https://www.wayoflifedogtraining.com/

Way of Life Dog Training, 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Suite 500, Markham, ON (2026)

10/20/2026

⭐ This Week in the Academy ⭐

This week we're celebrating Hope and Rob and their eleven-year-old Rat Terrier, Kazu, known to this community as The Great Kazu, or simply TGK.

When Hope first came to us, she had a very specific and very practical goal: she wanted to be able to board Kazu so that she and Rob, avid travelers both, could get out into the world without worry. The catch was that Kazu had a long history of aggression toward strangers and other dogs, a habit of lunging at anyone who came too close that had been building for years. Boarding felt like a distant dream.

What Hope learned is that the path to that dream runs through something deeper. By changing the way she handles and relates to Kazu, by helping him become a more confident and thoughtful dog, she could get to the root of what was driving that self-protective behaviour and begin to shift it. It hasn't been a quick fix. It has been patient, dedicated, consistent work by a woman who loves her dog deeply and refuses to give up on him.
And the results are showing up in the most wonderful ways.

This week, Hope and Rob took TGK to the big city. We're talking busy sidewalks and strangers brushing past, other dogs appearing around corners and at crosswalks, the rumble of traffic, the clatter of construction, cyclists weaving through, the relentless stimulation of an urban environment doing exactly what urban environments do. For a dog who spent years being hijacked by his own self-protective instincts around people and dogs in close proximity, this was a serious ask. Kazu is already a seasoned traveler, having seen a lot of the world alongside his people, but the city at this level of intensity was new territory. He rose to meet it. All three of them did.

We also want to take a moment to celebrate Hope not just as a handler but as a member of this community, because she is truly one of a kind. She is the first to welcome every new member who walks through our doors. The first to comment, to encourage, to share in someone else's win. She shows up for this community the same way she shows up for Kazu: with warmth, consistency, and a whole lot of heart. This community is better because she's in it.
So this one is for you, Hope and Rob. And for The Great Kazu, who keeps proving that it's never too late. 🤎✨

10/19/2026

Three years ago today, my book, The Way of Life Method, came into the world. And I have to say, the feeling never gets old. ✨

The book was three years in the making: two years to write, one year to edit. I had always planned to write it, but the pandemic is what finally made it possible. When the world went quiet, I hunkered down and wrote.

There were stretches where this book was so aching to be born that I would wake in the middle of the night feeling genuinely compelled to get up. I would make my bed, knowing I wouldn’t be back to sleep. I’d tidy the house, as if nesting, getting myself ready. And then I’d settle in and write through the quiet of the night while the dogs slept, working until around midday before heading out with them and tending to the young and beloved business growing alongside the book. Some writing days were easier than others. But I never experienced a single moment of writer’s block. Not one. That’s how much this work needed to come out.

It can look from the outside like a book belongs entirely to its author. It doesn’t. It takes a small army and a small fortune to bring one into existence, especially when you’re self-publishing. My editors (yes, more than one), my design and production team, my audiobook team, my beta readers, my clients, and everyone behind the scenes at Way of Life Dog Training: this was never just my work. It was ours.

And then there were those who joined in the celebration: the people who came to book signing events, who attended the seminars organized by supporters near and far, who spread the word with a generosity I will never forget. Being an author is a truly one-of-a-kind feeling, and those early days of sharing this book with the world are something I will carry with me always.

Since publication, The Way of Life Method has gone on to receive a Gold Medal at the 2026 Living Now Book Awards, a Gold Medal at the 2025 Global Book Awards, a win at the 2025 International Impact Book Awards, a Finalist placement at the Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards, a Quarter-Finalist placement in the 2024-2025 BookLife Prize Nonfiction Contest, and the honour of being named Connie’s Book Club Pick by Modern Dog Magazine.

It has also received rave reviews across platforms, and yes, the occasional scathing one from those who couldn’t quite understand the intention of the Method or appreciate its difference from more conventional approaches. Those stung at times, I won’t pretend otherwise. But I never forgot something I learned about good books: some people love them, and some people don’t, and that’s exactly as it should be. I never set out to appeal to everyone. I know the effect this book has had on the people who really needed it and truly got it. That’s enough.

