Caring K9 Institute

09/01/2026

🐾THE WAIT IS OVER — OUR WEBSITE IS OFFICIALLY LIVE!🐾

We have spent countless hours over the last month updating, writing, creating, and putting everything together, and are so excited to finally share it with our Caring K9 family!

Head over to k9s.ca and take a look around!

🐾 Meet some of our amazing team — both 2-legged and 4-legged!
🐾 Learn more about our programs and everything Caring K9 has to offer
🐾 Check out our upcoming class schedule
🐾 Meet a few of our incredible Working Dog teams and learn about the amazing work they do
🐾 Get to know some of the very special dogs who have helped shape Caring K9 into what it is today
🐾 And so much more!

Make sure you visit our Legacy Dogs page… but fair warning, you may need some tissues. ❤️🐾 There were definitely tears flowing while creating each of their profiles. These dogs are such an important part of Caring K9’s story, and each one has left their own incredible mark on our organization, our trainers, their handlers, and the people whose lives they touched. I truly hope when you read their stories, you can feel the love and emotion behind them and understand just how incredibly special these dogs are to us. ❤️ We have a couple more to create and will highlight them once their profiles are created ❤️

A quick note for our McBride clients: We are currently experiencing a few technical difficulties with our McBride class listings, and we apologize that they aren’t showing on the website just yet! We are working hard to get everything fixed and posted as soon as possible. In the meantime, McBride clients can contact us directly to register for upcoming classes! 🐾

We are so excited to finally have our website out in the world and to share a little more of the heart, history, dogs, people, and passion behind Caring K9 Institute.❤️🐾

✨ Visit k9s.ca and let us know what you think! ✨

08/29/2026

This is a great read of the importance of our service dogs 🐾

Service dogs are more than just dogs with a vest.

For someone who genuinely needs one, a service dog can mean the difference between “I can’t do this alone” and “I have a little more independence today.”

They can be trained to perform specific tasks that help their handler manage a disability — whether that means retrieving medication, providing mobility assistance, alerting to changes, interrupting harmful behaviors, helping during episodes, creating space in crowded areas, or assisting with everyday activities.

But the importance of a service dog isn't only about the tasks.

It's the confidence of knowing your partner is there.

It's being able to go somewhere you might otherwise be afraid to go.

It's having assistance when your body or mind isn't cooperating.

And it's knowing that even on the really difficult days, you have a highly trained partner beside you.

At the same time, not every dog is suited to service work. A dog can be loving, intelligent, and well-behaved and still not have the temperament needed for the job. Service dogs need appropriate health, stability, focus, confidence, and the ability to work calmly in a wide variety of environments.

A service dog is not a status symbol, an accessory, or simply a well-behaved pet.

For the right handler and the right dog, it is a working partnership built on trust, training, and teamwork.

And for many handlers, that partnership can change their entire quality of life.

08/22/2026

Our website isn’t quite ready to officially launch yet, but we’ve gone ahead and made our Fall Classes available for registration online! 🐾

To register, visit k9s.ca and head to Upcoming Classes → Prince George, where you’ll find all of our October classes ready for registration.

Prefer to register directly with us? No problem! You can also contact us at [email protected] and we’d be happy to manually register you.

Below, you’ll find the classes we’ll be offering for our October sessions. 🐾

We’re looking forward to a wonderful fall season filled with learning, growth, and lots of wagging tails! 🐾

08/21/2026

We need your help! 🐾

Our new and improved website is so close to being ready to launch, and we want to showcase some of our amazing Caring K9 family!

Do you have a Therapy Dog or Service Dog? We'd love to feature photos of your team out working in the community, training, attending public access outings, visiting facilities, or accomplishing goals together.

📸 Send us:
• A photo of your dog working or training
• Your dog's name
• A brief description of what they were doing
• Any additional information you'd like to share about your team

At Caring K9 Institute, we're all about community, connection, and celebrating the incredible dedication of our handlers and dogs. We would love for our website to reflect the amazing teams that make our Caring K9 family so special.

Please email your submissions to:
[email protected]

Thank you for helping us showcase the heart of Caring K9 Institute. We can't wait to see your photos and stories! 🐕‍🦺❤️

08/21/2026

Reactive dogs are often some of the sweetest, kindest souls you'll ever meet. They are dogs who may be struggling with fear, anxiety, frustration, uncertainty, or past experiences that have taught them to be cautious of the world around them.

Our job is to protect their boundaries, advocate for them, teach them to trust us, and help them feel safe and confident. Every reactive dog is different, but one thing that remains consistent is the importance of respecting boundaries.

Remember, not every dog wants to be pet by strangers, and not every dog enjoys playing with unfamiliar dogs at a dog park. Learning to listen to what your dog is telling you is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Exposure and socialization are important, but they should be done thoughtfully and at the dog's pace. Too much, too soon can be overwhelming.

