The pair met in Lethbridge, AB over 8 years ago while, and after finishing Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in New Media, were ready for a change and decided to move to Trail, BC. The move to the gorgeous area brought them closer to family, better weather, and a new relaxed lifestyle completed with a plethora of outdoor activities. Sarah and Cam have been in BC for just over two years and they and their furry family love it here.

Their family consists of three dogs, two cats, and several fish. The cats, BoBo and Sparklepants, enjoy a cozy indoor lifestyle. The dogs, Maui – 10 year old siberian husky, Nick – 3 year old husky, and Dexter – 18 month old belgian shepherd, keep Cam and Sarah busy and active. Cam, Sarah, and the dogs enjoy a variety of activies year round, including hiking, biking, agility, dog sledding, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing.

Sarah is a certified dog trainer with over 10 years experience working with rescue dogs and pets. She specializes in positive training and leadership, puppy training, basic obedience, fear and aggression issues, and “difficult” dogs. Cam is an animal lover with a wealth of knowledge gained from fostering and working with many rescue dogs with Sarah through the years.

Sarah first started training dogs through traditional training methods, which are based on punishment/correction and the idea that the root of all problem behaviour is the dog attempting dominance. Everything changed when Sarah found Maui. She was 3 years old and had an abusive and neglected start to her life. The methods Sarah had been taught, caused the sensitive and free-spirited dog to simply shut down. Enrolling in an obedience class hoping for insight sparked Sarah’s interest in clicker training and started her continuing quest to learn as much as possible about dog behaviour and positive training as possible.

The clicker training class opened a whole new world for her, as she saw her independent dog turn on, become engaged and enjoying learning, thinking and being creative. Thanks to this first class and the effect it had on her dog, Sarah is now a dedicated positive dog trainer. She has since learned that much of what she first was taught is outdated and incorrect. Maui is now 10 years old and is happy and confident, and trained in dog sledding, competes in dog agility and competition obedience (she has her first level title through CKC), rally obedience and recently obtained her Therapy Dog certification through St. John’s ambulance.

Cam, as a talented artist and photographer, adds an extra dimension to Barks n’ Rec by providing pet photography and custom portrait panting service. With a combined total of 10 years and two Fine Art degrees he has fine tuned his talents and love for all things artistic and his talent shines in everything he creates. Together Sarah and Cam hope to provide a valuable service to pet owners in the Great Trail Area with their business.

Group Classes – Kinderpuppy, Mind Your Manners, Intermediate and Advanced Obedience

Our training methods are positive and scientifically proven to achieve lasting results; we do not offer quick fixes or punishment-based methods. We believe that creative, positive training combined with managing your dog’s behaviour, relationship-building, and peacefully gaining their respect, is the most effective method to fix behavioural issues. It is our experience that aversive methods in training are rarely necessary and are not truly effective. We offer a wide array of classes and private lessons, with training options for every age, breed, or behaviour problem.

Instead of using punishment as your go-to solution, we will teach you how to properly manage your dog’s environment to reduce problem behaviours, properly redirect your dog from bad behaviour, and train desireable behaviours instead. Sometimes, a negative consequence may be necessary, but we can help you understand when they are appropriate and what are humane, effect options. You will learn how your dog thinks and learns, so you can better understand him and the strange things he sometimes does! We will teach you how to understand and read canine body language, what is appropriate play behaviour, how to become a fair and respected leader to your dog, and develop a symbiotic relationship built on trust in which you become the reward. Teach your dog all the basic cues and how learn hot to maintain desired behaviours with reinforcement in your dog’s every day life.

Kinderpuppy class will not only give you a head start on basic obedience, but also you will learn how to effectively deal with common puppy problems such as nipping, housetraining, and chewing. Learn how to stop bad behaviour before it begins and socialize your puppy along the way. Puppy classes are geared to dogs from 10-16 weeks of age, in order to maximize your puppy’s key socialization window and prevent possible fear or aggression problems and create a well rounded dog. 2 sets of vaccinations are required by 10 weeks of age, and three by 16 weeks.

Our classes are fun for both human and dog! Come experience the magic of positive reinforcement and see what everyone is talking about. We do not use choke, shock, or prong collars. Instead, our methods include dog-friendly training methods like clicker training and lure/reward using food, play, and praise as reinforcement to bring out the best in your pet. You can start at any time, and if for whatever reason you can’t complete the classes, we will transfer the remaining balance to a credit for doggy daycare. We are also experienced with “difficult to train” breeds and multi-dog households. Contact us today to start building a better relationship with your dog.

Group Lessons cost: $142.85 plus HST for 8 Class Pass (3 months to use). Dogs must be up to date on vaccinations (within 3 years) and records must be provided. Bordatella vaccination is required for adult dogs.

Private Lessons Private lessons available for behaviour problems, or people who can’t make scheduled group classes. We are experienced with fear/aggression problems using proven, scientific methods of behaviour change. Depending on the severity of the issue you can often see a marked improvement in just a few lessons. Most of the time it does not take very much time to deal with common problems such as barking, jumping up, pulling on the leash, fear/reactivity (aggression) to people or other dogs. Severe aggression/fear problems take the most time but with dedication, patience, positive methods and consistency can be brought to a manageable level fairly quickly. Don’t get rid of your dog! Call us for help first. We succeed where other trainers have failed. Flexible schedule!

Cost: $60 per hour plus HST and travel time ($30/hour) if total travel is over 30 minutes (Past Fruitvale, Rossland, Genelle – or we can refer you to a qualified trainer in your area). Initial consults are usually one hour, and follow up lessons around 30 minutes. Email consults are always free.

Understanding Aggression Most, if not all, of dog aggression is rooted in fear. Aggressive behaviour is actually the dog’s way of asking for space in response to something that frightens the dog. Often the owner’s nervousness due to past experience only compounds the issue. Using punishment to train aggression does not fix the root cause of the problem in fact is only makes it worse (adding unpleasant/painful stimulus to an already unpleasant/fearful stimulus makes the dog’s trigger even more scary!) and although the dog may look like it is cured (stops growling etc.) in fact what has occurred is the dog has learned to suppress the outward signs of aggression, but the fear has not gone away. This creates a “loaded weapon”, a dog who will not growl or show signs of being afraid and will go directly to biting if pushed too far. Using punishment to treat ‘aggression’ (fearful behaviour) can also cause the dog to redirect his aggression to a person (likely the handler), or other dog or stimulus. Our training methods do not use any punishment or correction for fear or aggression. Instead we focus on proven, scientific methods of behaviour modification. We use systematic desensitization and counter conditioning to break down the fear response and teach your dog a new method (looking to you for direction instead of barking/lunging/going crazy) of dealing with his fears. This method works surprisingly quickly and creates lasting results and breaks down the root of the problem.

Testimonials

Sarah is amazing. She went above and beyond more than once. When is the next class we can join?

Sarah has been my dog trainer for a year and…she is a wonderful person to work with. Sarah always goes above and beyond what is minimally required. Whatever she does she puts her all into the job at hand. She provides professional and effective work methods which are easily communicated with others. The methods which she executes are very efficient and useful. Everything that Sarah does is done with a great level of care and interest, and it is clear she is very passionate about training.

I have to thank you so much Sarah – you are a wonderful dog trainer and we enjoyed your class so much. Good luck to you in everything you do and not only did we get a dog that listens better and behaves better – we found a friend in you.

Sarah was really helpful, she used constructive criticism and was great with the dogs.

Thanks for all the positive feedback! I had a great time!

Sarah is a very nice, helpful, good teacher, and is good with the dogs.

(Sarah) provided some really great ideas on our problems. Her patience was greatly appreciated.