Who is private dog training for?
Private training is for you if:
- Your dog knows the commands but still pulls, lunges, barks at every passing dog, paces the house, or can't settle in a cafe.
- You've already been to one, two, maybe three other trainers.
- You're exhausted, and starting to wonder if this is just who your dog is.
What's different about how I train dogs?
Three things set my Melbourne sessions apart from standard pet training:
- A background most trainers don't have: a Bachelor's in Veterinary Science, a Master's in Early Childhood Education, and fifteen years across zoos, wildlife reserves, assistance dog programs, and pet training. The animals you can't manage by force teach you the most.
- No command list. I show you how to read your dog moment to moment, then how to set up the day so good behaviour is the easy choice.
- One clear framework, PACE: PLAY, ANCHOR, CALM, EXPLORE. Each mode has clear rules and none of them blur. Get the modes holding and most of what you came in to fix resolves on its own.
How does a private training session run?
Step one: the consultation (90 minutes, $400)
The first 30 minutes is theory and methodology. I walk you through the PACE framework, explain how I read your dog, and give you notes to take home so none of it disappears after the session. Then we go hands-on: lead handling, CALM setup, PLAY structure, or breaking a reactive cycle on a walk, depending on what your dog needs that day.
You leave with a clear plan for the next week, built around what your dog is actually doing right now.
Step two: the PACE Program (four weeks, $1,600)
After the consultation I'll tell you whether the PACE Program is right for your dog. Sometimes it isn't, and $400 is all you've spent. If it is, it runs as four weekly sessions plus roughly 20 days of me reviewing your videos in between, paid as a package at $1,600. I don't do one-off follow-up sessions, because lasting change is built on consistency. Ninety-eight percent of my clients, whether it's general pet behaviour, serious reactivity, fear-based cases, or aggression, find the four weeks is enough as long as they're committed.
Think of it as one program, $2,000 over five weeks, where the consultation is the first $400. The reason it's a program and not a bag of lessons: you're not paying me to train your dog each week, you're paying to learn to read and run your own dog, so the changes hold for the dog's lifetime. By the end you shouldn't need me.
Fees, and the option if mine don't fit
With me, the PACE Program is $1,600 for the four weeks, GST included, on top of the $400 consultation. If that's out of reach, the same program can be delivered by one of my Hachi Way associates, trainers I have trained myself and who work to the same method with the same expectations, at $1,000 to $1,400 for the four weeks depending on the trainer's experience. Either way the consultation is with me, I design the program, and I supervise it. Payment plans, the peak-time surcharge, home visit fees, the cancellation policy, and what it costs to leave the problem alone are all on the FAQ page. Read it before you fill in the form.
Between sessions, you film your homework and send it via WhatsApp. I send back specific feedback. The video loop is where most of the change happens. I can describe what a good pop on the lead looks like, but until I can see your hand, your footwork, and the dog's response in your context, I can't fix what's actually going on.
Murphy
I bring my dog Murphy to most reactive-dog sessions. She's a black Labrador, certified assistance dog, and the most regulated dog I have ever worked with. Reactive dogs read her calm and start to mirror it. She's not a prop. She's a working partner who lets me show your dog what neutral, present, unbothered actually looks like.
What dog behaviour issues do I work on most?
- Leash reactivity (barking and lunging at dogs, people, bikes, cars)
- Anxiety and fear-based behaviour
- Resource guarding and household tension
- Dogs who can't settle at home or in cafes
- Pulling on lead and walking that boils over
- Adolescent dogs who suddenly stop listening
- Households with multiple dogs not getting along
Sessions run Wednesday to Saturday
I take on a limited number of new clients each week. The form below is the fastest way to check current availability. Tell me about your dog, what's happening, and what you've tried. I read every form myself.