Progress with a reactive dog takes time, patience, training, and carefully managed exposure. Unfortunately, one person ignoring a dog's boundaries can undo weeks or even months of hard work and set their progress back significantly. This is why respecting a dog's space is so important.

It's also important to remember that any dog can become reactive if their boundaries are repeatedly ignored or if they are placed in situations where they feel unsafe, threatened, or overwhelmed.

Be kind. Be patient. Respect boundaries. Advocate for dogs. 🐾

A little understanding can make a world of difference.

08/18/2026

Our Dunster location at Falling Star Ranch has officially released its Fall Dog Training Class schedule! 🐾

If you'd like to register for a class, please contact Birgit directly by phone or email, or visit the Falling Star Ranch dog training page:
https://fallingstarranch.ca/dog-training/

You can also find the class information on the Caring K9 Institute website at k9s.ca under the McBride location.

Spaces are limited, so be sure to reserve your spot early. We look forward to seeing you and your dogs this fall!

08/15/2026

💙🐾 The Importance of Letting Service and Therapy Dogs Just Be Dogs 🐾💙

Service/Therapy dogs work incredibly hard every day, and just like us, they need time to relax, recharge, and simply enjoy being a dog. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for their physical and emotional well-being.

After long days or stressful encounters, it's especially important to give our working dogs opportunities to decompress. Whether it's running through a field, playing fetch, swimming, exploring the yard, or simply relaxing with their family, these moments help keep them happy, healthy, and ready to return to work.

What are some of your favorite ways to help your pup unwind and "just dog"? We'd love to hear in the comments! 🐶💙

Pictured below is Skidboot, the service dog of one of our Caring K9 trainers in the Dunster/McBride area. When he's off duty, Skidboot enjoys life as a farm dog—running, exploring, and simply being a dog. Having that balance allows him to thrive both at home and while working, where he faithfully watches over his mom and helps keep her safe every day.

08/12/2026

🐾 From Therapy Dog to Service Dog: Meet Leo! 🐾

Service dogs can provide so many incredible tasks and supports to help mitigate their handler’s disability and make everyday life a little more manageable. ❤️

Videoed below is Leo “getting help!” Leo is an exceptional guy who recently began his Service Dog training, and WOW—has he taken to it! He has picked up his tasks so quickly that he is already getting ready to begin his submission process for his Public Access Test through the Justice Institute.🎓🐕

Leo isn’t new to working, though! He has previously passed all four levels of our Therapy Dog program and absolutely loves his work as a Therapy Dog. Now, his new role helping mitigate his mom’s disability has opened up an entirely new passion for both Leo and his humans.

His family has taken on the challenge of training and absolutely run with it! They have put in the time, effort, and dedication, and we could not be more proud of this team. ❤️

This fall, our Therapy Dog and Service Dog training programs are coming together to become our new WORKING DOG PROGRAM! 🐾

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes, doing additional research and expanding our program to include more real-world situations and scenarios drawn from the experiences of our trainers and handlers.

Our goal is to help teams develop the skills they need to successfully navigate both the Therapy Dog and Service Dog worlds, while building confident, capable, happy working dogs.

We are VERY excited about this new program and everything it has grown into!

Keep your eyes peeled for all things **Working Dog** this fall—you won’t want to miss what’s coming! 🐾❤️

And a HUGE congratulations to Leo and his humans. We are so incredibly proud of you! Keep up the amazing work! 👏🐕‍🦺

08/08/2026

🍂 Fall Classes Are Coming 🍂

We've been receiving many messages and I promise we've been listening! 🤎🐾

Summer has been a busy one for us, so we haven't had a chance to announce our upcoming classes—but we're excited to say they're almost here!

This fall we'll be offering:

🐕‍🦺 Therapy Dog Levels 1, 3 & 4
🐶 Puppies with Potential – Phase One (puppies aged 3–5 months)
🐕 Puppies with Potential – Phase Two (puppies aged 6–11 months)
🐩 Just the Basics (for dogs of all ages who have never attended a class or simply need a refresh)

We're currently rebuilding our website, so class registration isn't available there just yet. If you'd like to be first in line, reach out to reserve your spot! We'll add you to your desired class and get you registered manually!

📧 Email: [email protected]
💬 Or send us a message on our page.

We have truly missed seeing all of you and can't wait to welcome everyone back at the end of September/beginning of October. We look forward to another wonderful season of learning, growing, and making memories together! 🤎🐾

🤎 Pictured below are the beautiful Phoenix and P**a. Phoenix is our trick master and is always eager to learn something new! Her big sister, P**a, has been a dedicated therapy dog for several years, sharing love, comfort, and countless smiles with so many people through her work at the hospital. As P**a prepares for a well-deserved retirement in the coming days, she leaves behind an incredible legacy of compassion. She will be greatly missed in her therapy work, but we are so grateful for all the lives she has touched. 🤎🐾