Highly recommend the training from Therapy and Support Animals Australia. Dean, the main trainer, has over 35 years of experience and you can tell straight away—he knows his stuff and explains things in a way that actually makes sense. The one-dog-at-a-time format might seem a bit intimidating at first, but it ended up being one of the best parts of the course. You get to watch a range of different dogs and behaviours, and honestly, you learn just as much from watching others as you do working your own dog. It really highlights the little mistakes we all make as owners and how to fix them. The training itself was clear and straight to the point. Feedback was always fair—never over the top—but honest enough to help you improve. A big focus is on the handler as well, not just the dog, which made a huge difference. Things like timing, posture, and consistency all started to click. The black and white (negative and positive) approach might not be for everyone at first glance, but seeing it in action showed how effective it actually is. Everything was done fairly and with purpose, and there was always an emphasis on bringing the dog back into a calm, positive state after any correction. Overall, it’s not just about training your dog—it’s about learning how to be a better owner. If you’re open to learning and putting in the effort, you’ll get a lot out of it. I definitely walked away more confident and with a much better understanding of how to work with my dog.

We sent our little Cavoodle Spud to the 28 day stay and train. Nikki and her team do a phenomenal job. The love, care and attention that goes into training and caring for Spud was nothing but the best. Spud has come home with all the fundamentals he needs to be a great dog. They also focus on exposure and desensitisation which has helped Spud get use to vet and grooming trips. During the stay we got regular updates or Spuds progress which was lovely to see. Would highly recommend Nikki and her team to everyone. They look after your dog as if they were their own. We will always be grateful for all they have done for Spud and we look forward to bringing Spud back to complete his intensive obedience course.

Wow! So thankful I invested in TSAA. Our gentle beauty Lilly came to us after 28 day stay & train with all the foundational work complete! Our job was to keep up the good work to instil the learning further, which was the easy part. Toilet trained, crate trained, all the basic commands, a calm, receptive dog who settled in quickly on transition.

Cezar completed a Stay and Train with Nikki at the start of January. At the time, he was extremely avoidant of people and reactive towards other dogs. I also completed the 4-day intensive obedience course, and honestly, it was the best dog training course I’ve ever done since owning dogs. I learned so many valuable tools and strategies—not only for overcoming Cezar’s behaviours, but also ones I can confidently apply with my Swiss Shepherd. I have recommended the course to so many people now, and I truly believe everyone should do at least the 4-day program. Having completed both the Stay and Train and the intensive course, I can say they were exactly what Cezar needed during that time, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Deano runs the 4-day course, and his depth of knowledge, honesty, and ability to call out the BS (in the best way) was exactly what I needed to properly understand how to deliver clear corrections and meaningful praise. It completely changed the way I communicate with my dogs. If you’re someone who’s ready to take the next step, take accountability, and genuinely apply the tools provided, this experience won’t just improve your dog’s life—it will improve yours too, through a deeper understanding of your dog’s needs. Whatever your situation, I highly recommend it.

Nikki and her team have done a wonderful job with our Wally. Highly recommend .

Thank you Dean and Nikki. I just finished with your obedience course and have come home a learned, much more confident pack Leader. Lots more, to learn, and put into practice, but the barking has stopped almost immediately. I will continue to train every day, until I think I am ready for the therapy dog course. I appreciate your time and effort with attention to detail. I appreciate the theory component at the start, putting things into perspective. More importantly, I appreciate, that you don’t think it was a hopeless exercise for a 6 year old Griffin and a nearly 50 year old me! Thank you for having us. 🙏 Thank you for teaching us! 🙏

I did a Grooming Course at TASAA & I couldn’t recommend more. I learnt more than I ever thought I would be confident doing. Im not exaggerating when I say brushing immediately got easier! I got confident with scissors and clippers… even on the dreaded face. Guess who is going to have dog with adorable eyes that can see the world! I got to try everything, ask questions, no pushy sales to buy- but helpful advice about where to look for anything you might need. I also learnt really useful tips to make the things I was already doing much easier and more efficient. I was so nervous going in and keen to get my hands on every dog I know 😂 By my math this has saved me money already, taught me how to make grooming a relaxing experience for my dogs and I had a great time with a great group of humans… and got a lot of dog snuggles in between.

