EDUCATING OWNERS AND DOGS SINCE 1995!

What distinguishes me from many other trainers and behavior experts?

Purely positive method that decreases fear and stress, and thereby problem behaviors.

Ongoing support for life. Guaranteed! I care deeply about dogs and want to stay connected, even after your problems are solved.

Extensive education and experience with all breeds and sizes, ages, and from many different backgrounds. Check my credentials.


Mindful Leadership opens the door for true companionship.

My mission is to mentor owners to become mindful leaders, thereby guiding their canine companions into social belonging and emotional safety. That is what every dog deserves; and that is the foundation, the prerequisite for voluntary compliance and reliable, consistent good behavior.


If you want to know how wild canines behave, you study them in the wild! If you want to know how they behave in a human society, you study them there!

Mindful Leadership is a result of many years of studying, observing and working with pooches in people's homes, in parks, on walks and humane societies, and learning about their psyche and behaviors from world renowned experts.


Learning began with Cedric, an aloof Great Pyrenees. We were total rookies and neither researched prior to our purchase, nor had an idea how to train. Cedric displayed worrisome behavior problems very early on, which we tried to solve with control based, heavy-handed methods, that were taught and recommend to us by an established training facility with an excellent reputation. Our attempts to “show Cedric who’s boss” not only failed, but forced him to react defensively. Bullied by me, he chose the weakest member of our family, our daughter, attacked and was unjustly euthanized at the age of 17-months. In my heart I still apologize for the way he was treated.


Although our first experience was traumatizing, I still longed for a canine companion. After some research into breeds, Baywolf, the Newfoundland, joined our small family of three. Bay was the complete opposite of Cedric: easy-going by nature; affectionate and not at all difficult. Convinced that dominant force teaches aggression, and because Bay was sweet and positive training was largely unknown, we didn’t train him at all. To the contrary: I, still feeling guilty about the mistakes made with Cedric, catered to Bay’s every whim. The result was a loving 140-pound brat who ran his own show.

4 years later, Davie, a sassy, energetic, charming, clever and manipulative Australian Shepherd puppy walked into our lives. Unlike Bay, she was not content with long walks and snuggling on the couch, but demanded our full attention and a job. As a rescue, she also came with behavior problems, despite her tender age of 16 weeks. Dominance training still wasn’t an option for me, but by then positive reinforcement had become more popular and I found a facility that trained with humor and force-free. We succeeded and I was hooked.

Willkommen joined us 4 years after that as a 5-months old feral pup, who was humanely trapped near a rural garbage dump. Will, not imprinted by or socialized to humans, was extremely fearful, and clueless about life amongst a human society. The level of dogness she exhibited was new and challenging and accelerated my quest to find out “how dogs work”.

I became increasingly more involved with humane societies, attended seminars and workshops, had numerous foster canines and did extensive literary research and field studies.

I was always an avid reader. The journal I began with Will's arrival ignited my love for writing. My book Dump Dog is the result.




Today, I work and live in a log home in a small community in Nova Scotia. I continue to help owners achieve the best relationship they can have with their pooches.


My goal is to help as many mixed species social groups as I can to the same rewarding relationship I have my "girls". Read more about Davie and Will , and again by reading a selection of my published columns about dogs.