Animal Wellness and Behaviour

04/12/2025

BEHAVIOURAL DOG TRAINING - SPOTS AVAILABLE before the year ends ⭐️🐾

Chook (Shayne) is a proud Australian Military veteran with nearly 16 years of service in the Australian Defence Force. For the majority of his career, he served as an Explosive Detection Dog Handler and Trainer in the special forces.

Since discharging in 2022, he has had the privilege of learning from and working alongside some of the best in the field, both during and after his military service.

Chook is a huge asset to our AW&B team as a behavioural dog trainer, handling all dogs big and small for everything from severe aggression to puppy development - and everything in between like reactivity and loose lead walking skills. 🎖️🐶

Send us an email if you are keen to book in with Chook!

📍 Chook is based in the Campbelltown area and services surrounding suburbs including Camden, all the way out to Penrith & the Hawkesbury

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

01/12/2025

What are your thoughts? 🤔

20 breeding dogs in a facility still seems like … puppy farming? 😅

🔔 As of today, there are new law changes for dog breeders and accidental litters 🔔

• All litters in NSW will be required to have a Breeder Identification Number (BIN)
• Female dogs will be limited to five litters in their lifetime or up to three by caesarean
• There will be a cap of 20 non-desexed female dogs over the age of six months to be kept on a premises, unless breeders have been granted an exemption
• All advertisements for the sale or transfer of dogs must include a dog’s microchip, the Breeder’s BIN, or Rehoming Organisation Number if born after this date
• One staff member to every 20 dogs must be introduced at the breeding premise

Fees and penalities apply. For more information please see link below:
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/dpi/animals/animal-welfare/advice/pets/dogs/breeding/requirements

01/12/2025

Hey everyone! Just a quick update so you can plan ahead:

🗓 Private Consults:
I’ll be taking clients up until Friday, December 19th.

🐾 Daycare Week:
I’ll be on the daycare floor Dec 22nd & 24th, and we’ve got our DockDogs Intro Day on Dec 23rd.

🛑 Christmas/New Year Break:
I’ll be back in action on Monday, Jan 5th, 2026,
then taking a short block of leave from Jan 9th–18th,
returning to regular work Monday, Jan 19th.

If you need a consult before the 19th, book it now so you don’t miss out. Let’s finish the year strong. 💪🐶

January availability filling up quick 🔥

📸 • .xyz

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

19/11/2025

Saturday morning group classes are alwaaysss a good time, especially if you want to keep up to date with your training after completing your program - or just for some extra stuff in between sessions.

2 classes left for 2025. 2026 classes will be up in a few weeks 🌟

📸: .xyz

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

18/11/2025

I spent last week down in Victoria with Alex from - a week of tightening up my own handling, challenging a few habits, and raising the bar for what I expect from myself, my dogs & my clients.

It was exactly the kind of work I love; digging into new concepts, pressure-testing what I already do well, and finding cleaner, sharper ways to communicate with my dogs.

I’m excited to share some of the new things I picked up - little technique tweaks, different ways of looking at behaviour, and a few ideas I can’t wait to bring into my programs here.

Huge thanks to Alex for being so generous with his brain… and for expanding my playlist so I’ve got even more heavier music to listen to while I drive to and from clients and throw elbows to in my living room😅🔥

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

17/11/2025

Your Vet is a crazy smart person, the amount of study they have done, including continuing education, is a lot!

But....Not all Vets are on the same page about everything, and just because your Vet says something doesn't mean that it's fact, another Vet may say the opposite.

When this happens, then we need to take a step back and look at what's being said from both parties, and then see if we can find some actual science to back up either side.

When your Vet says you should not feed a fresh food diet because it is too hard or too dangerous etc. it usually means that they don't have the extra education on the topic to help guide you.

Things change over time - what a Vet was taught 20+ years ago is going to be different from what is taught today. Your Vet may also not have an interest in doing additional nutrition studies, and that's ok!

What you can do is keep your awesome Vet for all your regular stuff and then consult with a fresh food knowledgeable vet for nutrition, and they can even communicate with your own Vet if your dog, for instance, has a medical issue that needs to be nutritionally managed.

