Happy Dogs Walks and Training in Perth, Western Australia | Dog walker

Happy Dogs Walks and Training

Locality: Perth, Western Australia

Phone: +61 432 884 904

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• Pet service
• Dog trainer
• Pet sitter
• Dog walker

25.01.2022 Trainin' n walkin' and walkin' n boardin'! Kong has had the full service lately; as well being a regular walkee of mine, his wonderful owner has recently had me for a private training session; and had him board with me for a couple of days, with a couple more booked in And with that, I'm happy to announce that after a (significant other-induced) hiatus, for the right dogs I am once again offering intensive training stays and a boarding service!... I can only accept certain dogs as I do live in a suburban home with my own doggos; but I'd love to help out suitable candidates as much as I can, whenever I can!

25.01.2022 When noticing you and your walkee have matching raincoats morphs into a colour coordination walk

24.01.2022 How are YOU enjoying this amazing weather?! If you're in Perth WA like me, you're immersed in the warmest weather of the season so far! Couldn't get much more ideal for walkies (though we do have to start factoring in proper water breaks and up the snake awareness!) On that note - introducing my new walkee, Kong the Pomeranian :) He's an absolute sweetie, with a brilliant calm and confident attitude to life. We've already had some great walks, with many cuddles and licks

20.01.2022 Psst I'll tell you a secret *wink wink* -- Rescue dogs are the greatest! Roxanne the Shar Pei cross might have a couple of fear issues with strange men and dogs, after an unknown pre-rescue history; but her fur parents love her ever so much, and knew what they were signing up for by getting an adult dog! It's much easier to judge an adult dogs' long term character and energy level than that of a very young puppy; and thus select the best individual for your personal lifestyle... and goals. Not to mention that by rescuing, you are saving a life! Of course, since starting training, Roxanne is already coping infinitely better with the new situations that previously got her rattled. Her wonderful owners are doing amazing work! Such a happy rescue dog

19.01.2022 Introducing Chocolate, for your weekly dose of adorable Her wonderful owners have signed on to one of my private puppy training packages, to ensure this sweet nine week old girl gets the very best start to life!

19.01.2022 Home for no less than a couple of hours after getting home from a big work trip; and already rescuing dogs! These two were running loose, both coming very close to getting hit by cars until I came along. The big Bull Mastiff girl was absolutely terrified, cowering in a corner when I got to her; and even her Weimaraner X companion, while at first coming across as a joyful energetic young boy, was consistently shaking as soon as asked to stand still; and only approached because... I'd secured his companion first. Ranger needed a lot of help getting them into her car - in the form of me power lifting each of them in Thankfully they were lovely temperaments despite all the fear, and having had time to assess them while waiting, and asking their permission first, I felt confident in doing so (even if my legs asked a few questions haha). Here's hoping they find dedicated homes. I would have loved to take them in myself, but needed to put my own dogs, who were waiting patiently in the car while we awaited the Ranger the whole time, first.

16.01.2022 As well as the core commands - "Sit", "Stay", "Come", "Drop" (Drop it), "Down" (Lie down) and "Leave It" (don't engage with the thing of interest) - A very doubly useful exercise is to teach "Up" (jump on) and "Off" (Jump off, get four paws on the floor). You can teach both commands simultaneously with ease, and it can become a great game that also can be built on later (once joints are mature, jumping from one object to the next, balance exercises etc) - as well as having many practical daily uses, like getting onto vet scales or into a car, and clearly communicating to a doggo that they may not jump on family members, visitors, table tops etc. He may be very young, but intelligent Loki picked up both commands in just a couple of minutes! Good boy!!

16.01.2022 The Dog Who Couldn't Play . Let me tell you about Sophie. My dear friends very recently adopted this sweet American Bull Dog, and what a history she has. The first four years of her life were spent locked in a backyard with a male Bull Dog, who eventually took to attacking her regularly. Today she is absolutely covered with scars. She was neglected with almost no exposure to the outside world. . When she was first rescued, she ripped through a screen door and JUMPED THROUGH... THE WINDOW of her foster home when left alone for a couple of hours - displaying intense separation anxiety. . Then my friends adopted her. She was altogether shut down, extremely nervous, low energy; on antidepressants. While she took to them quickly and formed a ready bond, she could not play at all, jumped at every noise and showed fear of any stranger. She would not try to explore at all on walks, simply sticking by her new people's side with no external interest. . We had an initial consult to start on baby steps for our first week home. Micro absences, treat toys, love. Today we had a full length session - starting with a delicious brekky and catch up! We had our first game of Tug of War And started learning commands. Sophie learnt how to happily lead explorative walks in interesting but safe areas; she gently sniffed from place to place. We established new protocols for cat socialisation (very conservative) and slightly longer absences. . She's only been home a bit over a week; and already is a different dog to the one I first met! Under the dedicated care of her new people, she's becoming a happy, relaxed, treasured family member in record time See more

