Behavioural Issues Consults

Cookie is a good dog – but after being attacked and bitten by another dog she became withdrawn and surly. Instead of greeting our guests and their dogs with a happy smile she would snarl and move aggressively. We run a dog friendly AirBnb – and this was not something that we needed. She had also developed a very dangerous habit of chasing cars, and bicycles, running back and forth at the front fence, and “fence fighting” with every dog that came past on the leash free walking trail behind our house. Not a nice thing to see or hear from an otherwise lovely dog.

A friend suggested we contact Sonia at All4Paws. Sonia came to our home, got to know us and cookie before making some recommendations that would help us to help Cookie. She introduced us to the importance of helping cookie to manager her anxiety, doing things that would enable her – as a working dog – to just stop and relax.

I attended the 6 week “doggie primary school”. I have lived with dogs all my life and thought I knew how to treat them. Sonia taught us better ways of working and playing together.

Cookie is now a happy relaxed respectful and co-operative friend of the family. She walks beside, with a loose leash, looks to us for instructions, waits when asked to, and believe it or not – will come back when we call her … with one exception – while chasing a rabbit. Even then she does stop and return much quicker than she did before. She is also now able to meet and greet the many dogs that come to our home with grace and poise. Even with bicycles and cars – she pauses to check for instructions and 9 times out of 10 is able to stay with us, and is happy to be lead, rather than run off on her own.

What also impressed me was the modern psychology used by Sonia – no aversive – but respectful - … I was going to say training … but its more like coaching – and teaching techniques to help you develop a safe and healthy relationships with our non-human friends. I say that because the training has given me more confidence with other people’s dogs – and as a good neighbor – and the operator of a dog friendly AirBnb – that is important.

After years of struggling with our 2 toy poodles behaviour. Our female would not go on walks and our male would aggressively bark when meeting other dogs on walks. We decided to enlist the help of an expert Sonia of ALL4PAWS.

She confidently visited our home and explained the many reasons we were having difficulties and the changes we needed to put in place to manage the dogs bad behaviours.

Once we put Sonia's suggestions into practice we noticed a remarkable change in our 4 year old dogs. Sonia is very knowledgeable and passionate with her training techniques. She also charged a very reasonable price and is always available to consult with. We now have the technique to manage our dogs with appropriate response should they display unwanted behaviour.

Thank you Sonia.

Thank you for your time in helping us settle our destructive French Bulldog, Arnold. At a time of extreme stress you gave us tips on crating and how to manage his behaviour.

You helped us understand how to treat out dog to respond with respect and not to feel guilty as what you suggest works !

Our home is so much more settled and happy thanks to you !

Many thanks

Sonia was recommended to us by someone who had previously attended her classes. We had a 1-1 behavioural consultation to address what we thought was an anger issues in our 6 month old pup, Mila. Sonia was very quick to establish that the way we were interacting with Mila on a daily basis was extremely ineffective in raising a calm and obedient dog. We were lacking leadership skills and allowing Mila to make too many decisions.

Sonia took us through simple and effective ways to create structure and consistency. Her solutions made a lot of sense, and she took the time to explain the theory behind her recommendations. We appreciated being able to understand how and why certain actions would result our desired outcome.

Within a couple of days of implementing the recommendations we had already seen a difference in how calm Mila was and her willingness to take direction. Although she would challenge us at times, Sonia was always contactable and provided us with plenty of reassurance that persistence would pay off.

A couple of weeks in we have now seen a major difference in Mila's behaviour. We would highly recommend Sonia to anyone who is experiencing difficulties with their dogs. We appreciated her honesty and her ability to look at the overall picture and bring thinks back to basics.

My initial in-house consultation with Sonia from ALL 4 PAWS six months ago gave me the tools to help establish a hierarchy, structure and balance in my household with 2 out of control dogs.

They went from erratic, excitable dogs that would jump on furniture and run around the house, to calm dogs that now lay quietly on their mats when told. Their behaviour did a turn around so quickly that I can only imagine where we will be in another 6 months.

