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Canines in the Community

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Fairview, AB
Canines in the Community

Life with Dogs Year round boarding (low stress, private boarding) as well as basic obedience skills classes, private lessons and drop in training club.

02/20/2026

I haven't really known how to write this post.

I am pursuing an opportunity out west in BC at an ADI Accredited organization that trains and places service dogs. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will deeply miss all of you and your pups. Thank you for letting me be apart of your world in a dog care or coaching role.

This year our family faced obstacles and challenges both in the loss of Hendrix, our German Shepherd and the announcement of the closure of the Fairview Campus resulting in job losses for us as a family.

I hope that the Fairview campus can be saved and the vast local talent can stay in all programs that were taught and offered here locally for students in the North. The loss to the Veterinary community if the Vet Tech program cannot be saved and our ability as pet owners to access medical care for animals will be substantial. The loss of the faculty in their roles is a waste of local talent and wisdom in a field that desperately needs vet techs. The night I had to say goodbye to Hendrix was a long drive an hour north to receive diagnostics and be able to humanely euthanize him so he didn't suffer. Without vet techs we will all have much longer drives for vet care, which is a horrible prospect in an emergency.

**

While exploring what options and opportunities were on the horizon for us as a family, I took a job offer with an Assistance Dogs International Accredited organization that train service dogs in the Lower Mainland, BC earlier this month.

This is my second service dog school I have trained with, I received my accreditation with the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides in their Seizure Response program and trained with them from 2009-2013 before heading to Spain and then to Northern Alberta in 2014 to pursue my two loves, dog training and my husband.

Loving dogs has brought amazing souls into my life, animal and people. I am incredibly grateful for my 12 years living in the Peace Country and have loved meeting you all.

**

Thank you for trusting me to care for your dogs and to coach you.

Thank you for your kindness and connection and community.

I have loved working with all of your dogs and continue to volunteer virtually with our local 4H club and in person volunteers.

**

I will no longer be offering boarding services at this time. I am happy to help refer you to kennels or dog trainers so please feel free to reach out. Personally I have used Hill Top Kennels near Valleyview/ Crooked Creek, AB. I hear good things about other kennels as well, but please always do your own research.

Please be careful about who you trust, there is a higher then average amount of con artists within the dog training and dog care field due to it's lack of regulation and the fact animals can not always tell us who is hurting them or neglecting them. Con artists who don't care about dogs or the conditions they are in. Always educate yourself about things to look for in a boarding kennel, in a dog trainer, meet people, gauge energy, don't take someone's word as gospel because they're an authority figure. Use discernment, ask for references, photo's, facility tours, meet the trainer and work with them in private lessons or group before considering sending your dog to them for a board and train. Make sure you trust your gut. If it doesn't seem right it probably isn't.

Your dog should have their biological needs met when they are in boarding:

-Freedom of movement
-Enrichment
-Safety and Exercise

Your dog should also be treated well: Fairness with kindness alongside boundaries.

Your dog professional should know how to:

-Avoid escalating conflicts if they arise with your dog, manage your dog safely around any other dogs on site to keep your dog safe and other dogs safe.

-Meet your dogs needs in a way that is effective and safe for your dog utilizing both exercise, enrichment and methods of managing and reducing stress.

You can help support your dog professional by:

-Asking your vet for medical advice if your dog suffers from severe anxiety prior to boarding it somewhere if your dog is an actual risk of harming themselves in the kennel environment. Some dogs will break their teeth or hurt themselves and remain in heightened distress once you return from your trip. It's okay to use medication when it's needed. It doesn't matter what other people's opinion on it are, it's your dog and your life and your peace. You can also research and ask your vet team about theanine and adaptil to support dogs with anxiety.

-Research teaching your dog self control games like Susan Garrett's It's Yer Choice as well as working on protocols like Dr. Karen Overall, DVM Relaxation Protocol to work on before your dog goes to stay somewhere new. Research counter conditioning or watch a video on the topic by Emily Larham and Donna Hill to learn more about how to help your dog be less reactive to sounds and sights of other dogs they will encounter in a boarding environment. Learn about the proper mechanics of positive reinforcement, even if you use corrections, you will help your dog significantly by teaching them skills that they can use instead of getting into trouble by teaching them how to walk nicely on a leash, have self control, how to come to you when you call them and how to walk by other dogs and people. This can all be built largely with classical conditioning to create positive associations and positive reinforcement. If using corrections add them in later in training after you've taught your dog what you want them to do so they can be successful.

