Testimonials

Enjoyable dog program testimonials

Monique and Charley

09/2015

Kāhu and Paige & Tic

When we first got Kahu, he was very reactive, insecure and didn't respond or pay attention to many cues except 'sit'. We felt nervous and overwhelmed as we wanted to give him the best life but hadn't been responsible for a dog of our own before. Working with Deb was so easy. She made us feel really comfortable and already had a good relationship with Kahu from Dogwatch. She answered any and all questions comfortably and provided lots of options we could work through to find the best solution for both Kahu and ourselves. The impact of working with Deb is immeasurable, we're far more confident working with Kahu and he is a much happier more confident dog. She gave us tips for supporting him in almost any situation and we know she's there if we have questions down the track which is such a relief. Living with Kahu now is completely different in the best way. He's settled and confident being left home alone, he has a lot of fun working on different cues, he's far less reactive on walks and with outside disturbances (and we have the tools to continue working on this if/when a new reaction or situation appears). We're incredibly grateful to Deb and highly recommend her to anyone looking for support. It's not that people can't learn this stuff on their own but you get there so much faster and avoiding having to undo your own mistakes when you work with a professional like this.
Thanks from the bottom of our and Kahu's hearts Deb, you're amazing.
7/2021

Behaved dog program testimonials

Teddy, Hattie and Jane Gregg

We have just completed a six session training course with Deborah of Mind Pro Animal Behaviour and oh my goodness, she has changed our lives! We originally heard about Deborah from other friends who have used her expert, professional services in the past. We have 2 small terriers, one of whom is particularly terrier-ish - ie not great at recall especially if the thing he was sniffing was more interesting, had some reactive tendencies towards other bigger dogs. He had been through 2 other training programmes as a puppy, so I had some basic knowledge, but his behaviour was kind of becoming worse not better, so I knew it was time to seek some expert input.
When we met Deborah she took the time to understand our issues and even filmed a whole walk with us to see his behaviour in action. This allowed her to pinpoint both the problems, and to see the kind of personality our little doggy has - exuberant, but a little headstrong, shall we say.
Deborah then designed us a whole programme especially tailored to deliver the outcomes we were looking for. We were given a heap of different strategies and tools to work on with our dogs, and each time we could adjust and fine tune them with Deborah if we felt we needed to do more or less of something. After the first session it was like we were suddenly able to understand a whole lot more about our 4 year old dog. What had seemed like one thing to us (headstrong, not listening) was actually something else completely (nervous, a little worried) so that gave us so much insight into what was going on for him and why he was behaving in certain ways only with certain dogs. Deborah started to teach us a bit about the language of dogs - what they do to communicate with one another, and where we needed to steer his attention when the signals were not good. Ah! A break through!
After a few more sessions we were feeling so much more confident. Instead of worrying what might happen on a walk that was a little different from his usual one, we could enjoy the experience of taking our dogs new places and knowing we had the tools and strategies to manage pretty much all situations. Confidence and enjoyment for all of us.
Today was the last day of our course of lessons and I could not be happier with how Deborah has helped us and our doggies to bond closer together, work together to have games and adventures on our walks. I would recommend Deborah as a highly professional, highly competent, and highly successful supporter and trainer of humans and animals! 100% awesome. Thanks so much Deborah.
06/2017

Mildred and Rebekah Bell

Deborah helped me understand my dogs reactive behaviour which has since seen much improvement and gave me skills to continue working on it after our sessions finished.
5/2019

Rata and Seonaid Palmer

Before Rata and I met Deb, our walks were very stressful. Lots of pulling and barking at people, bikes, dogs, cats...and just for fun! Deb was wonderful at really identifying the potential causes of the behaviour, helping me to understand Rata's world, and giving us multiple options for managing the behaviour. She was able to work at my pace to give us the right amount to work on each session, which included demonstrating the skills and giving me feedback. Now, Rata and I have a closer connection, I am more confident in handling her, and she is much more relaxed on walks. She now has 3 dog friends that she can play with off-leash and she is able to pass people, bikes, prams etc. in the street. While Rata is still learning, I feel confident in managing if she barks and pulls on the lead. We are able to go on more adventures now, thank you Deb!
06/2023

Maisy and Pam & John Vickers

Deborah is brilliant: understands how dogs think and works with kindness.
06/2020

Meika and Richard & Evelina

Deb has an incredible amount of knowledge.
She helped us by trying different techniques to see which worked best specifically for our dog. We have seen a massive improvement in our dogs behaviour and our relationship with her.
Would highly recommend!
11/2019

Chase and Suzanne Richards

Debs you are amazing!
Fantastic energy with lovely Chase and great patience with me learning how to train his clever brain and keep him on his toes. I was so lucky to get a very responsive, intelligent, social and loving dog and you have helped me work with him around his great love and enthusiasm for everyone and lots of things too! You have a really great way of teaching. Examples, repetition, self reflection and encouragement. Would 100% recommend you and look forward to catching up.
10/2019

