Wellington Canine Coaching

Cheat code to get a break from velcro dogs on a cold night. 👌😂

Join and myself at our ever popular Coffee and Canines events or our group classes run in an all weather under cover facility for more hand tips, hints and high quality banter.

There once was a Malinois who needed a babysitter. Fledge or F as she was affectionately known by in the chat was the Malinois and I was the babysitter. I will refer to F’s handler as R in the same affectionate fashion.

The beginning of this mentorship and friendship started when I met R at one of the lowest moments of my life when my dachshund was bitten and another dogs canine tooth penetrated her eye. We rushed to the after hours and R came out to receive us in the commotion of it all I didn’t realise R was the lady with the Malinois I had been talking to on the internet until she wrote our prescription and we hugged like old friends after introducing ourselves properly, severely confusing my already traumatised then to be wife.

I began seeing F and R a few times a week to assist on calibrating her bitey off switch in pursuit of her BH for the sport of IPO by touching her ears a few times a week into the lead up of her trial. This meant slowly convincing F that good things happen when strange men touch her ears as she was not a dog that could be bent to one’s will. If I recall correctly this is to identify the dog through notches or tattoos on its ears.

Just flying home from a big weekend put on by who were hosting Josh the in Auckland.

Josh was articulate and professional and delivered a great presentation. Novice pet owners to experienced trainers found value in observing him work dogs followed by engaging discussions afterwards.

I feel this was a very beneficial seminar for the canine industry in New Zealand.

We've got a couple of spots left for our BASICS group class starting this Saturday (11 March) in the Hutt Valley.

If you're interested, check the details here: https://www.thehoundway.com/trainingclasses

I caught up with Stanley this morning and we found a line of mutual communication with the leash and he even walked past a couple of white fluffies with no dramas, great stuff little G!

The adorable puppy Iggy and his big sister Clove, these dogs have amazing obedience and the ribbons to prove it, now they have some streets smarts and they will be set!

Looking forward to hosting another Canines & Coffee session this Saturday! We've got 1 dog+handler spot left and can squeeze in a couple more spectator only (no dog) spots too. If you wanna come along for a coffee and some yarns, hit this link to register before close of business Wednesday 👌🐺

https://forms.gle/PviL7DWtUAAstrjC9

So far we have a bunch of reactivity to work on, some recall, loose leash walking, building handler engagement, puppy biting and a few other interesting tid-bits to interest everyone.

See my pinned posts for more info on what Canines & Coffee is if you're not familiar.

Event Registration Form

Just being a bloody good boy.

Look at the size of those ears mate! This is Moose and he certainly is one. This afternoon we talked about loose leash walking with distractions and general dog stuff. Good on ya pal!

I met up with Kaida and Jack today to go over some general dog stuff and some loose leash walking. Good job dogs!

LAST CALL!!

We've got a couple of spots left at this years first group dog training session.
This is a two part course on Saturday 11th and 18th of February at 9:30am.

These are perfect sessions for reactive dogs and serial leash pullers!

It is held at a very large all weather facility in Upper Hutt.

We will be teaching basic obedience and communication skills for the real world.
Because there are two dog trainers here, we have the ability to provide one on one help whenever anyone needs it during the session. We will explain things like reward markers, leash handling skills and body language.

The cost is $150

If you're interested bang your details into this form: https://forms.gle/Tbd5pdynwPWaSrFHA

Or, if you've attended one of our events before or you have some questions, flip me an email: [email protected]

We are super excited to announce that Wellington Canine Coaching and The Hound Way have secured access to an ALL WEATHER facility to run our group training sessions in. Chahhoooo.

No more weather-based postponements due to erratic Wellington weather patterns.

Our first round of training sessions will be two 'Back to Basics' sessions where we go over how to create reliable behaviour on leash.
These sessions will suit someone who has no foundational training with their dog (you might've attended a puppy school and never gone further) or people who have some foundational skills but want help on refining those skills and building reliability in more situations.

