About Shaka K9
Shaka K9 is run by Alex, based in Newcastle, NSW.
Alex
Founder & Trainer, Shaka K9
I've shared my life with dogs from the start, from farm working dogs to much-loved suburban pets. It was my border collie, Fred, who turned that lifelong passion into a craft.
Fred is a high-drive working dog living in suburbia, and he showed me the limits of conventional training. Reliable sits and downs in a quiet, low-distraction class are one thing. But a border collie will always want to chase sheep more than he wants a treat, and real obedience has to hold up against what the dog actually wants.
So I looked further. I spent time with experienced mentors in the K9 sports fields, studying how they achieved such precise control with strong competing motivations all around. That path led me to balanced training, using all four quadrants of behavioural modification to shape how a dog behaves.
My approach
Every dog starts with a conversation. I look at how your dog takes a reward and how eager they are to work for it. Then we build clear lines of communication, so we can promote the behaviours we want and stop the ones we don't. Those foundations come first. Only once they're solid do we begin teaching behaviours, and we proof them in the real environments your dog lives in.
Shaka K9 is a balanced training approach. We believe in rewarding dogs for the behaviours we want to see — building drive, engagement, and a genuine relationship between dog and handler — while also giving clear, fair guidance when a dog needs pointing in the right direction away from undesirable behaviour.