Testimonials Hi Kate, I asked my Mum to send you some photos of me because I knew you would like to see me growing up. It’s been 11 months since I pawed goodbye to you in Gympie. It was a bit scary because I didn’t know Mum and Dad then and it was a long way to Brisbane for a dog that gets car sick. I didn’t embarrass myself on the trip but I haven’t always been able to hold it back. I am getting better with the travel. We both like to walk very early before too many other humans and yappy canines are out and about. I always keep an eye on strangers and I don’t like humans who walk behind us so we move to the side to let them get past. At first I wouldn’t go to the loo when we were out but I’ve found a couple of patches where it’s pretty private and if I have to go, I have to go. Fortunately Mum doesn’t complain that she has to carry a heavy bag of smelly poo home. When we get home, we play ball with Roxy and we play again in the late afternoon. Roxy is my constant companion. I don’t think she liked me very much at first but we get on well now and smooch a bit. Sometimes I even get a smooch from the felines and I have been known to give them a lick or two. Cookie (the boy cat) thinks he is boss of the house. Overall we get on pretty well as a family of six. I took Mum to obedience classes for six weeks. We topped the class because Mum & I had already been practising a few things before we went. I have been to the beach too. I was bit frightened of the water at first but Mum reassured me and eventually I was in, splashing around and swimming. Mum loves me very much and I love her, and Dad too, but Mum is my best-est mate. Well, I wanted to thank you for getting me back on track after losing my way for a while as a youngster. I have a great life now and try to do the right thing by the family and myself. I am very happy and well cared for. Love Bundy. (and Wendy Nichols, Mum.) Hi Kate I just wanted to let you know how pleased we are with the work that you did with our three boys. That you achieved so much in just one individual lesson each and one group lesson is fantastic. The uncontrollable barking around the pool from Merle has stopped. Harli is now walking like a gentleman on the lead. Something that we had not been able to achieve before even after 8 months at obedience school and you solved the problem in one lesson. And as for Dave’s aggression issues he is now the most mellow of all three. We now have a calm well balanced pack thanks to you. Thanks again Stephanie McSkimming DUDZ THE WORM I recently rescued a 4yr old male tan standard dachshund from the team guys at Dachshund Rescue Australia after unfortunately losing my last two little snags in a relationship breakdown.. It was hard to get another dog and ended up taking me 3 1/2 years, but after having such a close bond with the last two it was only a matter of time....... I stumbled across Dudley who was in need of a new home after being abandoned and relocated from Sydney to the Gold Coast where he wasn’t working out with the new owner. I went to have a look at Dudz and we clicked from the beginning, although he was a broken little soul and struggled with numerous problems such as basic obedience, separation anxiety and worst of all was his aggression to other dogs. I was at a loss and had never experienced such a vicious animal and after speaking to Dachshund Rescue with my concerns they referred me to see Kate Butterworth in Gympie... It was a bit of a hike up there, but I walked away absolutely amazed by her vast knowledge and understanding of animal behavior while her attention to detail was a massive eye opener. I myself, have reached the pinnacle of my profession and have worked worldwide with some amazing people, and this experience with Kate was a very positive one indeed. She knows her stuff and after a few sessions she has helped out Dudz to a happy life and given myself the tools to better understand and teach my little mate. I highly recommend Kate to anyone who is passionate or concerned with their furry little friends and am so proud of my little guy for his transformation to a happy life to come all thanks to the guidance of a true professional. Thank you Kate :) Charlie Costanza Hi Kate, Hope this email finds you well. We have moved into our new home and are settling in quite well. Shanti is really well and absolutely beautiful. Her wonderful personality is shining through more everyday. Recently we lost our little Kelpie, Jazz. Jazz and Shanti were truly the best of friends and Jazz helped Shanti settle into her new home so easily. They played together so well and Jazz showed Shanti some of her wonderful manners and habits which Shanti now displays. Shanti even had Jazz barking and much more alert than she had ever been, so they both picked up on each others good traits. Since we have moved on to acreage she has not been any less alert than in town. Recently, one of the neighbours called in to mow his block and approached me to introduce himself and Shanti was not going to let him in our yard. She responded to my command immediately and sat at my feet while we chatted, the neighbour was so impressed. She alerts us to anyone close by, and tonight let me know of a 7ft snake on the front verandah. She stayed at a distance back from it and left it when asked too(tiptoeing) past it. She has still got all her