About Us
Liz
Backstory:
Hi, I’m Liz and I’m fortunate to have discovered my passion for dogs at a young age. As a child, I would always choose the animal shelter over a playground. This lead to me spending my teenage years volunteering at an animal shelter as a dog walker. Then one day, I was "gifted" an adolescent husky who lived primary outdoors for
Backstory:
Hi, I’m Liz and I’m fortunate to have discovered my passion for dogs at a young age. As a child, I would always choose the animal shelter over a playground. This lead to me spending my teenage years volunteering at an animal shelter as a dog walker. Then one day, I was "gifted" an adolescent husky who lived primary outdoors for the first year of his life. Within the first hour of meeting him, he grabbed a sock and started resource guarding. I was scared of my own dog. I didn’t have the knowledge to help him. This opened a new door for me. We worked together to help address his daily struggles including fear aggression towards humans and dogs. The relationship I built with him is strong and rewarding. Throughout our training journey, I got to learn about him inside and out. That’s something I’m thankful for every day. This is what ignited a fierce love for dogs who have behavioural struggles and need extra support.
Experience:
I started working with dogs in a dog daycare. This quickly lead to a 10+ year career working in animal shelters. Animal shelters gave me endless opportunities to learn and grow. Often when dogs end up without a home, it’s the hardest time of their life. Here, I was able to support dogs who needed it the most. I worked with dogs who struggled with severe reactivity (towards humans and dogs) and many with anxiety. I learned about fear free handling and was immediately able to see how beneficial it was. By using kindness to connect with them, it built a strong foundation to help them start their journey to become the dogs they could be and get adopted. While it wasn’t easy, I found it incredibly rewarding.
Education:
Education is an incredibly important component of my passion. I have received a Dog Trainer Certification through Good Dog Academy and continue to supplement my knowledge with lectures and seminars(see below). The list will never stop growing and I can’t wait to learn more.
Animal Welfare Certificate - TRU(2013)
Professional Dog Training Certificate - Good Dog Academy(2014)
BAT Instructor Course(2015)
Separation Anxiety: Mission Possible Seminar(2017)
Chraig Patel Practical Puppy Training Workshop(2019)
Defensive Dog Handling Course
Shelter Training and Enrichment - KPA
Dog Trainer Foundations - KPA