I hope that helps a bit, my small offering of knowledge to you.

If you enjoy my writing you're welcome to continue to follow my page and I will share my thoughts from time to time.

Thanks so much,

Kayla Young
Canines in the Community

02/04/2026

Really happy to share that Bear, one of our former training clients has passed her assessment with CAAWLS (Chimo Animal Assisted Wellness and Learning Society) and is now working as a therapy dog with Project Halo. Bear attends courthouses to support victims and visits with First Responders.

Michelle, Bears mom and handler worked very hard with Bear and put in years of hard work to build up her foundation, skill and understanding.

We are so happy for Bear and Michelle and so grateful for the work they are doing in serving their community.

Happy to have been apart of your journey. Good girl!!!

01/31/2026

This is a local rescue with some puppins looking for homes if anyone is looking to add a family member.

01/23/2026

Very proud of our client Kaydee and her Golden Retriever Nala who recently passed their therapy dog assessment!!! Nala and Kaydee have worked extensively on self control development alongside obedience skill building work.

Kaydee has worked so hard with Nala to get to this point. Kaydee is a skilled dog handler and had developed her skills so much over the years of training together.

Congratulations 💕.

01/18/2026

This is a new local rescue for anyone looking for a dog to adopt. Please contact the rescue directly for more information.

01/04/2026

16 Months with Iggy: A Year in Review

Iggy came into our lives unexpectedly in the fall of 2024. I first saw Iggy on my drive home from a training lesson in Fairview. I saw a small white and black dog dashing down the middle of the road. I turned my car around and followed carefully, pulled over and asked if he needed help and tried to call him over to me. He looked worried and dashed off.

I posted about him on our local page (our small towns version of a living newspaper) and others commented they had seen him on the run and tried to help, but he was too nervous and took off.

I searched awhile longer for him, a friend was passing by at that exact moment in her jeep and I called her to see if she wanted to help me drive around for a bit to cover more ground and see if we could get any sightings. Ultimately we were unsuccessful and I decided to keep an eye on the page for our community and continue to look for him every chance I got.

**

It took close to 7 weeks to catch Iggy in a live trap, it turned out that people had seen this small white/ black dog on the run for awhile, and one person said they saw a car stop on main street, put Iggy out and then drive away. Iggy seemed to have remarkable navigation skills, people reported he tended to travel down mainstreet, past the bank, hook a right turn, travel past DQ and Tim Horton's. I tracked him daily, but only with the help of so many people who wanted to see him be caught safely. At one point a man who was contracted to work at the college campus said he had seen Iggy spending each day at the college campus and that he was leaving water and food out for Iggy.

I began going every night at 7pm with wet food to feed Iggy. We developed a meet up ritual where I would drive up, put down the wet food with some tasty treats and probiotics, then back away and wait. Iggy would pop up, come over and eat, but it was clear if I wanted to catch him, it was going to take patience and strategy.

I also was lucky to connect with our towns By-law officer who is a truly lovely soul who loves dogs and he continued to give myself and Craig updates about Iggy and Iggy sightings. I purchased my first live trap and began spraying Adaptil phermone spray around it and in it, with tasty treats in the live trap and continued my daily ritual of meeting up with Iggy at 7pm. I did this for 6 weeks. I also left high value treats inside the back of the live trap. One night after eating his dinner, Iggy did wander into the live trap and it shut behind him. Unfortuantely this first live trap failed, it didn't latch properly all the way and Iggy was able to back out of it. I cried for a long time that night in the parking lot, because I felt like he would probably never go in another live trap again. But I'm also a very stubborn person in general and reminded myself within the context of this situation (Iggy was still alive), that we would only truly be defeated when you decide you are, up until then there is always hope.

**

I purchased a new live trap, continued my daily ritual of going to feed Iggy and slowly was able to get closer to him. What started as needing to be almost 50 feet away changed into being able to stand just 10 feet away from Iggy.

At one point Iggy travelled 10kms outside of town, ending up at a farm work site. The farm hand texted me based on the information posters I had put up asking for help with sightings and she said that she and the farmer were feeding him and had water out, but due to many farm cats, they didn't want to have live traps out (fair enough). They were leaving the shop open for him and said if he came inside they would close him in and call me. A few days later though they said they hadn't seen him that day, and then the next day they hadn't either.

