I live and work in Melbourne, Australia.
Services include:
- Personalised training for puppies and dogs of any age
- Obedience from basic to advanced/competition skills
- Home manners training
- Confidence building for shy dogs
- Manners training for extroverted dogs
- Off lead control
- Adult dog and puppy adoption consultation
- Partnerships with canine veterinary behaviourists to implement plans
- Consultation with local government regarding dog management
- Freelance writing for companies and organisations
T: 0417 338 848
E: katarina@doglifetraining.com
Hello Katarina. I had great pleasure in finding this website and finally reading some excellent quality literature on dogs. The family has just purchased two whippet puppies, they are nearly 10 wks old and I can’t wait to get started with the training. I am interested in your puppy training workshops in Heidelberg on a Saturday morning. When would be the next available time slot? I assume I would be training them together ie. bringing them along at the same time? (how does that work?).
kind regards Rochelle.
Hi Rochelle,
Thank you for your kind comments and I’m glad you are enjoying the blog.
Given your puppies ages (I think Whippets are one of the most underestimated breeds, lovely dogs) you will have to contact The Kintala Club’s puppy school officer, and she can give you all of the information you need……
http://www.kintala.com.au/Kintala/Puppies.html
At Kintala Puppy School you will have your own instructor who will supervise the puppy socialisation session with you, and take you for an individual class (with a single puppy) afterwards. Each puppy needs their own handler for Kintala Puppy School.
If you would like to book lessons with me, you can do this by calling me on 9439 8546, but I don’t offer group socialisation, just one-on-one lessons. However, I am able to have both of the puppies participate in the one session at the same time, without the need of an individual handler for each pup.
If any of this is not clear for you please don’t hesitate to call me for a chat. Thanks once again for your comment, and I hope you enjoy the training- I’ll be sure to say hello if I see you there.
Hi Katarina!
I am due to return to work 4hrs/day, 4 days/wk for the first month. This will be increased to 6hrs/day during the second month and back to my usual hours of 8 hrs/day 4 days/wk in January 2012.
I have a 14.5 year old Maltese cross, “Molly” and a 14.3week old Cavoodle “Frankie”. I am spending time together and separately with both dogs, both having one to two separate walks /day and am having “hang out time” with both dogs in the tiled family area while I study. I am not yet comfortable leaving Frankie alone with Molly as Molly is an anxious dog and I fear Molly will hurt Frankie.
I will contact you to arrange 1 on 1 training when I have finished puppy school with Frankie. My main concern is, I leave Frankie in the tiled family area with his water, pee pad, toys, crate and soft bed and a chicken neck to chew on when I have to leave him for 45-60 mins for medical appointments. The family area is completely sectioned off from the lounge with the puppy pen opened out. Somehow, I find Frankie waiting anxiously by the door when I arrive home. I am concerned when I return to work that this will happen and it is not safe for him. Do you have an suggestions????
Kind regards,
Kellie
Hi Kellie, Thanks for your question. It’s great that your are easing back in to work, this alone will really help Frankie cope with the separation better. It sounds like you are doing all of the right things.
Perhaps Frankie is not waiting by the door the whole time you are gone, but rather he hears you arrive and makes his way to the door. Most separation anxiety is quite obvious from the damage done at home and even to the dog themselves. If you do not notice any injuries or severe damage to your home it is likely that Frankie is OK.
If you are still concerned about Frankie home alone you can employ a dog walker to walk and check on both of the dogs while you are at work. If you are still concerned, you could try leaving him with a family member or friend. However, there is no getting around the fact that our dogs need to learn to be home alone some of the time. It’s unfortunate that we cannot take our dogs with us everywhere.
Again, it sounds like things will be fine, and you are going about this the right way. Have a read of my separation anxiety articles for more information. Good luck, and enjoy puppy school.
Katarina
Dear Katarina,
Since the first training session we had with you last week , my German Shepherd “Wolf” has been taken out and about to various parks and walking tracks. He is friendly towards other people and other dogs which is great. However I am struggling to get him to respond to recall because by the time he has been in the car, even for just a short trip, he obviously isn’t feeling the best (often having had a little vomit) (I don’t give him breakfast if we are going to travel in the car). Once we reach our destination he just isn’t interested in meat, cheese, liver! He will come to me if he is not distracted but if he has found a super smell or is fixed on another dog for example, he just takes no notice. Not sure where to go from here. I will be seeing Amanda on Thursday, I wondered if you had any suggestions to pass on to Amanda for me? Many thanks. Ruth
Hi Ruth,
Great to hear that you have been taking Wolf out more! I wouldn’t expect him to be ‘switched on’ for a while after a car ride and arriving in a new place. Give him some time to settle down, reward anything that you are happy with during this time either with lots of praise, play or food (if he will take it).
