Animal Haus Behaviour and Training

31/05/2026

Tickets for the 2026 conference are now on sale!

The speaker lineup looks fabulous! Everything from dogs to cats and parrots are topics at this year's conference. So whatever species you work or live with there will be presentations of interest.

Tickets are on sale at the PPGA website!

27/05/2026

🖐️5 Reasons you SHOULD be playing tug with Your Bully type dog... 💪

Tug is still often misunderstood. People are frequently told it will make dogs “dominant”, “aggressive”, or harder to control… but when done thoughtfully, tug can actually be one of the BEST games for our bully type dogs.

Here’s why 👇

1️⃣Biological Fulfilment
Most bully breeds were bred to bite, grab, hold, and use their mouth. Tug gives them a safe, appropriate outlet for those natural instincts instead of expecting them to suppress them constantly (⚠️spoiler alert this doesn't work!)

2️⃣ Fantastic Physical Exercise
Tug is HARD work. Short sessions can provide incredible physical and mental exercise while engaging the body AND brain at the same time.

3️⃣ Tug is a Relationship builder
Play builds connection. When you become the source of fun, interaction, and fulfilment, your dog starts actively choosing YOU. Tug creates teamwork, communication, and engagement.

4️⃣ High Value Reinforcement
For many bully type dog, tug is more valuable than food. That makes it an incredible reinforcer for recall, engagement, confidence building, and choosing you over distractions.

5️⃣ It helps to teach self regulation
Structured tug teaches dogs how to start and stop play appropriately, how to regulate and think under arousal, to release items on cue, and switch between excitement and thinking.

The goal isn’t a dog who never gets excited.
The goal is a dog who can experience excitement AND still stay connected and responsive.

Fulfilment. Connection. Exercise. Training. Self regulation.

Tug is so much more than “just a game”, it’s an outlet, relationship builder, a powerful training tool and a way to meet biological needs!🔥

24/05/2026

I am thrilled to have been asked to present at the Pet Professional Guild Australia Conference 2026 in Sydney this September!

I will be presenting on topics related to parrot behaviour and training but also on how my work with parrots has also changed, shaped and improved how I work with dogs.

The Speaker lineup is just being released now and I am really excited to see both Dr Tom Mitchell (Behavet) and Simone Mueller (Predation Substitute Training) on the list!

I am looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with friends and meet new people!

21/05/2026

One of the best things about the internet is the opportunity to collaborate with professionals from all over the world!

Em from Train & Nourish in the UK is a fellow Scurry Dog Instructor but also a highly skilled Behaviour Consultant, with a wealth of knowledge in the area of nutrition and gut microbiome. I am super lucky to have been able to connect with her to discuss Eevee's microbiome results and to just chat all things gut health, physical health and behaviour.

I cannot stress how important your dogs gut microbiome is. Not just to their physical health but also their mental / behavioural health. Even if your dog produces fairly normal stools this isn't always an indicator of good biome diversity.

If you are struggling with your dogs behaviour then this is an area you should investigate!

Thanks to Em for making time for me and Eevee in her busy schedule!

Just got to love the power of the internet!

This evening we had a great zoom with the amazing Lee from Animal Haus Behaviour and Training based out in Australia!

Lee has recently carried out a microbiome test on her dog Eevee. We jumped on zoom to discuss the results, how they could be influencing Eevee's behaviour and to create a plan moving forwards.

One of the things I find most fascinating is the connection between the gut and the brain. The gut-brain axis is a two-way communication system, meaning what is happening in the gut can influence behaviour, emotions, stress responses, and overall wellbeing. While behaviour is never as simple as “fix the gut, fix the dog”, the gut can be an incredibly important piece of the puzzle that deserves consideration.

I absolutely love being able to connect with fellow professionals from across the world to geek out over behaviour, nutrition, science, and all things dogs. There is always something new to learn, and conversations like this remind me just how exciting this field is.

A huge thank you to Lee for such a great discussion!

19/05/2026

🆕 Our next Scurry Dog Foundations classes start this week!

Thursday 7:30pm - BOOKED OUT
Saturday 10:30am - Places available

5 Games. 6 weeks. Loads of fun. Endless possibilities.

Suitable for all dogs regardless of age, breed, size or physical ability. No experience necessary.

Learn everything from basic training foundations, to interactive play, retrieve skills, recall, heel, distance and directional skills, cooperative hunting, stay, plus much much more....taught with games and fun activities!

📍Tamborine (4270, Near Yarrabilba)
📅 Starts Saturday 23rd May (runs for 6 weeks)
⏰ 10:30am (75-90 minutes per session)
👥 Limited to 6 teams
💲 $350/team

Ready to learn more or join the fun? Head to our website 👇
www.animalhausbehaviour.com.au

Or use the link in our Bio!
dog

22/11/2025

💭In the pursuit of where you are aiming to be.... don't forget where you started...