Sonia is never too busy to answer messages when support is required and she held my hand in the beginning, as it was more of a challenge for me starting over than for my dogs who transitioned so well.

With ongoing patience and consistency, these past six months has helped my skills at becoming a better dog handle. Sonia's knowledge and guidance whilst attending her obstacle/walking class every week has been invaluable. It is a safe and controlled environment, where you gain the skill set and confidence in handling your dog to have manners and remain calm and respectful of other dogs and my dogs absolutely love attending. I highly recommend this weekly event to every dog owner

Words do not do Sonia justice, but her tough love approach works wonders, Sonia is a godsend.

I first made contact with Sonia after we introduced our new puppy (GSP) to our adult dog (mastiff cross) with some difficultly. We were having some difficulty with the two dogs getting along and alongside this, we were also having some behavioural troubles with our adult dog. Without Sonia's assistance I don't think we would have been able to be in the happy situation we are in now, with two dogs living in harmony.

Sonia attended our house for a joint behavioural/puppy consult. She spent approx 3 hours with us and both dogs. Immediately she had the puppy sound asleep in her crate and introduced the adult dog to his new crate. Sonia has provided us with assistance in regards to raising a new puppy, retraining our adult dog and creating an overall effective structure in our home. Sonia took us through everything you could possibly need when you're raising a new puppy, our only wish was that we had found Sonia years earlier.

Sonia's assistance during and after the initial consult has been invaluable The ongoing support we have had access to, especially during the stressful beginnings, went above and beyond my expectations. After a rocky start to owning two dogs, we now have dogs who are crate trained, able to station on their mats in our lounge room, play together and explore the world together.

I cannot thank Sonia enough for her endless assistance over the last five months and look forward to continuing our training journey through a number of her classes.

I will continue to recommend Sonia to everyone I know when they are getting a puppy, because the earlier they start practising what Sonia teaches the better it will be.

We first contacted Sonia at ALL 4 PAWS in mid 2017, when we got our Border Collie as a friend for our Kelpie cross.

The border (Tilda) was having problems with anxiety, chewing, soiling on the floor and other related behaviours. We had an initial consultation in our home. By incorporating Sonia's techniques, within the space of 2 days we went from being cynical to seeing real, tangible results and better behaved dogs.

We decided to attend the basic training lasses, where the dogs leant to sit, stay, mat training and other things. We all enjoyed it so much we have now attended many other classes, including obedience, trick training and obstacle classes.

We now have two (mostly) well behaved dogs, who are good around people and other dogs. They have retained their own personalities and we have learnt to work with them, to have fun with them and have a better relationship with them.

We will continue to use her techniques and attend the obstacle classes, which the dogs love. We would recommend ALL 4 PAWS for all behavioural issues, but also for teaching humans how to work with their dogs to bring out the best in them and enjoy their company.

I cannot thank Sonia enough for the support and guidance she has offered me since commencing classes with her. I had a 5 year old rescue staffy Frankie who I had had for about a year when I met Sonia. Frankie was highly anxious and insecure and had spent the past year trying to work out how to help her including other trainers. I kept hitting road blocks and nothing seemed to be helping until I found Sonia !

Frankie was always great on the lead and walked quite nicely, our issues mostly related to separation anxiety and Frankie not having very good social skills off lead, she didn't know how to play with other dogs. I initially attended the obstacle classes which were fantastic but quickly released it was going to take more than a class to change Frankie's behaviour. After a few weeks, I had Sonia come out and do a 1-1 home consult where she showed us how to use the crate and create a safe place for Frankie go to and relax. Frankie took to sleeping in it quite well, only a few unsettled nights before she was sleeping up to 10hrs in there happily. Frankie also spent lots of day time in her crate when I was home as well. The results were almost instantaneous. The first class after starting the crating Frankie was much calmer and interacting in a much more polite way. I had also noticed that she was so much more relaxed on her walks, tail up and relaxed as previously always down and even sometimes tucked between her legs.

