Testimonials

I am so grateful for the help and tools Sam has given me. I was struggling with my reactive border collie Ojas.

I love how the approach Sam uses is calm and kind while still being confident and guiding. She gave me simple and easy tools to suit our life and the problems we were facing.

Over the Christmas break, visitors commented on the new, relaxed vibe from Ojas. I am enjoying him more, and we have a positive calm path forward.

Laura and Ojas (18 month old Border Collie)

My session with Sam was enlightening and enjoyable.

I see my dog Amy through different eyes now and am better equipped to help her when she is ‘concerned’ about other dogs or people. The changes after only 2 weeks have been amazing!

Best thing I’ve ever done for Amy was to get Sam in to help, she really cares and is very professional.

Niki and Amy

We had the good fortune to meet Sam on the beach with our new little boxer puppy Tyson on his very first outdoor walk.

We decided that when he was a little older we would seek her services to learn tips and techniques to encourage good behaviour from an early age rather than contact her when disobedient or misbehaviour occurred. It was the best thing we could have done!!!

We chose the Ultimate Family Dog (UFD) for Tyson. Sam’s positivity and dog behavioural skills were outstanding. She explained the hierarchy structure, the key to success, how to deal with his excitement, jumping up on people and how to introduce our little puppy to the world, all of which has been incredible.

Sam took us for a walk around the streets and on the beach, we learned many techniques, training with a longline, how to control situations ahead of time and how to best use a whistle for recall.

The personalised training guide Sam developed for us was excellent and we read it regularly. Additionally, the Dog Calming Code (5 golden rules) has assisted us immensely in creating the calm and relaxed dog that we wish to spend many years enjoying as part of a loving and happy family.

Thank you, Sam!!

Barbara and Brian with Tyson (Boxer – 3 months old)

Thanks, Sam for making the training of Badger so simple and understandable. The use of your BOM (online consult) was easier than I expected. I have enjoyed the process, your honest explanation, your in-depth knowledge of canines and the way you explained it all to me in simple terms.

Being online was great, to build that relationship with you, and see your diagrams to understand further. Your follow-up emails and calls are terrific as I have the opportunity to share with you our progress.

I really believe that your training methods work, not just for Badger, but you trained me so I could pass on my new knowledge to Badger, in a way that he could understand. We have a completely different relationship now, I am finally the one calling the shots. Badger is more relaxed and independent which is what I wanted all along.

Again, thanks Sam, your knowledge and experience shows through in every detail and I appreciate your help so much.

Badger (4 year old, Swedish Ballhund)

Sam’s communication with me from the beginning was amazing, she responded so fast and so positively, especially as two other trainers had just said they couldn’t help!

Right from the beginning Bear started changing to be better even just from small changes we talked about on the first chat over the phone. I got the ‘Cooper X’ package and the sessions were generous and very insightful.

The walk Sam came on was really successful: with Bear at over 60kgs it’s been an anxious time knowing how to handle public situations.

Sam brought helpful training tools along with her and my confidence with Bear is so much better!. The written follow up guides are super important and I appreciate all the guidance I have received from Sam. 10 out of 10

Savannah with Bear (Maremma – 18 months old)

Sam is an amazing dog trainer who is very friendly, knowledgeable, and patient. She is passionate about helping both the Dog and Family to have a good experience.

To be honest we were unsure the training would improve our dog’s behaviour, but we were desperate for change so decided to give it a go. Some of the troubles we were experiencing were constant barking, whimpering, crying, jumping up on us, not responding to our calls, wanting to be by us all the time etc.

Within an hour of Sam coming to our home and working with our family and Rocky (our dog) we saw immediate results. He was calm, relaxed and no longer jumping up on us. It was quite amazing, he’s a changed man lol!! There are still some areas we would like to see Rocky improve on and now that Sam has equipped us with the right tools we are confident that we will achieve them.

We’ve definitely enjoyed working with Sam and would highly recommend her to anyone wanting some of her magic.

Mark, Courtney and kids with Rocky (Rottweiler – 2 years old)

Seeing the tension and stress start to flow out of a hyper-vigilant and anxious dog is a wonderful experience – it is like watching her sigh with relief. And all in the space of a couple of hours learning the Calming Code with Sam. From barking and suspicious to eating out of Sam’s hand, literally!

Over the next few days, the improvement continued.

Pipi is now a dog with far more calm confidence and all without losing her energy, exuberance and enjoyment of life.

Graham and Carolyn with Pipi (Poodle x Pug 18 months) and Otis (Poodle X 5 months)

Our dog Pipi, is highly energetic and excitable, and although she is adorable, we were finding her increasingly difficult to deal with.

