Get to know more about Shannon Malmberg
As an avid runner, Shannon began her dog training journey in 1988 by volunteering with Project Safe Run, a personal protection-dog organization for women athletes, while she completed degrees in journalism and political science at the University of Oregon.
Upon graduation Shannon moved to Vancouver and worked as a civilian decoy with the Vancouver Police Dog Squad from 1991 until 2003: a “hired bad-guy” to assist in the training of young patrol dogs in tracking and criminal apprehension. Hiding in dumpsters, running down dark alleyways, and getting bitten by German Shepherds gave her an insight into working with high drive dogs and dog aggression.
It was here Shannon truly got the dog training bug.
She founded her company Zen Dog Canine Training Ltd. in 2002, teaching dogs and their people across Vancouver and the lower mainland. To date she has worked with close to 10,000 clients on a broad range of issues from puppy raising to behavioural cases, and all things in between.
As a professional dog coach, Shannon is enthusiastic and creative, committed to teaching in a way that is positive for both humans and dogs. She has a gift for bringing dogs and their people closer together while meeting the needs of each client she works with. Shannon stays current with science-based methods and is a lifelong student in all things dog.
My Great Dog Story
She tirelessly attends multiple seminars and on-line coursework a year, getting the opportunity to work with some of the world's leading dog trainers in developing her own craft. Shannon is driven by her passion to learn more and do better by the dogs she lives and works with. She also has a keen interest in building relationships through toy/tug play, and understanding canine nutrition, fitness and body conditioning, rounding out her understanding of dogs' needs.
Shannon is recommended by breeders, veterinarians, rescue organizations and related industry peers for the work she does. She currently shares her life with two amazing border collies and can be found in the agility ring or out in nature.
About the company
The company targets specific classes and personal coaching for rescue dogs, as well as reactive dogs, puppies, adolescent and adult dogs, honouring their unique stages and transitions in life. Zen Dog is committed to positive reinforcement-based strategies when working with clients and their dogs and seeks to engage the learner with effective game-based methods so that learning is fun for all.
What do Dog Owners think?
My dog Leela and I had so much fun at Shannon’s Rally-O classes. We started with no previous experience and within 4 classes we were able to complete an advanced course off leash! Shannon is a phenomenal positive trainer, very knowledgable and patient with doggies and humans alike. Highly recommend!
Shannon is great, and I love that she offers drop-in options for ongoing training as well as package deals. Monique has made so much progress since we've been working with Zen Dogs!
Excellent, highly knowledgeable trainer that constantly stays on top of current research in dog training. Highly recommend
Shannon is incredibly helpful and an absolute expert with border collies. She is kind, efficient, and thoughtful in her approach. In our private lessons, she took the time to understand my training goals and concerns, and provided a wealth of resources to support us. Shannon’s candour, practical insight, and depth of knowledge has made me well-equipped to use these skills going forward. I look forward to working with her again in the future.
Shannon is an exceptional trainer. She was able to observe some of our puppy’s tricky behaviour and recommend clear and accessible positive reinforcement strategies. Our high energy and persistent puppy is so much easier to manage now that we’ve done group puppy classes and 1:1 training with Shannon. I highly recommend her, both for puppy classes or private training sessions.
Shannon had amazing tips for my 9 month old mini Aussie! Highly recommend working with her. Every time we met it was simple things I could implement with daily training. She made big progress towards loose leash walking. It was also super helpful to know what was normal puppy behaviour ☺️
Shannon has been such a pleasure to work with! For context, I have a Shiba Inu who was reactive, especially around resource guarding. After opting for the “Growl” training package, I find that he has calmed down, is less aggressive, and hasn’t exhibited any resource guarding (fingers crossed this lasts!). Shannon is super knowledgeable and really takes the time to get to understand your concerns and provides relevant training for you to work on with your dog. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who is considering training!
Shannons Saturday morning group classes are engaging & fun & i find the exposure to other dogs in this controlled environment are really helping my reactive dog. He is becoming calmer, more focused & happy & I’m confident Shannon’s training methods & exercises we do are helping to achieve this.
I was really impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge by Shannon and her assistant Isabelle. They really covered all the bases and were awesome in keeping calm in the class (hard with so many puppies around!) and Mugi (@pekoe_and_mugi) really benefited from every class. We took the Puppy Kindergarten, and we're definitely going to take Grade One! (and likely Grade Two, and further). Built an excellent foundation for him to become a better pup. My only qualm is the size of class (with all the humans too!) in the size of the where the course takes place, but the pet store (Simply Natural Raw Pet Foods) have experts in dog nutrition and it was awesome to get their feedback about food from them throughout the course. So a pro and a con for this, and it's up to the handlers to decide if that'll impact their experience. Made for keeping our pup under control but it's also good training for him.
I’ve adopted and fostered multiple dogs in the past 20 years and taken them all to training classes, from many different companies. Shannon and Zendog are by far the best. Shannon’s decades of experience and incredible talent as a coach and dog trainer make her classes a joy to take. I learn so much every time and I know I can trust Shannon to meet every dog and handler wherever we are. She leaves nobody behind, provides twice ad much information as any other classes I’ve taken, and somehow ensures neither dogs nor humans get bored. I’ve done everything from puppy classes to advanced obedience to reactive dog classes to private lessons with Shannon, and referred many friends there over the years. Shannon gives an outstanding experience and excellent value every single class. It is especially important to get early training and socialization right with young puppies, and Shannon’s puppy classes are by far the safest and best place I've found to make sure that happens.
I am so happy we chose Zen Dog Training with Shannon!! We did the puppy classes, grade one, grade two and now we are moving to skills and drills! It’s so exciting to see where my pup started and where we are now. Shannon is very knowledgeable and she does not only teach commands and obedience, but also how to bond with your dog. Not only I really enjoy the classes, but I feel supported as a first time dog owner. Thank you Shannon!
I have known Shannon for years, she helped with training of Roxy, my first black lab.Did amazing job. When I moved down the street from Simply Natural, found out she was doing puppy classes there.So after I found Marli, female black lab puppy, I did not hesitate to take her puppy classes. Thing I love about Shannon, she constantly on top of new training ideas. Still has the great touch with dogs.Positive training. Made huge difference with Marli. 2 paws up from Marli & Terry
