Ocean Park Dog Training

03/01/2025

Thank you for this, Sally Gutteridge! It is so true. We know when people contact us for help with their dog, it comes from a place of love and caring. Our mission is to help both people and dogs.

If you’ve ever worked with a dog whose guardian seemed frustrated, overwhelmed, or stuck… you know how much human behaviour impacts canine behaviour.

It’s not just about training the dog—it’s about guiding their person with confidence, empathy, and trauma-informed awareness.

But here’s the truth:

❌ No one teaches us how to handle emotionally charged clients.
❌ We aren’t shown how to set boundaries and avoid burnout.
❌ We don’t always feel prepared to navigate the human side of dog training.

That’s where mentorship makes all the difference.

The Safe and Sound Dog Professional Network and Mentoring is a six-month journey designed to help you:

✅ Develop a trauma-informed approach to working with guardians
✅ Strengthen self-awareness and emotional resilience so client stress doesn’t become your stress
✅ Learn how to communicate effectively with overwhelmed or resistant clients
✅ Build a sustainable, fulfilling career that supports both dogs and their people

🐶 Because when you support guardians, you create real, lasting change for dogs.

We start in just a few days! Will you be joining us?

🔗 https://www.sallygutteridge.com/challenge-page/sally-gutteridge-mentoring?programId=75b8e4b6-4592-485d-bbbe-cbaee7f074c3

02/14/2025

Happy Valentines’ Day! Anna Griffin @ Fetch The Leash Dog Behavior & Training made this delightful post! Show your dog love today and always! 💖💖💖

12/19/2024

"For dog guardians in BC, the BC SPCA's AnimalKind scheme is an easy way to find dog trainers who are qualified and who only use reward-based methods. The results of this study show that, if not choosing an AnimalKind-certified trainer, it is important to ask questions about the methods used."
"Deciding how to train a dog is an important decision. Scientists and animal welfare organizations are united in the understanding that it’s best to use reward-based methods because aversive methods (such as leash “corrections”, yelling, shock and prong collars) have risks, including the risks of increased fear, anxiety, stress and aggression."
This new research found 72% of BC Dog Trainers. including Ocean Park Dog Training, use reward-based methods which is very good news!

Great news for dogs and their guardians who can access modern, scientific dog training—but people still need to ask questions.

12/06/2024

Great tips for dog walks so everybody feels safe & has a good time.

Instead of following arbitrary dog walking rules, make dog walks fun for your dog, and you'll be happier too.

12/03/2024

Reward-based training is well established by behaviour experts, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (position paper: Humane Training of Dogs), & modern research, as the best way to train dogs! Have your treats ready! It’s training time!

It's best for your pet if you only use reward-based methods to train them. Here’s what that means.

12/03/2024

Congratulations to our December Reactivity Course graduates! Swipe to read how people are feeling at the end of the course. We are delighted & proud of all the ways change is happening for these dogs! Is your New Year’s resolution to help your dog with reactivity? Registration is now open for our January course & we can’t wait to show you how.

11/22/2024

“There is a simple solution to the current epidemic of dog reactivity, anxiety and aggression. PUPPY CLASSES! “ says international dog expert, Ian Dunbar. It’s not the whole solution but attending good puppy classes definitely improves your chances of having a friendly and confident adult dog! We have new Puppy Classes starting every few weeks. Join us to give your puppy the best start!

There is an epidemic of reactivity, anxiety and aggression in the world of dogs these days and the solution is simple: Puppy Classes!

Do you teach puppy classes? Do you know of any puppy classes? We're building a Directory of Puppy Classes and we want to include as many as possible so please fill in this form if you, or someone you know, teaches, or wants to teach puppy classes: https://dunbar.info/puppy_classes_survey

Puppy classes prevent so many of the predictable problems that pet dogs often develop during adolescence by providing puppies with ample opportunities for socialization and training in the presence of new and unfamiliar people and other dogs, in an unfamiliar but safe and confined place, at a time when the pups are primed to absorb it all so that they grow into confident, well behaved adolescent and adult dogs.

Once we have assembled our Directory we will be promoting extensively to veterinarians and breeders in the US and around the world to make sure that they understand the importance of referring their clients to puppy classes.

11/12/2024

Swipe to see our sweet puppy grads & how they have grown!! Congratulations Penny, Bella, Finley, Jojo, Vortex and Felix!

11/07/2024

We are overwhelmed with gratitude to be voted #1 Pet Trainer in our Surrey community again for the 7th year!! Thank you everybody for choosing to train with kindness and love! Our hearts are full! Your dogs are family and it shows! A big congratulations to our friend, , who is also a BCSPCA AnimalKind accredited trainer, for sharing this honour with us. Congratulations to for your grooming & daycare services. Our dogs live in a special place!

10/25/2024

Thank you to Ocean Park Dog Training for hosting me for a signing of Bark! on the weekend. And thanks to everyone who came out despite the weather and made it a great success! It was so lovely to meet you all and I had a lot of fun. Congratulations to Ocean Park on celebrating 10 years of dog training! You have helped so, so many dogs in that time with reward-based methods, and I'm proud to know you!

10/20/2024

One more sleep until our exciting 10-year anniversary celebration of Ocean Park Dog Training! In the morning, the amazing Lale Asku will talk to our Nose Work students about her work as a professional medical detection dog handler and demo with her dogs.

The public is invited for a cake-cutting between 12:30 and 1 pm.

Please also join us from 1 to 3 pm, when internationally renowned best-selling author and dog behaviour specialist, Zazie Todd will join us with her newest book - Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful or Reactive Dog. She will be available at that time for book signing.

We hope you can join us on this special day!

10/18/2024

A lovely podcast interview with Dr. Zazie Todd. You are welcome to meet Zazie and purchase her new book for signing on Sunday, October 20, from 1 to 3 p.m. Please message us to reserve a copy for you. I think you will find Bark! really helpful with your anxious, fearful, or reactive dog!

In this episode of Tree Lady Talks, Sharon interviews Zazie Todd, an animal behavior expert, about her book 'Bark' which focuses on understanding and helping fearful, anxious, and reactive dogs. They discuss the outdated training methods that can ...

10/16/2024

Thank you for nominating us again this year! It’s now VOTING time & we would be PAWSITIVELY delighted if you could take a moment to vote for Ocean Park Dog Training. We promise, it easy to vote. 🐾🙏💕

Official 2024 Community Voting Awards Platform for White Rock, BC. Where the community votes for their favourites every year.

10/08/2024

Fear is so easy to condition in dogs & so slow to resolve, which is why we never want to hurt or scare dogs in training. If you have a worried, fearful, reactive or aggressive dog, there is still much we can do by arranging new learning. Using reward based training & by building positive associations to scary things, we can move towards happier days for you & your dog. Thank you for the wonderful graphic, Rescued By Training.

Fear is the easiest things to condition in dogs and the hardest to resolve. Fear can come from many places, many of which we don't control. This infographic is my most downloaded and shared resource. Download your copy here: http://rescuedbytraining.com/fear-in-dogs-infographic/
and for a deep dive into each of these, read the accompanying Fear In Dogs blog series here: https://rescuedbytraining.com/tag/fear-in-dogs-series/

10/08/2024

We are very excited to host author & dog behaviour expert, Zazie Todd for a pawsitively exciting book signing event. Please contact Ocean Park Dog Training to reserve your copy of Bark!