SANKIRI | DOG TRAINING & PET MINDING

- Testimonials -

"One day I decided to take the dogs for a walk during the late afternoon. BIG MISTAKE!!! My dogs had spotted a Labrador playing in his front yard and took off after him, by the time I had any control over the dogs I found myself standing in the middle of the road. All I could think was how lucky I was that there were no cars coming. After that I went home in tears. I’d had enough, either we find someone to help us or the dogs have to go.

We had been to numerous dog trainers both in groups and one on one and had found that nothing helped. I was on the web trying to locate a dog trainer and spent a lot of time on the phone but did not feel that anyone understood my situation. That is when I came across Sankiri Dog Training. When I contacted Lorraine she understood our concerns and problems straight away and I felt comfortable in telling her my exact fears and issues with our dogs.

We currently own 4 dogs. Three blue heelers and an English staffy. The fourth dog has only been added in the past year. The dogs were walked while they were younger but due to family commitments the time with the dogs was limited. Due to this our dogs thought they ran the place. They would sleep on the couch and on the beds, steal food off the bench or our plates and each time I came home from being out they would jump all over me. There was no respect from them and I had no control over them. As there were three of them whenever we went out they would form a pack and if they saw any other dog they would start snarling and barking whilst trying desperately to get to it and tear it apart. If they were ever in the front yard they would terrify anyone walking passed the front gate with their behaviour. If anyone came to the front door they would charge up the hallway with their hackles up and barking like mad with no hope of stopping them. They would bark at any visitor and jump onto them every chance they got. This behaviour was exacerbated tenfold when I fell pregnant because they then became even more territorial. No one could even walk close at that stage. Due to this we had to walk the dogs early (5am) in the morning or very late in the evening. This way I made sure that there would be very few other dogs around. This became very tedious and with a baby very difficult and tiring.

The training has been a godsend. I have nothing but the best to say about Lorraine and the training she has provided. She also provided us with some extra socialisation training for our dogs. After our lessons we would stay back and let our dogs run around with Lorraine’s dogs. This way we could keep an eye on them and correct any aggressive behaviour.

By following her instructions and putting it all into practice at home I have found that the dogs now treat me as the alpha male.

We still have some way to go but now I can walk all of them on my own and am enjoying taking them out again. We will be continuing our journey with Lorraine to reach our goal of having them trained off lead."

Thanks Lorraine for all your help and enjoyable classes.

Christine and Darren.

"Buddy was around 8 months old when we began at Sankiri. He was a boisterous dog and at times could be quite aggressive and domineering. Possibly due to an older dog at home who he was trying to show who's boss. This was an issue as we have young children, in fact he was bought for my son's first birthday and there was no way he was going to continue in this manner. Our son has a genetic disorder so will probably not walk until 3 or 4 years old and we wanted buddy to be his 'buddy' and not be dragging him around.

Buddy started out quite determined to not do what Lorraine and I asked however through perserverance and a few blisters he came good. He is now a pleasure to walk and even when I am not around behaves himself around the family. The other members of our dog class comment on how he sits, looks up and adores me.

I highly recommend Lorraine and her training techniques. We are now continuing the advanced training and we look forward to obtaining even more control over Buddy which in turn will result in a more pleasurable relationship between Buddy and our family.

We are well on the way to a fully trained dog that my son will be able to walk with ease."

Thanks Lorraine

"Myself and my wife had a 6month old German Short Hair Pointer called Murray. My wife was 7 months pregnant at the time and we thought it would be perfect to train him prior to the baby’s arrival. Being a typical pup, he chewed, dug, scratched, stole, jumped, disobeyed, barked, whined, ran away etc. But quite often he was completely uncontrollable and had tantrums that had us wondering if this was a bad idea. We new obedience school was needed & enrolled him at the local dog assoc one, we thought it would be great, by the time our Baby is due Murray will be a great pet to have around. The place seemed good; plenty of other people & dogs went there. But after 7 weeks, we had no improvement in his behavior, there were lots of trainers, but as you had a different one almost every week, you always had a different opinion of what was needed, we new very little more than we did prior, and time was ticking before the baby was due to arrive.