15.01.2022 Remember Zac the walkee, the dog terrified of the world? We needed a whole training session at the beginning, just to introduce him to my dogs - he only wanted to flee in terror. Well after many walks of steady progress, while he's still nervous of many things, he is just nervous; rather than panic stricken. And his attitude to other dogs has positively blossomed! After signalling that not only he wanted to, but was emotionally ready to actually play with my dogs, he had his ...first official play session with my Jarrah today. As should always be the case, we did several short play - disengage - calm down - sniffs - play again cycles, rather than one massive run around, with plenty of chill walking about exploring on each end of the walk. Such a great result for such a happy dog!

15.01.2022 I think it's fair to say Sunny the German Spitz liked her free treat toy! Throughout our sessions, Sunny and her fantastic owners have covered managing her excitement, attention and overt alarm barking; her behaviour on walks, recall, resolving some resource (specifically fresh bone) guarding; and unsolicited games of chasey (running away when owners didn't want her to!) The whole family, kids included, worked hard to make sure everyone was home and present for the entirety of each training session, as well as reading homework in between. And it shows!!

15.01.2022 I don't often suggest pursuing anxiety medication for people's fur babies. As a behaviourist, in my opinion the majority of cases do not need them - as long as owners set up their dogs with the correct environment, careful management and gradual, structured recovery protocols (which I introduce specific to each case). But sometimes it is clear that levels of cortisol and other stress hormones are simply too heightened for the rehabilitation of a dog to be practicable without... chemical help; especially when owners are in a stretched living situation and simply can't make all the changes, or afford the time, needed. That much stress simply makes it really hard for any creature to learn and modify their behaviour. Sasha was one such case. With severe, complex anxiety both inside and outside the house; two hard working owners with demanding jobs; a toddler, and another baby on the way, I felt they should see a vet, to supplement our work with medication. I gave them tips on questions to ask - side effects to look out for, and a long term treatment plan (depending on Sasha's response) being among them. Well. Although we had of course been seeing marked improvements on each of our medication free sessions - after quite a break, and a few weeks on Lovan - Sasha presented at our last session as a simply different dog. So many issues were resolved so much faster, as that heightened edge was taken off. These meds won't be forever; we're treating them as another training tool! To be clear - medication on its own doesn't teach a dog new behaviour; but it *can help them respond much better to new training/behaviour adjustment methods. Also, like anxiety meds in people, different dogs respond differently to different medications; which is one of the reasons I only suggest it when I feel it's really necessary. It can be a journey. Just some food for thought, and a happy story about another happy dog!

15.01.2022 This is a wonderful post. I must say I've met many people, both in "off duty" time and clients, who don't seem to realise how alarming their child/dog interactions are. Not only must all interactions be supervised, but parents need to make sure they really understand doggy body language; because there's not much point being there if you can't hear what the dog is saying! Dogs are often made uncomfortable by kids. And just because "they've never bitten" does NOT mean they nev...er will. An analogy I use, is imagine if someone said something rude, and you told them politely that they'd hurt your feelings and not to say that again. But they totally ignored you and made the painful "joke" or remark again. You might try to ignore it for a while. You might tell them a bit more strongly not to do that again. But every time you have your needs and comfort levels ignored, it's going to get HARDER, not easier, not to snap. Chances of lashing out dramatically increase, not the other way around. Let alone if this happened one day in a moment when you had a bad headache, or were exhausted or having a nasty stressful day. This is why we need to ensure that the small warning signs in any dog (stiffening up, looking away, walking away, showing white of eye, even yawning or shaking off; let alone an actual growl - this is a HUGE warning sign) are respected immediately. Parents need to be there to enforce this, little ones don't know how. And that a dog ALWAYS has an easily accessible, kid-free "safe space".

14.01.2022 Another trainee and walkee - meet Zac Poor boy had a rough start to life. His existing owners bought him privately from a family who "couldn't take care of him" due to his excitement around their kids.. This is literally the only info they got from him. He had no microchip - absolutely nothing. No behavioural or breed history. Still, his brave and loving, but elderly new owners took him on - got him desexed, vaccinated, microchipped; all the fun stuff; but didn't feel conf...ident to take this strong boy on practically any walks, ever... So! We started with a behavioral assessment. Honestly, given my experience I found it a small miracle that despite intense fear of both the outside world generally, and dogs, Zac didn't display any signs of defensive reactivity with my dogs at all. He just needed a careful and gentle introduction to each dog before being able to walk along with them. Approaching and eventually entering the car is another matter though! So we're going to walk him a couple more times with just minor car desensitisation moments interspersed to get him more generally comfy, and get some positive associations in before tackling that in another training session. He's such a sweet boy; I'm delighted his owners have brought me on board.

