Dogaholics - Dog Training

Dogaholics - Dog Training Dogaholics is a Dog Training and Behaviour consultancy servicing the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie ar

Dog Training and Behaviour services in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie area

04/09/2026

Train in the Green & Yellow Zones — Not the Red Zone!

When our dogs are in the red zone, they’re overwhelmed and over threshold. Their brains aren’t in a place where they can learn effectively.

Instead, we want to work in the green and yellow zones — where your dog is calm enough to think, make choices and learn.

🟢 Green = relaxed, comfortable and ready to learn
🟡 Yellow = noticing the trigger, but still able to respond
🔴 Red = overwhelmed, reactive and unable to learn

Good training happens when we work with our dog’s emotional state, not against it!

04/09/2026

Train in the Green & Yellow Zones — Not the Red Zone!

When our dogs are in the red zone, they’re overwhelmed and over threshold. Their brains aren’t in a place where they can learn effectively.

Instead, we want to work in the green and yellow zones — where your dog is calm enough to think, make choices and learn.

🟢 Green = relaxed, comfortable and ready to learn
🟡 Yellow = noticing the trigger, but still able to respond
🔴 Red = overwhelmed, reactive and unable to learn

Good training happens when we work with our dog’s emotional state, not against it!

ReactiveDogs DogBodyLanguage DogBehaviourist

Our latest radio segment on 2SM with the lovely Cheralyn Darcy on 'Why cats bite'!Would love to know what you think!
01/09/2026

Our latest radio segment on 2SM with the lovely Cheralyn Darcy on 'Why cats bite'!

Would love to know what you think!

Celebrating our 'Intro to Odour' teams from the weekend !Megan and Xena, Nicole and Rocket and Paula and Xena.I love the...
31/08/2026

Celebrating our 'Intro to Odour' teams from the weekend !

Megan and Xena, Nicole and Rocket and Paula and Xena.

I love these teams!

These dogs each have their own searching styles and it is so interesting watching them work. They are all so different, but they are all incredibly driven and absolutely love the game.

There is something I really love about watching a dog search. You can see them thinking, working things out and using that amazing nose of theirs.

I can't wait each week to see these beautiful people and their dogs. I love watching the relationship between them develop as they learn this wonderful game together.

Nosework really is such a wonderful thing for dogs. They get to be dogs, use their natural abilities, have fun and work with their person.

And I get to watch it all happen!

The most wonderful game in the world… Nosework!

HOPE Recently, I’ve seen a few clients I haven’t seen for several years.When I first worked with these dogs, they had wh...
29/08/2026

HOPE

Recently, I’ve seen a few clients I haven’t seen for several years.

When I first worked with these dogs, they had what I would describe as some pretty significant behavioural challenges.

Years later, they are doing so much better.

And the thing that struck me most was this:

There is always hope.

These dogs had incredible caregivers who believed in them, stayed committed to them and, most importantly, never gave up on them.

Sometimes people lose hope when things don’t change quickly enough. Or when progress doesn’t look the way they imagined it would. We can have a picture in our heads of what success should look like, and become discouraged when our dog doesn’t fit into that timeline.

But our dogs don’t know our timeline.

They just need us to understand them, meet them where they are, and keep working with them.

Progress isn’t always quick. It isn’t always obvious. And sometimes it looks very different from what we expected.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

So if you’re struggling with your dog’s behaviour right now, I want you to know this:

There is hope

28/08/2026

What does driving remote control cars have to do with dog training?

As you can see in this video, my remote-control car driving skills are… well… pretty terrible! I crashed about 10 times and eventually had to take a break because I was getting so frustrated.

And that’s actually why I deliberately try new things.

I’m not naturally someone who loves trying new things. I like patterns, routines and knowing what I’m doing. But every now and then, I make myself do something completely unfamiliar.

Why?

Because I want to remember what it feels like to be a beginner.

When I ask my clients to teach their dogs something new, it can be hard. It can be frustrating. They might not be great at it at the beginning. Their dogs are trying to figure things out as well.

It’s easy to forget just how challenging that can feel when you’ve been training dogs for a long time.

Trying new things keeps me empathetic — not just towards my clients, but towards their dogs too.

So, what’s something new you’ve tried recently, either for yourself or with your dog?

And did you find it easy… or were you crashing your metaphorical remote-control car 10 times too?

P.S - Thanks to Hunter RC at 315 New England Highway Rutherford for tolerating me!

24/08/2026

“Why won’t my dog listen?”

One of the biggest misconceptions in dog training is that when we don’t like a behaviour, we can simply ask for an obedience behaviour like sit, stay or leave it and the problem will stop.

But what if your dog or puppy is over threshold?

When emotions are high, their ability to think, process information and respond to behaviours they know can be significantly reduced. They’re not necessarily choosing to ignore you — their emotional state is getting in the way of their ability to respond.

So instead of asking, “Why won’t my dog listen?” we need to ask:

“What is my dog feeling right now, and what do they need?”

Understanding the emotion behind the behaviour is often far more important than trying to stop the behaviour itself.

What a fantastic Saturday of Nosework classes! 🐾We had lots of dogs today absolutely loving their searching! Watching ea...
22/08/2026

What a fantastic Saturday of Nosework classes! 🐾

We had lots of dogs today absolutely loving their searching!

Watching each dog get the opportunity to use their incredible sense of smell, problem-solve and have fun is always one of the best part of Nosework for me!

This is Kyah, Bowie, Marcus and Bobby in the 'Intro to Nosework' class! They are all working so brilliantly! More photos next week of our 'Level 2' and 'Intro to Odour' dogs!

20/08/2026

I just want to say a huge thank you to all of our wonderful clients. ❤️

Thank you for trusting us to help you and your dogs, puppies, cats and kittens. It is such a privilege to be part of your journey and to watch the relationships between you and your animals grow.

We genuinely appreciate every one of you and the trust you place in us. 🐾

Thank you for letting us be part of your lives. ❤️

18/08/2026

I’m surprised at how relatively calm the dog responded!

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Adamstown, NSW

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm

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