After yet another tantrum by the dog when we tried to get him off a couch, I had had enough….I said to my wife that I would get rid of him, he couldn’t be trusted with a pregnant woman let alone a child in the house. My wife found Sankiri and I agreed to the 10wk course, but with the comment that it was the last straw….’no improvement meant no more dog’.

Three lessons in…..Murray was sitting & lying on the ground surrounded by other dogs doing the same all by themselves, I wasn’t holding the lead….and he wasn’t going crazy!!!! Now at the end of the course, life is very different….no whining when he is put outside or jumping & scratching the glass doors, no jumping on visitors or racing out the door before we get out ourselves, he will sit or lie down for as long as he is told. We are more confident, & he is as happy as ever. This is what obedience school is about !!"

Thanks Lorraine

"Since picking up our 2 year old lab x pointer "Jet" from the RSPCA and enrolling him with Sankiri, we have seen a dramatic change in his temprement and behaviour. Here was a dog that would eat the food off your plate at every opportunity, would never come when called and a nighmare on the lead. Each week we would take him to training, and each week he would get better. Never did we ever think that he would be able to sit, heel or even lie down in 10 weeks, but he did. We recently had friends over and they all commented on how much his behaviour has changed and how he is a lot more controlled when we walk him on the halter. We love him even more than the day we brought him home." Thanks Lorraine for your help.

Cheers,

Lauren & Todd

"Charlie was an “impulse buy” on the 20th Oct. 2005, you know the dog your son just has to have, the only puppy for him. It was not a good time to acquire a dog, we were moving and renovating – Charlie was highly strung, easily excitable and suffered with separation anxiety, he hated change of any sort, it made him more nervous and demanding than usual. If he was separated from us by a window or glass door he would continually throw himself at it to get to us. If we locked him in a room where he couldn’t see us he would bark and scratch at the door till we let him out. He got excited when someone called in and jumped all over them, he constantly ignored commands and eventually he wore us into submission.

By the time Charlie was 12 months old he ruled the house and us, our whole life revolved around keeping him happy, much to the misery it was causing us. Finally I could not take any more, I informed my son he needed to re-house Charlie or have him professionally trained, naturally he chose the 2nd option, so Charlie was sent to “Boot Camp” for 2 weeks, and it was wonderful not having him around for that time. When he came back we were impressed, for a week or so he was fairly good then slowly the “old Charlie” started to return. When he was 18 months old, a small dog two doors up dug under the fence and attacked him, now adding to his issues, a new one; we could not walk him as he would bark and fight to get off his lead to get to another dog that was out. Apart from this being extremely embarrassing behavior for us, he would then hyper ventilate the rest of the way home.

We felt trapped, we loved this dog but he was making our lives a misery. When he was two, at our wits end we employed another dog trainer to come to the house and work with the three of us. We kept this up for a couple of months but saw very little improvement, so gave it away. I was convinced Charlie couldn’t be trained; I had always had dogs, but never one like Charlie. A few months later Charlie was put on “Clomicalm”, the highest daily amount you could give a dog, this actually helped to calm him slightly, which gave us some time to gather our strength. At this stage he had so many issues that needed to be dealt with, we knew we had to seek professional help again; not just having him trained, we needed to be shown how to handle him and his specific issues.

September 2008, we started training with Lorraine at “Sankiri”, after 2 personal training sessions with Lorraine, Charlie started to improve, she showed us how to manage him and our confidence grew, after this we joined the group Training session with Lorraine which we all enjoy. Lorraine’s method of training the owner whilst teaching the dog new commands is the only system we have found to work for us and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to anyone with a dog.