Bella and Grant Midgley

We got a one year old rescue dog just before lockdown in 2020. We renamed her Bella and she has become a wonderful addition to our family. We did find her a bit of a handful to begin with. She wasn't toilet trained, had little training and was very difficult on the lead.
Deb came to the rescue and after a couple of months she was a completely different dog and a joy to take for a walk. We are thrilled with the results and would recommend Deb to anyone with a dog of any age. She is fantastic.
07/2020

Improved dog program testimonials

Shya and Karen & Sefton

Deb changed so many things for the better for us with our wee dog Shya. I was at the end of my tether with her behavioural and toileting problems. Deb taught us how to help Shya become the best that she can be.Toileting is no longer an issue. She is interacting with visitors is a much more positive way. Thank you so much Deb.
03/2021

Dixie and Cate Fluitsma

Deborah provided great training sessions which were really helpful and good tips to work on Dixie's behaviour. Would definitely recommend using Mind Pro Animal Behaviour.
Deborah is friendly, knowledgeable and happy to be contacted re any issues. Dixie loved her.
05/2020

Louie, Marble and Karie-Ann Kennington

Thank you so much with your help in addressing Louie and Mabel's behaviour. I learnt so much about dogs and their body language and the signs to watch out for. Every dog owner needs to do at least a basic course in this as it makes communication so much easier. Louie and Mabel are a work in progress but I'm sure if I persevere with your suggestions harmony will be restored to our home once again.
08/2018

Mocha and Cindy Ehau

Deborah clearly has a passion for dogs, but also helps owners to be confident with their pup.
I appreciated that she was encouraging of me as I was learning to train my dog, Mocha. She asked clear questions and gave useful tools to help with each situation. I now feel more confident moving forward with all the training tools I learned , and can now put them into practice with my four legged friend.
6/2019

Custom training program

Combo Behaved dog program and A little push: Barnie and Sue McGregor

I would like to highly recommend Deb as a trainer.
I met Deb at Dogwatch when I was volunteering there and was impressed with her knowledge, calm manner and understanding when dealing with the dogs.
When I adopted my dog Barnie as an adult from the SPCA I wanted to do some training with him to help establish a good positive relationship with him from the start.
Deb was very helpful in explaining things from a dogs perspective and taught us some ways of interacting that were fun for Barnie and always positive and rewarding. We specifically worked on recall off lead especially when distracted by other dogs or food. Also sit /stay so that ideally he would wait outside a shop/cafe off lead.
We agreed on a Programme that involved 6 sessions with me and Barnie and 4 with just Deb and Barnie over a period of a couple of months - Deb was very flexible about our training times, sometimes after work, some before work and some at weekends. We varied the length of time between sessions to suit my schedule and this gave a bit of time to practice and consolidate on what we’d learned, we also worked on things that developed over that time that I hadn’t thought of before or came to light as I got to know Barnie.
By the end of training, I had some techniques that I could apply to other situations, Barnie understood what was required of him and this has helped him settle into his new home and feel comfortable and has built up our rapport. He’s also pretty good at recall and sit/stay and a very happy contented dog. I also enjoyed the training and chatting to Deb and tapping into her knowledge.
Thanks Deb.
09/2018

Lola and Claire Savage

"I asked Deborah to help me with my puppy who was very loved but very naughty!
Deborah was great, full of practical advice and ideas on how we could work with Lola to help her fit in with our family’s needs and keep us all happy! Deborah obviously loves dogs and has a very natural way with them, so she showed us how to take control in an easy way, without being too rigid in our methods. She also offered plenty of follow up tips and advice and I’m grateful that I know I can turn to her if I need to as Lola grows.”
06/2014

Misty and Stephen East

"Deborah has helped me enormously with my Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Misty. When we first met about a year and a half ago, Misty was 2. She was very playful, friendly and sociable with both dogs and humans. But worryingly she had just started to show an over aggressive side with some other dogs. Over the following few months Deborah worked on improving many aspects of Misty's general behaviour to give me greater control over her. These included recall, not jumping up or pulling, drop and leave, waiting, keeping her attention and keeping her close on walks. She also gave me a valuable insight into the signs dogs give, through their body language and behaviour, as to how they are feeling and in particular the signals to look out for when they approach and meet other dogs. In a relatively short space of time, with Deborah's help and advice, Misty made excellent progress. I now feel I have much more control over her and feel much more confident when taking her out. I am able to let her off the lead and enjoy lots of freedom whilst staying alert to possible problems and situations to avoid. I am happy to say that Misty has not had any aggressive incidents since. Deborah seems to have a natural understanding of dogs behaviour and problems and has a very caring nature. She is an excellent dog trainer and I highly recommend her."
05/2012