A highly recommended program if you are going to welcome a new puppy in your home! Especially if you are time poor and have a chaotic household. Our puppy Harvey has just completed his stay and train program with Nikki and her team. He came home and we were so impressed with how calm and chilled he is. He took to our cats in no time and wasn’t even interested with our birds in their cages. We did a test today a week after he arrived, to see how he reacts to loud noises around the house and he was non reactive. At times he might look around and see what it was and then go back to what he was doing. Totally chilled out. As for crate training, he slept through the night for us from day 3. He is also mostly toilet trained now. He has learnt to sit at the door to go outside and do his business. We have very minimal accidents indoors. He is also good with his basic commands. He is happy by himself playing in the backyard and can settle in the crate during the day with not much fuss. We are so very impressed. He has fitted right into our family and we are grateful that we don’t have to worry about trying to crate train and toilet train a puppy from scratch. And what a joy to have a puppy that is so calm and happy. Thank you, Nikki and team for your wonderful work with Harvey!

Results with our puppy are undeniably amazing. I am not in great health, so to have my puppy when I received him at 13 weeks, already trained far more than my 7 year old dog, is a real joy (and relief) ... worth every cent!!

Fantastic board and train service which provides strong foundations essential to ensure a calm and focused puppy in any situation. The whole demeanor of my pup changed- nothing phased him from other dogs to people to machinery to chickens! He could toilet on command, go into his crate for down time with no fuss, and is absolutely fantastic around distractions. I really don't think I could have succeeded to create such a calm and chill pup without the amazing advice and training provided by Nikki and her team. I highly recommend her service and will definitely be using this again for any of my future pups.

This program was wonderful. So much knowledge and passion from both Dean and Nikki that meant that I left the course feeling confident. The different in my dogs behaviour at home completely changed even after the first weekend of work. I am looking forward to the prospect of him becoming a wellbeing dog at my school and cannot thank the team enough for empowering me and my dog to get there.

Highly recommend Nikki and the team for both intensive obedience and therapy dog certification. Very knowledgeable and attentive to each individuals needs. Was a fantastic course. Thank you!

Great course for dog and human. Very informative, teachers have such great knowledge and sure do get your furbabies learning great lifelong skills.

Thank you so much Nikki and your team! Pippa has been home now for two weeks during which time I had taken extremely ill so poor Pippa certainly hasn't had the attention and stimulation that she needs. Despite this, she has settled in beautifully, sleeping all night in her crate, I actually have to coax her out in the mornings Lol! She's gentle, well mannered and extremely eager to please. She's an absolute delight and certainly has the foundational training well established. Nikki, I can't thank you enough and highly recommend your puppy stay and train program to anyone who wants their puppy to integrate successfully into their family home. :)

Wish I invested in the Therapy and Support Animals training sooner. Loved it!

As first-time dog owners, we are incredibly grateful to have met such professional trainers. Not only did they do an excellent job, but they also genuinely care—both about the dogs and their owners! During the training, they don’t just tell you what to do; they guide you through each step, showing you how to handle different situations effectively. Highly recommended!

I’ve just finished four days of intensive obedience training with my 14 month old dog. Dean and Nikki both have a straightforward and consistent approach to training animals (and their owners). 😊 They know what works and what doesn’t, and have an incredible understanding of and love for dogs. I now feel empowered to lead my dog in all situations, and I love that we now have a closer connection and more trust and understanding of each other since completing the training. I look forward to completing further training with Therapy and Support Animals Australia, and qualify as a Therapy Dog handler.

