Jennifer began her training career at the Edmonton Humane Society after her passion for dogs collided with her deep interest in psychology and education. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, and holds a Dog Behaviour and Training Methodology Certificate. She is continuing her canine education with the Academy for Dog Trainers, a challenging two-year program that is the gold standard in dog training.
From teaching group obedience classes to guiding families through complex behaviour problems, she has spent thousands of hours helping people and their pets understand each other and work together. She enjoys developing training programs that are easy and fun for people to implement. She’s passionate about enriching dog’s lives through training and play, and loves watching the relationship between dogs and their families flourish as they learn together.
Jennifer is committed to lifelong learning and frequently updates her education to make sure she’s bringing you the best information possible. Her main interest is in working with reactive and overly-enthusiastic dogs, but she’s prepared to guide you through a wide range of obedience and behavioural training. She is an active board member of the Alberta Force Free Alliance.
Jenn is a lifelong resident of Edmonton and currently has three dogs. Emma is a nine-year-old golden retriever and enjoys cuddles and rolling in snow. Waffles is a three-year-old agility enthusiast who is passionate about food. He often assists in classes and presentations, showing off his sunny personality with people of all ages. You can read more about him here. The newest addition is a border collie puppy named Rampage, who is working toward a career in dog agility.
After attaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, Suzanne’s training career began in 2009 at a rural boarding facility that specialized in traditional dominance-based training methods. Desiring to update her own methods and continue her education in order to better serve her clients, she gained employment at the Edmonton Humane Society as a trainer and behaviour consultant, leading both group classes and individual training sessions and addressing a wide variety of behavioural issues. Suzanne is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. She also holds a Dog Behaviour and Training Methodology Certificate.
While Suzanne enjoys assisting pet owners with obedience and behaviour challenges of all kinds, it is the shy and fearful dogs who interest her the most. Helping a dog’s confidence grow over time and watching the bond develop between dog and owner are her favourite part of the training process.
Suzanne has two Shih Tzus, 10-year-old Maggie and 7-year-old Coco, both of whom assist in training in very different ways. Maggie is a fan of all humans everywhere and specializes in reminding young dogs how to greet and play appropriately. Coco, formerly an extremely fearful and unsocialized dog, thrives on learning new skills such as agility and tricks. You will likely meet them both in class!
Cassie’s career with dogs began in 2011 while working the register at PetSmart. Interacting with loving pet parents and their dogs each day quickly sparked her passion for fostering the human-animal bond. In 2013, yearning for more knowledge, she was promoted to a training position, and has continued to teach training classes at several PetSmart locations throughout the years. She has worked at the Edmonton Humane Society as a Trainer and Behaviour Specialist, where she led group classes as well as private training consultations addressing a wide variety of behavioural issues. Cassie is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT- KA) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. She has completed Karen Pryor Academy’s Dog Trainer Professional course, and attends seminars and training conferences regularly to continue her education. She has and will always use positive, force-free methods.
While each and every dog has something to teach us, Cassie particularly enjoys working with dogs who are stubborn and “misunderstood”. She loves to see frustration transform into eager learning when the animal feels understood. She also looks forward to any opportunity to teach fun tricks, and has an interest in learning more about agility, other dog sports, and canine fitness.
Cassie has 2 dogs that she calls “hers”. Kahlua is a senior rescue mix, who enjoys laying on the couch and doing tricks for cheese. Her partner’s dog, Rocco (pictured), is a 4 year old German Shepherd/Husky/Lab mix who loves to explore, learn new things, and make new friends.
Waffles is a seven-year-old golden retriever whose lifelong passion is food. He is an enthusiastic participant in Edmonton’s thriving dog agility community, and holds an Agility Trial Champion of Canada title, which is comprised of eight other titles.
Waffles enjoys helping in classes and presentations – from demoing obedience for an audience to teaching children how to say hello to a dog politely, he’s a great educator in his own right! You may be lucky enough to meet Waffles in one of our classes.
When he’s not hard at work, he can’t get enough of splashing through streams and lakes in Edmonton’s dog parks, and loves to finish off his day taking up as much of the bed as possible.