14.01.2022 Kiplin the cutie is enrolled in one of my private puppy packages, and doing so well already. In just the one week between our first and second sessions, she went from leaping all over me for attention to consistently coming up and sitting sweetly for pats, and is doing this with all family members; despite her super young age! We're also working to harness her mighty sniffy powers into fun games (one of the best things you can do for your doggo, especially super charged sniffer breeds!) as well as of course setting her up for success in a range of areas from home routines, preventing separation anxiety; and exposure to outside stimuli in a prevaccination-safe manner. Her fur mum has started a big whiteboard for the family, featuring all her new commands and accompanying notes; Kilpin certainly isn't the only star pupil here!

14.01.2022 How much has Loki grown already?! Having spent the last couple of sessions establishing good indoor habits and obedience, plus prepping Loki for on lead walks; this session his vaccinations were finally complete and we could go on our first official walkies. The park selected was more busy than predicted (first few walks should have a very low number of controlled dogs and limited other stimuli, so puppy doesn't get overwhelmed and actually has a shot at being able to focus ...on his owners/sniff around and gain natural confidence), but everyone still did very well. One dog was vetted before allowing Loki a brief play, after successfully walking past other dogs before and after. It's important we think about what expectations we are putting into a dog through their walks, and if you have a dog from a pup, you're lucky to have him/her at the most critical time! If your doggo is naturally shy/nervous, extra care must be taken in keeping walks 'safe' (from uncontrolled or forceful, frightening situations). If your pup is naturally bold and playful, they must be taught the wonders of the nose; and that NOT every dog that is seen is going to be played with! Rather, that ignoring or looking away from dogs is something to be rewarded. Either way, emphasis should be placed on playing with and focusing on the owner; and on exploration of the world. Each walk should be a bit different too; both in location, and activities done. These points are incredibly important on many levels.

14.01.2022 Simba and his people just finished a Medium Training Package. On our first session we addressed his in home behaviour. This young, athletic boy was understimulated! To add tension to the mix, they had unfortunately been advised by a previous trainer to use a rattle can to "correct" his unwanted behaviour. When I asked to see his response to this, I was dismayed to see Simba display intense fear and even growl at his owners. That can went straight in the bin, before getting st...uck into more productive methods! On our second session we focused on walks. This dog was wired the instant he was out. He could not focus on his owners, was hyperalert; ready to bark and lunge at pretty well any stimulus that presented itself; and hauled on the lead continuously. He was almost out of control. Then came the third session. This is where I would see just how hard his owners had worked to implement the homework I had assigned. Well, we simply had a different dog! His owners were in control. He focused on them. Even when a strange dog suddenly erupted from the bushes, once given some distance he was able to easily disengage and take himself on a sniffy walk, as if that dog didn't exist. He was able to actively learn in the park despite being surrounded by distractions. His entire energy was transformed - I was looking at a happy, relaxed dog. His owners reported improvement in all sectors. Despite being very busy, Simba's people had banded together as a team to ensure that his needs were met every single day. And this is why I love my job Happy dog and happy owners, make a happy trainer indeed.

12.01.2022 Despite super loving owners, throughout her development, and likely due to genetics, beautiful Sasha has developed a severe case of seperation anxiety, with what I would class as moderate generalised anxiety as well. Her dedicated owners are going to have to work hard on this one! I don't often recommend anxiety medication, especially during a first consult; but occasionally, baseline stress levels are so high that barring weeks of full-time training, it will be very difficu...lt for a doggo to learn new responses to situations otherwise. This may be the case for this gorgeous girl. But; either way her owners are now equipped with plenty of homework to start her on the stepping stones of learning calm in various situations; and we will keep building on these over time! Especially when fear/anxiety is involved, it is absolutely critical that all progress is SUPER incremental, and that the dog is able to set the pace; i.e. never put into situations they're not ready for. This can actively reverse the work being done, not to mention put gorgeous doggo in very real distress! To many more happy dogs!