manners and responds to all the commands that you instilled in her. Shanti is such a pleasure and we love her being a part of our family. Shanti has been my rock especially since Jazz past, but more so when David is away. I feel thoroughly safe and comfortable knowing she is looking over me. When out and about on the block she stays a comfortable 4 or 5 metres from me watching all the time. She never wanders from me and is truly my shadow and it is so comforting. Shanti goes everywhere with us. She travels so well and enjoys the trips just as much as us. As I mentioned in my last email that while we were stopped at road works the traffic controller approached our car and she growled and warned him not to come any closer. We see the same traffic controller regularly and he has never approached us since. While we were in the middle of our move we stayed with our daughter. She lives in a new home in a new estate in Townsville that was being targeted regularly by theives. One morning, David and I were in the lounge and we heard the dogs run down the side yard and bark, I checked the front yard but couldn't see anyone. Unusual as Shanti only barks when someone is there. But a moment later the dogs were in the front yard, the side gate wide open. The dogs didn't leave the unfenced front yard but were sniffing the ground. We can only assume someone tried to get in through the side gate and were greeted with the wrath of Shanti. Our daughter has had no more trouble since that morning. Once again thank you for our beautiful Shanti, we feel blessed to have her in our lives. David and Leanne Bell and Shanti DIESEL PRECISION TRUCK REPAIRS PTY LTD 95 Enterprise Street Kunda Park QLD 4556 Mobile: 0417 099 143 Fax: 07 5456 2440 Office: 07 5456 2424 www.dieselprecision.com.au July 23 2012 Animal Education Animal Behaviour Specialists Kate Butterworth kate@animaleducation.com.au Dear Kate I wrote this to you in 2007. Sadly Sasha passed away with cancer the next year. ‘I am writing to let you know how pleased we have been with Sasha. I think it’s almost 4 years since we bought her from you. She has proven to be a very efficient guard dog for our industrial premises. We have received reports from lots of people about how well she guards our workplace. I think the fact that we have never been broken into speaks for itself. We also adore Sasha. She has been such a fantastic dog. She loves lots of attention and affection. She is just wonderful with the people who have been trained to handle her. Our plan is to retire her onto our farm when we sell our business. Thank you so much for your advice and your choice of dog for our needs. You were certainly spot on.’ Although we had lost Sasha we still needed a guard dog to protect our premises and of course we came back to see you. Now we have Bonnie. Bonnie is amazing. She is the sweetest dog until that gate is locked and then she is on duty. We have had Bonnie now for about 5 years and still no break-ins. We also have plans to retire Bonnie to our farm so we may be coming to see you again about another amazing Rotty. Regards Jo Sowden Director June 29, 2011 Sean McGill Pride Security Remy is good and has settled in well. He loves the kids, not so much as a play thing but likes lots of attention from them. He loves the job and is eager to please which is good, it makes him a breeze to work with. But my old girl Khia, is always first and is quick to remind him with a push. Both dogs I got from you are very impressive at the fence and I would not want to be the one who tried to break in. I had a visit from the council, the council guy was a bit apprehensive due to the dogs barking at him on arrival but once invited in, was playing with Khia and her tennis ball about ten minutes later. I fed both dogs while he was here and made them wait for their food on command, he was impressed. Then he told me he had spoken to neighbours in my street, all informing him that my dogs were well behaved and they did not have a problem with me or the dogs. So all is good. Hope to get up for some more training with Remy soon he is a very smart dog and I feel I could take him a lot further. Regards Sean Feb 1 2012 Sean McGill Hey Kate just to let you know at 2034 tonight, a blue falcon containing three males (all big lads) pulled into the driveway of premises where we were working. To cut a long story short the 3 occupants became hostile and were obviously under the influence of something. They threatened myself and Remy with a baseball bat and a steel bar. Not only did Remy fire, he transformed into something I had never seen in him, even in recent bite work with a friend of mine. He did not give a inch and they did not even have a chance to get close. So thank you for such a wonderful dog and the protection he gives me. I have no doubt, that had he not fired with such intensity, we would have copped a flogging or even worse. Regards Sean. February 2 Kate Butterworth Yes !!!! Thats my grandson! Thank you Sean. They really seem to know when its a practise and when its a really serious. Would you allow me to put that on my testimonial page? February 2 Sean McGill Go for your life. He deserves the recognition and I am happy to say it to the public. Kate, thank you so very much for teaching me the techniques to turn my disobedient Great dane puppy Abby into a loving companion. Abby now happily