Dogma Training

09/02/2026

Managing a reactive dog is exhausting. The constant scanning, the route planning, the walk that was fine until it wasn't.

Here's what we want you to know: the work you're doing through vigilance, careful management, and crossing the street before things escalate is not just damage control. It is training. Every calm experience in the presence of a trigger is building something. Every time your dog looks to you instead of reacting, the relationship does its work.

You can't control everything on a walk. But you can control more than you think before you leave the house, on the walk, and when things go wrong.

👉 Swipe through for the full breakdown.

And if you want to go deeper, the blog post is at https://bit.ly/46B76Tc

09/02/2026

Your Dogma membership is more than a class. It's a whole community behind you and your dog.

Here's what's included every single month as a member:

🎓 Member Seminars: educational learning to keep you growing
📺 Live-Streaming Classes: watch live from anywhere
💬 Training Support: instant messaging access to our trainers
📱 Video Library: hundreds of training videos available 24/7
📋 Handouts & Guides: resources to support you at home
👥 Online Community: connect, ask questions, and learn alongside other Dogma families
💻 Webinars & Learning: access to a variety of topics
🏷️ Member Pricing: exclusive pricing on services, events & more

And this September, here's what's on the calendar, all included free with your membership:

📅 Family Ties Seminar: September 11th at 6:30 pm
🖥️ Back to School Class: September 13th at 9:00 am
💬 Live Training Support: September 20th at 4:00 pm

Back to school season isn't just for the kids. September is packed and we want you to take full advantage. 🐾

Questions? We're always here to help - call or email us anytime.

09/01/2026

Back-to-school season is the perfect time to think about how your kids and your dog are doing together.

Our Director of Behaviour & Education, Shelley Cherniawsky, is a mom of three and shares her home with two dogs. She knows firsthand that the relationship between kids and dogs doesn't just happen. It's built through understanding, communication, and setting everyone up for success.

That's exactly what Family Ties is about.

Join us Friday, September 11th at 6:30 pm for an evening seminar covering body language, supervision strategies, common household scenarios, and realistic expectations for every stage of childhood. You'll leave with practical tools you can use right away.

📅 September 11th | 6:30 pm | Dogma Facility
💰 Free for members / $15 for non-members
👨‍👩‍👧 Owners only please

🔗 Registrations is required. Grab your spot at https://bit.ly/4gKlZHF

08/28/2026

📍 Save the date for Dogma’s Open House!

📆 Saturday, September 26 | 1–3 pm | 515 70 Avenue SW

Drop by anytime and see what a day at Dogma actually looks like. Explore the puppy enrichment room and sensory garden, check out the training bay, and meet the trainers behind it all. We’ll have live mini Puppy Success Sessions running, program info for every stage, an enrichment stuffing station, promos, and more! The mural from is an experience in itself!

Special guests from will be on-site too, with a short presentation during the event!

All people- and dog-friendly, fully vaccinated dogs are welcome - no RSVP needed. Just come say hello. 🐶

Full details through the link!

Dogma's doors are open. Come see the space, meet the trainers, and bring your dog on Saturday, Sept 26, 1–3 pm. Drop in anytime during the event!

08/28/2026

Even with our standards, certified leadership, and everything we had built, I knew we weren't giving puppies the best possible start by putting them straight into day school.

KinderPups had been part of my original vision for the facility. Seeing it finally come to life, when the timing was right and we were ready, was an important milestone in our journey.

Some dogs needed some training support in daycare so we were charging extra for some one-on-one trainer time. Some families declined, and it put us in a difficult position as the dog needed more to be successful/stress-free. I knew there was a better way.

The focus wasn't just obedience. It was about laying the groundwork to help puppies thrive not just in day school, but in life. Smaller groups. More individual attention. A dedicated space for puppies to learn at their own pace.

Our first intake filled quickly. We hit capacity right away and had to hire another puppy trainer almost straight away. The market told us clearly and fast — this was something families needed.

What struck me most was how quickly we saw the impact, especially with the nervous puppies. Having more time and individual focus allowed them to blossom in ways that wouldn't have been possible in a larger group. It was immediate.