The loving support and guidance we’ve received from Nikki and TASAA has been life-changing for our family. What we’ve witnessed in just a few days feels like nothing short of a miracle. Our daughter has gone from avoiding dogs for fear of them to eagerly seeking out our calm and gentle pup. Their bond is a testament to the exceptional training and care provided by the team. Our dog’s temperament speaks volumes not only of his breed, but the guidance and conditioning he’s received. Even as a young pup, he is incredibly docile, focused, intuitive and even-tempered. Watching our daughter engage with him in play and laughter has been the best investment we could’ve made. This experience has brought an incredible sense of peace to our home, and we are forever grateful to Nikki and TASAA for their expertise, patience, dedication, and the lasting positive impact they’ve had on our life.

Thank you Nikki and team for having Milo at the Puppy Stay & Train. He has come home to us a beautifully behaved, confident and well socialised puppy. He takes everything new in his stride, is fully toilet trained, and sleeps through the night in his crate. And in no way has it affected his bonding with us - he is my little shadow when I need him to be given my health concerns. Five stars doesn’t feel like a high enough rating, and thank you feels insufficient - I am truly grateful for the great work you do.

Such an amazing program. We recently attended the stay and train followed by the obedience course and can’t recommend it enough. We have a calm and grounded puppy that is eager to learn and gentle with our kids. Thanks to the team at TSAA !! We will be back for trick training !!

I have done this course 3 times with different dogs and I still learn something new each time. Highly recommended to all dog owners as it teaches you, the handler how to mamage and train your dogs to achieve the desired outcome!

We had a brilliant experience with our dog Happy doing the 4 week Stay and Train program. Nikki and her team are incredible and we were sent multiple videos each week displaying training techniques and skills learnt. Happy adjusted home with incredible training in the early puppy months that meant a smooth transition for welcoming our first dog into our home. Highly recommend for anyone welcoming a new puppy or for additional training if needed for your doggo.

As someone completely new to dog training, I found the Intensive Obedience course with Nikki super helpful. She broke down dog behavior and her training approach in a really simple, straightforward way. The theory was easy to grasp, and getting hands-on experience with my dog alongside other handlers over the 4-day course was invaluable. I’d highly recommend this course, whether you're a total beginner or have some experience already. Big thanks to Nikki and her team for providing such a fantastic learning experience!

I recently completed the intensive obedience course with Nikki and I couldn't be happier with the results. Nikki is incredibly knowledgeable and patient using effective techniques that have made a noticeable difference in Harry's behaviour. My dog is now more confident and well-mannered and I am definitely more equipped to handle any situation and to continue on with the skills that I have learnt. I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to strengthen their bond with their dog while ensuring they're well-behaved. Worth every cent!

Nikki and her team have an amazing wealth of knowledge. She has worked wonders with my two therapy dogs.

Nikki and her team were excellent at helping our pup prepare for an international flight. When she arrived in our country, the vet said she was well trained, able to walk on a lead, and that "we had a good one there." At home with us she has her sit and stay reliably and goes into her crate easily! She is keen to keep learning and is adjusting well to ongoing training. We have a well-mannered puppy that is a joy to be around.

100% recommend Nikki, Madi and Boston at TASAA. If I could give them 6 stars I would. My daughter’s little boy was in wonderful hands. The amazing Dee kept us all up to date on socials so we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything. We plan to return for more sessions. Thank you

A neighbour suggested the place to me. I knew I wasn't doing great with Sudi. On the 1st day I found out I have done most things wrong. I followed what Dean & Nikki wanted me to do to get Sudi back on track. We (myself & Sudi) managed to do a bit more on the 2nd week. she is a lot managerble now. I'm happy & appreciate Dean & Nikki help. Adam's feedback & videos though me a lot too. Thanks you all for the encouragement. The training's 100% worth it.

Fantastic word of mouth reviews from people who have previously taken their dogs there. This is how I found out about it. I did the intensive two weekend obedience course to learn how to get my dog to interact better with other dogs when out and about. Very happy with the results. Very good foundational work with theory and practical handling exercises. Would recommend to anyone who is having behavioural issues with their dog. The course is about training you as an owner how to understand your dog and get the best out of your dog training.