walks by my side and comes running at a million miles an hour whenever I call her. My 3 year old son even wants to play with her now, as before your training she was too boisterous. Abby is only 7 months old and already weighs over 30kg, so I really needed some expert guidance to help keep her in her place. Now that everyone knows their position in our "pack" we are all happy. We continue the training everyday and with every session Abby just gets better and better. The chooks are now also happy as they are able to free range and Abby leaves them alone, she will only herd them back to the chook pen if there is danger in the yard or she thinks they are wandering too far away!!! Thank you again Kate, your training was invaluable. Cheers Abby and Katja Bishop Stumpy was an ex racehorse who was slowly starving to death when we took him. He was a very sad horse but as he became stronger he also became very paddock dominant and his behavior was quite aggressive especially around feed time understandably. We had him for three years before I started looking for someone to assess him and tell me if he was a horse I could ride as I was a novice and very nervous about getting on Stump. After speaking to a couple of “horse handlers” and not being too impressed with the methods they were going to use, I heard about Kate Butterworth and after speaking with her knew we were on the same wave length. Her methods were going to be firm but it was mainly about understanding my horse, understanding horse behavior in general and helping me to work with him in a partnership. Kate came to my home for two sessions and immediately assured me that Stumpy was a good steady horse with no nastiness in him. He responded to her groundwork and she showed me how to work with him in a calm manner, not asking for anything too big to start with and showing me how to give him clear commands and signals so as not to confuse him. She showed me that a horse might not do what you want but it usually does what you tell it so she explained that I needed to be clear and calm and reward instantly. Then we rode out in her paddocks. All my nervousness returned – he was so much bigger than my pony and even though he’d had racing handling, he was nervous too and he had no confidence in me – I didn’t have much in myself! We got into a tricky situation on a narrow track and Kate just calmly came back for us and showed me how to push him through. We had four more rides together around her paddocks and out to Mothar Mountain and each time she pushed us both to do a bit more but only when I felt ready: she gave us all the time and patience we needed. That was six months ago and over Easter Stumpy and I did our first Endurance training ride. Stumpy has turned out to be the steady responsive horse Kate knew he was right from the beginning. She showed me his true nature and but for her this lovely horse and I would not be enjoying this wonderful partnership. Kate sits on my shoulder on every ride whispering good advice. Her instruction is clear and sensible and stays with you if only you’re prepared to understand how a horse thinks, feels and reacts. She is all about respect, you for the horse and the horse for you and ego is a dirty word. If you think the horse in your paddock might be a good one but don’t know where to start, give Kate Butterworth a call. It could be the best thing you’ve ever done for your horse and yourself. Kathy Bennett. I recently had the pleasure of having Kate Butterworth of Animal Education round to my property to train my Great Dane, Jethro. However Kate does not train - she connects with the animal. Within minutes my dog was doing exactly as Kate asked of him. I've spent a lot of time with other animal trainers over the years and whilst they were good and did eventually (usually) achieve results - I've never experienced what I did with Kate. So to anyone who is considering professional training with their animal, I wish to reccomend you to use the best there is and that is without any doubt - Kate Butterworth !! Yours Faithfully, Sue Clark PO Box 1159, Gympie Qld 4570 We are the owners of a lovable, energetic, maniac called Jasper. It only took a few months for him to grow from a ball of fluff to 25kg of Samoyed enthusiasm. Samoyeds are sled dogs and can pull a good load, including anyone on the other end of the leash. We had owned dogs before, only small ones, Jasper was a new experience and we found it hard to control him. As he is still not fully grown, we knew we had to do something. We did some research and found Kate (Grandma, as she is known to Jasper). He boarded with Kate for 10 days and we had a lesson ourselves when we picked him up, we couldn’t believe the change in him. Not only was he well behaved but walked beside us on the lead, came when called and won’t eat unless told to. The only problem we still had was his boundary, when the front gate was open he would follow our car out. Kate said she would need to come to our place for this. After only 1 visit to our house, “Grandma” had stopped that, now he always follows us to the gate but won’t leave the yard unless on the leash. He still boards with Kate during holidays, and is always excited to see her. We reckon everyone should take their dog to Kate, Jasper has gone from a nuisance to a real companion and even though he is still full of energy, he