11.01.2022 Meet Diesel! Diesel has come to me for eight days of intensive training. I can't believe we're already at day five! As a seven month old working breed dog, who hadn't stepped a paw out of his farm since COVID - with very limited socialisation and practically no training - we've had our work cut out for us. But, he's been progressing so much! We are covering a lot of ground training wise; but our two 'umbrella' focuses have been 1. Building impulse control and 2. Focus on (and... desire to please) his human. When he arrived, he pulled like a steam train; hackles were full erect, and he was positively bursting with nervous energy. Not that you could blame him! Today, you can see on this walk he's still quite on edge walking in the suburbs - every detail about these surroundings is still quite foreign (he's completely chill on our bush walks). A really important thing to do with dogs that are unsure of things, is to mould a new default behaviour into stop and look! Rather than rush, or lunge, or bark, or flee - whatever those instincts might initially be yelling. The big exception here is if the trigger is too much, and doggo is building in arousal while standing still. Then we need to MAKE DISTANCE until he can stand, look, sniff, consider; then choose to look away and move on; without feeling that buildup which is likely to result in a felt need to react. Put simply, we're giving the dog his own ability to self regulate without reacting - of course with Person overseeing and providing ultimate security. This is a skill that can generalise into doggo's wider life really nicely, and so I believe is very valuable for any canine that struggles behaviourally when in nervous, or exciting, situations. How much more constructive is this little detail on your daily walk than simply tugging your dog to hurry up! This is also a beautiful opportunity for owner to practice focusing in on doggo body language, and to generally guide him a bit more mindfully :) Definitely a happy (currently fast asleep beside my office chair) dog! . . #perthwa #dogtrainingtips #trainingtips #kelpie #perthdogtrainer #dogtraining #intensivetraining #farmdog

11.01.2022 Mack the Shar Pei X puppy is one cutie and then some! While I tend to be a bit leery of the Shar Pei breed due to the prevalence of health issues, his owners are true and experienced lovers of the breed, and have chosen a pup who to date has a wonderful temperament and Bill of health And with his whole household working together to train and mould him into the bestest boy ever, there's really nothing not to love!

11.01.2022 Just the regular gang on walkies First pic: Guess where the two french bulldogs are walking by? Hint: Little Ruby doesn't know

11.01.2022 "IT'S NOT THE BREED, IT'S HOW YOU RAISE THEM" Let's unpack this. As in most cliches in the dog world, the truth around this is complex. Everyone wants a simple answer, but the fact is that oversimplifying things to the degree of the above sentence leads to huge misperceptions and ultimately misinformed and sometimes dangerous decisions among the public that can lead to suffering both for owners and dogs; and in some cases, beyond....Continue reading

09.01.2022 Good boy Jet! This sweet boy is another example (following Sophie's) on why owning two dogs must be a very careful process. I strongly recommend not only a short meeting but at LEAST a week's trial period before permanently taking on a second dog. Jet was also attacked by the other dog in his household, leading to his owners rehoming him - as well as his owners having a baby and lacking time for him. Jet displays intense nervousness of the outside world, and is initially very... shy of new people; forming strong suspicion in myself and his wonderful new furever family that he was not walked much, if at all previously. Men on walks especially, as well as any loud sound outdoors, generates a powerful flight instinct. Happily after our session, as well as some house manners Jet is already starting to be 'reprogrammed' to learn that 1. He will never feel forced into situations he's not okay with, and 2. That with his protective people by his side, it's okay for a first instinct to be standing and collecting information (and getting treats!) from a comfy distance of something he's unsure about; rather than running for the hills; so that he can build confidence, and new associations of the big wide world, step by steady step! One more happy dog

08.01.2022 Whooo wants to go on *wet* Walkies! Gotta love it when you manage to dodge the rain - much better luck today than yesterday

06.01.2022 A new dog can really change a household dynamic; especially when she's a rescue with a chequered past. Meet Moo and Benji. Since Moo the rescue arrived to her long awaited loving and dedicated new home, Benji has started learning some reactivity to other dogs on walks; and with Moo's anxious reactivity initially unaddressed, and two dogs' tendency to feed off each other's arousal, walkies were starting to get straight up stressful for this pair's wonderful owner! So for now,... we're working on new walking and behavioral techniques in varying situations, one dog at a time, with a bit of codependence busting on the side. We're working on better impulse control inside and outside the house; and better doggo connection and body language recognition for this adorable pair's owner. Such happy dogs, and such a pleasure to work with!