If this sounds like you, read on for more info.

When: 11th Feb 2023 and 18th Feb 2023
Time: 9:30am - 10:30am
Where: Upper Hutt (Location confirmed upon payment)
Cost: $150 (for both days)
How: fill out the registration form here: https://forms.gle/98tV4ruYj3xiV6Kf8 , or if you have attended one of our events before, email me: [email protected]

Limited spots available.

If you live in Auckland and your feeling lucky jump on over to instagram and visit Nadia O’Sullivan - Professional Dog Trainer

Instagram Training Giveaway ✨

Want to win a private training session with me? Here’s your chance!

Head over to my Instagram page


Follow the steps to be into win 🐾

[email protected]

Our next group training session is open for registration.

DATES: 2x Saturdays 29 October and 5 November 2022
TIME: 9am
LOCATION: Porirua
PRICE: $150

These group training sessions have a focus on providing the foundational skills to develop a loose leash walk and manage reactivity-type behaviours in your dog. These sessions offer a chance to help your 'enthusiastic' dog better understand you when they're in the prescence of other dogs, people and distrating environments.

If you are training a dog and would like to attend just to work your dog around other under control dogs, this is also a great opportunity and we welcome you to register.

These group training sessions are a no-judgement zone. There are no stupid questions. We are here to help.

Hit this link to register your interest; https://forms.gle/hsNNMo5PQYNHhJNp6

Alternatively, if you have attended a session before and want to come use the opportunity to work your dog around other dogs, email me.
[email protected]

Lesssssgo!

Looking forward to kicking off the next season of group training sessions tomorrow! Weather report looks perfect for a semi-early start - if you're booked in, we will see you there 😎🐺🤙

What a breath of fresh air.

In the last few years, I’ve watched “dog culture” explode into a phenomenon I’d never seen as an early dog trainer. When I first started training dogs, people didn’t come to me with requests for their dogs to be able to handle things and expectations we put on them so heavily today. Nowadays, it’s amazing what we ask of our dogs because of this culture that emerged. And then we wonder why dogs are going downhill behaviorally so quickly.

1. Dog “groups” where people get together with dogs on leash and do activities and social events. Including birthday parties, Halloween parties, etc etc

2. Dog daycares where dogs are kept in large groups to play

3. Dog parks where humans AND dogs interact in groups

4. Behaviors like perfect heel on leash, sit stays on beds, ignoring environmental enticement in the name of “training”

Then there’s dog sports, dog classes, therapy dog work, service dog work, dog shows, trail walks, public outings, restaurants, breweries, and farmers markets and parades and town days and family over (with their dog) for every holiday and apartment complexes and car rides and pet stores and all these places we’ve been made to believe dogs SHOULD go and should WANT to go to and if they don’t then you need to do more and more work with them and help them like it and if you don’t then you aren’t fulfilling them or meeting their needs and your dog isn’t happy and you are failing or they just haven’t been raised right.

Please. Take a breath.

For 20,000 years dogs existed beside us doing none of that. For 9,000 years they were created for purpose and work, not for pets (with the exception of a few toy breeds) We didn’t expect ANY OF THIS during that time unless they were designed and created for it: now it’s what we want all the time. From all dogs. That’s not fair.

Our culture has changed SO much and dogs haven’t had a chance to catch up. We want all this new stuff because it’s part of OUR new culture, but we need to pause and realize it’s not a part of most of theirs. People coming over? Not really what most dogs were created to enjoy. Going new places all the time? Not what most dogs were created to handle. Hanging out in groups and put in costumes and having their pictures taken? Not normal to a dog. Riding calmly in a glass box going past all these distractions at 35mph? Not part of their DNA either.