Sonia helped me understand how important structure and boundaries were so now when Frankie is inside she is stationed on a mat, or in her crate (cuddles occasionally) The benefits of Sonia's training have been endless and is only been about 6 weeks since her visit. I am pleased to say Frankie went to her first play session the other day and did exceptionally well. Previously she would have been anxious and slightly aggressive but we had no issues with her at all, I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Frankie was relaxed, calm and interacting nicely with the other dogs.

Sonia was also fantastic and checking in with me after the consult to see how things were going. Knowing that I could message her a any sage for extra help or advice was so reassuring. To this day, Sonia will still message me to check in and see how we are travelling and offer her knowledge and help tweak things with our routine and structure. Her dedication is second to none.

I can also highly recommend Sonia's obedience classes, although Frankie was not too bad on a lead it was great to tighten up my technique and practice our sits. Frankie now even knows hot to drop nicely.

Give Sonia's training a go, you'll never look back and you'll have a happy, calm and confident dog to enjoy !

I cannot recommend Sonia from ALL 4 PAWS highly enough.

She came into our home when things had reached crisis point. Our 8 month old toy poodle, Archie had been toileting inappropriately inside.

In just one afternoon (and lots of follow-up messages) Sonia had trained my husband and myself. She showed us how to stop Archie's dominant behaviours.

Archie is now our beautiful boy who we are enjoying so much.

We cannot thank you enough Sonia.

Woohoo for Sonia!!

We were having trouble with our 6 month old Aussie Bulldog, to the point where my husband wanted to rehome her. She was biting, barking, pushing and shoving and basically had no manners at all

We have three small children who didn't even want to go into the backyard so we desperately needed help.

Lucky for us, friends gave us Sonia's number and she came to the rescue. Sonia taught us how to handle Dolly, how to crate her and basically how to look after her and be her leader.

We now have a 14 month old girl who doesn't bite, rarely barks and sleeps in her crate with no worries at all.

Without Sonia I'm not sure where we would have been, Dolly's behaviour was taking over our life in a very negative way. We also attended basic obedience classes with Dolly, which she loved.

Wish we had known about Sonia from day one with a puppy but we really do thank her a lot ! So too does Dolly !

In June 2016 I adopted a rescue dog as company for my dog (and also because I had fallen in love with him)

From very early on I was aware he was coming to us with a few issues - particularly when on a lead out walking, or when we would encounter a small dog. He would shake uncontrollably, pull on the lead and bark. Most people (including me) interpreted this behaviour as aggression.

My husband and I had gone from taking our girl for long walks, off lead most weekends to not being able to go out in public at all with the dogs because of our new boy's behaviour - which was rubbing off on our girl.

I was recommended to get in contact with Sonia from ALL 4 PAWS by a friend.

I cannot recommend Sonia highly enough. I have been blown away by not only her ability and understanding of dogs and behaviours (and importantly the owner's behaviours) but also her knowledge, insight and ongoing support.

By implementing a structured home environment for my dogs I have been able to see changes in my dogs I never thought were possible. The results were almost immediate.

Sonia has taught me how to move up in the 'pack structure' and the (now obvious) mistakes I was making in the past, for example, by me pre-empting the dog's bad behaviour, tightening the lead and becoming nervous was actually reinforcing the behaviour - not preventing it.

Sonia's incredible skill and practical no-fuss training methods work.

My boy can now be in close proximity to other dogs (including small dogs) without reaction. He walks by my side on lead (not pulling me down the street) waits to be invited into the house and looks to me for direction.

I have a long way to go but Sonia has set me on the right track to having two social, well-mannered family members that I can control and keep in my company in any environment.

Thank you !

Sonia was highly recommended to me as someone who was incredibly knowledgeable in her field and this proved to be very true. I contacted Sonia and arranged for a one on one consultation for some support with my dog who had developed a fear of the car and was difficult to walk on the lead. As soon as Sonia met my dog and we discussed his ‘quirks’, she identified aspects of his behavior requiring attention that I was not even aware of. She attributed these behaviors to anxiety. Sonia introduced us to the concept of crate training and stationing as a way of creating a safe, calm and orderly environment for him and equipped me with strategies to support him in situations causing his anxiety. By the end of the consultation, he was walking calmly on the lead beside me and jumping into the car.

