Pawly Understood

We contacted Pawly Understood after some issues with aggression and separation anxiety in our rescue dog. The whole team has been friendly, encouraging and so positive - which was much needed after some stressful incidents! I had a good conversation with Kim on the phone who made me feel a lot better, before booking with Tenelle to come to our home. Tenelle was so fabulous - clearly very knowledgeable with a genuine care for dogs. She took the time to get to know us and our dog, and has given us so much to consider and work with. I recommend Pawly Understood with no hesitation and will definitely work with them again as we continue to help our dog.

Such a helpful and friendly team of staff here who go into great detail in consultations and really pay a lot of attention to your pet concerns.

The team at Pawly Understood have a wealth of knowledge and provide strategies to manage behaviour that actually work and the ongoing support that I haven't received elsewhere. I wish I came across them years ago.

Safe Pets Safe Families provided two training sessions for us with Pawly Understood. We initially completed a whopping 33 pages of forms which took us several hours to complete and no one bothered to read. The trainer arrived for the first session knowing nothing of our issues and provided basic training of which we were already doing with our pup, disregarding our conversation in the first half of the session which told her that we were doing exactly that. We were told that to address our issues, we would need to book another session. When we received the second session, the same thing happened again, and we were once again told to book a third session to address the challenges. We hate to complain about a service that was provided freely to us, but a charity still has to pay for this service that did not go any way to address our challenges. Pawly Understood have followed up with us after we expressed our concerns to them in an email, but have failed to offer any form of rectification, simply saying that it was clear they needed to provide their trainer with more training. We were sent their rates to book a third session, but we will not be returning. We have now had to seek out another force free / positive reinforcement training provider, who provided the appropriate training we required in one session, at a fraction of the rates Pawly Understood charge. But this really ought not to have been necessary at all, as there was a good reason why a charity had referred us to Pawly Understood in the first place, and this experience has only left us in further stress.Update following reply from Pawly Understood;Prior to posting their reply, we were contacted by Pawly Understood, demanding that we take down our review. It was at this point that we declined any further communication; we will not be bullied. Their response is a gross distortion of the facts and attempts to smear us as liars; we stand by the facts of our experience. My husband is certainly not satisfied with the manner in which we have been dealt with, his dissatisfaction leading to our posting of this review which we wrote together. He has considered writing his own review to provide further details and verify the facts of the situation as there is much we would like to say in response, but we do not wish to further diminish the rankings of this business nor engage in any online and public debate. We wish PU well and kindly request that we now be left alone.

I am very happy with the services and advice provided by PU.I was able to book my initial appointment within a week of reaching out which is far faster than I had been anticipating to wait.PU provides an easily understandable and well written PDF book which provides an understanding of your dogs behaviour, some basic skills on how to manage those behaviours, and the science behind why they may act that way. They also provide this book in printed form during your first appointment, which I thought was great.Upon booking you are asked to fill out a thorough questionnaire regarding your dogs behaviour, which I really enjoyed filling out because it prompted me to deeply consider the triggers and history regarding my dogs issues. It is long but comprehensive and helpful to both you and PU moving forward to assist you.It disheartens me to read another review here complaining about the length of the questionnaire and positing that PU did not even read it after it was filled. It was very clear to me during my appointment that PU DID read my responses, and were readily prepared to address my listed concerns and expand on what I had written.I saw a vet and a trainer during my appointment, who covered both fields comprehensively. We changed my dogs medication and the trainer gave some suggestions on techniques to try moving forward. In the months following my appointment both of these changes have made a noticeable difference.I am always a little nervous about bringing my dog to vet offices but the setup of the PU office made it easy. We were the only clients in the waiting room but there was plenty of space to create distance if needed. I was also given the option to wait in my car or come through the back entrance if I preferred.During the appointment itself my dog was allowed to explore the room, there was also enrichment toys provided and the trainer did an excellent job of engaging my dog throughout the appointment with pattern games. My usually nervous dog was able to play and relax as the hour went by and I found I did not have to manage her myself at all and was able to focus on receiving information and discussing with the vet.After my appointment I have been able to easily make phone appointments to address concerns and have utilised the chemist to fill medication easily over the phone.Overall I cannot speak more highly of the staff at PU. It is very clear to me that they care deeply for what they do and are passionate about providing service and assistance to people who are struggling with behaviourally challenged dogs.