Ps: Charlie is just about weaned of his Clomicalm and believe it or not is a very intelligent, loveable and now controllable dog that enriches every minute of our lives! "

Megan, Alex and Charlie

"Shay the Kelpie was a Christmas present, the cutest little puppy. As we had another dog, she was bought as a mate for him. He was an easy dog to train and was always well behaved. So it come as a real shock that my new puppy was the exact opposite. She cried all night, chewed everything, went to the toilet on the floor constantly even after being taken outside, and would do it right in front of your face! We couldn’t take her anywhere as she wouldn’t listen, and would play up all the time.

I decided after a few months she needed to have some training. I found Lorraine on the internet and immediately booked our first lesson. This is where the real fun began. As soon as the training lead and halter went on she would scratch, squeal and nip! After the first lesson I was horrified and exhausted and honestly wanted to get rid of her, as I just didn’t think we could handle her.

After 2 more lessons she improved dramatically and her behavior at home had been a lot better. A few weeks later she went in to the group class and loves coming to school! She is now toilet trained, has stopped chewing everything in sight and can actually go visit family and sits and behaves!Shay has now realized that she is not the dominant one in the house, that we are the boss.

I love Lorraine’s “tough love is good love” as I call them, training methods because they have had the most amazing results on our dog. She is now a year old, and wouldn’t give her away for the world. She is a smart and loving dog and we will continue to take her to Sankiri for a long time to come, as we both love the socializing and the new challenges every week! "

Luke McGuigan

"After being won over by her big brown doting eyes, we soon learned that Audrey was not like other dogs.

We thought avoiding her fear aggression issue would make it go away but after our local vet recommended some serious alternatives, we decided to take action.

We did not want to see our darling little dog be lost to the green dream.

Medication was prescribed, however it did very little to soothe Audrey’s tension.
At our wit’s end, and sensing how unhappy our dog was, we sought several opinions from various dog training schools, but we never realized how important it was to find the perfect match between dog-trainer-owner.

We began with a couple of one-on-one lessons not only for Lorraine (our trainer) to assess the issues, but also for Audrey to begin to learn that she had nothing to fear from strangers. We are proud to say that now we don’t fear her snapping at visitors and she can happily play with other dogs. We look forward to group training because each week we can see the progress she is making. It is like her weekly play date and she is happy to go."

Nekita from Mount Eliza

"Before finding Sankiri, we had, at considerable expense, battled through about 12 lessons based on the reward method and still had a Jack Russell Kelpie cross dog that wouldn't walk on a lead, crouched to chase cars when on the lead, bowled us over to get in the back door first, would not come when called and greeted us with boundless "enthusiasm" when we returned home from work.
I hated going into the yard and put off taking her for walks. My shoulders and back were constantly in pain from the jarring, pulling and twisting that a walk involved.
And then we found Sankiri !
Lorraine convinced us that we didn't have a bad dog just an untrained one despite our best efforts using the reward method.
We purchased a specially fitted head halter from Lorraine and by the end of our first lesson with her Stella would sit and stay, walk on the lead next to us without pulling and would come when called.
We fell in love with our dog all over again and had the confidence to continue with Lorraine's method of training to stop any other unwanted behaviour. Stella is now a year old and is a delightful pet. I cannot thank Lorraine enough. If we had not found her when we did, I don't think we would have kept Stella."

Karen and Gabby

"I had the never “amount to anything dog” undisciplined and uncontrollable. Harley a Staffy X Vissler as cute as he is was very aggressive and possessive of his home and me.

No one could come to our home, near my car or anywhere within my space... If they did Harley would bark, snarl and become threatening until the people went away. We have a bus stop outside of our house, each time someone walked past our house he would aggressively attack from within our house and try to break through the window.
Due to his uncontrollable behaviour we had no choice other than to shut all the doors to the front of our house, we now found ourselves living to accommodate Harley’s needs. This made it difficult for people to visit and was embarrassing to say the least.

I knew I needed professional help but didn’t know where to start, by pure accident I came across Lorraine at Sankiri after using the kennels for the day. The purpose of boarding Harley was because I was having carpet installed and knew I couldn’t have Harley within my home as the men certainly wouldn’t put up with the aggression that I knew Harley would display.

