A Reflection in the mirror … finding that magical bond
Holistic dog trainer, ethology-based behaviourist
Passionate about natural healing, canine nutrition and fitness, canine acupressure, massage, communicating with dogs, finding that quintessential bond with a dog, and creating a co-existence of harmony between dogs, their people and wildlife.
Having lived alongside wildlife and domestic dogs for most of her life, Kir has developed a unique personal connective experience with the wild creatures in their natural environment and continues to have a passion for working with dogs and bridging the gap between them, the natural world and people. Professional, holistic, natural training philosophy. Specializing in medium to large breed dogs since 1999.
Training is a both a passion and a natural calling to the head trainer of Connexions K9 holistique (formerly Connexions Centre Canine).
Her strong connection to dogs was present since an early age and she was told that she had a special gift with dogs while working with her sister and Reggie, a German shepherd-Husky-Dobermann mix who came into their lives at the age of three. However, it was only after she rescued a bloodhound eleven years later, a dog who had been abandoned several times in foster homes, when, along with discovering a respect for the canine nose, she also realized how strong was her passion for training dogs as a professional. While working with her bloodhound, she addressed food and other aggression issues, and successfully rehabilitated and trained her for on and off leash obedience. In the end, Harmonie, her bloodhound, knew basic on and off leash obedience plus over 47 commands in several languages. Her path to learning her master dog trainer skills was well underway.
It was with a stroke of luck that she had the opportunity to apprentice with a professional trainer, Larry Liljedahl, who, at the time, had over 35 years of experience in various dog training fields. She had the chance to work with someone who not only had expertise in training dogs in sledding, tracking, police dog detection training, on and off leash obedience, competitive show sports, Schutzhund/IPO training (Triathlon for dogs) to name just a few, but who also had trained other animal species in various behaviours.
In 1999, she started Surepaws Dog Training (now Connexions K9 holistique), and successfully trained her first official student, Shelby, a sweet 9-year-old German Shepherd mix who still holds a special place in her heart. She has continued to train dogs privately in the homes of dog owners, in her home and, on occasion, given some group classes ever since. In all her professions, she approaches change and new challenges in stride and with innovative ideas.
Her well rounded and unfettered view on training dogs stems from having been instructed in many dog training methods, fields, training tools, volunteering in veterinary clinics, attending workshops on training and dog health, assisting various police K9 departments in the United States acquire their Bloodhounds for SAR work, and working with other animals. She also had the opportunity to work with a well known guide dog trainer, Jacques Morin, also with 30 years of experience at the time working for the Lions and Mira Foundations, for a memorable five months. She started training on a future guide dog, a standard poodle named Guaya, for a very special blind handler in Montreal. Kir’s move to another province made it impossible to continue her work with this trainer. The experience she gained helped to train her own emotional support and personal assistance dog to also be her seeing-eye dog when she lost her eyesight for months years later.
Kir is also constantly continuing to study wolf behaviour, which she applies back to domestic dogs. Her interest in the dynamics of wolf packs, their behaviour and learning patterns was inspired by the very first movie she had ever seen in the theatre, a feature-length documentary from Bill Mason about the northern timber wolves and the pure-white Arctic wolves. Filmed over three years in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, the High Arctic and his home near the Gatineau Hills in Quebec, he filmed the pack customs, mating and birth. This movie, seen at the age of five years, inspired Kir’s life long journey to read, watch and learn as much as she could on the subject of wolves, eventually bringing it into her love of dogs. Her encounters with wildlife and nature is the foundation in which inspires her to use knowledge from different animals to be innovative in her way of thinking and invent new ways and new techniques. This ability to think outside of regular conventions made it possible for her to work with her Dobermann, Senna, who became autistic and developed a spectrum disorder at a very young age. Kir has also trained stray cats and even spent three months one winter training a wild chickadee to trust her enough to fly to her hand for food.
Since a very young age she was taught how to recognize wild animal tracks, how to recognize their behaviours, to learn their natural tendencies so as to be able to hike in the wilderness. Whenever encountering a new wildlife species, she researches their behaviours and habitats to be able to co-exist with them. She lived in harmony for several years with a Fisher who had moved into her vicinity and thus shared her land, by observing and respecting his ways of communication, his routines, his boundaries and how he claims his territory. This patience and keen observation is brought over to when she works with dogs.
She was a well-respected on-line trainer for many dog related forums since the turn of the century, a mentor dog trainer for ABTA / ABC (Animal Behavior and Training Associates / Animal Behavior College) in California, as well as, Dogs with Jobs a nation-wide television series. She was answering emails of common dog training questions from the audience, until the firm moved their services to another province. She designed, directed and produced her first instructional video on “How to train your dog”, starring her bloodhound, in 1995.
Kir is always reading, observing, researching and educating herself to bring everything she can into her sessions with dogs. She loves to learn more about what she does – this is what she enjoys most. She believes in not only her knowledge of dogs, but also her studies into other animals and nature in which she can apply to dog behaviour. Most of all, she is in this to improve the lives of the dogs, wildlife and nature that have given her so much. Honesty, integrity, respect, passion and love for what she does lets her deal with the challenges that come her way. She teaches the people what their dogs want them to hear, to work on the animal bond to build a pack relationship which their dogs would understand. With this communication and understanding between both parties, the result is balance and harmony.
Her main focus has always been the happiness of her canine students and bridging the gap in the inter-species communications, helping dogs and their people build a strong bond without conflict and with as little stress as possible.
She has often been told she has an uncanny ability to understand dogs. She brings an open minded approach to training, recognizing that all dogs learn differently and need to be approached as individuals. A balanced combination of traditional training and listening to the needs of each dog makes her students, both canine and human, feel they are special.