What a wonderful start to our puppy’s future happiness and calm development. Ruby has come home to us with crate training, stay and come training and all the while being happy, confident and content. Love this team at therapy support. Thank you Nikki for everything you do for our little fur babies. 💕🐾

Great start for Orlagh ( Irish for golden princess) from Belloui, Cavoodle Theodore, tiny fire ball of confidence and cuteness. Her training has set her up for all the challenges and skills for socialising with humans and other dogs, + making her more cute! Great affection and so rewarding. Early training sets up the behavioural pattens for life and highly recommend Nicky and her team from Therapy and Support Animals Australia Things like come when called, quick quick ( for we we) sit, stay and no. All working a charm. James and Erica

Our pup went from the breeder straight to TASAA, prior to coming interstate to live with our family. We are so happy with how well behaved he is overall. It took him hardly any time to settle in, all our friends are amazed how calm he is, and he's great around our other animals. We have no hesitation recommending Nikki and her team!

We recently completed the intensive obedience course with our anxious 12 month old sheepadoodle and can't recommend this course more highly. Prior to this course we avoided taking our dog out in public as he had very nervous and unpredictable behaviours. He was difficult to walk due to strong pulling and he was causing havoc in our house. After 4 days of training we now have a calm and well-behaved dog who can walk on a loose leash and follow basic commands. In addition to this, we are more confident handlers who now have the tools to continue training our dog for any situation. A huge thank you to Nikki, Dean and Adam for your no-nonsense approach. This was time and money well invested!

Brilliant for dog handler as well as for the hound. Learnt so much. A great intensive that has already had significant changes in my dogs behaviou.

Therapy and Support Animals Australia did a great job with our Australian cobber dog Hazel. She arrived at training at 17 weeks so we definitely missed the boat with the puppy stage so were a bit worried she had ingrained bad habits like jumping up, nipping, not great recall. However, she arrived back to us with beautiful manners and great recall. She does regress into her old habits, especially the jumping up but we are being consistent with her and she is improving. Thank you for your help with our lovely girl.

Buying a puppy is a big decision for a family. We are a busy family and wanted a dog that will fit in with us. Doing puppy stay and train was best investment ever. This enabled us to have a puppy who was crate trained, toilet trained and calm. No sleepless nights. Our puppy had a solid foundation. We then followed up with intensive training over 2 weekends. This training really help solidify the stay and train and also helped me learn about my dogs behaviours so it can be corrected. It has given me the confidence to know I can continue to work with my dog and have a well trained calm and social dog. Thank you Nikki and team I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and has been the best decision. I would highly recommend this training.

Where to start in our praise. Apartment living introduces complexity to owning a new pup. Nikki and her team were unbelievably good. This is a not a baby/dog minding service - Molly, our new labradoodle received skills in socialising, crate training, toilet training and basic commands. This is a highly skilled and professional team lead by Nikki. From Molly’s first night home she slept eight hours straight in her crate and this has continued for the month we have had her. Also, importantly, Molly was essentially toilet trained. Throughout the training we were able and encouraged to regularly visit and take Molly out for the day, ensuring we made a meaningful connection with her. We cannot recommend Nikki’s Stay and Train enough - and we certainly do to anyone we speak to.

Best decision I ever made. We took our dog for intensive obedience training when she was almost 5 months and improvements have been outstanding. She is now one year old and everyone compliment us on her placid nature, great focus and perfect manner even if still in puppy phase. Thank you Nikki! Next dog with come to stay and train before heading home, for sure!!! Adding up on this because the next dog came to stay and train. With a adolescent dog already home we could not have the same initial focus on a new puppy and having him joining stay and train made the transition from one to two dogs very smooth. already knowing Nikki's work from previous obedience training made training Yoshi even easier as we applied same techniques we learned. We will re-fresh obedience training with Yoshi and maybe even move towards therapy dog certification.