Iggy is a small guy, 7lbs and it was hard not to assume the worst. He would be so easy to pick off by a hawk or a coyote or be taken out by a farmers dog patrolling it's property. I continued to drive around those back roads searching for him, while waiting for any more sightings to come in.

Miraculously Iggy made his way back to town and a friend called that she had found him and was with him, 15 feet away from him throwing him chunks of sausage and I said I was on my way with the live trap and the pheromone spray. We set up the live trap and pheromone spray where he was, but were unsuccessful catching him. I continued to monitor but eventually he left the area. Thankfully though he made his way back to our origianl meet up spot where I was feeding him over the course of most of the 6 weeks, besides his side quests to wander out of town before making his way back.

**

It was now mid Septemeber and winter was coming. I knew he wouldn't survive winter here. We regularily get down to -30 C or colder and he didn't have the coat type to make it. It already felt insanely lucky he had survived this long. One day I made the decision that today was the day I was going to catch him. I re loaded the live trap with phermone spray and put some fresh bacon in it. This is not generally advisable, it can cause pancretitis if a dog eats too much fat, but at this point I decided I would take the risk and get him vet care if it was an issue, but it was better then him freezing to death. Iggy would regularily hang out right next to the live trap, likely due to the adaptil phermone spray which mimics the phermones a mother dog releases to her puppies that help them feel safe. I prepped a small amount of fresh bacon, put it in the trap and spent the next few hours loudly in my head thanking the universe that he would be caught this day, that he could go get vet care, that he wouldn't die a horrible dath. I put my whole heart and soul into believing today would be the day he was caught. And the crazy part is, he was. A few hours later he was caught in the second live trap and our friends at the Fairview Veterinary Clinic saw him, vaccinated him and helped asses him. He never had any issues from the bacon thankfully and was in good health all things considered.

Largely I credit this to the approach of having fresh water out daily next to the live trap and feeding him daily outside of the live trap. I felt this would prevent him from going into the panic flight mode that many lost dogs go into as they become hungrier and hungrier and more dehydrated. If Iggy's access to food and water was conditional to him having to go into the live trap (something he was not ready to do), I strongly felt his survival would be at risk. This is counter cultural to how much live trapping of dogs is done, and to anyone reading this, I feel very comfortable recommending this approach compared to the traditional method of they only get food or water if they go in the live trap. You can think of this approach using both counter conditioning and shaping (operant conditioning) to build the behavior you want, while also supporting their survival and keeping them in a thinking brain vs. flight brain.

**

The progress Iggy has made over a 16 month period has been remarkable. We are a household of many dogs, which has helped Iggy thrive. Iggy strikes me as a dog likely from a puppy mill situation, likely from an auction which Alberta has. Iggy looks like a Chinese Crested powder puff (long hair) which is a common dog sold at the Central Alberta auctions. Iggy has no connection to people and does not feel safe around people by default. Which is what we would expect from a puppy mill dog, dogs raised in dirty, crammed conditions with no exposure, no socialization to people. Iggy marks in the house (despite a lot of work) and wears belly bands and has access to p*e pads as well as daily walks and multiple potty breaks. It is very plausible someone purchased him from an auction only to aquire a terrified dog who p*ed in their house daily and decided that was too much for them. It's hard to know and what matters is Iggy is safe now.

Iggy started his time with us needing a hands off approach, with secure fencing, a harness and a long line so that we would not need to directly touch him. We had to move at Iggy's pace and he took a lot of social cues from our other dogs. Iggy bonded strongly to Hendrix, our German Shepherd and I know Iggy felt just as devastated as us when Hendrix died this past summer. Iggy and Hendrix were inseperable, Iggy bonded to him immediately and followed Hendrix everywhere. Craig and I would joke he was Hendrix's little shadow.

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Hendrix this summer due to cancer. The night after we said goodbye to Hendrix, Iggy spent the night pacing the house crying, searching for Hendrix. We gave him some theanine which helped significantly the second night and Iggy was able to sleep.

As hard as that loss was and is, thankfully Iggy has other friends in our house. He plays with Dolly our female LGD cross who arrived in similar circumstances as Iggy the winter prior, except a nurse had caught her and Nordic on a logging road during a -45 C cold stretch. Nordic and Dolly were puppies at the time though so I was able to get a lot more socialization work in and they bonded with us as puppies. Dolly likes to lie down in the snow as Iggy launches himself onto her and then they run around together.

Iggy also loves Lucy our Husky/ Akita type dog. Lucy is the boss of the house and all of the dogs tend to fawn over her.

