2024 DETAILS COMING SOON!
May 6, 2023 Saturday
10:00am-5:00pm (PST)
11:00 AM (PST)
Sara Carson of The Super Collies & Hawkeye
The Super Collies
Sara Carson of Ontario Canada began her career at fifteen years old successfully running her own dog training facility for five years in her hometown of North Bay. Sara is well known as one of the top international trick dog trainers in North America today. She has been nationally recognized for showcasing her achievements such as the CW Dog Honors 'top trick' award in 2020, The Great Mats 'Dog Trainer of the Year' in 2017. Her dogs have earned a multitude of working and sport titles such as agility, dock diving, barn hunt and tricks. She has also placed across the board in disc dog competitions and taught the art form of canine freestyle dance.
Sara and her Super Collie Hero had their first televised appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman blowing bubbles and continue to captivate audiences all over the world on the silver screen. She acquired her celebrity dog trainer status after placing fifth on the season twelve finale of America's Got Talent in 2017. Since then Sara and Hero have filmed 'A Genie's Tale' where Hero played Joe the main protagonist. Sara has also made an appearance as a judge on 'Puppy Bowl- The Summer Games' as well as additional titles into the Discovery+ series.
Read more about Sara Carson & The Super Collies here
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11:45 AM (PST)
Have you encountered a Service Dog team in public before?
Barb Ashmead + Ellen Suettler with Operation Freedom Paws
Join Barb Ashmead with service dog Ziva and Ellen Suettler with service dog TuiHere as they demonstrate the work they do and teach some important etiquette rules to remember when in the presence of a working team.
More info here
BIO: Barb has a BSc. and a MSc. She has co-owned Qualicum Pet Food & Cat Rescue for the past 25 years. Barb was approached in 2013 by CFB Comox to help train a veteran and his dog to be a service dog team. So began the great adventure. That year Barb co-founded Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs in Qualicum Beach, BC. In 2019, Barb decided to create another program – one that still used rescue dogs but included first responders and non-veterans in addition to veterans. In March 2020 Barb, along with Mary and Ellen began Operation Freedom Paws Canada.
BIO:Ellen retired from the Nanaimo Lifeline Program as the Call Centre Manager in 2017. Her husband was a Veteran diagnosed with PTSD in 2015 and graduated with a service dog in 2017. He passed away shortly after. His dog Tui became Ellen’s companion. Looking for a purpose and the compassion for the dogs and the need supporting veterans to help them to integrate back into the community lead her to start working with Barb Ashmead who was starting a new service dog school. In November of 2019 she travelled with the team to OFP in Gilroy California. It was there that she fell in love with the training program and has been learning new skills to help the program get under way.
12:30 PM (PST)
Clicker Training for Cats: The Basics
Kristin Hulzinga with Aunt Kitty Cat Coaching
Clicker training can be used in many ways to improve cats’ lives: provides enrichment, builds the bond between cat and human, is a useful tool in directing and establishing appropriate behaviour and diminishing inappropriate behaviour.
BIO: In 2012 Kristin brought home her first cat, a Savannah named Zeddie. Zeddie ignited a deep love of all things cats and Kristin has happily been a cat lady ever since. Her love of cats drove Kristin to put her focus more on animal behaviour and training, and later to specialize in cat behaviour. In 2018 she began working for Toronto Animal Wranglers with Zeddie, who can be seen in a variety of commercials and tv shows!
Kristin is a Certified Feline Training and Behaviour Specialist through the Animal Behaviour Institute and is dedicated to demystifying cats and their behaviour, creating more peaceful environments for cats and their people alike.
Learn more here
3:30 PM (PST)
Sara Carson of The Super Collies & Hawkeye
The Super Collies
Sara Carson of Ontario Canada began her career at fifteen years old successfully running her own dog training facility for five years in her hometown of North Bay. Sara is well known as one of the top international trick dog trainers in North America today. She has been nationally recognized for showcasing her achievements such as the CW Dog Honors 'top trick' award in 2020, The Great Mats 'Dog Trainer of the Year' in 2017. Her dogs have earned a multitude of working and sport titles such as agility, dock diving, barn hunt and tricks. She has also placed across the board in disc dog competitions and taught the art form of canine freestyle dance.
Sara and her Super Collie Hero had their first televised appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman blowing bubbles and continue to captivate audiences all over the world on the silver screen. She acquired her celebrity dog trainer status after placing fifth on the season twelve finale of America's Got Talent in 2017. Since then Sara and Hero have filmed 'A Genie's Tale' where Hero played Joe the main protagonist. Sara has also made an appearance as a judge on 'Puppy Bowl- The Summer Games' as well as additional titles into the Discovery+ series.
Read more about Sara Carson & The Super Collies here
May 7, 2023 Sunday
10:00am-5:00pm (PST)
11:00 AM (PST)
Sara Carson of The Super Collies & Hawkeye
The Super Collies
Sara Carson of Ontario Canada began her career at fifteen years old successfully running her own dog training facility for five years in her hometown of North Bay. Sara is well known as one of the top international trick dog trainers in North America today. She has been nationally recognized for showcasing her achievements such as the CW Dog Honors 'top trick' award in 2020, The Great Mats 'Dog Trainer of the Year' in 2017. Her dogs have earned a multitude of working and sport titles such as agility, dock diving, barn hunt and tricks. She has also placed across the board in disc dog competitions and taught the art form of canine freestyle dance.
