Winnie & April

#ad Few things strike fear into the heart like hearing mum get home before the chores are done 💀 Thankfully, Winnie had backup — the new Dreame X50 Ultra 😍 with advanced obstacle avoidance, powerful 20,000Pa suction, auto mop lifting, and a self-cleaning dock. It’s doing more than just vacuuming — it’s basically the third housemate! I was SO stoked to discover that the Dreame X50 Ultra can also handle all the raised areas around our house — it climbs into the main bathroom, ensuite, and even onto the back verandah thanks to the ProLeap system that clears ledges up to 6cm. Saving us a hell of a lot of time as a home with pets! 🧹🐾 So Winnie, let’s give credit where credit where credit is due 😂 Wanna upgrade your cleaning game? Check out the Dreame X50 Ultra through the link in my bio ✨ AD @dreame.australia #dreamex50ultra #dreamecleaning #robotvacuum #smartcleaning #dreameaustralia

Which one was your favourite? 🐮 Wait til the end to see the newest addition to the farm pack 🥹💕 #farmdogs #kelpie #australiancattledog #cattlegrid #jackrussell #redheeler #dogsofaustralia #dogsoftiktok #thedogtrend #mypets

The anatomy of a heeler 😌 Did we miss anything from the list? 👇 #heelerlife #cattledog #redheeler #australiancattledog

Raw fkn POWER 💪🔥 The way Winnie’s muscles and fur pop when the sun hits her… 👌😩 #australiancattledog #redheeler #redcattledog #dogrunning #runningdog #Running #fastdog

Throwback to baby Winnie and her 1/2 a brain cell 😂 #redcattledog #australiancattledog #heelersoftiktok #heelerpuppy #redheelerpuppy #redcattledogpuppy

I never thought this would be possible 😭 Yesterday, we had our annual vaccination visit, with a completely new veterinarian. Now, vet visits with a stranger reactive dog are stressful enough, but with a complete stranger to Winnie too? 🫠 Because of Winnie’s dislike of people in her space or touching her, Winnie hasn’t had a full body health exam while conscious for 4 years… until now. She made it through without a single bark, growl, or lunge (just a smidge of side eye though 😂) The vet got to examine her ears, teeth and gums (which we removed the muzzle for), joints, lymph nodes and abdomen - and then to top it off, she took her vaccination like a champ 🥹 Some of the things that have helped us get here has been the training we’ve done over the past year. This includes practising key positions for administering vaccinations, building trust and autonomy through cooperative care (check our story highlights for examples), and doing regular touch desensitisation for her eyes, ears, mouth, paws, and limbs. We’ve also taught a verbal cue (“open wide”) for mouth checks, and have taught a closed fist as a focus point to give Winnie somewhere to direct her attention during the exam. The reality with cooperative care is that at the vet, you don’t always get time for true opt-in, especially if your still working on it (cooperative care training takes TIME). Exams have to happen. But because Winnie understands how to yield to gentle pressure, recognises handling cues, and has built trust through all our practice at home - she’s resilient enough to cope when things aren’t perfect. She might not love it, but now, she can through it calmly, safely, and without getting worked up. We’re not at the finish line (if that’s even something that exists), but moments like this show just how far she’s come. I’m so SO fkn proud of her 🥹 If you’re in the thick of it with a reactive or handling-sensitive dog, please know it can get better. It won’t be linear, and it DEFINITELY won’t be quick - but with patience, trust, and consistency, you’ll start to see the pieces fall into place, and your training start to pay dividends ❤️ #cooperativecare #vetvisit #reactivedog

My little flying fox 🦊❤️‍🔥 As many of you saw in our last video, last weekend we attended Dock Dogs in Toowoomba. Despite some very average weather, Winnie had the best time and SMASHED her Big Air (long jump) PB from a year ago! Going from a 13’4”, to a whooping 18’08” 🥹 moving her from the Contender category to the Semi Pro category! For most of her waves, she was jumping at the very top end of contender and I thought we’d have really solid chance at placing well in Contender finals! But alas, she had to do one bloody superb jump and bump us up a category and into the bottom end of the Semi Pro finals 🤪  Unfortunately, my throw was pretty awful in the finals and we missed out on the chance to possibly place 3rd in Big Air Semi Pro 😂 but I am so insanely proud of Winnie still for coming 4th out of 6!! 😭  she was the smallest dog jumping in Semi Pro, up against some incredible Mal’s, Dutch Shepherds, Labs and Golden’s! If you’ve ever wanted to try Dock Dogs with your dog, do it! This sport is growing rapidly in Australia and for good reason - not only is it so inclusive and positive, but the dogs have the absolute best time. We absolutely adore it and can’t wait to enter more comps in the future 💙 If you loved our last video and want to see more, you can watch the entire weekend and extended footage of all our jumps saved to our Dock Diving highlight on IG 🩵 Do you think she could have gotten 3rd place if I didn’t screw up my last throw? 😬😅 P.S. see the last photo to see her all curled up for a nap after a huge weekend of jumping 😴 #redcattledog #australiancattledog #bigairdockdogs #dockdogs #dockdogsau #dockdiving #dockdivingaustralia #redheeler #extremevertical #extremeverticaldockdogs

Leashed greetings with strange dogs are a big fat no from us 🙅‍♀️ On-leash greetings can be incredibly risky. Leashes prevent natural body language, limit a dog’s ability to create space, and often result in direct, head-on approaches that would rarely happen in off-leash dog interactions. Even dogs with no prior reactivity can become frustrated or defensive in these scenarios. For dogs already managing heightened arousal or fear, it’s a recipe for even more conflict. One bad interaction can undo weeks (or months) of progress. And by “bad,” I mean bad in the dog’s terms, not ours. It’s not just about physical safety. For some dogs, even just another dog moving into their bubble while they are leashed, without warning or invitation, is enough to trigger a stress response. Not every dog wants to be approached, sniffed, or “socialised” in that moment, and it doesn’t have to end in a physical altercation to have a lasting negative psychological impact. The goal isn’t to keep them isolated — it’s to help them feel neutral, calm, and safe without needing to interact. I want my dog to feel confident existing around dogs without pressure to engage. That means reinforcing calm behaviour, giving space when needed, and saying no to greetings when it’s not appropriate 🙌 Every walk is an opportunity to reinforce confidence and trust — or to erode it. If a dog learns that we will force them into greetings and ignore their signals, they stop trusting us to protect them. And once that trust breaks down, so does the progress, the bond, and the teamwork. So if you see a reactive dog owner turning away, using treats, or creating space — it’s not because we’re unfriendly. It’s because we’re working. We’re protecting our progress. And we’re putting our dog’s needs first 💪 #reactivedog #dogtrainer #dogreactivity #dogadvocacy #leashedgreetings #onleashgreetings #australiancattledog

Have you ever seen anything more peaceful? 🥺 #seniordog #jackrussellterrier #dogsoftiktok #childhooddog