I spoke to Lorraine who understood my concerns about the behaviour; from there did two private lessons followed by group lessons. I have learnt that my dogs’ behaviour has stemmed from my lack of leadership. By attending group training I have found that Harley is much more responsive and his aggressive behaviour has reduced to the point of almost nil. The group training has allowed me to take control and Harley to be able to socialize with other dogs and people.

We still have lots of work to do but feel that I am well on the way, looking forward to what will come. I highly recommend Sankiri, “Lorraine is our own “Dog Whisper”.

Leanne

"Our dog, Jasper, has always been a little over-exuberant, probably something to do with the Irish Setter in him! We took him to training school when he was a puppy - their methods were dated: ‘train the owner, encourage with treats and regimented drills’. Unfortunately, it didn’t suit Jasper and we felt quite demeaned by the whole experience.
By chance, we found Sankiri Kennels for Jasper when we went away for a short holiday. Lorraine got to know him, on our return, she listened to our concerns about his behaviour and impressed us with her understanding and experience with dogs; so much so that we enrolled in her Training evenings.
From the moment we started, Lorraine cast a spell over Jasper. Her methods made sense, were firm but fair. She showed us that she could take any dog and get the same response and her example was enough to give us the confidence that we could get the same result. The keys to success were method and consistency.
Jasper is a changing dog.
Our reward: we are in control now when he is on or off the lead, we are more comfortable when he is with other dogs and his behaviour at home and around food is so much better; Jasper’s reward: warm and loving tones from our voices ….that’s it! No witchcraft!"

Cheers
Andy & Cathie.

"I have 2 boxers, whom my husband and I have owned since puppies. Whilst they are the most loving, silly, bouncy dogs at home, and with people they know, we have had huge problems with strangers (of the human and dog variety).
The sight of a stranger would send them into a little furry frenzy, and should the stranger actually get close to us then they would go bananas with the frothing and lunging and menacing behaviour. Whilst we never had an actual "incident" we could see something had to be done. We tried the local dog club but they did not seem to understand the extent of the problem.
Then we called Lorraine, having found her in the Yellow Pages. I explained our problems over the phone and she instantly understood what we were dealing with, to the extent that she could tell me without having met the dogs the kind of things they were doing. The first time they met her, one of the dogs did his usual routine, but she was able to get close enough to take over the lead and walk him.
He immediately threw himself on his back like a toddler in a supermarket having a tantrum!
Lorraine knew exactly how to handle him though, and 10 minutes later they returned from their walk with him prancing along by her side looking up adoringly......
From then on, we worked with Lorraine to learn how to regain control of the situation, to ensure the dogs understood that we were the leaders of the pack, and not either of them. The level of trust we have in them has increased substantially, and while we know we still have work to do, the training has turned our daily walks from a chore (usually performed in the dark when there were less people around) into a fun experience for 2 legs and 4!
I would highly recommend Lorraine as a trainer for all dog owners whether their dogs have "issues" or not.
It is amazing the wrong signals we don't realise we are giving our dogs, and Lorraine has taught us that when we understand our dogs and they understand us the relationship improves beyond expectation."

Marie Womersley

"We have been taking our 7 month old Kelpie Jess to Sankiri for approx 2 months. After only a short time we have noticed a huge difference in our puppies behaviour. Lorraine has not only taught us how to communicate properly with Jess, but also helped Jess understand what is expected of her in day to day life situations. We have been thouroughly impressed with the progression we've made so far and look forward to learning even more".

Thanks
Beck & Anthony

"We have a 8 month old male Bull Mastiff puppy Charlie with a lovely nature. I'm sure everyone says that about their dog! - but desperately in need of some serious work - training!
My hunie rang around and spoke to a few dog trainers, but liked what Lorraine who owns Sankiri had to say.
Her training techniques were productive and effective, we noticed the difference in Charlie's behavior after one week and every week thereafter. Lorraine can transform an aggressive dog into a peaceful well behaved pet. Her training greatly facilitates and enhances the relationship of dog to it's owner and to the rest of society. Lorraine has a great affinity with dogs. One last thing, what I have learnt is that often the owner needs more training than our four legged friend.
Thanks Lorraine for all your help and the enjoyable classes. "

Hilary and Peter.