Calling on Sam to help us has been hugely helpful. By applying the dog calming code, demonstrated and explained very clearly by Sam, we have managed to train Pipi to be quiet, calm and obedient (mostly!) around the house, though she was still jumping all over our visitors and, we were still having trouble managing Pipi on walks.

So we sent out an SOS to Sam! We worked on a routine at the front door to train Pipi to keep a respectful distance from visitors. Sam came out with me for a walk and showed me how to deal with meeting other dogs, or dealing with dogs barking aggressively from behind fences.

Sam is very knowledgeable and skilled, and has a great rapport with your dog. Just her presence seems to calm things down. We highly recommend Sam to all dog owners needing help and support.

Margery and John with Pipi (18mth old Lab X)

It was a privilege to work with Pheobe and Kenna on their Science Fair project for Awakeri School and foster their love of dogs and thirst for knowledge.

They received merit certificates for their ‘Doggy Do, Doggy Don’t’ exhibition, and were also selected to take their exhibit onto the Regional Science Fair.

Sam with Pheobe and Kenna (Year 8 students)

Laska was an incredibly energetic, jumpy puppy who liked to greet people on eye level. As a large, eight-month-old German shepherd her puppy biting was becoming an issue.

Sam helped us understand the cause of Laska’s behaviour and gave us a number of clear, practical techniques to modify her behaviour. Since meeting with Sam, Laska’s puppy biting has dramatically decreased and she’s much calmer when we get home.

We’re really impressed with the progress we’ve made in such a short time and are so grateful to Sam for all her help.

We would definitely recommend Sam to all dog owners!

Timo and Rachelle with Laska (German Shepherd – 8 Months old)

Too much barking, too much pulling on the lead and only coming when she feels like it.

After just ONE training session with Sam we had such huge insight into what we needed to do to retrain our Japanese Spitz ‘Yuki’. She’s already making huge strides towards being the dog we always envisaged and it’s all thanks to Sam!

With amazingly clear and straightforward explanations and demonstrations, she showed us exactly how Yuki understood our actions and behaviour instead of what we thought she understood, and that’s the difference. We so highly recommend her!

Diana and Chelsea with Yuki (Japanese Spitz – 1 year old)

Despite having owned two dogs previously, our new addition had us completely flummoxed. After a doggy chewing incident left me feeling outraged I jumped online and found Sam. Yay! We really needed help with Josephine (the outlaw).

Sam was wonderful – passionate, patient and very positive. She created the changes we wanted resulting in a much happier dog and humans.

Our confidence has grown and we’re practising Sam’s techniques and enjoying Josephine again.

Chris and Kaye with Josephine (11-month-old Retriever X Border Collie)

We were lucky enough to use Sam’s dog training services with our border collie pup ‘Fergy’.

The lessons we learned in such a short time were invaluable. I thought I knew how to handle a dog until I saw Sam in action. There are so many things that seem small but are important to get right, and now I know.

The main challenge now is not the dog, but us and our ability to stick to the programme. I highly recommend that you and your dog spend time with Sam.

Steve’s daughter Sarah with Fergy (8-month-old border collie)

I have been a German Shepherd Breeder for years, but since my daughter returned home with her 2 dogs (bringing our total to 5 dogs) it’s been hectic in the house. The barking and general energy craziness were becoming stressful.

My main concern was with Senna (4-year-old leader) she was anxious and barking a lot, being demanding and just wouldn’t leave our oldest dog (Orca) or the cat alone.

Sam had really clear advice and practical processes for us to follow that have had a wonderful impact on all the dogs.

It’s definitely calmer around the property and Senna has settled down, she relaxes more and even leaves the cat and the courier drivers alone. Thank-you Sam!

Joanne and Steve with Bindy, Senna, Orca, Splash and Storm (Shephaven pack)

I had been having some challenges with my puppy Lola. She was being hard work around the property, destroying stuff, not listening, jumping on people and she’d stopped coming back when out walking. Something had to change!

Sam’s techniques had an immediate effect on her; they are simple but quite specific. I learnt how to think like a dog and understand Lola better.

I wasn’t sure if the changes would stick, but in the next couple of days I really felt a shift in her and now she is much more manageable. Her recall is great which is a relief and she is more trustworthy, so much so that she has become an inside dog.

Katie with Lola (8-month-old Mixed Breed rescue)

I inherited ‘Lucy’ from a family member. She came to us pretty uptight and with some very stressed behaviours.