The intensive obedience training was everything we'd hoped it to be to help us shape our own understandings and behaviours as dog owners and trainers. We now feel we have the skills and "muscle memory" to guide our pup to be the best family dog ever! Thank you Dean Hansen for your humour and perserverance with all the doggos and their owners. It was much appreciated. Edie thanks you! Nikki thank you for providing this wonderful course.

Stella loved attending the intensive obedience “school” with me. We both learnt a lot and she is a much calmer, well behaved dog…even when visiting the vet 😳

Just finished my 4 day intensive obedience course with my Mini Poodle Pippa, who was a superstar. Wasn't sure how much Pippa would get out of it as she knew a lot to begin with. Pippa and I, as it turned out, had plenty to learn. Once my directions were clear and consistent, Pippa did everything I asked. We have lots to work on at home now. We are going to have lots of fun training sessions practicing "down and out of sight". The trainers explained everything clearly so we could understand and didn't mince their words, which was even better! It was really emotional and exciting to see the progress the other owners and their beautiful dogs had as well. So proud of everyone. Would highly recommend this course for those learning or needing to brush up on their skills.

Having our Puppy 'Pepper' complete the Stay and Train program allowed a smooth transition for Pepper into our home (with an existing 6 year old dog). Pepper's understanding of basic commands has made life much easier and allowed us to build and further develop her skills quickly. I have received endless comments on how well behaved and calm Pepper is for her age. Thank you very much to the Therapy and Support Animals Australia Team!!!

Thoroughly recommend both the puppy stay and train and the intensive obedience course. My situation was a little more complex than most - the puppy I had purchased was 17 weeks old, had no training or socialisation experiences AND I wanted him to train to be a school therapy dog, not just any school but a school specialising in supporting young people recovering from significant trauma. I fell in love with this puppy and made a decision in the moment with my heart rather than my head, and I lived interstate. Nikki immediately agreed to take my boy and answered my many questions. I was quite anxious when the enormity of what was required set in. Nikki’s skill and experience was immediately evident and she remained calm, confident and positive throughout the whole stay and train. I received regular videos throughout the entire training process from Nikki and her team and could see marked progress in every one. I visited my puppy within days of him arriving at Therapy and Support Animals Australia and again to complete the intensive obedience course for two consecutive weekends prior to bringing him home. The difference in this puppy in 7 short weeks is incredible. From a puppy that had never been in a house to a puppy that has settled into our home and family calmly and confidently and most importantly given his job - gently. I was thrilled today to take my boy for the first time, to his new work place at school. Again he was a calm,, confident and gentle puppy who happily ran through a short training session amongst considerable distractions. I cannot thank Nikki and her team enough for their dedication to our boy and support and training for me. For puppies that are going to be part of a family and/or those that will also have a special job the stay and train and obedience course is a must.

I am beyond amazed at the results from sending Trevor to Stay and Train. I have the most calm puppy who adapts to whatever environment he’s put into, from being the office dog to going to an aged care home and sitting quietly on a 97 year old’s walker whilst she went from room to room putting a smile on all the elderly residents faces. He’s so quiet and calm I keep forgetting he’s there. Nikki and the team have done an amazing job with Trevor’s training I’m so grateful and highly recommend anyone with a new puppy to consider using Stay and Train they won’t be disappointed.

I would highly recommend the stay and train. My Labradoodle puppy Oakley has done amazing coming back home and continuing the training that Nikki has provided. I couldn’t recommend Nikki and her team enough. We had an incident on a walk where two off leashed dogs came running at us barking, Oakley learning to be calm allowed me to get him to sit and stay while I focused on getting the other two dogs out of his face. I can’t wait to keep the training going and see what Oakley achieves! Thank you Nikki I’m so grateful for all Oakley has learnt in your care

Brilliant. Training is well tailored to each individual dog and owner. Really explicit instructions that I was able to practice at home. Very useful feedback throughout the course. Trainers were excellent, very knowledgeable and realistic. Learning environment was welcoming and supportive. Highly recommend to all dog owners.

Extremely knowledgeable and practical training for dogs. Excellent!!