About :: ScholarsInCollars

About Us

Janelle Irvin // Owner & Lead Trainer

KPA-CTP, MDI (CPDT), CDW

A commitment to professionalism

With a name like Scholars in Collars it only makes sense that our owner and lead trainer be a Scholar of dog behaviour and training. Janelle is a nationally accredited Dog Behavioural Trainer with a passion for continued professional development. Her qualifications include:

Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services with the Delta Institute
Karen Pryor Academy Certified Dog Trainer Professional Graduate (CTP)
Certified Professional Dog Walker through the Dogbiz Dog Walking Academy
Certified in Pet First Aid and CPR
Licensed UnChase!® Trainer
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
Approved Greyhound Muzzle Exemption Assessor (DCMB)

Janelle is also a member of many professional organisations including the Pet Professional Guild Australia, Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia, Karen Pryor Academy and Delta Institute Australia.

A passion for helping dogs and their people

Janelle discovered a passion for educating and a passion for dogs through her time teaching students in the animal industry with TAFESA. She began developing professional skills through formal education and seeking mentorship from the top trainers in Adelaide. Gaining knowledge and skills, and regularly attending seminars and conferences across the country, Janelle loves nothing more than helping dogs and their owners using current best-practice, science based positive training methods.

Janelle's kind, compassionate and patient approach creates a stress free environment for you and your dog, setting you both up for the best success of which she prides herself.

Greyhounds are a passion for Janelle, and you're likely to meet her assistant Raymond who is often by her side. She volunteers her time with BTG Greyhound Rehoming SA by fostering, transporting, educating or assessing - and couldn't be happier.

Karen Davis // Trainer

Karen brings a wide breadth of experience to her training. She holds a Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing, is a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy Professional Dog Trainer program and was a zookeeper for 20 years, serving as the Senior Animal Keeper at Cleland Wildlife Park. But of all the animals she's worked with it's dogs that have stolen her heart.

Karen has a particularly soft spot for puppies. Her puppy work includes previous time as a Puppy Development Officer at Guide Dogs SA/NT. Today Karen relishes teaching puppy classes, helping puppies learn the ropes of skills for the big wide world and watching clients marvel at their puppy's as they grow and learn.

In addition to puppy training Karen pursues dog sports with a focus on Rally, Lure Coursing, and Trick Training. She also enjoys showing her Australian Shepherds.

Brenna Ryan // Trainer

Brenna is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. She lives for seeing dogs and their people truly enjoy a good time together. You will see Brenna in group classes where she most enjoys helping to teach specialised skills like loose lead walking and recall; behaviours that reduce tension and build mutual trust. Brenna enjoys watching puppies and dogs find their confidence through positive training, but her favourite thing is to help people set their puppies up for success right from the start.

Like so many professional trainers, Brenna is trained by her own dogs, four Australian Shepherds and Maltese x Shih Tzu mix who, she says, "have taught me many life lessons and I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Athan Delinicolas // Trainer

Athan is a qualified dog trainer, a proud graduate of the distinguished Karen Pryor Academy Professional Dog Trainer Program, is Fear Free Accredited and a Certified Professional Dog Walker through the DogBiz Dog Walking Academy.

Athan’s approach to his training puts a great emphasis on a mutual understanding between humans and their dogs, thriving on building a harmonious relationship between the two. Athan enjoys setting puppies up for life right from the beginning, and also enjoys the challenge of canine adolescence and helping adult dogs who need steering in the right direction too.

Focussing on fun and kindness, Athan brings much joy to all of his training. He enjoys quality time with his family when not out training, and spending time with his four-legged companions; a Labrador and Greyhound.

How we train and why we do it that way

Staying abreast of the latest science, our team pride ourselves on using only current best-practice positive training methods; because we know better, we do better. We want to see you enjoy the best possible results with long lasting effects, keeping training guilt-free and stress-free for all involved.

Fortunately, science allows us to achieve our training goals in the most effective manner. We’ve come to learn that fear, intimidation, and pain inhibits learning, and that these quick fixes only provide short term results. Aversive training isn’t enjoyable, for a dog or their human, and destroys the bond we so desire to have with man’s best friend. Studies have proven that fear, force and pain increase displays of anxiety and aggressive behaviour and unfortunately, even cause it where it wasn’t before.

Science based positive, reward-based training methods on the other hand, are kind, humane and proven to have long lasting positive effects. It is much less stressful than bullying your dog, builds independent thinking for your canine companion, and creates an environment that is comfortable and enjoyable for all. Rather than your dog learning to do (or not to do) something just to avoid punishment, positive training methods motivate your dog to make the right choice – and quite simply, it just feels right.

In short, if we can achieve what we want through humane training, without inducing stress through force and fear,

why would we train any other way?

Our guarantee to you

While it is professionally unethical to guarantee training results (how can one guarantee the behaviour of another living being? Dogs aren't robots), we do guarantee that you will work with a highly credentialed instructor, motivated to help you reach your training goals.

We guarantee we'll use only the most humane, modern, and scientifically proven reward-based training methods to reach those goals. And we guarantee training with us will be a fun and positive experience for both you and your dog.