With continued practice and reinforcement there have been some considerable changes in his behavior on a daily basis. He appears much calmer and happier, we enjoy our walks together and he can now jump in the car and enjoy the ride!

Sonia continues to regularly check in on our progress and is only a text message away for additional support and advice. Thanks to Sonia, I now feel confident that I am doing all the right things to help my boy feel calm and safe and in turn I have a happier dog.

I cannot recommend Sonia and her work through ALL 4 PAWS highly enough.

I called Sonia as I was having issues with my dog's anxiety. During our initial phone call, Sonia was very thorough in explaining what the consult would entail and the reasons behind the approach she takes.

The consultation was amazing she gave us an incredible insight into canine behaviour and gave us strategies for the different problems we were having which involved us as humans modifying our behaviour, or modifying the environment. The session was made up of theory and practical components, and it was amazing to see Sonia work with our dog, establishing new, more desirable behaviours in such a short amount of time. The thing I am more impressed with in regards to Sonia's work, is that she will keep in constant contact with you after the consultation about your progress. I can message her at any time with questions and updates/photos and she always responds. I can tell she has has a real passion for her job and she is genuinely interested in all the dogs that she helps.

My dog (Wednesday) and I love the obstacle/walking classes.

Thanks Sonia.

My first knowledge of Sonia and ALL 4 PAWS was seeing her and David (Husband) walking along the river with multiple dogs between them. All walking so calmly. I was walking my super energised 5 month Schnoodle 'Missy'. She was a nightmare to walk pulling and leaping around much of the time. I stood and watched them pass by and a seed was planted. I realised I couldn't keep doing the same thing with Missy and expect miraculously to get a different result!

Within a few days I 'googled' ALL 4 PAWS, thanks for having it so clearly on your shirt Sonia!)

Having emailed Sonia she responded promptly and we arranged a 1-1 consult at our home.

structure, crating and stationing on a mat was a light bulb moment for my husband and I. We understood then that we were not 'Pack Leaders' and Missy was in control much of the time. In fact most of the time! Sonia was able to demonstrate simply to us how to put her education into action over a 2 hour consultation.

So, armed with this new insight (and written notes for those of us that forget) we committed to continuing what Sonia had taught us.

Sonia's follow up has been excellent and she is always able to help sort out our doubts and questions.

Missy and I have since gone on to do Beginners classes to continue our education. (Missy's and mine)

I can't recommend ALL 4 PAWS highly enough. My husband and I are more relaxed and on the same page. And, we now have a calmer and happier dog.

Thank you Sonia.

After getting off to a good start in the first few months of having Lola we seemed to lose our way between the age of 4 months and 8 months. Initially we had crated her very regularly as she was a little puppy and got tired easily. As she grew and became more energetic we gave her more outside time as we thought she would enjoy this and only crated her overnight. At times we let Lola walk around the house off the lead. Throughout this time Lola became progressively harder to manage, often being very unsettled, urinating on our deck and we started to question whether we had made the right decision in getting a dog. We are first time dog owners and simply thought this is the way some dogs are.

Fortunately we were still attending classes with Sonia and she picked up that things weren’t right with Lola’s behaviour. After some in depth discussion with Sonia it became very apparent that our lack of daytime structure was the cause of Lola’s poor behaviour. Sonia gave us a lot of really great advice to address this but it required commitment from not only myself but also my wife and kids. As we were all at the point of desperation we all agreed to Sonia’s recommendations around structure. This included crating during the day as well as other obedience techniques. Within 2-3 days of complete commitment we started to see a dramatic improvement in Lola’s behaviour. She was far less erratic and anxious and for the first time was really calm in the evenings. Lola also appeared to be a much happier dog. We have kept up the structure over the past 3 months and Lola has continued to improve. She is an absolute delight to have as part of our family and we can’t imagine not having her. She never wees on the deck now, always lets us know when she needs to go to the toilet if inside, no longer digs holes in the garden and sleeps soundly from 10:00pm at night to 8:00am in the morning.

