The Pet Teacher

24/12/2025

Poppy, Wally and Milly had a great day at the Cram Foundations annual Christmas Party.

24/12/2025

Wishing all my lovely clientele and networking businesses a wonderful and Merry Christmas.

My love and appreciation to you all for using my services.

To the families with dogs with issues with humans and other dogs.

Please remember

Advocate and support your pets with visitors or keep your pet secured and safe

If you have a few drinks and get a bit too loose sometimes we can get lax with our management strategies and that's when things can go south.

A dog secured in a crate is comfy and safe away from the parties. They will be a happier dog rather than navigating Uncle Barry when he's had too many Crown lagers :)

As an ex vet nurse who used to work Christmas all the time and was inundated with the aftermath -

🐶 Don't trust your pets with food under the Christmas trees.
🐶 Don't feed your dogs rich stuff like Ham fat or anything with Sultanas or Macadamia nuts
🐶 Advise your visitors not to feed the dog
🐶. Do slow intros walking out in the street before bringing family dogs into unfamiliar territory
🐶. Keep dogs clear away from food serving areas to prevent conflict over food

Love from Alicia, Poppy, Wally and Milly

Xoxoxo

12/09/2025

This is why sometimes its better to get a professional to help you
A) find out if your dog wants a new family member
B) make sure they are a compatible breed/gender/play style to make friends
C) can be introduced safely and positively to each other to prevent conflict or fear.

24/07/2025

This post says it all

Dogs walking in precision heel for protracted periods of time for an entire walk is uncomfortable and not good for the dogs.

Dogs natural walking speed is 6.5-7.8km

Our walking speed is 3.5-4.8km

Unless your a jogger walking dogs feel like they are a human walking with a Grandma or a toddler.

They have to repress their speed and mince their steps.

This is why long lines and Flexi leads are good BUT you need to be able to have verbal control of your dog through basic obedience when you use these tools.

So your dog knows
Stop - Look - Grass - Road - Left - Right - Come and Leave it.

Poppy and Wally have 3 modes of walking -
Heel - right next to me (30 sec - 2 mins max)
Walk - hustle and keep moving and don't stop or cut me off. This is the exercise walk mode. I allow them to be up in front but ask for a loose lead)
Go sniff - free walk I will follow them and let their nose lead the way (30 sec-1 min) then we go back to Walk mode.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Y9RDRjr9G/

Loose lead isnt natural. It’s a skill that has to be learnt. Biomechanically, dogs are built to move faster than us. Dogs choose to shift to a natural trot and on average walk at 2.5 - 4 mph (Hildebrand, 1966) where us naked monkeys on the otherhand average 2-3 mph walking (Kirtley, 2006). Do you know what 2.5 feels like? You should!

Because the mismatch alone creates tension — physically with the lead and emotionally in the relationship. Infact Dogs Trust found 30% of owners considered it a reason to rehome.

Now add in breed differences with research by Fischer & Lilje (2011) suggesting that Different breeds have different locomotive profiles based on original function. Malinois and Vizslas who are bred to move, track, cover ground; hearding breed like kelpies and collies who are bred to arc out infront; scent hounds like Beagles and Bloodhounds - designed to follow their noses with purpose, drive and speed; and of course breeds like Huskies who are literally bred and built to pull - it’s in the actual job description.

Its not a suprise that Rooney & Cowan (2011) found Lead tension and restricted gait was specifically a negative welfare marker for working breeds.

So when we expect all dogs to plod beside us through a park at human pace, ignoring smells, distractions, and natural instinct…we’re arent asking for a behaviour: We’re asking for the dog to restrain their pace, suppress their instincts, and constantly self-regulate.

In my opinion loose lead is one of the three essential skills I believe every dog pro needs to understand in depth - gait, drive, motivation, mechanics, assessment, different technique and exercise, consequence gradients and all.

Because when you understand what you’re really asking for,
you stop calling it stubbornness
and start training it like the advanced skill it actually is. And this leads to way better pet dogs with way happier relationships. ###

14/07/2025

I've been seeing a large number of clients with kids and dogs asking about teaching dogs not to bite children. The focus is placed on the dog stopping a behaviour and accepting discomfort and or rough handling.

The reality is we also need to teach children how to interact with dogs and learn to show them that dogs are not fans of being pet on top of the head, they don't like being squeezed for hugs and if a dog goes away from you that you shouldn't follow it and teaching dogs what's their toys and what's kids toys.

There are some great initiatives out there that also provide children and parents with toolkits to being safe around dogs. So please reach out so we can set you on the right path.

Ultimately, dogs don't bite if they are being treated appropriately and children and dogs should always be supervised.

14/06/2025

This little fluff nut is looking for a new home.

We helped Sox find a new forever family now it's little Bears turn.

Bear is still a baby at 5 months old.
He's a Male, undesexed, Apricot, Toy Poodle.
He needs a home that can commit to training and helping this confident outgoing little guy to grow into a good dog.
He has been raised with another Kelpie pup and is the boss of the two.
His owners may request a purchase fee but are negotiable for the right home.

12/06/2025

Introducing Millie the Kelpie.
She gives us a 5 paw rating.

Millie is a regular boarder here with us at my home. She's known us since December 2024.

She is just hilarious and has a delightful character. We enjoy having her.

Millie enjoys spending time with us so much so that she now invites herself over for visits.

Millie belongs to one of our lovely neighbours who is a dedicated pet parent. He takes Millie daily for runs, she has a massive back yard and many luxurious beds but she's decided that we are just her new best friends.

The moment her dad's backs turned she is now sneaking up our quiet dead end street to our house and knocks on the door to get let in.

Note - there isn't food offered every time the pigs ear was a treat while boarding.

I just like to think she feels safe here and it's a home away from home and that the staff (Poppy and Wally) offer deluxe entertainment and the furnishings are adequate ha ha ha.

22/05/2025

This little fella is up for adoption.
Expressions of interest being taken.
Best suited to an active family without or with kids over 12.
He needs some training - but if your here you know someone great with that kind of thing 😉
He is 11 months old desexed Cavalier X
4 kg weight range.
He would be a cracker little agility pup.
Not a couch potato.
Has a voice box.
Quick to learn.
Has not been tested dog to dog yet but if you have existing pets a meet and greet will be required.

24/04/2025

Two for two today
We love happy customer feedback.
Had a great day with cute barkers.
Both dogs had barking behaviour but one was for attention and the other was more fear based.
Not all dogs bark for the same reason so getting help sooner rather than later is best :)

01/04/2025

Just want to introduce Stormy
Great little pup that I got to work with her owner and her on Recall.
Stormy's owner isn't working at the moment but he was committed to helping Stormy and getting her trained up. Please reach out for our budget friendly training help

04/03/2025

3 for 3 this week so far :)
All clients have reported back positive changes and are feeling super happy about going forward with working with their pets needs.