Testimonials
Read what my clients say and see the range of issues I have been able to help with.
We rescued a beautiful 2.5years old German Shepherd x named Marley, and although our kids (3 and 5 years old) love the idea of her; they were too terrified to approach her. After just one session with Kirsten, our kids were able to confidently be around Marley and took part in her training. I am amazed at the progress and Kirsten’s technique is so straight forward, it makes training a breeze. I’m happy to report that Marley now walks by my side and looks up to me as a competent leader. Thank you Kirsten for being so awesome and helping our family build a very special bond with Marley so quickly!
Jac and I recently adopted Mabel Lyon an 8 week old cavoodle puppy. Committed to ensuring she has the best life and has the confidence to navigate the world around her, we reached out to Kirsten to seek professional guidance on what behaviours we needed to adjust and how we work with Mabel to support her through the stages of her development. We are so grateful for her tutelage. We are much more confident in ourselves and feel like we have set our tribe up to succeed knowing Mabel has the best foundational support, positive training practices that are based on safety, love, kindness and empathy to her individual needs. We cannot wait to see little Mabel thrive and know that Kirsten will be there along the way to support our crew.
I saw Kirsten to help my whippet Ziggy overcome his separation anxiety, and she was able to give me both a better understanding of what he was experiencing, and practical tips for working with him to make being left at home more manageable. We’ve had huge improvements and I would recommend Kirsten to anyone who is dealing with separation anxiety. She was incredibly generous with her time and expertise and went above and beyond the specific issue at hand to help me to build a better connection with and understanding of my dog.
I could not recommend Kirsten more highly! I contacted Kirsten after getting our spoodle Ralph who had been a part of our family for about 5 months. Kirsten did not have any easy task ahead of her with four of us living in the house (Mum, son and two aunties) plus a Grandma often in attendance – and Ralph already the boss of all of us. Kirsten balanced all of our needs equally, she was professional and directive and the way she explained things just made so much sense. My son has an intellectual disability and Kirsten was absolutely exceptional with the way she engaged him and taught him what he needed to know. As a result he is now a very proud and confident dog owner and we have a very happy and relaxed dog. The best part was the training took place in our home and on the streets where we walk Ralph, so when Kirsten left it was so much easier to implement.
We came to Kirsten with a rescue dog who had extreme anxiety with other dogs and with humans. We were struggling to hold his focus and most of all, we were struggling to understand what he needed from us. Through Kirsten’s guidance, we have noticed such a huge change in our dog. Kirsten doesn’t just help our dog with his anxieties, but most importantly she has helped us become better owners and our connection with our dog is so incredible because of it. We have a better understanding of our dog’s needs and picking up on his triggers and making sure that we give him the best life we can. Every step of the way with Kirsten has been fantastic from the initial consultation (which was incredibly thorough), to communication between sessions. I wish I could rate Kirsten higher than 5 stars!
Kirsten has helped me so much with my dog, above and beyond what I could have imagined. Pocky is a 9 year-old rescue German Shepherd who unfortunately had a rough start to life and suffers from quite severe anxiety. Kirsten’s advice to overcome/manage Pocky’s behavioural issues has been invaluable! It has helped Pocky (and me!) in so many ways including with his separation and general anxiety, as well as reducing his dog reactivity and improved socialisation skills, leash walking and more.
Most recently I asked for Kirsten’s help because Pocky was struggling to resettle after returning from our Christmas holiday. Within 24 hours from her advice we already had some positive results! Kirsten has importantly helped me understand Pocky so I am more equipped to help him through his problems. She is an extremely knowledgeable and experienced animal professional and I highly recommend her.
Kirsten is a lifesaver. I came to Kirsten at the end of my rope, after about 18 difficult months with my beautiful, but challenging dog Finn (and I had tried EVERYTHING). Finn was diagnosed with PICA at a young age, with MULTIPLE (around 8) trips to the vet because of something he had swallowed (mainly socks) , as well as intensive abdominal surgery (at 12 weeks). He had a scary start to life. He became a very anxious pup and would spook very easily. He had challenges on his lead, lots of barking and his attention span was next to nothing. Kirsten’s approach was completely different to anything I had ever seen and it was so refreshing and enlightening. There were two biggest lesson’s I learnt with Kirsten. One was not to try and change Finn, but learn to change the environment around him, and two was to constantly advocate for Finn. Since Kirsten came into our lives, I feel completely at ease with Finn and I know exactly how to manage situations that arise through Kirsten’s incredible knowledge, resources and training sessions. I’ve never met anyone as dedicated and knowledgable in their field of work. Finn is doing great now! We understand what to do if he is barking/anxious, his lead work is coming along nicely and his recall is almost perfect (he even recognises a particular whistle that he will run to). His PICA is now under control because his attention span is better, so he can stop long enough to identify the object instead of just inhaling it then and there. If you are having trouble with your dog or think maybe they aren’t the right fit/thinking of rehoming, I HIGHLY recommend sessions with Kirsten!! I can almost guarantee she will change your way of thinking about your dog within one session. Thank you Kirsten!
