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Meet The Team

 

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John Sam

Founder & trainer

 

John Sam lives in Canberra, the Australia Capital Territory (ACT). He always had a dog or two in his life and enjoyed taking his dogs to the local dog club for training. John’s former life was an IT professional and holds a Master Degree in IT. When he came across Nose Work in 2016, he was instantly hooked on it. He sees the benefits of this activity with his “reactive” Labrador dog and decided to learn more about it. John now runs Canberra Nosework Training and has been training dogs professionally since 2017. His biggest joy is to be able to spread the fun and therapeutic benefits of Nose Work and watch shy and fearful dogs grow in confidence as they progress through the class. 

John competed in the 2017 ACSW NW1 trial in Sydney with his Labrador dog, Tyson, and obtained 3rd place overall in the trial. 

In 2018, they competed in the Australia first NW2 trial. Not only did they obtain their NW2 title, they were also awarded the overall Partnership awards. Partnership is awarded by the Judges for great partnership among handler/dog teams and demonstrated exceptional technique and/or teamwork on the trial day. 

More recently, in 2024, John competed with his current black Labrador, Jessica in ACSW NW1 and obtained 3rd place overall in the trial.

John has volunteered in the local dog clubs, RSPCA-ACT and ACSW trial. He also attended K9 Nose Work camps as Logistic team member in the USA. He is one of the first eight Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) with the National Association of Canine Scent Work® (NACSW) in Australia. John is an ANKC Foundation Scent Work Judge. He is also a qualified Canine Behaviour Practitioner. He has a Diploma in Canine Behaviour with The International School for Canine Psychology & Behaviour LTD (ISCP).

John is a proud member of the Pet Professional Guild Australia (PPGA), the Association for Force-Free Professionals.

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