Farmer Dave comes from a continuous line of Bushmen leading all the way back to the Scottish Border with England roughly the same part of the world where both the Border Collie and the legendary Kelpie's ancestors call home, which seems to make a bit of sense as to why this bloke has such an affinity with dogs and in particular these two breeds with which he has spent his life breeding and working with on the Family's sprawling outback Sheep and Cattle property 'Retreat Station' near Goondiwindi.

With a childhood spent with large numbers of working dogs it was pretty obvious Dave certainly had a way with dogs and was taught the many different ways of dog handling from stockmen all over the outback. At times Dave would run his 5 working dogs along side other stockmens teams of up to 20 dogs in total mustering vast scrub blocks in western Queensland, so it is no wonder he has an incredible ability to handle large numbers of dogs doing their jobs with a lot of interference and get the most out of them.

Coupled with this long history growing up, training and breeding working Dogs, Dave has travelled extensivly and expirienced first hand the many different Canidae (dog-like) species and their interactions with humans such as the Hordes of Feral Dogs forming large packs in Romania, the pack hounds of Fox Hunters in Great Britain, the Husky Teams of Scandinavia, the Gun Dogs of Northern Italy, The Wolves of Mongolia, the dogs for food in western China, the Dingoes of his homeland and the Traditional Community dogs of the Wik People on Cape York Peninsula to name a few.

For Dave it is all about bonding with a dog and building up trust between the human and the hound; once this is achieved anything is possible.

After a lifetime of using his natural way with dogs Dave decided to explore the many different methods of managing dogs that are currently in vogue he has spent time with both 'the Dog Listener' of  Britain Jan Fennel and 'the Dog Whisperer' Cesar Millan as well as reading theirs and hundreds of books from the worlds authorities on the many different approaches to handling mans best mate. Whilst without question seeing the many benefits of their systems of Dog Handling and management the greatest issue Dave saw with their techniques is that many handlers use the Wolf Pack and its behaviours as the basis for training Dogs, where as Dave in all  his travels and experience believes in a simple fundemental a dog is a dog and to get the dog you want from the dog you've got you need to see your dog as a dog. In the last few Years Dave has imersed himself in the world of Positive Reinforcement Training, that is based on rewarding wanted behaviour and ignoring the unwanted. These simple techniques have opened up a whole new world that has allowd him to easily teach animal owners how to get the behaviours they want without that lifetime of animal understanding.

In 2007 Dave Managed 'Dog Central', Melbourne's largest Dog Day Care Centre where he had 40-50 dogs of varying energy levels off-leash in socialising pens each day and also was able to help many families that had canine issues that needed home visits to modify unwanted behaviours occuring at home, then in late 2009 Dave was a Presenting Expert at the Inaugural Wold Dog Games held at Sydneys Olympic Park.

Dave has been able to help hundreds of people with issues that face them and their canine family members such as severe anxiety, obesity, excessive barking, aggression and the inability to enjoy something as simple as a walk. His techniques are based on the two primal needs of a dog; security within a social group and positive reinforcement with praise, touch and food 

As a result of the incredible feedback Dave received from the audiences at Olympic Park he now works full time as a Dog Trainer and Rehabilitator in Sydney and Melbourne, as a testament to his trust in his dogs Dave's remaining flock of Free Ranging shedding sheep are protected by two Guardian dogs 24 hrs a day on the family Station in Queensland while he is away.

Dave continues to work with Shelters increasing their staff and volunteers understanding of Positive Reinforcement through the 'Open Paw' Programme, he is an Ambassador for the Animal Welfare League and the RSPCA's anti-puppy mill campaign. To get Dave to assit with your personal or shelter needs contact him directly on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it