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?
I had the opportunity to take puppy kindergarten classes with Shannon several years ago with my border collie Savvy. The class was well structured and the content was very informative. We got to learn basic obedience, tricks, even a little obstacle course all while interacting carefully with other puppies. We learned about nutrition and grooming and got some cool goody bags. Would definitely recommend this class!! I actually drove over an hour from Langley to attend this class every week and it was well worth it!!
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!
We had a great training experience with Shannon! Our focus was to work on mild reactivity, focus and recall, and most of all to build a stronger bond with our rescue dog and explore awesome things we can do together. She taught us what we needed and more, is very thorough and a wonderful teacher! Highly recommend
Shannon is the best! We have worked with her and our 2 dogs on and off for over 10 years. Our dogs are super content and always have so much fun in class. Highly recommended!
Remy and I love coming to Saturday classes! Shannon is knowledgeable and kind. We trust her expertise. Saturdays are a wonderful way to supplement our own training and stimulating for my dog :)
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.
We loved Shannon's Puppy Kindergarten and Puppy Grade 1 classes, and also adored her assistant Isabelle! Learned a lot and practiced a ton of socialization. Definitely stressful as first time puppy owners to try to handle your pup around other dogs in a class setting, but ultimately I think it made a huge difference in giving us great exposure and better tools to do so! Every time we doubted a command or trick and wondered if we'd use it, we'd end up realizing how right Shannon was a week or two later haha. Hope to continue taking her classes and have heard folks sing her praises around Vancouver for good reason! She's the best
I have been taking my two dogs to classes with Shannon and the other great trainers at Zeno Dog for a couple of years and am loving it. We are currently enrolled in the Nuts and Bolts class with Shannon. Her classes are challenging, and she makes you work, but her program is creative , practically helpful and very fun. One of the things that makes Shannon such an engaging teacher is that she is constantly taking courses and incorporating new ideas into her teaching. There is nothing stale or repetitive about Zen Dog! One of my dogs could be reactive towards other dogs but has done so well in Shannon's classes. It makes me proud to see her so focussed and relaxed around other dogs. I think that we were so busy and concentrating so hard during class that my dog forgot to worry about other dogs and I forgot to worry about her. At the end of the day, I leave Shannon's classes with tired and content dogs and a really great feeling about my relationship with them. I highly recommend Zen Dog.
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.
I highly recommend Shannon for dog training. She is knowledgeable and makes training logical and easy to understand. My rescue dog has made big improvements in dealing with her new city environment and big dog anxieties. Thanks for all your invaluable help with the dog AND ME!
I started train my high energy mixed breed puppy with Zen Dog Canine and love their approach...Both Shannon and Christine are very knowledgeable and equip you with several tools how to deal with your dog's behaviour.. and I can't wait till the next course..
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.