She didn’t settle at night, raged at the cat, paced around, was dog-aggressive when out walking and would even poop in the house when we were out (despite lots of toilet break options). Her worst behaviour was literally eating her bedding (she had 2 operations).

Thankfully all that has changed now- she is literally a different dog. Sam provided really simple, clear changes that we put in place and Lucy’s switch to a calmer, happier, easier dog hasn’t taken long at all.

It’s great to know how to help her relax and thanks to Sam’s help the house is a happier place.

– Laura and Ava with Lucy (4 year old Jack Russell)

Three months ago we rescued a German Shepherd pup.

She tried desperately to tell us her sad story through manic frenetic behaviours and we didn’t know how to help or if we could cope. But now she has settled into a calmer, happier and enjoyable companion and this is all through Sam.

Sam came to us with her wonderfully calm examples of dog behaviour with 5 rules! Rules we all love as they balance and bring harmony to our dogs. Within 3 days we had 2 dogs eating calmly from their bowls.

Within 5 days we had Holly sleeping peacefully in her crate at night without the horror of everything in the house having been chewed. Within 2 weeks we are able to comfortably walk our beautiful parks in near perfect harmony. And now we have a happy back yard without the frenetic behaviour but just 2 dogs having fun playing.

A million times thank-you Sam!!

– Barbara and Butch with Chenna (2 yr old Maremma) and Holly (8 mth old German Shepherd rescue)

With Sam’s help, we’ve seen a marked change in Duke.

He was getting really over-protective, and it was so hard to walk him because he would literally pull me over, but I couldn’t let him off-leash because I thought he might go after other dogs. He was also licking himself to bits when left at home.

It’s so nice to see him relaxed and calm, his response to us has improved out of sight. I’m so glad we got Sam in to help.

– Gill, Evan & Duke (2 year-old German Shepherd)

Flint is a huge part of my world, but her barking and demands were getting crazy and I was worried that she might ‘nip’ one of my small grandchildren.

Sam’s advice has been great, I’ve seen wonderful changes in Flint, she is really happy to take herself off to her bed and just relax, which is a relief when the kids are visiting.

– Janie & Flint (4 year-old Miniature Schnauzer)

Being first time dog owners we received a lot of advice from friends and family that were dog owners.

But when we started talking to Sam she immediately gave us workable ideas to try with Rewa and also backed it up with the ‘why’ so we could understand Rewa’s behaviour and what she needed from us to become an enjoyable member of the family.

Being able to watch TV without Rewa barking at the animals on the screen (whether cartoon or real) after implementing training ideas from Sam was a huge step – thankyou, Sam!

– Sandy, Mike & Rewa (2-year-old Cavoodle)

Bailey, our dog is one year old and was very aggressive with everyone that came to our home. We have been to vet to get advice also a training book we had spent $100s of dollars to get help and nothing was working we were at the stage that rehoming or even worse putting her down was our next step.

I knew Sam from her work and she offered to help. I was really doubtful it would work but decided to let Sam come round. After Sam had been there a while it just made sense we had made Bailey the head of the house and once we followed Sam’s rules for a week we could see huge changes in her we still have a way to go but with Sam’s help, we have hope. She is changing into a different happier dog. Other people have said she is much calmer.

Sam’s training was very hands-on and she was very knowledgeable and patient with Bailey and us. I am truly thankful for her help.

– Trudy and Bailey (2-year-old mixed breed)

Sending Chewy to ‘Train and Stay’ with Sam while we were away, was a great solution for our overly stressed out dog. Being away and knowing that Chewy was with Sam who really understands his needs was very comforting.

Chewy came home much more chilled out and relaxed. YEAH! With suggestions from Sam we’ve been able to create a more relaxing home for Chewy and it was simple to put in place. Sam’s help has made a huge difference in our relationship with Chewy. Thanks, Sam!

– Cindy and Jeff with Chewy (7-year-old Pomeranian)

My 2-year-old Jax was having problems with fireworks and thunder. I had tried everything (I thought) to reduce his anxiety. He was breaking out of his run at night, which was a real concern for me, even though he has a secure backyard.

Sam spent time with us at home then we went to one of Jax’s favourite places and she was able to see how we worked with each other. Jax is now sleeping back in his run at night, and he is so calm.

Sam’s advice and techniques had a flow-on effect of being able to adjust Jax’s behaviour in all areas. Sam’s golden rules are not hard to maintain: I found that with just small tweaks to our former routine, Jax was quickly on board, and feeling a lot more secure. Thanks, Sam!

– Robyn with Jax (Mastiff X rehomed, 2 years old)