What Our Client Say

"Thank you for the snake aversion training with my pups. You were right, they are exhausted and I am exhausted. I feel such a great sense of relief knowing that they have been imprinted with the correct behaviour around the venomous of the species. It is a small investment to keep them safe compared to the $3000+ each it would cost to keep them alive if they were bitten."

Juanita – Seaford

I adopted a roughly 3 year old German Shepherd named Tia from the Lost Dogs Home. She had no known history and had been found wandering the streets. She was a beautiful dog but about a week after bringing her home, anxiety started to show through aggression towards dogs, bikes, children, loud noises, etc. Not long after adopting her, my first baby was born. At home, Tia was near perfect. Calm, loving and obedient but bringing friends to my house or outside the home was where the problems happened. I used to explain to family and friends that she was 90% perfect and honestly better trained than most dogs but the remaining 10% made her seem far worse than she really was. Tia was always a very fast learner with general obedience and commands but no matter what I tried, I could not fix the anxiety and reactivity issues. Over the course of a year, I worked with another trainer through private lessons and even attended a German Shepherd specific training school with open field socialisation classes. Despite all of that and a lot of money out of pocket, I was not able to get her too close to other dogs and honestly felt like giving up many times. Finding Daniel was pure luck. I found his website and contacted him because I specifically wanted a trainer who had a helper dog as Tia was severely lacking in socialisation by this point, which I feel made her start to head the opposite direction. During the very first lesson, Daniel achieved more in 30 minutes than previous trainers had managed. I immediately noticed a significant change in Tia's attitude and behaviour. Daniel listened carefully to everything I had to say and gave me practical feedback, techniques and tools that actually worked. By the third lesson, Tia was already becoming a much calmer and more enjoyable dog to walk with leash reactivity essentially gone. During that session, Daniel introduced an electronic collar for obedience training. After the lesson, I continued practising with the collar and realised she was responding really well to commands. This included practising the recall command off leash in open fields which led to walking her off leash around my quieter neighbourhood. My biggest goal from the beginning was to eventually take Tia to a leash free dog park. At first, I wanted Daniel there with me for one of our lessons but after the progress we made, I felt confident enough to go alone and it went perfectly. For anyone who has gone through the struggle of owning a dog with aggression issues, this was such a bittersweet moment in my life that I will never forget. Tia and I now go regularly to dog parks every week. The electric collar also gave me peace of mind knowing I still have control if any situation arises, although Tia is better behaved than many of the other dogs there and I barely use it. I honestly cannot praise Daniel enough for the help he gave both myself and Tia. The improvement in her confidence, obedience and overall quality of life including mine has been incredible. Daniel has an incredibly obedient dog that was perfect for helping unsocialised dogs like Tia. I have even offered for Daniel to use Tia free of charge if needed to help other dogs going through the same struggles I experienced to get unsocialised dogs socialised. We both send him our warmest regards and highly recommend his training to anyone struggling with a difficult or anxious dog.

From Reactive Rescue to Dog Park Regular

"We had a close encounter with a brown snake last week. I had been out all day (Greta lounges around inside while I am out) and had come home for lunch and thought I would do some training with Greta outside to tire her brain a little before leaving again. We were doing distance stay, come and stop/drop half way and then come and she was doing it perfectly, listening to me and coming exactly where I wanted to her to go. Then we moved up around the back of the house and did the same thing and she stopped dead next to some bushes and would not come any closer no matter what I did or said. She kept looking at the bush and side stepping a bit then backing off and whining a little. I became pretty uneasy with her reaction so we moved somewhere else and I asked her to do the same things to make sure she wasn’t just bored and she did them straight away with no encouragement needed. Later that day I saw a brown, most likely the same one, around the same area. I am positive that’s why she wouldn’t come to me."

Cat – Snowy Mountains

Hi Daniel, just a quick note to say a big Thank you for your help with Guinness a few months back. I am happy to report he has not eaten a single shoe since your visit...

Anita, Guinness’ owner

"....Bronson, our boxer. 2 years ago he was human and dog agressive! Today with Daniel and Victorian Dog Training Academys help, he can be around people and other dogs. We still have a way to go but it is amazing to see how far he has come. Thank you VDTA and Daniel for your support, guidance and patience."

Kelly, Bronson’s owner

Daniel has been working with us since October last year. We have had regular sessions over the past 3 months and to my delight (and sadness) last Friday we reached the point where we don’t need Daniel’s help anymore. Both Dudley and I have developed so much more skill and confidence that we are able do everything that I set out initially to achieve. Daniel, has been terrific with both Dudley and I. He’s patient, knowledgeable, thorough, kind, flexible and yet disciplined and authoritative when needed. I know that I am completely obsessed by my dog, but never once did I feel silly or stupid, Daniel understands and gets it….. that’s why he’s so good at what he does. You will recall from my information below that I was very concerned about Dudley’s off leash behaviour and that I wasn’t able to trust him, nor guarantee that he would listen to me, or return when I called. With Daniel’s support, advice and lots and lots of practice and treats, we have come a long way and I am delighted with the progress made. He’s a much better dog for the experience. And I’m a better owner. There were times when I wasn’t sure that we were going to succeed, but we were patient and persevered. Thank you so much Daniel. Without hesitation I would recommend him to anyone who wants to learn how to be a better leader for their dog.

Leanne, Dudley’s owner

"Two tigers and right now, a brown in my outdoor entertaining area in the last week. Mack has been perfect, he has a 'snake bark' so i know and run out there straight away but he stays well away and is scared."

Rowena – Shepparton

Such an amazing training session this morning! Both my dogs certainly learned how to avoid the snakes. And to find one slithering into the shed upon arriving home??!! I called our amazing local snake catcher who was nearby. Initially we couldn’t locate the snake in the shed anywhere. Thought ah well, it’s probably left by now. Then we thought we would test the dogs’ new training, on lead of course. Amber led us to within 2 ft of the snake, who was hidden behind the beer fridge!! As soon as Amber got the scent she jumped up & backtracked. Sue was then able to locate & extract the snake & relocate him.

Lee Rooney

We had two Browns today – one this morning in the garden, one out in the paddock. Bella's (6mth Kelpie) reaction alerted me and she kept a good 3–4m radius away from them. Absolutely can't thank you guys enough for this training Steph

Simone Shannon

Had a brown snake visit in our backyard today. The kelpies both did what they were taught in their training. Money well spent! Thank you for teaching Bowser & Moxxie to stay away.

Robyn Stewart