We started KinderPups as optional. The benefits were so important that we made it a requirement for all puppies.

Then something unexpected happened. Families didn't want to leave. They were seeing real results and didn't want that to change when their puppy transitioned to regular day school. So we created JuniorPups to bridge the gap.

That progression became the foundation for where all our programs are today.

KinderPups hasn't changed much because we got the core right early, built around what puppies actually need. We've added an enrichment room, a private space and yard, more rest, online learning, Q&A sessions, virtual classes, and a puppy parent community. But the heart of it is the same.

Invest in puppies early. Get it right from the start.

Everything else follows.

08/26/2026

National Dog Day is today for everyone else.

Here, it's every day.

Every session, every walk, every class, every school day, and every family we help understand their dog a little better - that's just a regulary day at Dogma.

So today we're not doing anything different. We're just doing what we always do: showing up for dogs and the people who love them.

08/26/2026

Before you try that dog training tip you just saw online, pause for a second.

The dog training industry is completely unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a trainer, make content, and build a following. The most shareable advice is rarely the most accurate, and some of the techniques that spread fastest are the ones most likely to make things worse, not better.

A few questions worth asking before trying anything new: Who is actually saying this and what are their qualifications? Does this consider how my dog feels or just what they do? Is this approach kind or does it rely on discomfort or intimidation? Would I be happy for this to be filmed and shared?

Your dog deserves advice built around them. Not around views, trends, or what worked for someone else's dog.

Swipe through for the full breakdown - including how to spot advice worth following.

08/25/2026

Don't miss out on this amazing dinner event you can attend with your dog! Hosted by our great friends at Vin Room - trust us, this is going to be a fabulous night!

Summer is finally here and so is our Pooches Patio Paw'ty. Join us at Vin Room West for our 5 course menu for you and your pooch. Tickets include dinner for you and your pooch and a swag bag worth $25.



Menu and tickets
https://vin-room.myshopify.com/

08/21/2026

This week we're back for Part 2 of Margie learning all about positive vet visits!

Today, she’s learning how to step onto the scale. This can be tricky for some dogs. they’re stepping onto a new texture, in a new space, with lots of distractions all around them.

With a slow, positive introduction, the scale can become just another fun and rewarding part of the vet visit.

Margie does a great job exploring this new objects and learning that an item she may later encounter at the vet's office can be a positive part of her day.

08/21/2026

I hadn't considered that scaling a business means scaling your standards too.

I started Dogma because I was a good dog trainer with a vision to do things differently and I had little business experience. I learned on the fly, and opening the second location was when I had to start thinking of myself as a business owner, not just a dog trainer.

When I opened Killarney, I assumed the culture and systems we had built at Chinook would carry over. But they didn't, and I learned that people didn't see things through my same lens. Not because they didn't care, but because I had never fully articulated what I was seeing, or why it mattered.

It showed up in small things. Cleaning not quite up to par. Systems not being followed consistently. Things getting disorganized. And I started to see changes in the dogs' behaviour. At Dogma, the dogs don't lie. If the environment slips, they show it.

The challenge was that none of it happened overnight. Things slid slowly, and by the time I identified the patterns, they had become habits. That's the quiet danger of scaling because small shortcuts accumulate when no one is watching with the same eyes you have.

So we built stronger and simpler systems. We created checklists and introduced what we call the 5 Paw Check - a framework for every team member to assess the space through five lenses: dogs, people, sight, sound, and smell. It works because it's grounded in what matters in our environment.

We made sure lead team understood not just the what, but the why. My high expectations are what got us here. They needed to remain, and it was good learning to see the outcome when they weren't followed. Lead team needed to be equipped to hold that standard with their own teams.

I reminded everyone, including myself, that I was new to this too. Two locations were drastically different from one and we were learning together. The focus was on finding solutions, not dwelling on what wasn't working.

That approach came from the same place as everything else I've built - empathy first, high standards always, and the belief that people do better when they understand the why.

The dogs noticed the difference. So did the clients and so did I.