What a lot of people don't know is that a dog never needs to be on a prescription kibble if you don't want them to - they can be managed on a thoughtfully formulated fresh food diet for their condition, but that takes a particular professional to do that for you.

When I say 'fresh food', I am referring to whole food diets that are raw or lightly cooked.

Start here: https://www.vngpets.com/

16/11/2025

🐾 Structured Doggy Daycare – Monday & Thursday Spots Available!

A few snaps of the crew living their best lives at our structured Doggy Daycare ✨
We’ve got limited membership and casual spots open for Mondays & Thursdays.

📍 Unit 1, 9 Peachtree Road, Penrith
🕖 Open 7am–6pm

Our daycare is run by a team of canine behaviourists with Bachelor degrees in Animal Science, ensuring every dog gets proper enrichment, safe socialisation, and thoughtful supervision — not a free-for-all.
All dogs complete an assessment first so we can place them safely and set them up to thrive.

⭐ Members also receive discounted training with our head trainer, Chloe.

You can find the sign-up form and full info at the link below.

https://www.animalwellnessandbehaviour.com.au/doggydaycare

23/10/2025

🚀 BEYOND BASICS - Enrolments Now Open
Our 5-week Beyond Basics program is launching on November 20th at 7pm in Penrith.

This program has been designed around what we believe are the most valuable and practical skills every dog and owner should have. Across five weeks, we’ll build real-world capability, layer by layer - developing engagement, control, calmness, confidence and teamwork that you can rely on anywhere, not just in a training environment.

This is a progressive program, meaning each week builds on the last, so I’m looking for dedicated owners who are keen to train, learn, and put the work in between classes. By the end, you’ll have a full toolkit of skills to help you and your dog navigate everyday life with clarity and confidence.

🐶 Who can join?
✔️ Dogs who have trained with us before
✔️ New dogs are also welcome - provided they have reasonable foundational skills and can work in a group environment.
If you’re unsure, you’re welcome to book a casual session so I can assess where your dog is at before the course begins.

📍 AW&B Training Facility - Penrith
🗓 Thursdays, 7pm - Starting Nov 20
⏳ 5-Week Program
👥 Max 4 dogs (very limited spots)

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

02/10/2025

1. Your Basics
Before we can change behaviour, your dog needs to understand the “language” of training. Sits, downs, leash skills, recalls - not just in the living room, but everywhere. If your dog only listens at home, it’s not trained - it’s patterned. True training means your dog understands and responds no matter the environment, distractions, or context.
🏆Challenge: get your dog to go on their bed, take 5-10 big steps away from them and ask them to down, sit or stand - will they do it while distanced from you?

2. In-home Management
Behaviour starts where your dog spends most of their time: at home. If there’s no structure in the house, you can’t expect structure outside of it. Simple steps like no fence fighting the neighbours dog, boundaries, crate/place work, and clear handling set the foundation for every behaviour goal. A dog that understands order in the home is 10x easier to work with in public.

3. Physical Fulfilment.
Exercise isn’t just about wearing your dog out - it’s about meeting their biological and psychological needs. Science shows that dogs with appropriate outlets for movement, play, and breed-specific behaviours (like sniffing, chasing, retrieving, problem-solving) are calmer, more resilient, and easier to train. A fulfilled dog is not simply tired; they are satisfied, balanced, and ready to learn.

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

30/08/2025

Our August Puppy School Graduates! 🎓🐾

What a fun bunch of pups to work with and watch them grow over the 4 week course ☺️

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]

22/08/2025

APPLY HERE 👇

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfrCYtN9N13cvtGJFfhb3MfhROcQ-BH9YJX62zYxdBtyLn9nA/viewform?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwMU9rNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABpy8hYNPEhrTjfrnMAuYQIQyuQ0Tzh5yQRR3_ugToqYn-m6PKTVDiodtcY4K7_aem_x28ldUuWuDaLjFzOVviYvQ&pli=1

31/07/2025

JULY PUPPY PRESCHOOL GRADUATES

We had 2 full puppy preschool classes this month!!
Both classes were amazing and all progressed super well throughout the program 🩵
We had everything from a chihuahua to a Great Dane this month which was so cool to see!

A big well done to everyone in class 🎉

𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙐𝙎?

📝 Fill out the application form in our bio

📩 Send us an email to [email protected]