When working with our dogs to overcome challenges it can be easy as the weeks, months or years pass to forget the extent of the challenges we experienced when we first began working with them. We will often lament the ongoing issues, forgetting exactly how much improvement has been achieved.

Your dog may still bark when they see other dogs, but they don't lunge or spin, they disengage more easily and recover faster. They can engage with you on a walk, rather than frantically scanning the environment for the next trigger. They can walk past the kangaroos, cattle and humans they see on a walk now, rather than fixating on them.

Behaviour change is measured in approximations! Don't forget to celebrate the small wins you have made to get to where you are today, they pave the path to your goals! 🎯

14/11/2025

✨ 4 Things You Can Start Today to Help Your Reactive Dog ✨

1️⃣ Reduce Stress at Home
Reactivity doesn’t start on the walk, it starts with your dog’s overall stress load. Noises, neighbouring dogs, busy households, and constant alertness all contribute to chronic stress. Creating a calmer home environment is often the first step: management, quiet zones, predictable routines, and reducing exposure to known triggers can make a huge difference.

2️⃣ Hit Pause on the Street Walks
If your dog is reacting every time you step out the front door, they’re not learning. Street environments are full of unpredictable triggers: dogs behind fences, people popping out of cars, fast-moving bikes… the list goes on. Giving the dog a break from this constant stress helps their nervous system reset and allows foundational training to actually stick. Replace street walks with walks in large fields or forests, decompression activities or safe, controlled environments such as Sniff Spots / Private Dog parks.

3️⃣ Give Your Dog a Job
Dogs need an outlet for their species and breed specific behaviours they were bred for. When those needs aren’t met, stress builds and problems arise! Nosework, mantrailing, gun-dog games, chewing, scent-based enrichment, herding games, or even simple “find it” searches in the backyard help fulfil those innate drives and build confidence.

4️⃣ Teach Life Skills
Reactively isn’t solved by simply working on addressing the dogs triggers. It’s about giving them a toolkit of behaviours they can do instead. Skills like disengagement, coming away from stimuli, settling, checking in, recalling on cue and walking nicely on lead empower your dog to make better choices in real-life situations.

Ready to get support for you and your spicy dog? We would love to help! Reach out.

08/11/2025

You have asked for it so here it is! Spicy Scurry 🌶️ Taster Workshops!

Interested in Scurry Dog but your dog is Spicy and needs space? We are now planning our first Spicy Scurry Dog Taster Workshops!

ℹ️ These will be run differently to our usual workshops. Dogs will arrive in 30 minute blocks, two dogs per block. The two dogs will rotate through the 3 activities and then be free to head off. This minimises waiting time for sensitive dogs and also means less triggers in the environment.

You will still get the same amount of workshop and activities with your dog as you would in a normal taster but rather than rotating with 5-7 other dogs, it'll just be one other dog and then you can go.

There will also be a 20 minute Online component before the session (live but will also be recorded) where we will run you through some basic information about Scurry Dog and you can ask questions.

📆 Friday evening, either 21st Nov or 5th December
⏰ Blocks starting around 4:30pm, a new block every 30 minutes and will run as many blocks as possible (potentially as late as 8:30pm)
💵 $99 / dog

If you are interested for your dog/s let us know below and tell us what date works best for you!

14/10/2025

We have a few places left in our Taster workshops this Friday!

• Friday 17th October, 4pm (1 place left) and 6:30pm (3 places left)
• Tingalpa, Queensland
• $200 / dog

To register (or head to the link in our Bio!)
https://www.animalhausbehaviour.com.au/service-page/scurry-dog-taster-workshop-1

Our taster workshops introduce you and your dog to some of Scurry Dog's unique, gun-dog inspired games! Learn all about this fun, new activity in a supportive, friendly environment and go home with new skills, and a fulfilled, happy dog!

Our taster workshops introduce you and your dog to activities for 3 of the 5 Scurry Dog games - The 5 games are: The Retrieve, Scramble Grid, Everyday Dog, Nose Quest and Sniffit Trail.

Dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds are welcome!

.dog

08/10/2025

❓ My dog doesn't retrieve, can we still play Scurry Dog?

💡 The simple answer is yes! Your dog does not need to already engage in retrieve for you to participate! Retrieve is a behaviour that can be taught to your dog. Whether your dog just doesn't like to share their toys with you or they have no interest in picking up an object you have thrown for them we can teach them!

🎁 As a bonus working on this skill can have many benefits! It can assist with working through resource guarding behaviours and lead to more opportunities to engage your dog in high value play behaviours such as chase and tug. This type of play mimics natural dog hunting behaviour and can be incredibly valuable reinforcement.

📅 We have more Scurry Dog Taster workshops scheduled for next Friday 17th October 4pm and 6:30pm. Come along and give it a try, we are sure you and your dog will love it! Link in our Bio!