Meet Dr. Robert Hewings, a retired dog handler and instructor who served for 30 years at the London Metropolitan Police. He has an impressive background in dog handling and training, backed up by excellent academic qualifications.

Robert will do a practical indication workshop and will present on the following topics: Scentwork Theory: understanding your dog's sense of smell, Scentwork for Trainers, Advanced Handler Techniques and Scentwork & the assistance dog.

Bio and Workshop information

Zazie Todd PhD is the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy.

She is joining us to present the following topics: Counter-conditioning: how to get it right, From fearful to happy: the role of emotions in animal welfare, How to Prevent and Resolve Common Behaviour Issues in Cats, Strategies for the human side of fearful/reactive dogs and more!

Bio and Workshop information

Barbara began her herding journey whilst running a dairy farm alongside her husband.  She has been captivated by the art of herding for 30 years, and over the last 12 has fine-tuned herding training methods using positive reinforcement.  

Barb will be joining us for Positive Herding workshop. She will talk about Enrichment for the High Energy Dog, Urban Herding and more!

Bio and Workshop information

Laura has worked in the industry for over 25 years. She is passionate about  professionals working together to thoughtfully look after the physical and emotional wellbeing of all the animals we care for.

Her workshop on Mission Precision is a hands-on workshop that will teach you effective ways to establish and perfect precision.

Eduardo J. Fernandez is a Senior Lecturer of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide (Australia).

Eduardo's talk will introduce the Least Inhibitive, Functionally Effective (LIFE) approach to animal training methods. 

Deb has been training dogs since 1976 and has seen great changes in the field during that time. In 2007, she joined Canine Behavioural School (CBS) and has overseen the growth and development of its Aspiring Instructor Program which has since gained credit transfer recognition for the Pet Professional Accreditation Board and is currently also being taught in Melbourne.

Debra's talk Pet Bereavement – Précis of a Complex Journey will help us understanding grief as it comes in many forms and so too do grievers. 

Noeline Casserati was the first person in the Southern Hemisphere to qualify as a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. She is also a Certified Trick Instructor and Advisory Board member for Do More With Your Dog, assessing online trick submissions. 

Rose and Beanie hold the Guinness World Records for the most tricks done in 1 minute.

Noeline's workshop Trick Training with Any Species you will experience different species. 

We will cover a range of different species, but you will meet and practise on a very cute miniature horse and miniature donkey as demonstration animals.

Alexis has been a professional dog trainer since 2001 and began developing Un-Chase!® in 2012 to help clients and students seeking solutions to their dogs’ chasing behaviours. Since then, she has helped countless dog lovers curb their dogs’ chasing behaviours and shared her innovative approach with dog training professionals all over the world.

Alexis' workshop: Un-Chase!® - in action! Will show you how to set clients up for success, teach key alternate behaviours, build calmness, and change chase triggers to cues.

Jari Castle has been training her own dogs since 2012 and professionally since 2016. She has always been a strong advocate for using fear-free training methods with all animals, but especially our dogs for they have a unique role in our lives.

Jari's workshop will let you experience the joy of the Clicker Games Tournament! Where you can engage in friendly competition as you demonstrate your clicker timing and mechanical skill through a series of interactive challenges.

Louise grew up traveling the world. Each posting came with its own set of animals which meant training, good husbandry and health care were taught as part of daily life. Louise moved to Australia in 1997 continuing her teaching career. Then in 2011 she founded Let’s Go Fido! joining forces with local vets to deliver puppy school and dog training. Louise and her team also deliver specialised services like Nosework, Reactive Rover, and Kids and Dogs classes. Louise’s gentle, positive and friendly nature also makes her the perfect trainer to provide in-home consultations for dogs and owners needing that extra bit of support.

Louise will introduced you to the joys of Hoopers! Hoopers is a fun agility-like dog sport which can become a healthy obsession. The aim is to navigate around and through equipment fluidly as a dog-handler team. 

Jade has studied animal behaviour, learning and welfare, applied behaviour analysis and zoology. Jade is currently undertaking a PhD in animal and veterinary sciences at the University of Adelaide, looking at efficacy of training and enrichment to improve welfare.

Whether you work with goldfish, llamas, dogs or humans, Jade will give you practical skills and games in her Mechanical Skills workshop.