Happy three-year anniversary to The Way of Life Method. And another round of deep, heartfelt thanks to everyone who walked with us before, during, and since publication.
🤎🙏 📖

📸 Hilary Spencer Creative Photography

Book Launchers
kn literary arts
La Méthode Forgée : Formation en Création de Marque et Communication
Propel Digital Marketing
All Creatures Great and Small Cobourg
The Local Pet Pantry
Duke's Port Hope
Little Brown Dog
Modern Dog magazine
International Impact Book Awards
Living Now Book Awards
The Independent Author Network
Booklife-community

10/14/2026

Last April I picked up an older Belgian Malinois boy from Vaughan Animal Services. I’d volunteered to foster him because I couldn’t bear the thought of a working dog with only a few good years left languishing in a shelter.

We renamed him Max. And for the months that followed, I poured everything into him: his weight, his health, his psychology, his confidence, his fitness.

I’ve fostered many times and always been able to let go. But the idea of parting with Max pained me in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

Last week, a promising adoption application came in. I didn’t even look at it.

Max is eight years old, an absolute powerhouse, gallant with my girls, and completely ON when we’re out in the world together. The bond that formed through the healing process was simply undeniable. This isn’t a foster fail. This is a foster success.

Please join me in welcoming Max as a permanent member of the Way of Life family.
🤎🖤

10/10/2026

🍁 Happy Thanksgiving from Way of Life 🍁

To our clients, our community, and everyone who has followed along with us on this journey: Happy Canadian Thanksgiving.

This time of year has a way of making us slow down just enough to notice what matters. And for so many of us, our dogs are right at the heart of that. The walks, the quiet mornings, the way they greet us at the door, the moments out in the world where everything just clicks... these are the things that make daily life feel full.

We are grateful for every person who has trusted us with their dog, who has opened their mind to a different way of thinking, and who has chosen to invest in the relationship at the centre of it all. It is a privilege to do this work, and it is made richer every day by the people and dogs we get to do it with.

Wishing you and yours a warm and wonderful long weekend.
🤎🍁✨

10/06/2026

500 followers may be a small number to some people, but to us, it represents years of work, learning, conversations, walks, challenges, progress, and a community that continues to grow.

We’ve had the privilege of working alongside so many human-dog teams, helping people better understand their dogs, move through behavior challenges, and build stronger relationships along the way.

Thank you to everyone who has followed, learned with us, shared our work, joined a class, attended an event, read the book, or simply stayed curious about a different way of living with dogs.

We’re very grateful you’re here. 🤎✨

10/06/2026

Happy Tuesday, everyone ☀️ 😎
I want to talk to you about my foster Max - my foster boy who won’t be going anywhere because this past week, I made the decision to officially adopt him, and to declare this not a foster fail, but a foster success.
Last April, serving as a foster for Belgian shepherds rescue of Canada / Secours Bergers Belges du Canada, I turned up at Vaughan Animal Services to pick up an older Belgian Malinois boy named Kevin. I'd volunteered to foster him because I couldn't bear the thought of a working dog with only a few good years left languishing in a shelter with little hope of adoption.
When they brought him into the lobby, we locked eyes immediately. I think he knew he was leaving that building. And maybe he knew, before I did, that he'd be staying with me.
We renamed him Max. And for the months that followed, I poured everything into him: his weight, his health, his psychology, his confidence, his fitness. We walked, we worked, we trained. He came with me everywhere.
I've fostered many times before and I've always been able to let go, trusting that a wonderful home awaited. But there was something about the idea of parting with Max that pained me in a way I couldn't quite explain, the same way I'd felt years ago with Bob, another foster I eventually adopted after nine months together.
With both boys, the bond that formed through the healing process was simply undeniable.
Max is eight years old and an absolute powerhouse. He's gallant with my girls, unbothered by chaos, and completely ON when we're out in the world together. He still has so much to give, and honestly, so much to teach me.
Last week, a promising adoption application came in. I couldn't even look at it.
Please join me in welcoming Max as a permanent member of the Way of Life family.
🙏 🤎 🥳

10/05/2026

Big thanks to the Ruff Mudder team for organizing another epic event for people and their pups. We were a small group of Way of Lifers who enjoyed a 5 km walk across fields, woods, and trails in perfect fall weather. 🍂

Paws and Pumpkins in Stayner, Ontario, did not disappoint. Five kilometres of meandering trails through forests and fields dressed up in full October colour, fairy huts tucked into the trees, treasure hunts, nine fall photo ops, and the kind of crisp autumn air that makes everyone feel just a little more alive. Bruna and Nejra came along with me, our wonderful office manager Cathy brought her girl Mary, and we were so happy to have our client Gail with her four-month-old Welsh Spaniel Sylvie joining us for the adventure.