is obedient, easy to handle and he seems to be more attached to us, must be a pack thing. I doubt we would have been able to keep Jasper when he was 35kg if he hadn’t gone to Kate’s. Thanks for everything Kate Doug and Julie Mason. doug@widebaybuilding.com.au www.widebaybuilding.com.au We bought Matilda the Mareema puppy as a friend for Bruiser. But Bruiser didn't want a friend and after a feisty attack and a trip to casualty we were at are wits end. My vet suggested I contact Kate. She was fantastic and her knowledge of canine behaviour is massive. She positively assesed both the dogs and trained them in their behaviour and gave me the tools to manage them. We haven't had a problem since. Me and my family are indeted to her. love Trudy Tribell and the girls. tribel@austarnet.com.au Our new addition to the family is Leo (the standard daschund). As our dogs first meeting didn't go so well we were quite concerned about how to go about introducing them again. After talking to and just one meeting with Kate, we were both amazed how much we learnt and how relaxed we soon became. Our dogs are now feeling much more comfortable about sharing their home with Leo. Thanks Kate. Bob & Kristine Crawford. I am a single mother of two, living on a somewhat isolated property, and after separating from a violent partner, was advised by my family to look into getting a guard dog. After reading the Animal Education advertisement in the local paper, I discussed it with my family, and it was decided that I would drive to Gympie to check it out. I have to admit to being somewhat wary of buying a trained guard dog, having visions of uncontrollable aggressive dogs that would terrify my children. After meeting Kate, and realising that here was someone who knew what she was talking about, my fears were somewhat put to rest. Then I met Tequila. I have to say that the friendly dog I met bore no resemblance to any guard dog I have ever seen or heard about. She was very well-trained and obedient, but I had definite qualms about whether she would actually do the job. Well, we came home after several sessions of training together, and she fitted into our family like she belonged here. She very quickly gained my complete trust, proving herself to be unfailingly obedient, never aggressive towards us, and always alert and watchful. She was excellent with the kids, a lovely dog to have around, but still I wondered about her capabilities. Then my ex had the stupidity to try to climb over the gate. Tequila flew at him when he started screaming abuse at me, and she latched onto his arm before he got his leg over the gate. There was no hesitation on her part - someone was threatening her Mum and she was going to protect me. From that day onward, I have had no doubt whatsoever that she will indeed protect me and my children, and we all feel completely safe here at all times. The ex has not returned. Tequila has also deterred another unwanted visitor, with no guidance or anything from me, so she is worth her weight in gold. I doubt that we would have continued to live here without this dog being here with us, so I can only thank Kate for doing such a brilliant job of training this beautiful animal, who not only protects us, but is a valued family member. I have complete faith that, wherever Tequila is on the property at any time, I only have to call her once and she will immediately come to me. She has protected my children from feral dogs on two occasions, and woe betide anyone who tries to get in here at night. Even well-known family members refuse to come near the gate after dark. She is an excellent dog, and a credit to her trainer. Anita. I purchased my first Kate Butterworth trained personal protection dog after recommendations from other clients of Kates, due to the fact I was having trouble with a very dangerous stalker. This man had served several jail sentences over assults to myself and the police pretty much considered him to be very dangerous and unstoppable. As i was living on my own at the time I was pretty vunerable...that is until i purchased Jackson. Jackson is a purebred Rottweiler and was specifically trained by Kate to suit my circumstances...which is that I needed a hard dog that would protect me but also a dog gentle enough not to eat my chihuahuas...and friendly enough to cope with endless visitors as I am an entertainer in a band and have a heavy social life. Jackson fitted the bill to perfection. He not only saved my life on two occassions...once when said stalker entered my property and physically attacked my friends, the only reason he gained entry to property was because I stupidly had Jackson locked up as there were a lot of people driving in and out that night, after knocking two of my visitors to the ground the stalker then turned his attention to Jackson in his cage, who was barking hysterically and trying to get out..the stalker started kicking at the door of Jacksons cage and yelling he would cut his throat in front of me and "lets see how tough your dog is". Well he found out. Jackson came out at a great rate of knots and grabbed the guy on the arm, dragging him to the ground and holding him until the Police got there. The guy ended up with 45 stitches in his arm and another jail sentence. It is the opinion of myself, my friends and the Police that were it not for Jackson, someone may well