Who Am I?

My name is Jas Whiting, and I’m the trainer and business owner behind Prime Canine.

Before dog training, I spent six years in the Australian Army, with most of that time posted to Special Operations. In 2015, I suffered a significant injury, fracturing part of my spine. That began two years of rehabilitation and a long medical discharge process, during which I was also diagnosed with PTSD.

By the end of that year, I had adopted a six-month-old dog named Jenta, with the intention of training her to become my PTSD assistance dog.

Little did I know, I was well out of my depth.

Jenta had a number of issues that would ordinarily have made her unsuitable for assistance work, and getting her to certification was going to require an enormous amount of knowledge and skill that I simply didn’t have. Trying to figure out how to train that one dog would ultimately change the direction of my life.

Learning How to Train

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to be mentored by world-renowned dog trainer Pat Stuart of Operant Canine, who is now also a close friend and colleague.

Pat took me from the foundations of dog training through to advanced concepts and complex skills. Through him, I was also introduced to trainers and systems that would continue to shape my understanding of dogs, learning and training, including Bart Bellon and NePoPo.

By the end of 2017, I had been medically discharged from the Army, Jenta had become a qualified assistance dog, I had completed the NePoPo schools, started Prime Canine, and became the first Australian female PSA (Protection Sports Association) decoy.

What had started as trying to learn enough to train my own dog had very quickly become something much bigger.

GRC, Play and Another Way of Looking at Training

In 2018, I met Jay Jack, founder of GRC Dogsports and now a close friend, when Pat hosted his first Australian tour. It was then that I began learning his Play As The Way approach to training.

I became heavily involved in GRC, competing with Jenta and becoming the first team in the world to advance through every level of the Social Responsibility test and get a perfect score. I later became the first Australian GRC judge and the AUS/NZ Regional Director, helping establish and develop the sport within Australia and New Zealand.

I’ve since hosted Jay in Australia several times, and in September 2026 I’ll be hosting him again for a two-day Play As The Way seminar followed by his first ever five-day bootcamp.

Dog Training and Jiu Jitsu

2018 also marked the beginning of something seemingly unrelated to dogs: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Due to the nature of my PTSD, Jiu Jitsu was the kind of sport that was extremely difficult for me to even contemplate doing, which was also part of the reason I decided I needed to try it. What started as another challenge became a huge part of my life.

Since then, I’ve won dozens of State, National and Pan Pacific titles, was ranked number one in Australia in 2022 and ranked number 4 in the world in 2023. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved, and Jiu Jitsu has become a very important part of my life.

But that’s not really why it belongs in a bio on a dog training website.

The longer I’ve trained and coached in both fields, the more similarities I’ve found between them: learning how to learn, developing skills under pressure, communication, problem solving, timing, adaptability and the relationship between a coach and student. What I’ve learned through dog training has made me better in Jiu Jitsu, and what I’ve learned on the mats has influenced the way I train dogs and teach people.

The Evolution of Prime Canine

Prime Canine has changed significantly since I first registered the business.

I started in the pet dog and behavioural training space, but over time my work shifted towards sport and working dogs, K9 handlers, coaching other dog trainers and teaching seminars across Australia and internationally.

I’ve continued studying, experimenting and refining my understanding of training along the way. While the systems and trainers I’ve learned from have influenced me enormously, my focus has increasingly become understanding the principles behind what works and how to communicate those concepts in a way other trainers and handlers can actually apply.

That evolution eventually led to one of the biggest parts of my work: developing working dogs.

Developing Working Dogs

In 2020, Pat and I began raising puppies for future working roles.

The process involves developing the whole dog over the first 12–18 months of its life, from environmental development and social responsibility through to tracking, obedience, bitework and apprehension, alongside the countless smaller skills and experiences required to prepare each dog for its future role.

Since then, I’ve raised and developed ten dogs, all of which have successfully gone on to the roles and homes they were intended for. Seven were raised for operational work and placed into roles across police, corrections and the Australian Army Commandos, while two were raised for private sale into PSA sport homes, including Sundance, who is now Pat’s dog and Peter who is with another member of our PSA Club, Iron Fist.

The tenth is Calvin, affectionately known for now as The Red Dog. Calvin was originally being raised to eventually sell into a working role, but I knew very early on that there was something different about the connection I had with him and that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Turns out, he’s also one of the best dogs Pat and I have ever seen.

From Seminars to Serious Dog Business

Teaching has increasingly become as important to me as training the dogs themselves.

Over the years, I’ve taught seminars across Australia and internationally, coached trainers and handlers, and presented at events including the International Association of Canine Professionals Conference.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to turn the concepts I teach in person into a comprehensive library of tutorials that people can access regardless of where they live. The plan was to begin building that library in 2027.

Then, in June 2026, I injured my knee...one of many injuries over the years. Reconstructive surgery in August meant an extended rehabilitation and temporarily stepping away from the more physical parts of my work, including travelling to teach seminars and competing in Jiu Jitsu.

The injury didn’t change the direction I was heading. It just brought the timeline forward by about a year.

I’ve since joined the Serious Dog Business community as an instructor alongside Pat Stuart, where I’m developing and releasing my tutorials. We both teach within the community, host calls and provide ongoing training content and discussion.

Where I’m At Now

Right now, my focus is rehabilitating my knee properly, continuing to develop Calvin, and building my tutorial library while teaching within the Serious Dog Business community.

I have every intention of returning to Jiu Jitsu and competition, including the World Championships again, as well as teaching seminars and my own bootcamps, and raising more working pups, when I’m ready.

When I adopted Jenta in 2015, I wasn’t trying to start a career in dog training. I was trying to figure out how to train one dog that I was nowhere near qualified to train.

More than a decade later, I’ve developed dogs for police, corrections, military and sport; competed in and helped develop dog sports; taught trainers and handlers around the world; and somehow ended up teaching alongside the person who first taught me how to train a dog.

There’s still an enormous amount I want to learn, develop and do.

That’s probably the part that hasn’t changed.

Unlocking the Potential