Testimonials

“It takes someone truly special for me to feel completely confident referring my canine patients to a trainer—and with Prue, I have that confidence every time. Prue has an incredible ability to care not just for the dogs she works with, but for the wellbeing of the entire family. Her background as a veterinary nurse gives her a unique, holistic approach that supports both the mental and physical health of her canine clients.

As an experienced animal behaviour trainer, Prue has a deep understanding of learning theory and consistently achieves outstanding results. She uses modern, evidence-based, force-free methods that are both effective and kind.

I often find myself wishing there were more Prue’s to refer my patients to!”

“As a behaviour veterinarian who values the importance of professionalism, personal communication skills, education, and compassion,  I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to refer my behaviour patients and their families to animal behaviour trainer Prue Long.

Over the past five years, I have referred many of my veterinary behaviour clients and their pets to Take the Lead (VIC), with excellent results and continue to encourage clients to work with Prue. She is a joy to work with!

Prue’s training is grounded in evidence-based science utilising positive reinforcement methods consistently shown to produce the best outcomes in animal behaviour, whilst maintaining best ethical and welfare standards.

Prue is an accredited trainer with qualifications from the Delta Institute, certification as a Control Unleashed Instructor and professional memberships with the PPGA, APDT and VNCA, as well as a strong foundation as a certified veterinary nurse. Prue brings a broad and well-rounded wealth of experience and knowledge to her training and behaviour modification sessions with kindness, patience, understanding and good humour. Prue approaches each pet and family as a unique team, assisting with their individual requirements and needs.

Prue’s ongoing commitment to professional development and animal welfare translates to remarkable results for both clients and their beloved pets. The strategies she teaches not only support behavioural progress but also strengthen the human-animal bond. Many of my clients share how much fun they have while training with Prue, and how their connection with their pets continues to grow through the process of learning and feeling empowered in a nurturing and supportive environment. I wholeheartedly recommend Prue Long at Take the Lead (VIC) to anyone seeking expert, compassionate guidance in animal behaviour training.

We are so lucky to have her on the Surf Coast!!”

We started working with Prue in 2021, for our rescue dog Harley who has a variety of behaviour issues including OCD, separation anxiety & reactivity to other dogs. Prue, alongside our behavioural veterinarian, has worked to supply us with a toolbox of strategies to manage Harley’s difficult behaviours.

At times, Harley’s issues felt life-consuming and overwhelming, but Prue has always supported us and made it feel like there was light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to her care and dedication, we feel like we’ve walked out the other side and now enjoy a relaxed, carefree dog.

We can’t thank Prue enough and would thoroughly recommend her to anyone with a difficult dog, no matter how unfixable their problems may seem.

“We are beyond grateful for Prue and the incredible support she provided in training our dog, Daisy, to be a mindDog for our son and a great family dog. From the very beginning, she showed patience, flexibility, and genuine care, not just for our dog but for our son as well.  She took the time to understand their unique bond, ensuring that the training process was both effective and positive for them both.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was managing Daisy’s strong hunting instincts, but Prue approached every hurdle with lateral thinking and dedication.  She found gentle, affirming solutions that worked with our dog’s nature rather than against it. Her problem-solving skills and deep understanding of canine behaviour made all the difference. Throughout the journey, Prue was always adaptable to our needs, offering support whenever we needed adjustments. Her training methods were kind, clear, and confidence-building, empowering both our son and Daisy to work together as a true team.

We cannot thank her enough for the positive impact she has had on our family. If you’re looking for a trainer who is skilled, compassionate, and truly invested in your success, we highly recommend Prue! And Daisy passed her exam (PAT test) and is now our son’s support dog. Thanks Prue.”

“I was fortunate to meet Prue when I was at a loss with how to handle my beautiful dog who was showing signs of aggression when walking past other dogs. It got to a stage where I had to avoid certain areas, and I was becoming so anxious which wasn’t helping me or my dog. In fact, making it worse! I had worked with previous trainers and things weren’t really working.

Prue understood exactly what was happening and offered training solutions very different to what I had experienced previously.  It was fascinating to learn different techniques and to see Frankie respond so well. The training techniques made sense to me and after some practice, they became easy to implement.  Prue offered many options that I hadn’t considered before and I am now at a stage where I can confidently walk Frankie past other dogs.

I understand how to tackle interactions with other dogs now in order to keep both myself and Frankie calm and safe. Prue always remained calm with me and very patient. She put me at ease to help relieve my stress! I would highly recommend Prue as your trainer.”

“Prue assisted me in training my beautiful Kelpie, Molly, as a mindDog assistance dog.

Prue’s ability to create a trusting and positive relationship with both Molly and I provided a training environment that was instrumental in helping us achieve our goals.

As someone with severe PTSD and anxiety, I greatly appreciated how Prue tailored the training specifically to meet my needs.

Her approach made me feel safe, confident, and able to follow her instructions, which led to continued success with Molly.

Prue’s love for her job and the dogs she trains is evident from the very first visit. Molly loves Prue & enjoyed every session.

Thanks to Prue’s expert guidance, Molly has successfully passed her Public Access Test for two consecutive years. This achievement has been life-changing for both me and my family.

