A well-known Border dog trainer has set her sights on becoming a one-stop-shop for dogs and their owners.
Brydie Charlesworth has expanded her Dog Education Centre business to a three and a half acre property on Sheathers Road, Wodonga.
“We were in South Street, Wodonga for seven and a half years but outgrew that space,” she said.
“It took a long time to find this place and when we moved in here it was really overgrown – it took a lot of work to get it to this.”
The new location offers more space for existing services like daycare, training, classes ranging from puppy preschool to advanced consultations, grooming, therapy programs and the list goes on.
“We offer a lot of services but I want to do more, we have plans for more dog boarding sheds and I want to include a horse arena,” Brydie said.
“I also want an indoor hydro therapy pool and an on-site vet.”
Brydie said having an on-site vet centre would be a game changer.
“A lot of the time we will go with clients to the vet to help them with their dog so that the vet and owner both feel safe and we can control the dog,” she said.
The business is already unique in that it is the only facility in Australia to offer as many services as it does and provide such a high level of trainers.
Relocating to a larger site allowed Bridie to open up her space to a range of other animals, including emus (Andy and Peanut), a cow (Peggy), sheep (Barney) and chickens (the ladies) who have their own yard alongside the dog training area.
“These animals are like family and our clients really enjoy them too,” Brydie said.
The farm animals have also provided comfort to some clients whose dogs have passed away.
“We have clients who have lost their dogs and they will come in here and sit in the paddocks with the other dogs and just let it all out. They hang out with the ‘farmies’ and feel better that way,” Brydie said.
The award-winning business looks after between 350 and 450 dogs a week between all of its services.
Brydie said it was rewarding to help correct a dog’s behavior when clients were at their wits’ end.
“We offer puppy classes and general obedience classes but it’s important to note that we take on the difficult cases as well,” she said.
“We are able to arm them with some techniques they can take away and do at home and it changes their lives.
“If they regress or have other issues, they know they can come back because we are here for the dog’s whole life and we have some different things in our tool belt to help.
“For us, it’s about training the handlers and building a relationship with people as well.”
Brydie said her business is fortunate to have a ‘very solid and loyal customer base who are like family’.
“There’s some clients who have been with us from day dot, when I was providing these services out of Dr Jana’s vet clinic in Lavington,” she said.
The centre is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6pm, Saturday from 8am to 11am and closed Sunday.
Visit the website at www.brydiecharlesworth.com