I would highly recommend Sonia to anyone who is having issues with their dog. Sonia is always so generous and honest with her advice and I really appreciate the difference this has made to Lola (and our lives!).

I have struggled to train my adopted 14 month Border Collie for 3 months. The main issues were pulling on the leash and aggressive behaviour towards other dogs. All the advice and training I was getting from the instructors at the classes Maggie and I attended wasn'thelping. One consultation with Sonia has put me on the right track.

I now have a clear understanding of how to put into place a daily structure which includes crating, and focus training to teach walking ona loose lead.

In only 2 weeks I have a calmer and better behaved dog who can stay stationed on her mat in the house.Sonia has been very supportive with ongoing advice. It's early days but I'm looking forward to owning a well behaved happy dog . I' now enjoying my new found doggy friend.

Why we decided to Crate :

My decision to crate. There was a lot to love about my Irish Setter Finigan, but he always suffered with huge anxiety problems which led to being at times aggressive, destructive and over protective. After a consult with Sonia it was suggested that crating him would be of benefit. I was always so against crating and made my point very clear. Sonia gave me a demonstration, putting Fin in a crate and almost immediately he calmed down, so I gave it a go. Two years down the track I now have a relaxed easy going Irish Setter who I can even let off leash on the beach with confidence (thank you Sonia)

We crate when we go out and at night, Finigan obviously feels very safe and secure in his crate because cannot wait to go in. The change is so enormous that my son now crates his Irish Setter.

I only wish I had know bout this years ago as it would have saved so much heart ache for Fin and myself. Crating has changed our lives. Any one out there who is doubtful about crating I would urge you to give it a go I believe you will be surprised at the difference it makes.

We found Sonia through her website after searching for someone who was experienced and knowledgeable in understanding dog behaviour. At the time, we though only one of our dogs was suffering from anxiety however once Sonia came over and observed both dogs behvaiour she was quick to prove otherwise.

It was such a great thorough session with Sonia, from the moment she came in she began sharing her knowledge and modelling to us what we needed to do with both dogs to put an end to both dogs anxiety and bahavioural issues we were seeing. The change was immediate and only continued to grow in the weeks following. Sonia identified the problem quickly and gave us many different strategies to help change the behaviour for much calmer, relaxed dogs!

We’ve kept up the things she taught us and have used the knowledge she shared with us ever since. She comes highly recommended.

We contacted Sonia to help us train our 4 year old staffy x kelpie. Our dog had several issues when meeting new dogs whilst out walking.

Sonia was great, very friendly and knowledgeable, very direct and gave easy instructions to follow. (Also loved the handouts so we could refer back to them later!)

Overall our girl has improved greatly, she is much more relaxed and easier to walk around the neighbourhood. We would highly recommend Sonia to anyone who needs help with training his or her dog.

We first met Sonia when our Maltese/Shihtzu (Molly) was 8 mths old. I wish I had of known about Sonia earlier. Molly was a very anxious girl. We had already attended several puppy classes at a local vet with no improvement in Molly's anxiety, it was actually getting worse. If we tried to take Molly for a walk she would become extremely anxious after only two houses, stop and fight to get home. She was visibly distressed. We were also having trouble managing Molly's behavior at home, she had the run of the house which I was not comfortable with, which meant she was spending most of her time outside. This resulted in Molly not joining our family unit as we had hoped.

After our behavioral consult with Sonia things immediately improved, starting from that evening. She taught us how to be a pack leader, what was exacerbating Molly's anxiety, and provided us with the knowledge of how routine will calm Molly's behavior.

From night one Molly was stationing on a mat with the kids playing around her. She could now be involved as part of the family. We can now go on walks around the entire block with Molly walking on the lead beside us, no pulling or fighting to get home.