06.01.2022 Took the dogs camping! Enrichment is critical throughout a dog's life; and that doesn't just mean regular exercise down at that same park you visit every afternoon. Throughout their lives, dogs should be constantly learning new things, exploring new areas; being exposed to mild amounts of stress and overcoming it; problem solving (with their bodies and minds), and practicing the experience of forging into the unknown with their trusty fur parent by their side, guiding them wh...ere necessary and keeping them safe and happy! These continued experiences enforce and maintain a dog's adaptability, resilience, and trust in their person; their general ability to be accepting of new things, and feel equipped to handle them (caution - investigation - decide on appropriate course of action, should I play with it, try to eat it, or leave it alone?). In short, having novel and positive experiences on a day to day basis is paramount to a dog's emotional wellbeing. Personally, in day to day life, I feel guilty if I take my dogs to the same place twice in one week. I'll also touch on muzzle training - they're not just for dogs that are a bite risk. There are heaps of added uses; in these photos, my dogs are wearing muzzles because there's a good chance of baits (for introduced cats and foxes) being present in the bush. People with fearful dogs that are unlikely to ever bite also find benefits in that not only is their dog protected from eating anything harmful on walks (dead blowfish or sea hares at the beach; certain mushrooms, other naturally occurring poisons and in some suburbs, cases of people deliberately planting baits for dogs); but a muzzle is also a pretty clear sign to other dog owners to maybe *not let their "super friendly" pooch run up to your doggo, who is trying to have their walk in peace and learn new responses to dogs which will be undone with an uncontrolled encounter. And of course it's not a case of slapping on that muzzle when you decide you want it (e.g. maybe your dog has recently become fearful of the vet and it's an abrupt requirement), and off you go; they must be trained to wear it. So add this to your repertoire of things to tick off the list, just in case; there's heaps of great YouTube videos, or of course I can always guide you through the process in a training session :)

06.01.2022 Meet Kobe the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog He's such a good boy! His diligent new owners got me in for pointers and methods on altering certain behaviours and auto responses to various stimuli, before they had the chance to become seriously problematic in his new home. Being a young boy, with most excellent owners; they've reported improvements as soon as three days after our first session ... And I'm looking forward to having him stay for a couple of days too! Such a happy dog!

05.01.2022 Right along with added support between sessions, better long term results and great savings, booking a training package gets you awesome freebies - which will actively help you in training and stimulating your doggo! You can also wait until the end of your first session to pick one, so you can get to know me first :) Book Now to get your Happy Dog to the Happiest they can be!

05.01.2022 Following my earlier post on breeds and their needs. The few typos toward the end are due to this english post being a translation - otherwise, very well written and true

05.01.2022 Good boy Toby! This gorgeous rescue Kelpie cross really is the goodest boy, especially given his sketchy history. He truly wants to love everyone. His owners have worked hard to develop a strong bond and instill good training and stimulation practices. All he really needs to work on now is usual playful young working breed boy dog stuff - wanting to sprint at and engage (play) with every dog he sees! After our second session today, Toby is already learning to make better choices; to choose to stop and collect information when he sees a dog (stop and think!), even when he's "free" (on a long lead) - rather than automatically flick into instinct mode and dash. Well done Toby (and his owners!!)

03.01.2022 Missing Diesel dog already! From the explosively nervous and exuberant (and deeply sweet natured) young dog I took in for eight days of training - with no commands past an occasional sit - we brought him to one who knows how to walk loose lead, has a good sit and stay; good recall (with low to moderate distraction), can wait at doorways, mealtimes and to get in or out of cars; who is generally in the habit now of regularly checking in with his person and much improved in his ability to resist many instinctive urges when triggered; and who is now able to approach dogs without explosions of nervous barking and lunging! Still nervousness, but infinitely less, enough that his natural eagerness to play is shining through the shyness very early; with even a big group of new doggos Such a happy dog!

02.01.2022 Lots of people often have trouble visualizing what their overweight animals should look like at a pet weight. Veterinarians will give various descriptions to ow...ners, such as how there should be a tuck in the waist visible from both the top down and from the side profile for many breeds. Here are some outlined photos of overweight dogs to show what a rough acceptable weight would look like on them. Every breed is unique and will have different attributes for their build and body style depending on their lineage. Drawing overlays by Jasmine Thomas, original post by Kelly Colflesh. #kellycolflesh @jasminethomas See more

01.01.2022 Good boy Bundy! Bundy the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel has been feeling nervous around other dogs since being attacked, and has been struggling with a few other things like pulling on lead and general house manners. After our first session his fantastic fur mum has a nice clear strategy on how to slowly recondition his response to new dogs, how to show him to learn pulling is not how we get what we want, but keeping that lead loose will be rewarded; as well as some homework... for in-house behaviour. Until next time Bundy!

01.01.2022 We had a lovely walkies in between training sessions today