Dog owners rejoice — if your fur friends are inclined to ignore your pleas and commands, help could be at hand.

Social Marketing @ Griffith, in partnership with Redland City Council, is launching ‘Leave It’ a pilot dog training programthat starts with a dog friendly event, called DogFest.

A 2017 Griffith University survey of Redland dog owners found that:

  • 57% of dogs dig holes
  • 32% have chewed furniture
  • 10% have caught wildlife and 9% have killed wildlife

DogFest, to be held from 10am to 3pm on Sunday June 4 at Capalaba Regional Park, will feature live music, food trucks,plenty of giveaways and, of course, dog competitions and demonstrations for your four-legged companions.

“Free puppicinos, temporary tattoos, dog tea and more will also be on offer,” said Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, Director, SocialMarketing @ Griffith.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the fun-focussed event has a more serious purpose — encouraging dog training.

“This is an exciting initiative that uses innovative techniques supported by science to train dogs to follow commands,” CrWilliams said.

“The program has shown that dogs that are trained to ‘leave it’ are more likely to live in harmony with native Australiananimals, including our local koala population, which we know is vulnerable to dog attacks.

Picture: Tails of Time Pet Photography

“Social Marketing @ Griffith was awarded a contract by Council to develop and implement a pilot behaviour changestrategy, to complement our revised 39 point Koala Conservation Action Plan — adopted last December. We are delightedto see this come to fruition.”

Professor Rundle-Thiele said the Griffith University survey showed that just 38% of dogs came back when called on aconsistent basis and only a third of pooches could be trusted not to chase things.

“We surveyed people to understand more about dogs and we investigated a range of ways we might be able to helpworking with Redland dog owners to design the Leave It program,” Professor Rundle-Thiele said.

The training program ‘Leave It’, employing some of the best local dog trainers, is the result of work with Redland dogowners. Beginning in June, Leave It will offer a variety of training sessions for dogs of all ages and abilities.

“Enriched dogs are better behaved dogs. We all want to be able to co-exist together. We have listened to what Redlanddog owners want and the time is here to see what we can do together,” explained Professor Rundle-Thiele.

Redland residents can find out more about Leave It and DogFest at www.leaveit.com.au.