"I just wanted to say I am so glad I found Sankiri Dog Training . Our dog Coco, a Weimaraner , was a nervous and highly strung dog, a bit misunderstood. But training has made a really positive difference, it’s very effective in a very short time. I highly recommend Sankiri Dog Training ."

Tracey Vescovi and Coco

"I am writing this as I would like to express how happy I have been with my dealings with Lorraine at Sankiri Dog Training and also my experiences with Sankiri Boarding Kennels as well.
I have a very handsome beagle named Max who I purchased as a 2 month old puppy. That beautiful pup sitting in the pet shop window just melted my heart but I was soon to learn Beagles can be quite a handful and need intensive training if you want a well behaved dog.
Under strong advice from my vet, I was reccomended Lorraine at Sankiri and after giving her a call, she immediately made me feel very comfortable and I decided to put my faith in her as a trainer.
I commenced dog training when Max was 6 months old but prior to that Lorraine told me I could call her any time if I needed help with any advice prior to the commencement of training, which I thought was wonderful and I felt this showed a true devotion on her part.
During the first two weeks of training I was feeling quite stressed and emotional and starting to doubt whether I could hang in there as I was realising it was hard work training a dog, but after reassurance and some one on one attention from Lorraine I started to realise I could do this, and as I started to relax and felt more confident then so did Max. He’s come a long way and is a confident and “most times” obedient dog.
It’s a daily committment and I use Lorraines advise every time I take Max walking.
Lorraine has a very firm approach that gets results. I soon realised that you have to have a very firm approach to your dog training to get results otherwise they want to be boss!
I have no hesitation in recommending Lorraine to anyone thinking about training their dog. I get great pleasure out of seeing the results with my loyal companion Max!
I have boarded Max several times at Sankiri and he’s always content when I drop him off and I never feel guilty leaving him as I know he is well cared for with Lorraine."

Rona Frankhouser

"I first heard about Sankiri through a friend and took my collie along for some training. Lorraine is a very relaxed and calm person which makes her easy to approach and I really like the no nonsense, uncomplicated methods that she uses in training.
My dog (and I) responded well to commands and demonstrated a level of obedience that I really didn't expect so quickly. What I really appreciated about the way Lorraine trains is that obedience is rewarded with praise rather than with food which in my opinion results in a much more positive relationship between dog and owner.
Best of luck Lorraine. Hope this new dimension to your business and passion does really well."

Regards Jane Italiano

"As the new owner of a Golden Retriever puppy, I was looking for local dog training. After asking around I soon heard of Sankiri Dog Training.
I contacted Lorraine, who over the phone I found to be extremely passionate about dog training, and I soon joined her puppy class with 12 week old Gus. It was a great opportunity for Gus to socialize with other puppies and to learn appropriate behavior.
I learned the basics of teaching obedience training as I had as much to learn as my new pup. I found Lorraine to be very confident with her handling of the dogs and was able to communicate instructions clearly to the owners.
I soon had a very well behaved puppy. As Gus has got older we have moved onto adult classes and for the first time ever I am able to walk my dog off lead and be confident he will return when I call.
The training I have gained from Lorraine has allowed me to enjoy Gus and I look forward to training nights as "our time”. Also, I find the boarding kennels a very professionally run organization to which Gus loves to visit as he enjoys the company of the other dogs and is always happy to see Lorraine.
To conclude, I am completely satisfied with Sankiri Dog Training, as I have found for the first time a training method that works run by a highly professional and passionate trainer."