Practice your recalls after he has had some time to settle in, when you are sure he will be successful and when the distractions are not too much for him to overcome. Please read through my recall articles for more information on this.
As a way around the car sickness you can reinforce good behaviour with play. GSD are usually very toy driven, play tug with him as an alternative to food. Have a look at my play/toy articles for more information on this.
If you can be the most interesting thing at the park for Wolf, and sometimes this takes lots of physical play, he will want to be with you over and above everything else. This bond takes time (months at least) to build so don’t expect too much too soon. Have fun with him.
Love your website babe…
Luv
Hubby!
Awwwww thanks! I couldn’t have done this without you. x
Hi Katarina,
I just have a question regarding the dog park etiquette when it comes to other dog owners and my dog. I have a very curious German Shepherd x Lab puppy who is very playful, there have been a couple of incidences where my brother has taken him to the local dog park and other people have taken it upon themselves to move my dog away by his collar or the latest was shooing him away from their puppy by aggressively waving their dog lead in his face and saying that he is aggressive because of the way he gets down low and leaps to get other dogs to play with him, he has not jumped on or attacked any other dog. He is generally good at responding to us when we call him or try to get his attention, it’s just that I am finding that other people jump in before you get a chance when they believe something is up even though both dogs are engaged and playing just fine, it’s just that others anticipate an issue because of our dogs size.
How acceptable is this behaviour from these dog owners? I do not feel comfortable with it and I believe that these people would not feel comfortable with me doing the same to their dogs.
What would you think is the best way to handle these situations?
Thanks
Carol
Hi Carol,
Thanks for your question. I have a post planned in the coming weeks exactly on this topic because I do find people often do not know if dogs are playing or fighting, or playing even in a positive way. Stay tuned for this one.
During a visit to the dog park you will encounter many different personalities, both dogs and humans. Some dogs are playful and will try to play with any dog, others are more standoffish, while others still are quite timid. The dog park should be a positive place for any personality type. It is the responsibility of humans to know our dogs and be their advocates by communicating with others about how our dog is feeling.
Your dog sounds like an absolute delight (I’m sure Nemo, my dog, would love him) who would be best suited to other playful/confident dogs. This means that when you arrive at the dog park you will need to risk assess and match your dog to other well suited dogs for play. This might mean on lead greetings until you can determine the suitability of another dog and their owner before off lead play is allowed.
In the end if you have had objections from more than one person on more than one occasion there may cause to be attentive to other people and their dogs. Your dog sounds very friendly but other people are feeling worried, and as much as you know your dog they would know their feelings too, if they are asking you to call your dog or are telling you they are concerned you need to respect this (even if you cannot see it yourself). This is often the case with larger dogs too, which is why they tend to be more difficult to keep (training needs to be even better than most other dogs).
I find that people respond to playful dogs so much better if you are right there next to your dog managing them with frequent requests to stop play and ‘relax’, dogs who are a little shy will respond to this break in play very well too. Do this on lead for a while if you have to until the other dog and person get to know him. You should also avoid standing around too much as this will lead to more intense play, walk with your dog and others if you can.
In the end the best way to help socialise your dog is to make your dog easier to socialise with, this is where intense training, intense supervision and intense communication with other people will be the key.
Good luck.
Katarina
Hi Katarina,
Thank you so much for your quick response. I will look out for that blog. I totally agree with your comments, the two incidences I referred to happened with people that took very young pups into the dog park, one was 7 weeks old, the other was 12 weeks old, this had been the first time either of these puppies had met other dogs. I totally understand their fears and I myself would not take puppies that small to a dog park. I will get my brother to walk around to keep up with my dog on the days he takes him. I just find that some people are happy to let their dogs be rough with mine and other people’s dogs they don’t intervene and deal with their dog, but as soon as they see that their dog is no longer the dominant one in the game they get uptight and want to reprimand the other dog, even if the dogs are clearly playing.
Cheers
Carol