Active Dogs NZ

08/10/2026

💫 🐾 Scentwork: Engage the Nose, Enrich the Mind! 🐾 💫

Every Friday, we explore a different venue to challenge our dogs and their nosework skills.

This week, we will be at Ohau Wines, which has kindly allowed us to set up in some of their sheds and on their tractors!

It's a fantastic location where we can conduct all four types of competition searches: Interior, Exterior, Vehicle, and Containers.

If you're interested in testing your dog's skills (competition dogs are more than welcome), please get in touch or sign up on our website:
Scent Seekers Club - Fridays at 12:30 PM.
Visit us at: www.activedogs.co.nz
Ohau, Levin - Kapiti Coast

06/10/2026

Firework time is coming soon. Here is a great article to get your dogs ready for Guy Fawkes.

If your dog struggled with fireworks last year, now is the time to prepare for this year.

Trembling, pacing and barking can be easy to recognise. A dog who becomes very still, watches the windows or follows you from room to room may also be frightened. Quiet doesn’t always mean comfortable.

Start with a few practical preparations:

🐾 Set up a resting or hiding place your dog already likes, where they can choose to settle or stay close to you.

🐾 Plan walks and toilet breaks before dusk. Check doors, gates and your dog’s identification details.

🐾 Speak with your vet now if your dog has previously been distressed by fireworks. This gives you time to discuss treatment and have a plan in place.

Firework recordings can support gradual sound training, but the volume needs to stay low enough that your dog remains comfortable. Taking treats alone doesn’t tell you that. Watch their posture, attention and ability to settle, too.

If your dog has previously panicked or tried to escape, seek veterinary and behaviour support before starting sound training.

And when fireworks happen, you can comfort your dog. Let them come close if they want contact, or give them space if they prefer to hide.

Our full guide explains how to introduce recordings, recognise when to stop, and support your dog during fireworks.

Read it here:
https://www.seespotlearn.co.nz/help-dog-cope-with-fireworks/

💜 🐾 Save this post so you can come back to it while preparing.

04/10/2026

A beautiful spring morning in the training paddock with our 3 - Potter - Tink - Torin.

With lighter evenings we get to use the whole paddock for classes and freshly mown too by my daughter!

Spaces in the Foundations & Focus class this evening and every Monday at 6pm.

For those tricky Teens and and dogs who need a wee bit of extra help with the basics of relationship, recall & walking nicely on lead.

www.activedogs.co.nz

Preschool, 1:1 coaching & dog sport classes available too.

02/10/2026

Thank you to The Garden Depot Levin for hosting our Scent Seekers club yesterday and for their wonderful write-up.

All the dogs were superstars, successfully locating all the hidden scents. We had set-ups in different areas in the outdoor covered garden centre, and also 3 hides in the gift shop for a fabulous interior search experience.

The odours the dogs searched for were Clove Bud, Cedar Atlas, and Sweet Birch.

Afterwards, we had a relaxed chat over coffee and cake at the on-site dog-friendly Salt & Pepper Cafe.

Each week, we visit a different location to test the dogs' skills and learn more about how they locate and work odour, then relax over coffee and cake at a nearby cafe.

Yet to start scent work? The last set of classes for the year will begin on Wednesday, November 4th, at 6 PM. We hope to see you there! (Weekday Scent Seekers Club class on Wednesdays at 7.15 PM, held here at Active Dogs NZ, Ohau to build on you and your dog’s skills)

Contact me for details, and come along and have some sniffing fun with your dog, or book via the website - see the link in the comments.

🐾 DOG OF THE WEEK 🐾

This week we had some very special visitors at the Garden Depot! 🐶🌿

We were lucky enough to have the dogs from Active Dogs NZ come along for a training session — and they certainly kept us entertained! 😍

Active Dogs NZ is run by Jane, who works with dogs and their humans throughout the Kāpiti and Horowhenua regions. Jane has more than 20 years’ experience training and competing with dogs in Agility, Scentwork, Rally-O and Trick Training, and focuses on building confidence, strengthening the relationship between dogs and their people, and making training fun.

Jane is also a founding member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers NZ and the NZ Association of Rally Obedience, and is a certified Pro Dog Trainer and Trick Dog Instructor.

As you can see from these photos, there was plenty of sitting, standing, posing, treat-catching and general good-dog behaviour going on! 😂🐕🌱

We absolutely love having our four-legged visitors at the Garden Depot, and these guys were such a pleasure to have wandering around the garden centre.

Thanks to Active Dogs NZ for bringing the crew in — we hope to see you all again soon! ❤️

https://www.activedogs.co.nz

27/09/2026

☀️🐾 HELLO, DAYLIGHT SAVINGS! 🐾☀️

And just like that… the evenings are getting lighter! 🎉

Longer days, warmer evenings (hopefully soon!) and more time to get outside with our dogs.

Which can only mean one thing…

MORE TIME FOR DOGGY FUN! 😍

Whether that’s heading out for a sniffy adventure, working on your training, playing some games in the garden or getting stuck into your favourite dog sport, there’s something fabulous about having daylight at the end of the day again.

🧡 And here at Active Dogs, we’re definitely making the most of it!

Our evening classes are all go, and I’m looking forward to seeing lots of you and your dogs joining us to enjoy those longer evenings.

Here’s to spring, sunshine, muddy paws and lots of fabulous adventures together! 🌱🐾

Welcome back, daylight savings! ☀️🧡

23/09/2026

Super sniffers at the Scent Seekers class last Friday at the fabulous venue of Manakau’s Famous (burgers, food & icecream)
Both dogs did some great work as their people learn to step back and trust their dogs superpower!
This Friday will be around the Otaki Railway station!
Sign up and come along to test your dog’s sniffing powers! (Must have prior training on clove and/or Cedar)
www.activedogs.co.nz