Leanne Hodgson

"I took my 5 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Zoe, along to Sankiri Dog Training as she had a few issues that I was trying to change. One of them being scratching heavily on a glass sliding door to come inside.
I took Zoe along to have a one on one class with Lorraine. After the class I put into practice what we had gone through in the class until I returned to another class, this tiime in a group situation.
I continued to go to classes weekly. It didn't take very much time at all before I could see a difference in Zoe's behaviour. Zoe has thankfully stopped scratching at the door now.
I found Lorraine to be very helpful and understanding of any challenges that she was faced with during these classes, not only for my own dog but others in the class as well.
I always felt Lorraine was very much in control of what was going on throughout the classes. The classes were always interesting, varied and informative.
Zoe responded very well to Lorraine's training techniques and I would recommend Sankiri Dog Training to anybody that has any issues that need attention with their dogs."

Thanks for your help Lorraine.
Lyn

"Schooner is our 10 month old Staffy X. He attended his first obedience class with Lorraine and Dianne when he was 5 months old.
Schooner is what the vet described as boisterous, looking back we have come a long way with his behavior which is improving week by week we still had a few different issues at home so Lorraine and Dianne came to our home for a training session, which has made all the difference in his behavior as is shows in only two days since the visit, as together we had some bad habits to break as they are just as much training me as they are Schooner.
I highly recommend Lorraine’s and Dianne’s positive approach to dog training to anyone who wants to improve their dog’s behavior and their relationship with their dog. Thank you so much for all your help."

See you soon.
Carol & Jamie

"I would like to take this opportunity to express our full and utmost confidence in
Sankiri Kennels and its owner/operator Lorraine to care for our dog Olive in a professional and confident manner.
Our experience with Lorraine has been frequent over the past twelve months and we have found her handling of all matters to do with our dog to be exceptional and professional.
Being a frequent user of boarding kennels for our dogs over many years we have been extremely happy with the open manner with which Sankiri Kennels are operated.
Having a young Labrador cross with a great deal of energy we enlisted Lorraine to teach our dog some manners – a task we had failed at due to the dogs’ exuberance.
We were exceedingly happy with the results which reinforced our confidence in Lorraine’s ability to know and handle dogs appropriately.
We had a further incident where our dog swallowed snail poison at home on the morning we were due to collect our son from a camping trip in the bush. Our conundrum was having to rush our dog to a veterinary clinic in Hallam when she was supposed to be dropped off at Sankiri. We also had a son who was uncontactable in the bush to pick up. Lorraine didn’t have to, but she volunteered to collect our dog from the hospital and tend to her until we returned from our trip.
I believe this was definitely above and beyond what service she had to provide as a kennel owner. This again reinstated to us that she was not only an excellent service provider in her field but someone who truly cared for the animals in her care.
We would have no hesitation in recommending Sankiri Kennels to anyone needing their dogs cared for."

Yours Sincerely,
Louise Manson

"We first took Patsy to Sankiri in April 2007 after a glowing report from friends of ours that had also previously used Sankiri.
Lorraine at Sankiri introduced herself to me, and familiarised herself with Patsy while showing us around.
The next time we took Patsy to Sankiri, my confidence in the care that she receives there was confirmed. Patsy jumped out of the car and ran to Lorraine with her tail wagging, she is certainly not afraid of Sankiri and definitely remembered Lorraine.
Each time we have taken Patsy to Sankiri, Lorraine's passion for dogs has never wavered - we have even nicknamed her "the dog whisper". We recommend Sankiri to any friends looking for kennels and and have even mentioned them to friends without pets. It is nice to know that we can leave Patsy with Lorraine and Rod and she will get the utmost care and attention."

Many thanks,
Jody and Jason

"After becoming desperate and having no success with previous obedience classes we tried Sankiri Dog Training with Lorraine and have had a really positive outcome. I can now walk my 2 Hungarian Viszlas, Monty & Matilda on leads without having my arm pulled off and have gained some respect back from them.
It's nice to be back in control. It's also great to finally have found a kennel where we can leave them and be comfortable that they are receiving excellent care."

Aileen Beck

Sankiri - Dog Training with a difference - Mb: 0401 634 392