Sonia was available after the consult to contact with any queries to make sure we were continuing on the right path, or fine tune any of our skills. She taught us the techniques we needed to have a happy, calm dog who can now participate in our family life.

Thank you Sonia

Sonia at ALL 4 PAWS was recommended to me by several work colleagues who had previously used her. The behavioural consults and her training methods sounded like exactly what we needed for our new dog. Gracie is a two year old greyhound which we adopted after she failed to make it in the racing world. She was a timid girl and showed signs of separation anxiety and our family was unknowingly reinforcing her insecurities.

Sonia meet with our family and Gracie in the security of her home environment and over the two hour consult, educated us and then gave us practical lessons to support our new knowledge. Sonia's method of training is direct, attainable and realistic all while being backed with a sound knowledge base. Sonia also offers ongoing training in a purpose built facility which is a perfect follow on from the initial consult.

I would recommend Sonia to anyone needing help with their dogs, both young and old. In the space of one week we have a very settled, happy and relaxed dog. Sonia's behavioural consult has been the best thing we could have done to lay solid foundations for our dog. We now have a great solid basis to continue our training.

Thanks sonia, we cant wait to see our girl develop further and look forward to further training with you.

We were trained by Sonia from ALL 4 PAWS about 3 weeks ago and we are a much happier and contented family now.

We have two small dogs: dachshunds and they are now 15 months old. They are much loved and were disciplined but incorrectly and as a result were very naughty. They loved to chew which is ok if outside and a have a stick or bone but not our furniture. They barked a lot which was causing us and no doubt our neighbours grief and walking them was a marathon effort and a major chore.

We researched dog training and hoped to get some help in reducing barking and instructions for walking our pups to the enjoyment of all.

So intro Sonia into ours and Harriet and Oscar’s lives. Positive, strong, determined and friendly.

Sonia spoke of her experiences and her skills and knowledge of dogs and their behaviours which she has gained over the years and all her instruction and explanations were backed by good insight and knowledge of dogs’ and their behaviour. We then understood why Harriet and Oscar were doing what they did, they weren’t really naughty but just trying to lead the pack – us.

Our dogs are now crated at night, have mats to go to when in the house and do not have the run of the house. They also have a penned area out the back which reduces the large back yard that they were trying to patrol. And walking is a pleasure and they look very cute when walking neatly and calmly by our sides.

They still get up on the couch with us but only when we ask them to and they still come up on our bed in the morning only when we ask them to. They still try to push the boundaries sometimes but we just reinforce what we have been taught.

Our life, and more importantly, our dog’s lives are much calmer and more settled and we are enjoying each other’s company so much more.

I have already recommended ALL 4 PAWS to some friends and colleagues and do so here to anyone out there who has a dog and is having difficulty with unwanted and challenging behaviours.

Sonia will help you, no, train you and you will teach your dog the right behaviour.

Of course you need to listen and to practice and maintain the boundaries you have implemented through Sonia’s tuition. And your behaviour management techniques need to be implemented and consistent with all members of the family.

Thank you Sonia, it was lovely to meet you and hope your business continues to thrive and the people you train are able to see the benefits of the skills, knowledge and wisdom you bring with you and share with them in the development of an improved relationship with their dogs.

I am hugely grateful to Sonia for helping me out with my overly anxious/excitable Dobermann, Cassius.

Cassius is a 2¾ yo black/tan Dobie who has been brought up (from 8 weeks on) around my horses. For the first 1½ I had no problems with him around the horses, he ignored them and only got excited when they ran. I made sure that both he & my other Dobie, were never allowed to chase the horses in these scenarios and things were good until…….

My bay mare foaled on November 12th 2014 and gave birth to a beautiful palomino filly. For the first 4 weeks of her life, the Dobermanns did not even see her, and when I eventually brought them out, they were restrained in the car. As soon as Cassius saw the filly he reacted with excessive barking. For the next year I dealt with this as best I could, disciplining him in a variety of ways (I can tell you I thought many times of “shooting him if I’d only had a gun”) and just using avoidance, i.e. I just didn’t take him out to the horses. I seem to have no effect on his behaviour and it got to the ugly stage where he actually seemed to elevate to such a level I thought he would attack her if given the opportunity.

