About Us
Hey, my name is Dee. But first... Meet my diggity dog, Zeus
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Zeus is the reason I do what I do. After struggling with his behavioural issues, aggression and reactivity, I was forced to step up as his leader. I began spending all my free time studying and researching on dog behaviour and canine psychology to see what I was doing wrong and how to fix it. This then led me to start studying dog psychology and training courses online out of pure fascination. I had a thirst for knowledge! Understanding psychology in general was always fascinating to me so understanding the mind of a dog and learning their language has been an incredible journey in itself.
Alongside studying and training my dog, I would offer pet sitting and dog walking during the times Zeus stayed with his dad. The demand had become so high once owners saw my education and experience of canine psychology and training that I ended up becoming a full-time sitter/walker, thus, started Dee's Diggity Dogs!
I learned so much from Zeus and found myself finding many other owners through my job who struggled with similar issues. Desperate to help and share what I learned, I would pass on as much advice, information and tips as I could, and to everyone’s delight it really helped! That’s when I found my true passion for dog training and began to pursue it as a career, thus, evolving Dee's Diggity Dogs into 4D Dog Training.
With a Certificate in Canine Psychology and Training and Graduate Certificate after apprenticing at the Dog Leadership Academy Board & Train rescue facility, I help assist in training and rehabilitating pet dogs, rescues and surrendered dogs on an almost daily basis when I am not with my own clients.
Our Mission
My mission is to help keep families together through education and compassion. Teaching humans how to effectively understand and communicate with their dogs to strengthen their bond so that they gain a stronger relationship with their canine based on trust and respect.
Ultimately, I want to keep dogs as far away as possible from being surrendered, abandoned or euthanised.
Dogs deserve so much better.
Our Methodology: Leadership Training
To be a leader means to establish yourself as someone your dog defers to for guidance. Leaders teach out of empathy and patience. They inspire trust and confidence. The mark of a true leader is the ability to control without force.
A common misconception people have is thinking Leadership training is the same as Dominance Training. True dominance training primarily uses fear-based tactics such as force, violence and aggression to get dogs to submit out of fear. Leadership training, however, uses compassion and assertiveness to guide and coach our dogs to listen out of trust and respect.
A strong leader knows when help is needed, empathy, extra coaching, protection, advocation, guidance and boundaries are needed. And how to effectively communicate those with their dogs. That's what we teach our clients.
I have studied multiple styles of training and gone back and forth trying to decipher what style works best. After truly understanding canine behaviour, I have been able to see what achieves the most effective and lasting results, which is a balanced and compassionate approach - the way canines were designed to learn naturally.