Kirsten is by far the most skilled dog trainer I have ever met. My dog took to her instantly, and the techniques she has taught me have set me up in shaping a dog that is a joy to be around and polite and friendly with other pooches. I cannot recommend her enough.
Just wanted to say thank you for the help you gave us with our toy poodle, Link. Before seeing you he was very anxious around our 3 year old twin girls, would ignore our commands, was very difficult to walk and would go crazy when the door bell rang. After only a few lessons with yourself the change has been amazing. He now listens to us, comes when called, is calm when the door bell rings and appears a lot happier. Your way of training is easy to understand, not negative and Link enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks again the whole family really enjoyed it.
We contacted Kirsten after engaging in a number of unsuccessful (and unpleasant) training sessions with other dog schools in the local area. Our 9-month Cavoodle Molly Ringwald was fearful of other dogs and in need of socialisation. Alongside this, we wanted to learn some key training techniques so we could have a happier relationship and better interactions with our dog. From the first week, Kirsten’s approach and training techniques were everything we could have hoped for. Kirsten worked with us to develop an individualised training plan and taught us a great range of rewards-based techniques that helped us to engage with Molly and understand what to look for in her behaviour and motivations. Molly now responds to a wide range of instructions and commands and thanks to Kirsten her socialisation with other dogs has improved. She is much more relaxed when around other dogs. We always looked forward to our weekly training sessions. Kirsten is patient, knowledgable and understanding. She is encouraging and full of great ideas and new approaches on how to get the best out of our dog. Most importantly Molly loves her!
Shortly after learning we were pregnant and moving into a new house, we contacted Kirsten as we wanted our Beagle pup to have a happy and secure transition into this new world we found ourselves. At this stage we believed that although graduating from puppy school that she didn’t know her own name”Beags”, nor did she listen to our comments or walk on a lead. We could foresee an unruly dog emerging.
After one session with Kirsten, Beags knew her name and was starting to show signs of coming when called. After two sessions she started to walk on a lead. 3 months later under Kirsten’s tuition and rewards based training techniques, we now find ourselves with a new dog, one who has transitioned into her new home, and whom I am able to walk both short and long lead (whilst heavily pregnant). In addition to this Beags has also developed a range of tricks to entertain our nieces, instead of her past jumping which frightened them.
Kirsten has been very supportive of our journey and continues to support us from a distance – I have no hesitation is recommending her to anyone needing assistance in this area.
We are grateful for all we have learned and thank Kirsten for her wisdom.
Jenelle, Todd and Beags
I would highly recommend doing some sessions with Kirsten to learn the art of rewards based training. Kirsten is very professional and focuses on teaching you the skills you need to be able to continue training your dog well into the future. We did weekly private sessions with Kirsten who was also readily available during the week to answer questions via email. After just one session we observed a massive positive change in the behaviour and demeanour of our previously anxious and hyperactive working dog. After having previously only trained our dog using a punishment based system we were wrapped to see Rex relax and begin to enjoy doing the things we asked of him rather than doing them begrudgingly. More importantly, Rex better understands what we expect of him now so he’s much more relaxed and chilled out throughout everyday life. After only four sessions with Kirsten we still have a lot of training to do but are confident we’ll be able use our new found skills to get Rex where we want him to be. A great investment, highly recommended.
We have two very energetic Jack Russell Terriers. When Kirsten arrived for the first lesson they jumped all over her repeatedly. Now they are still excited to see Kirsten or anyone else visiting, but have been taught to settle down nearly straight away. I can now walk Tillie and Archie together without being pulled in two directions and instead of ignoring me, they now pay attention. We also had trouble with Archie, he would bring all sorts of things inside and we couldn’t get them off him. Kirsten taught us how to get Archie to give – we just say “drop” and he drops whatever he has. So thanks Kirsten for settling things down in our house.
I met Kirsten by accident in a park about 2 years ago and she saw immediately I was having trouble in the ‘heeling department’ with my then adolescent Standard Poodle. I had trained dogs in years gone by with a check chain and the reward system was causing me difficulty. She also worked with me on his somewhat dodgy recall when there were other dogs around. Her advice was succinct and worked. Since then, as I have continued to train him, I have an hour with her every so often while I go through what I am doing and we have worked on what I could do better. Each time the advice has been of great value. Kirsten has also walked Lachie when I have been unable to do so and I know he loves her and that he is safe with her. I have passed Kirsten’s details to other dog owners I meet with dogs who needed assistance (and their owners too) and everyone has been pleased with the outcome.