This is where Sonia came in. I’ve known Sonia for quite a while & she had helped me before with this particular dog & social skills. I’m a confident dog owner & I have trained many dominant dogs to be great companions but I was totally out of my depth with this anxious dog, he didn’t respond the same ways my dominant dogs of the past had.

It took Sonia to point out just how anxious & overwhelmed Cassius was by the palomino (yearling now) and the fact that he had been escalating his behaviour for a year now. I really wasn’t that confident we could change Cassius’s behaviour before we started.

The first session was long & exhausting for all of us (Sonia, Cassius & myself) except the yearling herself who is not at all disturbed by Cassius’s behaviour & readily eyeballed him. This was part of the problem, Cassius couldn’t deal with her eyeballing him & Sonia picked this up immediately.

Calmly, firmly & only using her voice to congratulate Cassius when he did well rather than to discipline him, Cassius eventually started to ignore the yearling. After the first session, Sonia was so sore in the arms from Cassius’s lunging at the yearling that she definitely wasn’t looking forward to working him again other than she had had some success.

With strict instructions to follow, the following days were mine to work Cassius the way Sonia wanted me to & I followed them to the letter. Cassius just got better and better, he lunged at the yearling less & stopped barking as soon as he saw her, instead choosing to ignore her.

Sonia came out twice more about 5 days apart & by the 3rd visit (14th day) Cassius was not lunging or barking at the yearling at all. We could walk him right up to her & he was choosing to ignore her, even whilst Sonia fed the yearling with Cassius on the lead; he just sat there.

Now, he is still a little anxious because he pants a little too much whilst he is close to the yearling but he has yet to pay any attention to her since Sonia’s last visit. He will lie down on his mat unrestrained & just ignore her. I cannot tell you all just how much this means to me, I am just so happy with Cassius’s progress & now I can enjoy having my dogs & horses together with me again. Don’t worry, I will always be cautious but I won’t stop working on Cassius either. It has made his life better, less anxiety for him & for me. J

Thank you Sonia, again!

To see how well Cassius did - check these videos out !
https://youtu.be/yJALueieU2A

I met Sonia a few months ago when I bought a new kitten home to my 5 year old vizsla. I couldn't have the dog in the same room as the cat, she would freeze, drool and I could not break her attention. If the cat came close she would snap. Sonia came for a home session and I got so much more out of it than I thought I would. I learnt about my dogs behaviours and what they meant and dominant traits I didn't realise were dominance and not affection. She also had her walking nicely on the lead in one session!

I have a completely different dog now and can not speak highly enough of Sonia! She is also available for advice over the phone whenever I need her, and I have just started beginners obedience again for a refresher.

We first met Sonia when Suvi, our 7 month old Kelpie had decided she should be in charge of our household and our older dog Cody, he is 10, went along with this! A friend of mine had recommended Sonia to us.

Sonia did an initial consultation at our house and within minutes had recognised Suvi’s behaviour traits. She explained the reasons behind Suvi’s behaviour and then showed us what we should be doing with Suvi. From that moment Suvi’s behaviour improved, she seemed to calm down a lot and became more respectful. She still has her moments, but generally responds very quickly to commands.

Both Suvi and Cody sleep in their crates at night. They happily go in and sleep there all night. They both have mats to sit on in the house and Suvi goes straight to hers when told.

Sonia has an amazing knowledge of dog behaviour and taught us how to manage Suvi so both she and us have a better quality of life.

I have had my german shepherd for just over a year now and over that time Sonia has been working exceedingly hard with me on the improvement of Jazz's behaviour towards other dogs and overall mental wellbeing. Jazz was unfortunate to have a poor upbringing as a puppy which has lead to her having anxiety and not knowing how to socalise.

