General Testimonials

We have been working with Sonia for the last year, mainly doing one on one sessions with our anxious and unsure 3 year old kelpie, Joey. Joey’s growth in her overall confidence has been huge since working with Sonia.

Doing one on one sessions with Sonia has meant we have been able to learn a variety of new skills for Joey in a controlled environment. The private lessons have allowed us the time to ask Sonia about how to approach all aspects of our training with Joey.

Sonia has helped us with learning scent detection, directional work, and tracking but also assisted us with ways to build Joey’s resilience and overall confidence. It has been a truly valuable experience and we are so happy to see Joey flourish into the happy, content and more confident dog we knew she could be.

We have participated in other classes with Sonia, and it is because of Sonia’s guidance in the private sessions that Joey has been able to take those classes in her stride. We feel more equipped to support Joey’s growth going forward and have strengthened our relationship with Joey. We have learnt many ways to fulfil our dog’s needs, while also having fun.

We came across the services of all 4 Paws – not long after we bought our 8 week old GSP home with us. We were at the point of handing back the puppy after he showed total disrespect to us.

After taking up 3 of Sonia’s program classes – we can now look back after 12 months and say it was the best decision to bring Ryker to these critical development classes at a puppy’s young age.

The initial sessions were about puppy engagement and behavior’s with other pups - all around the same age.

The second program after that was puppy directional classes, which taught a valuable aspect of walking a dog around obstacles and future teaching a pup of how to walk side by side an approaching dog.

Sonia is very down to earth and calls a 'spade a spade' with a dog. The honesty is very much appreciated and with her extensive knowledge of training, I can’t recommend her enough to any puppy or dog owners that are feeling very frustrated like we were. The classes are very affordable and you get what you put into each class. There is also a lot of laughter with each class.

We now have a 1 year old dog that knows who is master!

Thankyou Sonia for being part of our puppy’s upbringing and patience to help Ryker break his bad behavior’s.

I was recommended to do puppy classes at All 4 paws with Sonia from a few people ranging from breeders to first time pup owners. I wanted to crate train this time around and raise an inside dog. Sonia was very informative in our consultation and gave me the reassurance that I was doing the right thing and just keep persisting.

I then joined puppy class it was so enjoyable to watch all the beautiful puppies interact safely. After that I decided to keep going and tried Level 1 classes because I wanted to stay up to date with training techniques as it had been 17 years since we had a puppy in our house. We learnt a range of things from impulse control to mat training.

After a few months I noticed Sonia was offering nose work classes and that was something Pearl and I were interested in and really wanted to learn this skill properly from the start. We have enjoyed this course so much as it’s a special skill to learn but a fun and tiring thing to play with your dogs no matter the weather conditions.

I highly recommend Sonia’s classes for any skill level as she caters for every dog and owners needs.

I have a cavoodle who is nine months old and his name is Bear. I took Bear to Sonia’s All 4 Paws puppy class when he was 8 weeks old and then the Group class. Bear is a very excitable cavoodle and Sonia always encouraged and advised me re training him at home and how to keep Bear calm. Sonia kept in contact with me and always gave good advice when I was having problems with Bear.

About 5 weeks ago Bear went and stayed with Sonia for 10 days so that she could see exactly what the problem is with Bear and to try and ‘retrain’ him, and I might add retrain me. During this time, Sonia kept me up to date every day and during our conversations via text it made me realise that I had not followed through with the advice Sonia told us all at puppy school about crate training and how important it is. Also how important it is to keep a dog calm. Sonia believes Bear has Excitable Anxiety (not Separation Anxiety as first thought). Sonia even asked for extra days as she didn’t think he was ready to come home. Sonia had Bear a total of about 17 days and due to Sonia’s dedication and hard work Bear is a lot calmer. I have learnt that structure is very important (also the crate) and I am working on that, it is now up to me to carry on what Sonia started. My family and friends have agreed that Bear is a lot calmer.

It is still a work in progress with Bear but with knowledge and advice given by Sonia I am sure I will have the well behaved little man in no time.

Thank you Sonia, your dedication and knowledge is a special gift.

Sonia has been great since our first 1 on 1 we had with her. Our girl was very shy and was very scared of some things. We couldn't even get her outside to go for a walk with some other issues.
We have never had a puppy before so it was overwhelming at times for us and her not knowing what to do.
We are so glad we reached out to Sonia as she helped and guided us what was best for Bailey which was for Sonia to take Bailey in for 2 weeks to help her build up her conference. Sonia kept in contact throughout Bailey's stay updating us with how she was going with videos and pictures of her training and her stay. Sonia is always happy to help and answer any of our concerns.

