The "date with your dog" course was created by trainer and behaviourist Debi Coleman "The Dog Lady" to help people establish the habit of setting aside concrete blocks of time in their schedules to spend with their dogs.

"Everyone gets busy, and unfortunately with our busy lives, the dog comes [last]... So the idea was to encourage people to allocate an hour once a week for four weeks to do something with their dogs," she explained.

"We know that people allocate a date with their husband or their wife, just to have that [quality] time... and that mums allocate time with their sons, and dads with their daughters.

"It's just a matter of having some fun and allocating that quality time for your dog. It's not about behavioural problems, it's not about training, it's just about doing something fun together."

Already signed up for the dog date course is Taneil Blandford and her 13-month-old kelpie, Roo.

"I love to do everything with our boy. It's one of the reasons we got him and now that Orange is catching up with the times by becoming more dog friendly, we want to take him everywhere with us as much as possible," she said.

"[The dog date course] is a great opportunity to bond with your dog and also to just have some fun."

The dog lover added that Ms Coleman's course helped a highly-energetic dog like Roo with his social skills as well as confidence; two things which ultimately impacted his overall temperament, especially as he grows into an adult.

"He's still really young so obviously [has] a lot of energy. We've taken him out as much as possible - he's been at pubs and cafes - but he's over-social so he wants to meet every person and every dog," Ms Blandford explained.

"[Ms Coleman] can read dog body language a lot better, and before anything escalates or might happen she's there to offer pointers . and help the dog to be calm in the environment because it might be frantic for them."