Over the past year Sonia has been trying different approaches with Jazz to help settle her as well as going above and beyond by constantly following up on Jazz's progress during the weeks outside of classes and 1 on 1 sessions. Her work with Jazz and I has been marvelous; the antisocial, frantic, anxious, and restless dog I once knew has changed in the last four months in leaps and bounds due to the persistent work and encouragement from Sonia.

I recommend Sonia to anyone wishing to own a dog.

Thank goodness for Sonia! Sonia was called to help us with a whole gamete of issues we were experiencing with our 14 month old moodle (maltese x poodle).
These issues included unruly walks, constant barking (day and night), occasional toileting inside the house, snappiness towards small children and aggression towards other dogs.Gorgeous Curly Five minutes into our consultation Sonia had ‘diagnosed’ what she believed was the cause of ALL of Curly’s very inappropriate behavioural issues; lack of structure and a very topsy turvy hierarchy. ‘A dog with no structure is like a child with no rules,’ these were her exact words. Sonia sprung into action and demonstrated some very strict and specific ways of managing Curly and his behaviours, some of which I was a tad sceptical about despite Sonia’s best explanations. In particular was the use of a crate at night time, for car travel and ‘rest time’ during the day. I’m surprised and pleased to report that Sonia was right and Curly does in fact LOVE his crate!

Within a week of implementing all of Sonia’s techniques we noticed profound changes in Curly’s behaviour. He became manageable and as strange as this sounds even seemed grateful for all the new rules. He is a MUCH calmer, relaxed and affectionate dog. He now hangs off my every word and instruction, very eager to please. We now enjoy our walks and he even comes running with me beside the pram! There is still a way to go with his interaction with other dogs but he has also made considerable progress. Dog training takes time, patience and someone like Sonia to point out all your (yes YOUR) faults and point you in the right direction. We have Sonia to thank for restoring peace to our household!

Money well spent, thanks Sonia!

I first came across Sonia from ALL 4 PAWS on Facebook and saw all her fantastic work she was doing with dogs in The Geelong area. My beautiful boys name is Oscar and I adopted him from GAR in November 2012 he was three and a half and very well mannered but because my husband and myself felt sorry for him we allowed Oscar the full reign of the house. When you adopt an animal and you are not too sure where they have come from and what their up bringing was like spoiling them is very easy. He is such great company.

I asked Sonia to come and do a one-on-one consultation with Oscar and myself. It was the best thing I have ever done. I realised that it's all a bit of common sense and now I find just the smallest of things are easy to overcome, even getting out the front door is easy now HaHa!! Sonia still often messages me to see how we are going, which is wonderful. I loved that all the products she recommends she sells and has on board so you can start training as soon as she leaves. The dog crate has been a life saver as Oscar loves to be around us even when we have visitors but I can put him in there and he is not a bother to anyone but he still feels he is with us. Oscar still wants to talk to every dog on our walks but he is getting better all the time.

I would recommend Sonia to any one and I am looking forward to the adult dog classes she is thinking of running.

We have a 10 month old pure bred heeler who we have had for 3 months. A few weeks after we bought Daisy home she started to snap at people and was becoming very territorial. I spoke to Sonia on the phone at length and realised she could provide us with the help that we needed. Sonia came to our home and showed us the correct way to deal with Daisy. I have always had dogs and believed I had a good basic knowledge but Sonia blew me away. Everything she taught us was simple and common sense (once you know it). We noticed an immediate change in Daisy after Sonia consulted with us. Best time and money we have spent. Last week we tried to get Daisy on the treadmill with not great results! We had chatted with Sonia about it at our initial consult but the treadmill was put away so didn't worry about it. I contacted Sonia who came out and showed us how to do it properly! Tonight I put Daisy on treadmill with instant success. Very happy, relaxed dog.

Sonia has so much knowledge, is calm but firm with Daisy and you can see the energy she exudes when around dogs. I cannot recommend Sonia highly enough. I have recommended her to friends already who are just as impressed as I was!



Thanks Sonia!!!