Sophia Gillis - Dog Behaviourist

I have known Sophia for several years as she helped our family foster a rescue kitten. A year ago we welcomed Rocky to our family, a Cavoodle it hasn’t worked out for us and after a year we re homed him, I contacted Sophia and basically after a discussion she agreed to help with the process, in fact she did everything as it was stressful, she interviewed after she put the ad on her site, she then vetted the new owners, facilitated a visit and organised everything. I cannot recommend Sophia and her business highly enough, she is extremely knowledgeable as well as empathetic and caring, I could not have done this with out her.

We are so pleased that we have Sophia helping us with Monty (toy poodle).We use her training, doggy day care, and holiday sitting services.Sophia has trained Monty as well as us, and he looks forward to seeing her and her team every week.The whole operation is very well run and full of happy fur babies and their families.I highly recommend Sophia - 5 stars - best dog behaviourist ever!

Sophia helped us manage our reactive rescue dog at a particularly difficult time in his development.Sophia formed an immediate bond with Bailey, when no other people could, and that enabled her to get close to observe Bailey and assist us manage him in real time.Since that difficult period, timely behaviour training, and the implementation of Sophia’s strategies, we’ve been able to manage with Bailey.Sophia is hugely passionate and genuinely cares about her work, we’ve stayed in contact and will continue work with her for follow-up sessions whenever we need some more support.

I sought Sophia’s help with my puppy, Cooper that barked at everyone and every dogs we met during the walk and she has been a great support to us ever since. She is knowledgeable, thoughtful, caring, and patient with both me and my dog. She helped me to understand Cooper’s behaviours, provided me with practical steps to lessen Cooper’s anxiety, and guided me to implement those steps correctly. After the first few consultations and training sessions, Cooper goes to join the day care that Sophia runs with her amazing team where the learning to overcome the anxiety and on socialisation continues in a safe environment. Cooper loves to go to there and Sophia has become one of Cooper’s favourite persons. Thanks to Sophia, Cooper has transformed into a more relaxed and confident dog.

Sophia and her wonderful team of Lucas, Maria, Grace and Sandra provide the best doggy day care and dog training services in the Eastern Suburbs.I have a 6-month-old standard-size Sheepadoodle puppy named Paddington. He has had the best start due to Sophia’s guidance, expertise and care. Sophia is highly dedicated to the pets, and families she works with. Paddy initially commenced attending Sophia’s puppy play dates at 8 weeks, and then progressed to doggy day care, boarding and one-to-one behaviour modification consults. The training and early socialisation have made an enormous difference. Paddy was initially an anxious puppy who was afraid of many things. Thanks to Sophia. Paddy is now a well-socialised, confident, gentle giant who is very obedient and calm.My puppy loves going there and is always reluctant to leave. Paddy’s favourite person is Sophia and he will often bark with excitement when he hears her voice on social media. I highly recommend Sophia. Sophia ensures the environment is very safe for all the pets in her care. The high staff-to-pet ratio, and Sophia's veterinary experience gives me peace of mind. I will be eternally grateful to Sophia.

Sophia was a hero and helped me out last minute by dropping by our apartment to walk our 10yo anxious toy poodle. Thanks Sophia!We’ve also been doing socialising training at her doggie daycare which has helped with the pooch to be more trusting of other people and dogs.

Sophia has looked after my boxer x shar pei 'May' since she was 12 weeks old. Her advice and guidance is invaluable. Sophia has always been spot on with her assessments and feedback. As a behavioralist I’d say she is one of the best you’ll find – Sophia can read a dog like an open book. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Sophia to anyone looking for a dog trainer, dog boarding or puppy pre school. Sophia is great with dogs of all sizes – even large boisterous ones like mine.

Our friend recommended us to use Sophia for puppy school when we first got our fur pup. Since April last year our pup Chalkie has been seeing her and her team each week, besides these doggy daycare visits, Sophia never hesitates to answer any queries or concerns we have for our pup, and also clip chalkies nails when needed. Also love seeing her photo and video updates via instagram of our pups, the care and love they have for all the pups and dogs under their care is amazing. We highly recommend you use Sophia!

We started bringing our Shiba Inu puppy Haku to some of the puppy playdates that Sophia and her team run on Friday’s which has been excellent socialisation for our pup during this time. We also have had a few one-on-one training sessions with Sophia where we expressed what areas we needed help in and she has guided us through reliably, respectfully and personally in how we can best train and care for our dog. I am so thankful for her assistance in Haku’s training to the point where Sophia has become one of his favourite people. I highly recommend Sophia as a dog trainer/behaviourist for puppies and also older dogs as she is very educated in her sphere and is well respected in her community.

Sophia has been an incredible trainer and nail clipper to our 2.5-year-old Shiba Inu, Mochi. The care that Sophia takes in ensuring that Mochi is comfortable in the environment, to always being patient and giving him treats when he is feeling nervous is always appreciated. Mochi requires extra attention and Sophia really understands his needs and is kind and caring towards him, always. We have learnt so many useful tips and tricks to ensure that Mochi is better understood. We couldn't recommend Sophia more highly!!