Nordic likes Iggy but due to the size difference (Iggy is 7lbs, Nordic is 90lbs) I don't let them play together.

Dolly and Lucy are both 50-60lbs but they show enough restraint and gentleness that I allow play. To be safe though I always monitor and Iggy has his own baby gated area in the house when I am not home to make sure no one can accidentally play too rough with him when we are not supervising.

**

Over the past year the most dramatic changes I've seen from Iggy include:

-Recall (come when called): he will run to me for treats. (I cannot touch him but he will run up to me so that I can reward him).

-Interest: he will perk his ears when we walk into the room and move towards us (not all the way to us but towards us).

-Confidence: Iggy is 50x more brave then he used to be. Household noises do not scare him anymore.

-Playfulness: Iggy is becoming more goofy and will initiate play more often with the other dogs. You can see him coming out of his shell.

-Proximity tolerance: Iggy doesn't mind me walking right by him anymore and won't run away.

-Engaged in shaping sessions: I have begun training sessions with Iggy where he is happy to participate vs. too nervous to participate.

I am really excited to see where Iggy is at in another 12 months. Due to his flightly nature and near death experiences while on the run, he will always have to be on leash securely or in a very secure, small dog proof area.

Kayla Young
Canines in the Community

01/03/2026

Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year, and hope that you all had a safe and happy holiday with your loved ones and friends. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Bodhi Day, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Orthodox Christmas, Happy Dwali and other special and important times of community, faith, friendship, family and community gathering.

May 2026 bring more peace, more community, more love, to all.

**

To our clients past and present: Thank you so much for your support and trusting us. We have some tentative plans for 2026 that we are exploring which I can update on closer to February.

**

In 2025 we had highs and lows. Spud who we took in as an emergency intake and worked hard with over a two year period found the MOST amazing family ever and was adopted. And in the same breath of all that joy and gratitude that we felt for him finding an amazing home, we lost Hendrix suddenly and unexpetedly to an aggressive form of cancer. Loosing Hendrix was soul shattering. Hendrix was and is my heart dog who I worked closely with over 8 years to develop his tracking skills and developing his skills for PSA K9, prior to retiring him at 4 years old after he damaged his front canines and breaking one off. He had grabbed a giant thick piece of lumber one day on a run and bit down hard causing them to crack and one to crack in half- *face palm*. I've taken all the time needed to grieve, but the reality is grief is as long as love, and love is forever. I'm so grateful for having such a beautiful amazing soul in my life, but it still feels surreal to have lost him so suddenly and I continue to work hard on healing my nervous system from the fear that it will happen again.

**
Still we have our own four dogs and boarding dogs to show up for and after two weeks of shovelling by hand (as our snow plow and snow blower are currently down as we work on them to get them up and running again), our play yard is finally shovelled with one large exterior loop and a cross section so that it is one large figure 8. Our crew has been loving to get to run again in the fenced play yard and little Iggy can finally run now that it's shovelled. We have gotten almost 3 feet of snow in the last month with more on the way!

**

During the truly cold times, (locally we had a stretch of -30 feeling closer to -40 for quite a few weeks), we rely more on enrichment to keep the dogs happy and calm.

**

To avoid going stir crazy in the house with two boisterous adolecents LGD cross (Dolly and Nordic), Lucy, our Husky/ Northern Floof mix and little Iggy who we caught in a live trap back in 2024 when he was on the run we make sure to feed most of our dogs meals from Kongs, not bowls. This small switch makes a huge difference as it mentally tires the dogs out.

**

Lucy prefers her Kongs fresh and lacks the interest to work on frozen Kongs, where as Nordic and Dolly will spend two hours working on his rock hard frozen Kongs. Iggy loves Kongs as well, I have currently only tried freezing his Kong for about 30 miniutes or so before giving it to him.

**

I tend to do a mix of dog safe fruit/ veggies with First Mate Wet Food (usually Salmon or Turkey), mixed with a bit of plain Greek Yogurt and then there supplements which vary over time but currently looks like: Tri-acta for joint support, pumpkin powder and probiotics with kelp. I mix it up and then layer the Kongs with some of their kibble, some of the wet food mix, some kibble, more wet food mix. There are so many great Kong Stuffing recipes you can find online and you can also stuff them with raw food.

