Winnie & April

I wasn’t expecting that 🤯🥹 Just a few days out from the Dock Diving comp in Toowoomba, we were encouraged us to sign on to try Extreme Vertical. For those that don’t know, EV is where the dog jumps from the end of the dock and grab or knock a bumper that’s suspended over the pool. The dog gets to make two attempts at each increase in height but if they miss both, they are knocked out. We had one opportunity to practice before the round! After lots of encouragement, Winnie made one proper jump attempt into the water, but missed the bumper. There was talk of scratching her from the wave 😂 but we decided to give it a red hot crack, fully expecting Winnie not to jump and time out, or to jump and miss. But Winnie shocked us all, successfully grabbing the bumper and making it through not one, not two, not THREE, but FOUR rounds successfully 🥹 resulting in an end score of 5’02”! Winning her second place in the Cadet division, and getting herself a cheeky ribbon for something we weren’t even going to try 🥈 I am so proud of Winnie for the whole weekend 😭 she not only exceeded my expectations, but watching her have the time of her life flinging herself into the water made my heart burst 💗 How do you think Winnie went? Would you ever try Dock Diving with your dog? 🐶 #extremevertical #extremeverticaldockdogs #dockdogs #dockdogsau #dockdiving #dockdivingaustralia #redheeler

#ad Few things strike fear into the heart like hearing mum get home before the chores are done 💀 Thankfully, Winnie had backup — the new Dreame X50 Ultra 😍 with advanced obstacle avoidance, powerful 20,000Pa suction, auto mop lifting, and a self-cleaning dock. It’s doing more than just vacuuming — it’s basically the third housemate! I was SO stoked to discover that the Dreame X50 Ultra can also handle all the raised areas around our house — it climbs into the main bathroom, ensuite, and even onto the back verandah thanks to the ProLeap system that clears ledges up to 6cm. Saving us a hell of a lot of time as a home with pets! 🧹🐾 So Winnie, let’s give credit where credit where credit is due 😂 Wanna upgrade your cleaning game? Check out the Dreame X50 Ultra through the link in my bio ✨ AD @dreame.australia #dreamex50ultra #dreamecleaning #robotvacuum #smartcleaning #dreameaustralia

She truly is something out of the ordinary 🥹⭐️ #dogrunning #australiancattledog #highenergydog #dogs #dogstory #dogbestmoments #doggiesoftiktok

Watch my heeler improve her dock diving skills 😍 Next weekend we’re headed to our second ever dog docking competition! Winnie tends to dive VERY downwards when she jumps, which means she doesn’t get as much distance as she could. So we thought we’d try building more height into her jumps with this little set up & I was AMAZED at how well she took to it! She was absolutely FEARLESS 💪 The key was definitely using our very own @apawlopets Active Ring, a super high value toy to maximise her drive - honestly anything is possible for Winnie if I pull out these rings 😍 If you wanted to give these floating rings a go, there’s currently an AfterPay Day sale on where you can save 25% on Active Rings (and on all other APAWLO Pets products!). Don’t miss out, head to the link in our bio! Sale ends in tonight at 11:59pm AEST 🩵 #dockdiving #dockdogs #dockdogsaustralia #australiancattledog #redheeler

Raw fkn POWER 💪🔥 The way Winnie’s muscles and fur pop when the sun hits her… 👌😩 #australiancattledog #redheeler #redcattledog #dogrunning #runningdog #Running #fastdog

Throwback to baby Winnie and her 1/2 a brain cell 😂 #redcattledog #australiancattledog #heelersoftiktok #heelerpuppy #redheelerpuppy #redcattledogpuppy

Who can relate? 😶‍🌫️🙋‍♀️😅 Honestly, there was a point during my early uni days where life was one big bender 🫠🤮 Now, I couldn’t think of anything worse 😂 I much prefer my early morning adventures with Winnie, and if I DO go out, you can bet I’m sitting there counting down the minutes til I get to go home and see her again 😅 I can’t be the only one, right? 👀 #highenergydog #workingbreeddog #doglover #australiancattledog

My little flying fox 🦊❤️‍🔥 As many of you saw in our last video, last weekend we attended Dock Dogs in Toowoomba. Despite some very average weather, Winnie had the best time and SMASHED her Big Air (long jump) PB from a year ago! Going from a 13’4”, to a whooping 18’08” 🥹 moving her from the Contender category to the Semi Pro category! For most of her waves, she was jumping at the very top end of contender and I thought we’d have really solid chance at placing well in Contender finals! But alas, she had to do one bloody superb jump and bump us up a category and into the bottom end of the Semi Pro finals 🤪  Unfortunately, my throw was pretty awful in the finals and we missed out on the chance to possibly place 3rd in Big Air Semi Pro 😂 but I am so insanely proud of Winnie still for coming 4th out of 6!! 😭  she was the smallest dog jumping in Semi Pro, up against some incredible Mal’s, Dutch Shepherds, Labs and Golden’s! If you’ve ever wanted to try Dock Dogs with your dog, do it! This sport is growing rapidly in Australia and for good reason - not only is it so inclusive and positive, but the dogs have the absolute best time. We absolutely adore it and can’t wait to enter more comps in the future 💙 If you loved our last video and want to see more, you can watch the entire weekend and extended footage of all our jumps saved to our Dock Diving highlight on IG 🩵 Do you think she could have gotten 3rd place if I didn’t screw up my last throw? 😬😅 P.S. see the last photo to see her all curled up for a nap after a huge weekend of jumping 😴 #redcattledog #australiancattledog #bigairdockdogs #dockdogs #dockdogsau #dockdiving #dockdivingaustralia #redheeler #extremevertical #extremeverticaldockdogs

Leashed greetings with strange dogs are a big fat no from us 🙅‍♀️ On-leash greetings can be incredibly risky. Leashes prevent natural body language, limit a dog’s ability to create space, and often result in direct, head-on approaches that would rarely happen in off-leash dog interactions. Even dogs with no prior reactivity can become frustrated or defensive in these scenarios. For dogs already managing heightened arousal or fear, it’s a recipe for even more conflict. One bad interaction can undo weeks (or months) of progress. And by “bad,” I mean bad in the dog’s terms, not ours. It’s not just about physical safety. For some dogs, even just another dog moving into their bubble while they are leashed, without warning or invitation, is enough to trigger a stress response. Not every dog wants to be approached, sniffed, or “socialised” in that moment, and it doesn’t have to end in a physical altercation to have a lasting negative psychological impact. The goal isn’t to keep them isolated — it’s to help them feel neutral, calm, and safe without needing to interact. I want my dog to feel confident existing around dogs without pressure to engage. That means reinforcing calm behaviour, giving space when needed, and saying no to greetings when it’s not appropriate 🙌 Every walk is an opportunity to reinforce confidence and trust — or to erode it. If a dog learns that we will force them into greetings and ignore their signals, they stop trusting us to protect them. And once that trust breaks down, so does the progress, the bond, and the teamwork. So if you see a reactive dog owner turning away, using treats, or creating space — it’s not because we’re unfriendly. It’s because we’re working. We’re protecting our progress. And we’re putting our dog’s needs first 💪 #reactivedog #dogtrainer #dogreactivity #dogadvocacy #leashedgreetings #onleashgreetings #australiancattledog