The Balanced Lab

10/25/2026

Last but certainly not least, welcome Buzz to the pack! 🐾

Buzz is a 6 year old French bulldog who joined his housemates 5 weeks ago to complete a full board and train. Buzz is an extremely human social dog (literally loves everyone), but his owners were struggling with his intense dog reactivity & dog aggression. On top of that, he was an absolute menace outside, his owners have never had him listen outside before, let alone give any eye contact. The first week of training with Buzz was tough, he really was in his own world as soon as you stepped outside, and getting him to listen to a basic “sit” command, could take 10 minutes.. I knew he had a perfect gentleman waiting to come out and sure enough, after a few weeks of consistency & practice, Buzz had a major transformation. He’s listening! Not just outside, but off leash. He was able to socialize with a bunch of dogs he has never met before (after he learned that lunging at their face was not an option 🙃). Buzz transformation consisted of a combination of daily consistency, fulfillment (playing, hiking, exploring), structured rest & downtime and an understanding of the word “No” (game changer).

Although my work with him is done, he is not a finished product by any means. Buzz (along with his housemates) have a brand new foundation to build upon and his owners now have the tools and guidance to continue their progress and finish the transformation on their own.

Be good Buzz boy, I will miss your morning yoga stretches🥰

10/15/2026

Please welcome Junior to the pack!

This cutie patootie is the youngest of the 3 French bulldogs I have in for training. Junior is the offspring of Honey & Buzz and he has had quite the transformation over the last 4 weeks with us!

Junior was what I considered a clean slate when he first got here, he had zero training and absolutely no understanding of rules/ boundaries (lol). His main issues were persistent leash reactivity, door reactivity, inability to settle, destructive, attacking the vacuum (amongst other things) and also dog fights with his housemate Buzz. Buzz and Junior have not gotten along ever since Junior reached puberty and for the past year, they have lived separate lives inside their home. As of recently, Junior is the instigator of these fights and Buzz is just trying to avoid conflict with him. Junior is not an aggressive dog, he is a young adolescent dog that has never been corrected for his dominant/ pushy/ controlling behaviour and that is why he thinks he gets to fight his own pack. Junior is a very sweet and social dog and now that he understands he is not the boss, you really get to see all of his goodness on a regular basis. His owners now understand that no matter how adorable and lovable he is, without rules & boundaries and leadership, he will take over the household and make bad choices.

Over the past 4 weeks Junior has learned on and off leash obedience, manners in public & neutrality around tons of distractions, he has learned how to relax on command, how to relinquish possession of toys, food & sticks, how to walk past dogs calmly and most importantly, how to coexist with Buzz without the conflict. I have really enjoyed working with this kid and I can’t wait to reunite him with the rest of his pack in 1.5 more weeks 😀

10/08/2026

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10/02/2026

See photo 2 when Junior realized I had treats to give 😆

09/23/2026

Welcome Honey!!!

This adorable little lady is 1 of 3 French bulldogs in the same household that are here for training. Honey is 3 years old and she has been with me for 1 month working on SO many things. Honey is a genetically fearful, insecure & “back of pack” type of dog. Her insecurity mixed with her bulldog genetics has created quite the reactive ball of fury. Honey does not warm up to people immediately. She has her select few favourite people and everyone else she keeps at an arms length. Over the past month she has learned how to trust in the humans guidance and leadership which has allowed her to relax and really reduce stress in her life. Her dog and human reactivity has improved significantly and her relationship with the other dogs in her household is still a work in progress. She is still with me for a couple more weeks as we continue her rehabilitation around the rest of her pack members and continue to build her confidence out in public!

I love having you here Honey Bunny 🐰🍯

09/11/2026

Eugene is normally on high doses of pharmaceuticals before vet appointments. Even with the drugs, he is an absolute maniac and the last time he was in this building, he was not able to be examined AT ALL. Nobody could touch him or get near him with or without the owners involved. I’m happy to share how much improvement he has made with balanced training and a healthier mindset.

Yes he is still stressed, this is his first time back since his last traumatic experience so I expected a few messy moments and big feelings but he did really, really good. The vet tech that helped us out had met Eugene last time and she said this was a huge improvement so we are happy with how it went 😁

We walked in there PROUD of our training tools, PROUD of balanced training methods and PROUD to be drug free!

Big thanks to my right hand man Meagan Collins for meeting us to film this content 📷♥️

05/21/2026

The Balanced Lab took the Platinum spot this year! 🏆 Thank you to everyone who voted - I will do my best to live up to the title 😆🥇

Congrats to all the other winners 🐾

04/28/2026

Please take a second out of your day to cast your vote for us 🫶

Official 2026 Community Voting Awards Platform for Barrie, ON. Where the community votes for their favourites every year.

04/27/2026

Say hello to Mayzie!

Mayzie is halfway through her board and train program (along side her house mate, Emma). Mayzie’s owners main concerns are “explosive” dog reactivity, selective listening & disconnection (especially outside) and her relationship with Emma. They have had some fights in the past which left Mayzie with some puncture wounds on her back. The physical wounds have healed but the trust between the girls is still a work in progress.

Follow along in my daily story updates to see her progress 🐾

04/20/2026

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