After 2 weeks Bailey came home and wow what a massive positive change we could see in her. It was such a relief to see Bailey happy and more confident and been able to take her out for walks.

After her stay Sonia sent us an email with the process, she did with Bailey each day and then also give us info on what to do to help Bailey moving forward after her stay.

Till this day, Sonia still checks in to see how Bailey is doing and is always happy to answer any questions that we may still have. We can't thank Sonia enough for her guidance and care she has for Bailey.

We highly recommend Sonia to anyone, don't hesitate to get contact her for anything you may have a concern about with your new pup or dog.

Thank you, Sonia, for helping Bailey and us.

Boy, had i forgotten how much work a puppy can be! Luckily i was recommended Sonia at All 4 Paws by a friend.

After a 1:1 consult with Sonia that included learning about crate training and some useful do's n don'ts, i knew her puppy school was for us. Socialising with other puppies, learning the basics, Sonia understood exactly what each puppy needed.

We also attended the 6 week Doggy Primary School where we pushed our bigger pups a bit further, and watched how much they had learnt.

The way Sonia explains how to train and teach the dogs makes so much sense.

Thanks to Sonia for her help and honesty in training our very excitable puppy.

I would highly recommend Sonia at ALL4PAWS. Ralph + Lily I have an 11 year old Lab/Kelpie Cross who had developed some very bad habits whilst out walking and reacted to dogs at fences. Then we have Ralph, another Lab/Kelpie cross, who is almost 2 now but at the time of meeting Sonia he was still very much in puppy mode and when I say puppy mode I mean destruction mode.

I was unable to walk both dogs together as Ralph would pull in one direction and Lilly the other. After working with Sonia I learnt about crate time and being in control of the dogs when they were at home. This really helped with Lilly's nuisance barking and Ralph's destructive behaviour.

Ralph and Lilly weren't able to be walked together initially but after several months they actually walk nicely together and Ralph can be walked by my 4 year old son!

I would like to thank Sonia for all her work with Lilly and Ralph.

We have a seven and a half year old Border Collie named Mischa.

Six months ago we moved from a one acre block in Batesford to a normal suburban block in Highton. We were really concerned about leaving her all day in a much smaller yard whilst we were at work. Mischa I set about trying to find someone to walk her on the days that I worked. I contacted the Highton Vet Clinic who strongly recommended Sonia from All 4 Paws.I contacted Sonia who came around to meet Mischa and myself and we organised for her to walk her three times a week.

Sonia is great, she has taught Mischa to walk in a more structured and disciplined way which has made our walks with her so much more enjoyable. She initially started walking Mischa on her own and then started introducing Mischa to other dogs. Mischa now loves walking with her new friends. This is great for Mischa as she doesn't normally get the chance to socialise with other dogs.

I then started talking to Sonia about some other behavioural concerns we had with Mischa. Mischa is a very anxious and stressed girl who is basically scared of just about everything. We organised a behavioural consult between Sonia and our family where we learnt so much.

We thought we had done a good job of teaching Mischa the rules at our house but it turns out Mischa was making too many decisions herself which led her to believe she had to be the leader of the pack. Sonia showed us how to rectify this problem amongst other things.

Sonia is always forthcoming with plenty of support and feedback and I always look forward to her daily facebook updates.

I would happily recommend Sonia's dog walking and behavioural training services to anyone.

I recently found myself thinking that my dog has a better social life than I do.

Holly heads out walking with Sonia three or four times a week. She has different friends to walk with on different days in varying places & they sometimes even stop for a coffee. I didn’t think my girl would ever be calm enough to do this, but apparently she behaves well.

We were lucky enough to find Sonia via her website a year ago and have been pleased with the service and care provided. Holly’s general behavior and interaction with other dogs has improved and she just loves Sonia’s company.

I highly recommend ALL 4 PAWS to anyone needing this type of service. I always look forward to the Facebook updates to get a sneak peak into Holly’s day.

Our little man Murphy has been lucky enough to have been walked by Sonia since he was 3 months old. My husband and I often spend long days in Melbourne and we have great piece of mind knowing Murphy is being walked by someone who loves him almost as much as we do!

Our schedule is often unpredictable and Sonia will always go out of her way to accommodate us. The change is Murphys walking and socialisation has been fantastic and we look forward to the regular 'walk reports' we receive. We feel fortunate to have someone with the expert skills of a dog trainer walking Murphy every week.

Thanks Sonia!