Who We Are

The Canine Behavioural School Inc. is a positive reinforcement and reward-based pet dog training club providing training that is relevant to you and your dog.

Our desire is to provide training that will help make your dog a well-mannered and welcomed member of your family and your community. We want to help you train your dog for situations that are encountered in everyday life. We will enhance your understanding of both dog behaviour and responsible pet guardianship. We choose the word guardianship, rather than ownership, as a guardian is one who should be trusted, relied upon to understand, to protect and to respect. All this we owe our dogs.

We provide knowledge to enable training and behavioural management through positive reinforcement methods. Our training methods aim to create a more relaxed dog and guardian and may be used by the whole family as they do not require the use of force or physical strength. We will teach you the skills to train your dog to sit politely when visitors come to the door, to meet and greet other dogs in a friendly manner, or how to manage a situation if one or other dog is not friendly. We will also help you to gain the skills you require to help your dog become a canine good citizen.

Our fun classes are informative and will teach you better dog management skills as we provide socialisation for both guardians and dogs.

Our program leads to a lifelong relationship between dog and guardian that is based on mutual trust and respect.

We believe that training should be predicated upon sound, scientifically based guidelines. Our methods are based in learning theory which theory is the same for all animals, including us. Application of learning theory may be slightly different for different species but the principles of operant and respondent conditioning, desensitization and counter-conditioning apply to all. These methods are also the most conducive to improving the bond between you and your dog. A good bond, built on trust and respect, will enhance your training and firmly establish your dog as part of your family.

Our training methods comply with the Code of Ethics of the Delta Society Australia, the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia, US and UK and are preferred by the RSPCA, the Association of Animal Behavior Professionals and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior.

We, along with the other organisations mentioned believe that the use of punishment based methods is unethical, inefficient, can risk serious harm and that punishment methods are the most likely methods to deteriorate the human/dog bond.

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) goes so far as to say “The AVSAB recommends that veterinarians not refer clients to trainers or behavior consultants who coach and advocate dominance hierarchy theory and the subsequent confrontational training that follows from it” (Position Statement on the Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals, 2008).

We do not condone nor endorse the use of aversive tools such as but not limited to choke/correction chains, prong collars, electronic invisible fencing or electronic shock collars. Nor do we condone or endorse the use of aversive methods such as but not limited to leash corrections, helicoptering, hanging, alpha-rolling, scruff-shaking, spraying the dog in the face or any other part of the body with fluid, throwing things at or near the dog, hitting the dog, yelling at the dog or in any other way creating fear or pain in dogs (or, in fact, any animals.)

Five of our instructors are Accredited Canine Good Citizen Instructors by the Delta Society Australia Ltd. One instructor has recently completed her studies with Delta and is awaiting the results of her final assignments. Most instructors are members of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia Inc (APDT). Several instructors are also members of the Association of Animal Behavior Professionals (AABP) and two of our instructors are on the Advisory Board of this organisation. One instructor holds a Diploma in Animal Behavior Science & Technology and a Diploma in Dog Training and Behavior Consulting through the Companion Animal Sciences Institute (CASI) and has, since graduating from CASI, been invited onto the Board of that organisation.

All of our instructors are encouraged to keep their knowledge of dog behaviour and training methods up to date and always aligned with the Codes of Ethics of the positive training organisations to which they belong. To this end we encourage all of our instructors and aspiring instructors and assistants to attend meetings and seminars that will further their ongoing knowledge. Aspiring instructors and assistants have a regular in house training session of their own and a monthly trainers meeting is held for all instructors/aspiring instructors and assistants.

Despite being staffed by professional dog trainers, ours is a volunteer organisation. All of the time given to CBS is donated, free of charge, by your instructors and administration staff. All School Fees are turned back into the School for the payment of expenses such as insurance and ground hire and the purchase of equipment and products for the use of CBS students and staff whilst training at CBS.

We welcome your enquiry.  Please contact us if you would like more information or, alternatively, download the registration form and information here.