Dr Elle was amazing! She came to help me with issues I was having with my rescue cat Binx. Binx had been displaying some tell tale signs which indicated stress behaviours, having brought Binx into the home with a resident cat and doing all the right things when slowly introducing them I released I needed help. Dr Elle came to see Binx and was so helpful and understanding. She explained everything that was happening in a way that was easy for me to understand and helped provide a plan with things I could do to help Binx and Mickey in thr home. Binx was also put on medication to assist with his general anxiety and life for them has been better ever since. I could not recommend the team at Pawly Understood enough! They truly care about the animals and the owners.

Elle was very responsive when I first contacted her. The home consultation includes a detailed history taking and advice both considering medical and psychological causes for my dogs symptoms. A detailed report and plan was drafted and tests advised and organised for me. Elle was the only vet to consider a medical cause was contributing to my dogs symptoms and it turns out she was right. Elle really listens to you and considers all possibilities. She is very knowledgeable in terms of medications and treatments. I was also given further resources to read up on. Thanks so much to Elle and Pawly Understood. Money well spent and a much happier and healthier dog.

We contacted Pawly Understood after recommendations from two vets and a trainer. after our border collie pup displayed some behavioural issues. Dr Elle and Irana, one of her trainers, were excellent. They took a very detailed questionnaire before visiting our home, then spent hours working with and then assessing our pup. Dr Elle listened and observed intently and I felt that no stone was left unturned before she made her diagnosis. She then laid out a number of treatment options and gave us time to think about them and discuss them before deciding on what path to take..She was so kind and helpful explaining everything, and so lovely with our dog. Irana gave us some helpful training strategies to use with our pup. Her written and verbal explanations were clear and excellent. After implementing them we saw improvements in our pup very quickly. I wish human doctors could explain a diagnosis and treatment plan as thoroughly and compassionately as Pawly Understood do! Highly recommend.

Super friendly and caring staff. Very understanding and helpful. My boys never been better! So grateful to the team and very thankful I was recommended to come here!

Pawly Understood have changed our lives. Phoenix is now a happy settled dog that is able to engage with almost all aspects of our lives. My stress levels have drastically reduced and we are now having fun, training and learning together.We recently adopted our dog Phoenix, who had some pretty major fear aggression and an old injury that had not been treated. Every vet we have seen over the past 6 months said Phoenix was not rehomeable due to his behaviours and was not experiencing any pain due to his old injury.Enter Dr Carol from Pawly Understood, she took the time to listen, observe and understand Phoenix and his history, she was able to identify that he was experiencing chronic pain and PTSD from his injury sustained when he was a puppy prior to coming into care and being adopted.Some carefully considered and managed medications has had Phoenix, happy, healthy and seen a major reduction in his fear aggression. So much so he has been able to attend day school and day care. He has also been able to attend and graduate from Grade 1 basic training with 98/100. And looks forward to seeing the staff at his day school and greets them with a happy tail wag and cant wait for his belly scratch.Yes, he is taking medication daily to assist him, but this has changed him and our lives. He is slowly and positively learning that people are not so scary and his default of barking and growling has changed to watching and showing genuine interest in the people he sees, this has been able to be transferred to multiple environments.Phoenix and his fur sister Marie are happier and calmer and enjoying life.We are so proud of Phoenix and forever grateful to Dr Carol and Pawly Understood for their loving and passionate approach to assisting our fur family member have the best life he can.