I wholeheartedly endorse Prue to anyone seeking to train their dog. She offers personalized training and unwavering support, ensuring success for both you and your best friend.”

“I was introduced to Prue via our vet who highly recommended her to help with behaviour management of my 12-month-old, rehomed, German shepherd DeeDee, who has high anxiety, separation anxiety and high arousal levels.

Prue explained what could be triggers for my dog’s behaviours and how to manage, understand and deal with the situations.   Prue’s calming interaction with my dog was amazing.  DeeDee’s progress has been consistent and rewarding for both her and me.  Under the guidance of a consulting behaviour vet suggested by Prue, as well as Prue’s guidance we have been able to get solutions to help with the problem behaviours.

The ongoing training, including dog relaxation exercises, positive rewards and even the use of dog-specific classical music has been highly beneficial for my dog.

I’m so pleased to have met Prue at a time when my stress levels around the management of my dog and her behaviours were very high.

With Prue’s expertise and reassurance, I now feel confident in my approach to being able to deal with DeeDee’s anxiety. I also like the fact that Prue visits the home, giving one-on-one management as I realised early on that club and group training was not an option for my dogs’ situation.

I thoroughly recommend Prue to anyone, who like myself wants to give their dog the best possible outcome in life. I look forward to a positive future ahead under Prue’s guidance and appreciate all she has helped me to achieve with DeeDee so far.”

“We attended Prue’s puppy classes in 2020 with my poodle cross, Freya.  Freya was the first dog I had gotten as a puppy since my childhood labrador at age seven.

I loved Prue’s instructional style and use of visual supports alongside her spoken material. She was also very accommodating of my sensory requirements that meant I wore noise cancelling headphones during classes.

The setup of the puppy classes meant that puppies had plenty of space between each other, which was ideal for Freya as she was quite shy for the first few sessions.  As the sessions progressed, Freya became more confident which was a joy to see. The small class numbers meant that it wasn’t overwhelming for either the dogs or for us.

Prue was always happy to answer further questions I had, either one-on-one during class or in between sessions.
The supplied resources were invaluable in helping with Freya’s initial months, especially as I was new to the puppy parenting & training process.

I highly recommend Prue as a behaviour trainer, her wealth of knowledge, understanding of Neurodivergent people, and positive and force free training approach was wonderful for us.”

“Prue Long from Take the Lead was recommended to me by a Behavioural Vet to work with our border collie Reggie who was a very reactive and anxious dog.

Reggie was very bitey with our kids. He would also react to cars, buses, bikes, runners, rowers, you name it. He would pull hard on his lead and lunge and bark at moving targets.  It was difficult to take him on walks not knowing who or what we were going to encounter. Having visitors over was also a tricky situation.  I started to work with Prue at the beginning of 2023 and have seen enormous improvements.

Prue has visited Reggie in our home and at local parks over the last 2 years. Prue has provided a number of strategies to employ and over time we have seen some great results. Reggie is far more relaxed, happy, and friendlier. We feel more confident having visitors and taking Reggie out for walks.

Best of all Prue has trained our family and given us some great tools to work with.
Prue’s friendly and expert knowledge and positive reinforcement approach have been terrific, and I would have no hesitation in recommending Prue to work with your family fur member.”

“I have two adorable anxious terrier girls. “Terrorists” my mum calls them.  Prue was amazing with them, quickly gaining their trust, so we were able to have productive sessions together.  Prue was able to instruct me in some dog behaviours and body language I had been missing. Her relaxed “train the trainer” style made it comfortable for me and the girls to learn.  Having anxious dogs can be really lonely.

Until spending time with Prue, I always felt I was not doing enough for my girls. Always worrying about their quality of life and wellbeing. Prue taught me to take the pressure off myself and them, and to enjoy the training wins, and fun times together.

We even progressed to taking Yoda out to a coffee shop which is something I never thought I would do.”

“Prue has an almost instinctual connection with dogs (and people). She’s taken my Bordoodle, Mabel, and I on the journey from an excited puppy to a wonderful mindDog assistance dog, who is welcomed any and everywhere.

I can, wholeheartedly, recommend Prue to anyone and any fur baby.”

“Prue has been an invaluable guide throughout the mindDog Assistance Dog training program for EeVee and me. Not only has this training been beneficial for EeVee, but it has also helped me better understand her behaviours and the reasons behind them.

Prue’s clear and approachable explanations made it easy for me to address and improve Eevee’s behaviours, which saw us gain certification as a mindDog team. Prue’s extensive knowledge was evident when she suggested a change to eeVee’s diet, which has significantly improved her energy levels. I’ve already recommended Prue to friends who are looking to improve their dogs’ behaviors as well.

Thank you, Prue, for all your help”

“I can’t recommend Prue highly enough! From puppy classes to ongoing training, her force-free approach has helped us achieve amazing results with our dog. Prue’s friendly and supportive guidance made the process enjoyable for both us and our pup. We’ve seen real progress, and it’s all thanks to her expertise and positive methods.

If you’re looking for a knowledgeable and compassionate trainer, Prue is the best!”