Annika McDade, Professional Dog Trainer extraordinaire, collaborates with Release the Hounds to create an in-depth Team Training Curriculum.

Annika McDade is a triple-certified Vancouver based Professional Dog Trainer & Behaviour Consultant, who has been training since 2008 when she began teaching group obedience classes in Calgary. However, her passion for working with animals was evident long before her professional career began. At the young age of 9 years old Annika started a dog walking company in her neighbourhood on top of spending nearly every Sunday at the local shelter.

As an adult, she began volunteering with local rescue organizations and eventually joined forces with the Calgary Humane Society, where she gained invaluable experience and knowledge in the non-profit sector.

See Annika’s detailed accounts of the adventures in Mongolia, China and the French Alps, on her website. Following her experience training animals overseas, Annika returned to Canada to open Canine Connection Training.

Annika’s goal through Canine Connection Training is to educate pet owners on how to effectively communicate with and understand their dogs. The services offered are flexible and aim to lend a helping hand at achieving personalized training goals, no matter how difficult the challenge.

Canine Connection Training offers Private Consultations for complex behaviour concerns, such as anxiety, reactivity, aggression, fear, destructive behaviour, etc. The consultation is conducted in the [pullquote]Dog Training is about so much more than just having a dog that listens. It is about working together and developing the training tools required to build a solid relationship with your pet. A relationship built on mutual respect, trust and support yields lasting training results.” [/pullquote]comforts of your home, where Annika works one-on-one with you to address the concerns at hand. She also offers Private Puppy Sessions and a Walk-N-Train program.

With her diverse background and expansive experience working with animals, Annika’s role with Release The Hounds is to provide a support system for the Release the Hounds team. She will do so by creating a robust Team Training Curriculum, allowing staff to partake in ongoing in-depth canine education, and participate long term in ensuring our team of dog walkers are the best that they can be!

We are thrilled to have her as our CCPDT-Certified Training Coach!