Sara and her Super Collie Hero had their first televised appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman blowing bubbles and continue to captivate audiences all over the world on the silver screen. She acquired her celebrity dog trainer status after placing fifth on the season twelve finale of America's Got Talent in 2017. Since then Sara and Hero have filmed 'A Genie's Tale' where Hero played Joe the main protagonist. Sara has also made an appearance as a judge on 'Puppy Bowl- The Summer Games' as well as additional titles into the Discovery+ series.
Read more about Sara Carson & The Super Collies here
11:45 AM (PST)
Reimagining the relationship between people, pets and cities
Alexander Von Kaldenberg with GoCHIP
Sitting at a café in Shenzhen, China in 2018, GoChip Pet Technology founder Alexander Von Kaldenberg looked down and saw a small, hungry dog begging for food at his feet. The dog didn’t look like the typical street dog common to the area. With his fluffy coat and small size, he appeared to be someone’s lost pet. With no way to know the dog’s story, it made him think – why, when we use our phones for so many things, can’t we use our phones to identify lost animals? This was the initial spark that ignited a vision for what GoChip is today – a business that strives to reimagine the relationship between people, animals, and cities by ensuring that every animal and their story is Always FoundTM. What started as an idea to help lost pets, quickly gained traction as a wider application for animal welfare. Using a combination of GoChip’s innovative hardware and software platform, we are dedicated to helping communities around the world manage the health and wellbeing of their community and feral dog populations. Why? Because healthy animals make healthy communities.
You may be wondering what happened to the little dog in the café... After a few sleepovers with Alexander’s family, an expensive trip to a veterinarian to look for a traditional microchip, and many FOUND DOG posters later, the pup was never reunited to his original family, if he even had one. But don’t worry, the story has a happy ending. Alexander named him Peter and made sure to find the little pup a new home where he now spends his days loved and spoiled by his new family.
BIO: Prior to starting GoChip, Alexander co-founded the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Southern China (CanChamPRD) and was Director of Marketing in Asia for Velas AG, the fastest EVM blockchain and ecosystem for smart contracts and dApps. Alexander credits his dad for teaching him responsibility in the care of animals and that an animal’s needs always comes first. The lesson usually went something like this…“Nobody cares if you’re hungry, feed the dog before you sit down for supper.” And this responsibility of care extended beyond animals. Alexander also remembers being taught to notice nature around him. Whenever he pulled a leaf off a tree or kicked a rock as kids do, his father would ask him why he did it. Since there was never a good reason, this usually started a conversation about nature and the importance of how we interact with it. These lessons instilled an appreciation and respect for animals and the environment that Alexander has carried throughout his life.
These days, when he’s not on a video call or at his other job (father of twin toddlers and night shift dishwasher), Alexander is an avid reader, gym enthusiast, and dedicated walker of Cordis, the Black Lab.
12:30 PM (PST)
Clicker Training for Cats: The Basics
Kristin Hulzinga with Aunt Kitty Cat Coaching
Clicker training can be used in many ways to improve cats’ lives: provides enrichment, builds the bond between cat and human, is a useful tool in directing and establishing appropriate behaviour and diminishing inappropriate behaviour.
BIO: In 2012 Kristin brought home her first cat, a Savannah named Zeddie. Zeddie ignited a deep love of all things cats and Kristin has happily been a cat lady ever since. Her love of cats drove Kristin to put her focus more on animal behaviour and training, and later to specialize in cat behaviour. In 2018 she began working for Toronto Animal Wranglers with Zeddie, who can be seen in a variety of commercials and tv shows!
Kristin is a Certified Feline Training and Behaviour Specialist through the Animal Behaviour Institute and is dedicated to demystifying cats and their behaviour, creating more peaceful environments for cats and their people alike.
Learn more here
3:00 PM (PST)
Sara Carson of The Super Collies & Hawkeye
The Super Collies
Sara Carson of Ontario Canada began her career at fifteen years old successfully running her own dog training facility for five years in her hometown of North Bay. Sara is well known as one of the top international trick dog trainers in North America today. She has been nationally recognized for showcasing her achievements such as the CW Dog Honors 'top trick' award in 2020, The Great Mats 'Dog Trainer of the Year' in 2017. Her dogs have earned a multitude of working and sport titles such as agility, dock diving, barn hunt and tricks. She has also placed across the board in disc dog competitions and taught the art form of canine freestyle dance.
Sara and her Super Collie Hero had their first televised appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman blowing bubbles and continue to captivate audiences all over the world on the silver screen. She acquired her celebrity dog trainer status after placing fifth on the season twelve finale of America's Got Talent in 2017. Since then Sara and Hero have filmed 'A Genie's Tale' where Hero played Joe the main protagonist. Sara has also made an appearance as a judge on 'Puppy Bowl- The Summer Games' as well as additional titles into the Discovery+ series.
Read more about Sara Carson & The Super Collies here