Start your dog training journey
Start with the support your dog
actually needs.
Not sure whether you need group training or one-on-one support?
Start by looking at what happens when your dog is around other
dogs, people and everyday distractions.
The right starting point is not about how many commands your dog
knows. It is about whether they can cope, recover and still learn
in the environment around them.
Choose your starting point
Which description sounds more like
your dog?
Both pathways use practical, reinforcement-based training and
include Pocket Trainer Support between sessions. The main
difference is the environment your dog can currently handle.
01 · Comfortable or overexcited
Life Skills Group Program
Your dog can be around other dogs and people without becoming
overwhelmed, but struggles with focus, pulling on lead,
excitement, frustration, recall or distractions.
- Loose lead walking
- Recall and engagement
- Calm behaviour around distractions
- Clear communication for everyday life
- Pocket Trainer Support between classes
02 · Overwhelmed or reactive
Reactivity Support
Your dog barks, lunges, freezes, scans, fixates or becomes
overwhelmed around dogs, people, movement or busy
environments.
- Understand what is driving the reaction
- Reduce overwhelm and improve recovery
- Build practical handling strategies
- Work around triggers at an achievable level
- Pocket Trainer Support between sessions
Important
Group training is not always the right
starting point.
If simply seeing another dog is enough to push your dog beyond
the point where they can think, take reinforcement or recover,
asking them to learn in a group may make useful training much
harder.
That does not mean group training is off the table forever.
It means we need to start in an environment where your dog can
actually learn.
Life Skills Group Program
Seven weeks of practical,
real-world training.
Life Skills is for dogs who can learn around others but need
better engagement, lead skills, recall, emotional regulation
and clearer communication in everyday environments.
Dog-Free Human Workshop
Learn how dogs learn, how reinforcement works, how to use
markers clearly and how to set training up so the practical
work makes sense to both ends of the lead.
Build the Foundations
Develop communication, engagement, loose-lead skills,
recall, duration and emotional regulation while gradually
adding more challenge.
Proofing and Real-Life Integration
Bring the skills together around greater distractions and
practise behaviour that needs to work beyond the training
environment.
Included throughout
Coaching does not finish when class does.
Maximum six dogs:
Small groups create useful real-world distraction while
still leaving room for individual coaching.
Pocket Trainer Support:
Send questions and short homework videos through WhatsApp
between classes so you can get feedback while you are
practising.
Reactivity Support
Individual support built around
your dog’s starting point.
Reactivity Support is for dogs who need more space, individual
coaching and a training plan built around their specific
triggers, behaviour and environment.
Reactivity Call
Talk through what has been happening and work out whether
Reactivity Support is the right place to start.
In-Person Assessment
We look at the whole dog: behaviour, environment, routines,
stress, triggers and what may be contributing to what you
are seeing.
Whether or not training with me continues, you will
leave with a better understanding of your dog, why the
behaviour may be happening and what they need from you
next.
Recommended Training Block
If ongoing training is appropriate, I will recommend a
block of sessions based on your dog and the work ahead,
rather than asking you to choose a generic package.
This gives us time to build skills, practise, review
progress and adjust the plan as your dog develops.
Pocket Trainer Support is included between sessions,
so you can send questions and short training videos for
feedback while you are actually doing the work.
The value starts before paid training
Understand the dog first. Then decide what comes next.
The Reactivity Call and In-Person Assessment are free. You will
leave with a clearer picture of what may be driving your dog’s
behaviour and what they need from you next — whether or not you
continue into paid training.
Dog training across the Coffs Coast
Training for
the life you actually live.
The Operant Dog provides dog training in Coffs Harbour and
surrounding areas, including Sawtell, Toormina, Urunga,
Raleigh, Boambee, Woolgoolga and nearby communities.
Training is designed around the places you actually need your
dog to function: neighbourhood walks, parks, beaches, cafés,
visitors, busy environments and everyday family life.