Gail first reached out to us after reading The Way of Life Method, sharing how much its teachings had meant to her and how she'd been applying them to her senior basset hound Della and the other dogs in her life. But what she really wanted was to raise a puppy on the Method from the very beginning. When Della passed away, Gail was ready for that next chapter and chose a Welsh Spaniel. She waited, she prepared, and earlier this year she finally brought Sylvie home.

Sylvie is four months old. She is feisty, bold, confident, and outgoing, and already deeply responsive to her mama. The magic of raising a puppy this way is written all over this little dog, and we can't wait to see what the months and years ahead bring for these two. ✨

Thank you to the Ruff Mudder team, to Cathy and Mary, and to Gail and Sylvie for making it such a special Saturday.
🤎 🍁

10/01/2026

⭐️ This Week in the Academy ⭐️
This week in the Academy, we're celebrating Spectra, an 11-year-old husky/shepherd mix, rescue from SPCA Laurentides Labelle in Quebec, and Anne Marie the handler who never gave up.

For most of her life, walks have been something that Anne Marie dreaded rather than enjoyed. Reactivity to dogs and people, anxiety, pulling on leash. The kind of dog whose walks feel more like survival than a good time. This past week, Anne Marie took Spectra out for an evening walk and something different happened.

Four separate encounters: a dog and owner approaching from down the road, a car full of barking dogs pulling out of a park, a doodle rounding a corner, and a dog running down its driveway. Spectra handled all four beautifully, and on her own terms.

She glanced. She checked in. She came when called. She grounded. She made eye contact with her handler and waited for things to pass. And then they just kept walking, like it was nothing.

What we love about this story isn't just the outcome. It's the detail her handler noticed: that in the moments Spectra chose connection over reaction.

That's the Way of Life Method at work. And it works at 11 years old just as much as it does at 11 months. Peace of mind on a walk, knowing your dog can handle what used to cause panic, there really is nothing quite like it.

Congratulations to Spectra and Anne Marie. We're so proud of you!
🤎✨

The Way of Life Academy is our online membership community where dog owners learn the Method at their own pace, with the support of a group of people who truly get it. If Spectra's story sounds familiar, we'd love to have you. Link in the comments.

09/28/2026

Happy Monday, everyone. What a weekend.
Sunday morning: seven kilometres through the Scarborough Hydro Park and the Meadoway, gorgeous and still in bloom, and exactly the right call when some of our newer students joined the group. We started with space, engagement, and games, found our groove, and by the end some teams were practicing dropped leash. Sore, sweaty, and so satisfied. ☀️
Sunday evening: our second Way of Life Social at HQ. Some dogs played. Others took it in from a distance. Both are exactly right.
Thank you to Jonathan, Mary, Dixie, Bruna, Beren, Siena, Freya, Romeo, Kobe, and every human who showed up this weekend. This community is something special. 🤎✨

09/28/2026

Happy Monday, everyone, and what a weekend this was!
🙏☀️
On Sunday morning we laced up and hit the Scarborough Hydro Park and the stunning bee-and-bird-friendly Meadoway, still in full September bloom, for a seven kilometre walk with some of our favorite dogs and people. We had originally planned a park known for being busy with dogs, strollers, cyclists, and all the chaos of a popular weekend spot.
But when two of our newer students decided to join us, we made a quick call: wider spaces, more room to breathe, more room for everyone to find their footing. It turned out to be exactly the right call.
We started organized. Plenty of space between teams, dogs sniffing and playing engagement games, handlers and dogs getting tuned into each other before we even set off. And then we found our groove. Dogs settled, leashes grew slack, and by the time we were deep into the Meadoway some teams were walking closer together and practicing dropped leash. The September sun was warmer than any of us expected. We made it back to our cars sore, sweaty, and deeply satisfied.
That evening we hosted our second ever Way of Life Social at HQ. Some dogs had playdates. Others hung back, taking it all in from a comfortable distance, not yet ready for interaction, and that was absolutely fine. Both are valid. Both are exactly what we'd hope to see.
A huge thank you to Ridgeback Mix Jonathan, Mali Mix Mary, German Shepherds Dixie, Bruna, and Beren, Boxer Siena, Papillon Freya, Vizsla Romeo, and Bernese Mountain Dog Kobe, and the incredible humans on the other end of their leashes. Way of Life isn't just dog training. It's a true community, and weekends like this one remind us of that in the best possible way.
🤎✨

Way of Life Dog Training

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