We would NEVER expect this of any of our other animals either. Why are dogs taking the brunt of this. Because dogs are extremely adaptable and truthfully, they love us so much they will try so so hard to make us happy and do what we ask of them. But, can we for a second stop and think that maybe it’s too much sometimes? Can we please take some accountability for their stress and mental health as part of OUR unrealistic expectations that we’ve been led to believe make for a good dog vs a bad dog? I’m not talking about not working with them and helping them learn to live in todays world. That’s important. I’m talking about taking a step back and having respect for who they are and why they originally ended up with us. I do this all the time before I put any of my dogs in a situation, and that means sometimes I don’t bring them.

If the culture is changing; let’s add human education and understanding of basic canine ethology, body language and respect into it too. It’s only fair to honor the animals who have stood beside us for so so long.

Helen St. Pierre

🐺 ANNOUNCEMENT 🐺

New Group Training Session dates.

We had another massive response to our first round of group classes. We have a second set of dates locked in, and this is already half sold from the wait list.

If you are interested in joining one of our dog training group sessions, read the info below and hit the link to register.

------

Wellington Canine Coaching & The Hound Way are back to present another season of group training sessions.

These sessions are pitched to provide a supportive and inclusive environment to learn and practice the skills needed to handle every day situations when out and about with your dog.

We will work on;
- loose leash walking
- sit/down
- how to help your dog succeed around distractions
- managing blow-ups/reactivity in the moment.
- building a strong relationship
We have adjusted our curriculum and sharpened the price on these courses to enable us to help more people.

Here is the info:
DATE: Two Sessions; 1 October 2022 and 8 October 2022 (Saturdays)
TIME: 9am.
PLACE: Porirua (Precise location provided upon confirmation of booking)
PRICE: $150 (Both sessions are included in this price)

To register; fill in this online registration form: https://forms.gle/ZaARyrXjcoTg3Uw36

Alternatively - if you have come to our course before and you would like to attend again, please email me; [email protected]

WE ARE BACK

Wellington Canine Coaching & The Hound Way are back to present another season of group training sessions.

These sessions are pitched to provide a supportive and inclusive environment to learn and practice the skills needed to handle every day situations when out and about with your dog.
We will work on;
- loose leash walking
- sit/down
- how to help your dog succeed around distractions
- managing blow-ups/reactivity in the moment.
- building a strong relationship

We have adjusted our curriculum and sharpened the price on these courses to enable us to help more people.

Here is the info:

DATE: Two Sessions; 17 September 2022 and 24 September 2022
TIME: 9am.
PLACE: Porirua (Precise location provided upon confirmation of booking)
PRICE: $150

To register; fill in this online registration form: https://forms.gle/ZaARyrXjcoTg3Uw36

There has been alot of thought put into this video and alot of the other content put out by Pat from Operant Canine over in Sydney and Id like to see it gain some traction for him but primarily because it shows a clear break down of what the situation really is, no bu****it.

I think this video will resonate with most of what I personally could best describe as Modern Dog Trainers in the middle of the spectrum.

The dog training spectrum It's taken me a really long time to make this video. I love this industry and I love training dogs. But I'm really concerned about where it's heading and I h...

This is little Moose and Pepper, Moose got taught on how to grow up to be a good dog and is already leaps and bounds ahead of most pups I see his age thanks to his dedicated owners and Pepper is a good dog that Im sure will warm up to her nee brother in time 😂

This big beautiful specimen of a is Merlin.

I met with Merlin and his Mum to go back to basics on loose leash walking and what we need to do to get Merlins emotional state sorted which is fueling his reactivity.

This is Buddy.

Buddy is struggling a bit with impulse control particularly around his Feline brother.

We firstly played a game of tug to let some steam off then we did some loose leash walking which he did very well with Mum and Dad then we practiced sit on the leash with the cat and how to non verbally communicate with Buddy that the cat is special and not to be played with.

Good job today!

Hey Harley!

I met this good natured dude this morning to go over some loose leash walking and recall, nice work today buddy!

Any active familys looking for a dog?

Meet Zorro!

He is a 10 month old border collie and an absolutely lovely dog.

We went over a bit of management in the home, loose leash walking, recall and even got him started on learning to trot beside a bike.

Big day today buddy! Great job!