Welcome to the Pawsome Dog Blog!

My name is Stefanie and I am a dog trainer! My work started and blossomed with Pawsome Pet Services here in Sydney, focusing on the Inner West suburbs, starting in 2015. For this first post, I would like to give a bit of background and talk about what I do.

I live with my husband and our four dogs.

I first adopted Kimba in July 2014, when she was two years old, while volunteering with Arctic Rescue Inc Australia (formerly Alaskan Malamute Rehoming Aid Australia). Despite not wanting a husky or having any sort of qualification or experience with the breed, I recognised her anxiety and decided I had to help her.

At that time (literally, within the same week) I also adopted Dakota! He was already ten years old and being half Rottweiler and half Malamute, I knew his life expectancy from that point was not appealing to adopters. He also balanced Kimba (and me!) very well, right up until his passing in January 2018.

From there, the difference in energy level drove me to decide that we needed a younger husky to give Kimba someone to really play with. Ollie was about 12 months old when he came home in August 2015 and he’s been a joyful addition, albeit a chaotic one.

At this point, my husband and I were living together and “Three was Enough.”

In December 2016, I was asked to do a transport for a rescued dog after her desexing surgery and when I picked her up, I noticed she was very underweight and couldn’t she just stay one night? I even had Adoption Portraits done!

Four dogs, especially having three young energetic dogs and one ‘senior’, are a lot of work. We did well for nearly twelve months until January 2017, when I was asked to assess a potential foster, could they just drop her off?

By this time, I was also working full time with Pawsome Pet Services as a dog walker and had begun my accreditation with the National Dog Training Federation in Victoria in Dog Training (Cert III). 

I found a passion for helping rescue dogs acclimate to their new homes and educating owners on what to expect and how to deal with issues that arose. I also really enjoy our Puppy Nanny service – socialising puppies safely to ensure that they have positive experiences during their critical development period. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, and we look forward to bringing you lots of interesting content!