have been killed that night. This is documented by Police and also made the newspapers. Unfortunately that was not the last time Jackson had to step in with this guy. After that night, whilst the idiot was in jail, I packed up and moved north about 600kms. Learning my lesson, I never locked Jackson up, in fact I then had him in the house with me the majority of the time. One night whilst in the shower, I heard Jackson growl at the bathroom door, he was in the bathroom with me. I went to investigate, thinking it was my nephew who was living with me coming home, but no, it was once again the said stalker in my lounge room with a knife in his hand, telling me "this was the last night of my life", once more Jackson sprung into action and the guy was returned to jail. I owe that dog everything. I recently purchased Pylot, another trained Rottweiler from Kate, as Jackson is getting old now but still does his job. I can't bear the thought of not being that well protected as this idiot is once again on the loose. Pylot fits into the family as well as Jackson and is just as loved. I cannot recommend highly enough how well Kates dogs do their job.....but then again I am living proof when you think about it. Sue Howard (FLAME) P.S.I would happily answer any questions regarding this recommendation on 0414331653. In 1997 I met an incredible lady by the name of Kate Butterworth. I owned a Boat Sales Yard and at the time had become the victim of several break and enters. I had read an advertisement in our local paper for trained guard dogs, and this is when I first spoke to Kate on the phone. Kate asked me a lot of questions and suggested a dog she was working with at the time named Harley, (Rotty / Doberman cross) would be suitable for my situation. I organised to meet Kate and the dog and this was the beginning of a very respectful friendship with a lady that I mentioned earlier, as incredible. When I arrived at Kate’s property I was meet at the front gate by two ferocious German Shephards, Kate appeared and called out one command from her veranda and instantly they obeyed , in disbelief I was able to enter the property. It was as if Kate had them connected to an on off switch. I was in awe of this lady and her gentle domination over these animals. Kate then took me to introduce me to Harley. He was a very intimidating dog with a bark that went right through me, he would spin around in one spot then face you and bark. This made him look awesome. Kate explained to me this spinning was ingrained from years of being kept on a chain. He was the victim of a rough start to life, having several different owners who were unable to control him, hence they kept him on a chain. Fortunately he was then given to Kate and she worked with Harley and trained him into the stable obedient dog he is now. I remember wondering to myself , “How the hell was I going to take this fierce dog home alone with me”. This is where my training came into it. Something I have always remembered Kate saying is.... to often the owners are harder to train than the animals. My only reassurance was the abundant knowledge Kate displayed when interacting with them and also with me. Kate was very confident in herself while handling these animals. Kate asked me if she could bring Harley to my boat yard as this is neutral ground and helps both the dog and handler to be introduced slowly. That was 10 years ago , it is now 2007 at the time of writing this tribute to Kate, and we still have Harley. He’s been a magnificent dog loyally guarding my business despite on occasions having bottles bricks and abuse thrown at him, he was never deterred and completely stopped thieves from stealing from our premises. In 2002 I sold that business and purchased my business now Maryborough Towing. Harley is approaching 13 yrs of age and he still performs like he is 5. He guards our business yard , home and family. We continually keep Harley’s training on going , we have taken him to Kate’s on occasions and worked him with the padded man Kate uses for attack training. This is amazing to see the obedience and control you can have in an animal. Kate has recently given us a beautiful natured female named Tula. Even though Tula hasn’t yet had full training, the training Kate has given to us when working with Harley has helped us immensely in handling Tula. In closing I would like to take this opportunity to absolutely thoroughly recommend Kate to anyone who may require a guard dog, or to anyone that might want a disobedient dog trained. Kate has trained literally hundreds of dogs in her career for all different purposes. From private dog owners to security companies, and other services. Producing several training videos and travelling the country performing live demonstrations with her own dogs. I’ve witnessed her transform many timid, mistreated dogs into fearsome confident canines that would not take a backward step. Kate also has the experience to work with dogs that may have developed unusual behavioural problems, training them back into stable obedient animals, this is an invaluable ability she possess. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Kate for turning a very fearful, confused and mistreated canine into the beautiful stable dog I still have today. Thanks again to Kate the dog Whisperer. See you again soon your friends, Chris & Sam Sawyer.