, Zelda, and the love of her life, Lucifer, taken following their engagement.

07/03/2023

One of my favourite exercises is our hide and seek game.

Hide and seek is a multi-faceted exercise. It works on focus and engagement in a distracted environment, reaffirms their recall skills and provides an opportunity for them to really use their senses all whilst having fun. Look at that happy wiggly bum. 🐾🐶♥️

06/03/2023

🎶 I’ve got a lovely bunch of reactive dogs, doo-do-do, here they are sitting in a row 🎶

It warms my heart to see this level of progress in our pups. To be so close to each other and still relaxed and listening.

In this group we have a mixture of reactive-excitement, reactive-aggression and just plain old stubbornness, but you would struggle to really tell by looking at them now.

Enjoy these cute photos from our class last weekend!

From left to right we have: Bunya, Jude, Bonnie and Rajee. (Spuderick was out sick this week but will be with us for our next class)

02/03/2023

Why do most of our dogs wear halters?

For some of our dogs, learning to walk on a flat collar or harness comes naturally and is very easy to train but for most, this isn’t the case. More often than not, due to the design of harnesses, it actually increased pulling as it allows our dogs to “bear-down” into them. This is especially true for breeds such as huskies, who are genetically inclined to pull with a harness on. Aside from that, a lot of harnesses can actually inhibit the way our dogs joints grow and cause long term defects.
As for the collars, when pulled against or tugged, most are positioned over the trachea and therefor limit their oxygen which in turn, raises the dogs cortisol levels and we end up walking/training a stressed out dog.

So, what do we do then if we need to train a dog to walk loosely on the lead whilst avoiding causing damage or harm?
Halters - specifically ones that clip behind the head and between the ears. This helps control the head/jaw without causing it to snap from side to (which risks neck and spinal damage) and keeps pressure off of their trachea.

Here’s my super good girl modeling hers - 2 seconds before she pounced on me when she was still learning her recall 🐶🖤🐾

27/02/2023

Photos from our class last Saturday!
What a class this was. For a lot people out there, it’s hard to believe that your reactive dog could sit in a close proximity to 4 other reactive dogs and remain calm and content but this is exactly what we work towards and strive for in our training. Between the obedience work, desensitising exercises and games that build trust, we are actually helping reprogram your dogs brain to understand that they are safe in your hands which builds confidence in them. This is the result of building confidence and creating trust, reactive dogs who stop feeling so stressed that they lash out in unwanted behaviours.

Also, big shout out to our little puppy Bonnie this week who at 17 weeks old, tied for first place in our ‘long stay’ game.

Amazing work everyone!

14/02/2023

Say hello to the handsome Rexy! 👋🏼
Rexy and I have been working together these last few weeks on a multitude of different things. From some basic obedience and doggy psychology, to learning how to behave when people knock and enter the home, and today we headed out for an adventure to the park for some leash skills and recall training which is extra fun when we are working in a distracting environment.
Rexy is such a good boy and is an excellent student and I’m excited to continue working with him 🖤 🐶 🐾

Look at that face! 🥹

11/02/2023

Wow!
What a first class today was. 5 beautiful dogs and their handlers came today to kick off the debut of TCA’s classes. It’s only been one class yet the improvement of focus and social behaviour within the dogs was drastic between the start and the end.
I’m thankful to not only have great dogs to work, but great people too that did a wonderful job training today.
Here is some snaps of all our furry class mates!
One of your beautiful pups even let me have a little walk around with him today and was excited to get some good chin scratches after he behaved so beautifully! Thanks Spudrick 🐾🖤

03/02/2023

This is Gus! The super clever little sausage I’ve had the pleasure of working with these last few weeks. Gus has gone from not understanding any of his commands to be able to sit, drop, stay and Leave It. He is also doing amazingly with his place training which has massively improved his reactivity when people approach the front door. Gus is such a good boy that he goes to work with his mumma and loves being adorable company for clients. Well done Gus! 🐾

23/01/2023

It’s official!
We are ready to go with classes commencing on the 11th of February. I’m excited for our debut and to get to meet our first round of student in just a few short weeks.

Pictured: Georgie (ex police lady who needed some help adjusting to the civilian life)

11/01/2023

Reactive classes are set to start in the next coming weeks! Fingers crossed our council approval comes through in the next couple of days for use of local parks and we will be ready to get your pups out and training 🐕
That being said, we have 1 spot still available for the first term of our reactive class so send through a message if you’d like to pounce on the last spot 🐶
I’m excited to meet you all 🐾

07/01/2023

Fantastic morning today with some new faces to meet and some great work achieved. From unable to walk on a lead to walking loosely in the space of an hour. The fulfilment and joy I get while getting to work with your dogs is astounding and I love seeing the relief on your faces when everything feels possible with your pup! Keep up the good work 🐾

05/01/2023

Welcome to Toowoomba Canine Academy!
A specialised training program that focuses on obedience training, reactivity training and aggressive behaviour. 🐶

My name is Kaity and I am a canine behaviouralist/dog trainer. At TCA we offer private in-home sessions as well as group classes. Private sessions encompass an entire range of services from house training your beautiful new puppy or helping your dog that may like to use their teeth a little too much 😬

Classes are specialised for reactive/aggressive dogs and aim to embed obedience in an over-stimulating environment and desensitise your pup to the people and other canine friends around them. They are run over 6 weeks and are one hour sessions each. 📚

Due to the growing demand I’ve created this business page as a centre point for contact and for you to follow along with the program and watch as our students grow and master their skills. 🐕

So watch this page for the photos and videos to come of our super cute students learning new tricks, becoming more confident and delighting in games like Hide & Seek, Find the Treat and Recall Relays! 🏃‍♀️

I look forward to meeting you all and helping you through this awesome journey with your furry friends.
🐾

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