**

As well shaping games indoors is a fun way to work your dogs mind. Our guys got a giant Hammock bed for Christmas so we've been shaping them to go up onto it, offer behaviors on it, come off. You can also use things like yogurt lids as a paw target or nose target. You can say yes (or click if using a clicker) when they look at it, approach it, sniff it, nose it or paw it and then reward them. Try and pick up the target in between reps and re-present it to build interest and you can always do multiple rewards in a row when they get it right. I try and keep my shaping sessions fairly short, usually 30-60 seconds with a new dog in the first few sessions and then up to 1-2 minutes, then do a play break, then continue working.

**

Dogs love to chew just make sure that you supervise as you want to make sure they are chewing and not just inhaling which can cause a blockage if they swollow a 2-3 inch chunk. We use collagen chews, fish skin chews and artifical chews like Better Bone and Pet Stages Dog Wood chews. I often take the collagen chew sticks away when they are getting down to the last 3 inches to be safe. You can also buy the bully stick/ collagen chew stick holders.

**

Besides that training games like Dr. Karen Overall's, DVM Relaxation Protocol are life savers. I play a slightly modified version where, instead of feeding only in a sit or down, I will feed for four paws on the ground, sitting or standing over a period of time as I get things done around the house. That has always worked well for me personally but if your new to working on it, her protocol is available as a free PDF online and has a great step by step run down.

**

When the weather lifts into the -15 to -20 range I try and get out on longer walks in addition to the above enrichment.

Photo's of the pups playing in our play yard.

12/11/2025

Wheeler came for a stay this month

11/17/2025

You would be surprised how fast you can skill build with young minds.

This was the result of 6-7 weeks of work with baby Jax a few years ago.

Jax is off leash, there are toys in a row along the pylons and another person is walking nearby. Jax is choosing to ignore them and engage with me because I've brought joy and energy and movement into our work and training together. I've also layered joy and comprehension into every training interaction with him, working and testing what he can handle, what challenges him and maintaining his enthusiasm along the way. Making sure he never views mistakes as crushing, only a chance for us both to learn more about what pace training needs to move at.

It is ideal to get some of this work in before the adolescent teenager hormone stage hits. Don't worry your training will regress this is normal, it will come back, with time and patience and venting to some friends or your training group. Be patient protect your foundation of joy and keep sessions fun and short. Your dog does not need to be perfect, no one's dog is perfect it is normal for mistakes to happen. Don't let mistakes scare you and don't let mistakes crush your dog by becoming over corrective. Especially in skill building.

Have an adult dog? Build their joy of working with you, split your criteria and don't lump things together. Protect their joy and don't let mistakes crush them, teach them mistakes mean to try harder and be on the watch for frustration. Keep sessions fun and short and work on longer exposure sessions in real life safe and engaging with lots of sniffs. Long lines are great for this.

This video is a few years old now. I loved getting to work with baby Jax while we babysat him for a period of time.

11/17/2025

Puppyhood is a great time to start building a relationship together ❤.

Video is a few years old, featuring our dear friend Rhonda 's puppy Jax. A spunky lab cross.

10/10/2025

Some of our fall class students working on various training skills with their pups such as:

Engagement and Connection
Self Control around Distractions and other Dogs
Sit Stay and Targeting to a Plank
Recall and Collar Grab
Dog Handling and Leash Handling Skills

Good job!

10/08/2025

Bilbo

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Fairview, AB
T0H1LO

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Our Story

Positive Reinforcement with minimal corrections. We offer year round group classes and private coaching, please contact for availability. I also offer some dog boarding from May-September yearly, please contact for availability, in general I would recommend contacting us at least a month before your travel dates as we fill up fast. 12 years of proffessional experience with a background in training Service Dogs for Canadians with Epilepsy. Committed to ongoing education I have travelled across the United States and as far as Barcelona to study with various trainers I admire in the area’s of: Aggression, Behavior Modification, Positive Training, Balanced Training (Positive Training first, with some corrections later), Helping dogs with anxiety and fear, Low stress kennel enrichment programs, Animal Assisted Therapy Programs for youth, adults and seniors as well as a variety of dog sport topics and hands on practice. I share my life with three wonderful dogs currently: Maverick, a 10 year old Border Collie, Odie, a 10 year old Norwegian Elkhound and Hendrix, a 2 year old German Shepherd. This year we said goodbye to our senior boy Duke, a 13 year old Rottweiler/ Shepherd/ Collie mix. Previously we also said goodbye to our beloved Teeka a German Shepherd who was only 3 year old but had failing health. We are located 15 mins south of Fairview, AB. Please contact for class info and availability.

Kayla Young

Canines in the Community

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