Blog by K9 Pro and Steve Courtney Dog Training K9 Pro The K9 Professionals

I have for a while wanted to write an article on this subject and we have a great little dog in here at the moment for rehab that prompted me to get right to it. He is a Kelpie X and has a lot of character, no really he is a cool guy, I really do like him. He is …

When we think of addicts, drug use or abuse may come to mind, but addiction is better understood by realizing that it is something that the subject cannot stop, even if they wanted to. I see many dogs that fall into this category when it comes to aggression, chasing behaviours, pacing and other highly rewarding behaviours. When I say highly …

On a daily basis, my staff and I provide training, rehab and behavioural services to people with dogs that are, let’s say, challenging. It may surprise you to know that many of these problems arisen simply due to the owners having very little or no standards or goals in training their pet dog. When you get a puppy that is …

When dogs come to see us that have major behaviour problems, it is very common they say they have been to a number of trainers before us and other board and train programs. So, it stands to reason they may go to others after us, if their expectations are not met. Sometimes when working with the dog and the issue …

We use and sell a lot of long lines, we have over a dozen different types and they vary between different lengths widths and materials, all fill different roles of course. So, you can bet, people ask which Long Line and why, a lot. First, I wanted to cover some facts because some people try to fool their customers into …

Never? Really? How about a pointed finger? Raised voice? Only sometimes? Often? Daily? Always? Is it bad? It’s well known that I work with many difficult dogs that behave badly and sometimes very badly. Therefore it’s not unusual when we may need a piece of equipment that the owner may question, often based on previous misinformation they have received. Many …

So, motivating dogs to offer behaviour, change behaviour, repeat behaviours and create behaviours is a big deal in todays training world. And surprisingly, very few people know how to motivate their dogs effectively, leaving them with lack lustre, unreliable, slow dogs that often just fail the exercise often. When I ask most people how they motivate their dogs, I am …

As a coach I feel it my job to help develop the right mindset in those who want me to coach them. A mindset that helps provide the perfect environment for them to progress as a team. The right mindset can be a complicated thing to find in dog sports, at least in my opinion anyway, but more on that …

Effective socialisation – effective training – effective reward – effective management – effective punishment – effective leadership? If you are training dogs, it should be just effective dog training! Why I use the term “effective” so often is that I see so many people and so many dogs that have had training, socialisation, management, and other things and got nowhere. …

As we progress through the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending a lot more time with their dogs, in many cases this is great news, but not all. First, let us agree that too much of ANYTHING is a bad thing, just as bad as not enough in some cases. An example is drinking water. If you …

This is an article I wanted to write for a while, and if you’re smart, a light bulb should go off and you begin to look at training in a new, more effective, and powerful way. First of all, some thought producing things that might help, set the scene. Often when we are training our dogs with food and the …

I have a litter on the ground at the moment, so this article will be helpful to those puppy owners in a few short weeks, but the idea came from a client and now mate of mine Damian. Damian has a Malinois that he brought to see me and has done an incredible job, so thanks to him for suggesting …

This is something that very few people understand, but most think they do. Remember holding your hand out so the dog could sniff it? I guess so many of us were taught this was the right way that it has become a “fact”. The reality is that many people have been bitten that way and I never approach a dog …

I often write article about complex behaviour problems and this makes it hard to offer any helpful advice because the complexity often means the solution is very much individual to the dog I am working with. In this article though, I wanted to talk about what many might call, “simple stuff”, because often, a dog that was a bit better …

We get so many calls from frantic, worried and anxious dogs’ owners in a panic as their gorgeous dog has done something that has attracted unwanted council trouble. At this point I would suggest to all dog owners to know the rules that surround dog ownership and management, this can really help avoid council trouble. Your local council website or …