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?
Shannon is AMAZING - friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, thorough, flexible, and responsive - everything I could want in a trainer for my sweet little potato! Reggie responds to her immediately!I could not recommend Shannon and Zen Dog Training with any more fervour than I already do! Thanks Shannon - already looking forward to Puppy Grade One!
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!
Excellent, highly knowledgeable trainer that constantly stays on top of current research in dog training. Highly recommend
I have been taking my feisty young terrier mix dog to Shannon's Saturday morning Skills & Drills Power Hour for the past few months and it has been a game changer for us. He went from being unable to be close to the other dogs and having to do the exercises 20 feet away from the group, to being able to walk past dogs, in between dogs, towards dogs, all a couple of feet away from him with no issues. This class was exactly what we needed for him to feel more comfortable around other dogs and I am so grateful for Shannon's knowledge and encouragement. Shannon has years and years of dog training experience and it shows!! Sylvie Fefer
Shannon is an amazing trainer, we took the reactive dog training “GROWL” and learned how to help our dog be more relaxed and focused on us more than any trigger or distraction. Shannon explains everything very clearly and easy to follow. She is the best, we definitely recommend her!
I had the good fortune of attending Shannon's classes and also had multiple private sessions. Shannon is extremely knowledgable and passionate about dogs/dog training. She is first class!
My husband and I recently had the pleasure of working with Shannon at Zen Dog Training to help our dog Apollo with reactivity issues and making better choices. Her experience was transformative.Shannon provided us with a set of practical and effective tools that have made a significant difference in Apollo’s behavior. She took the time to understand the specific challenges we were facing and tailored her approach to suit our needs. Her expertise and patience were evident throughout the training sessions.One of the most valuable aspects of Shannon's training was her focus on positive reinforcement and clear communication. She taught us how to create a structured environment where our dog could thrive and learn to make good choices independently. The techniques were easy to understand and implement, and we have seen immediate improvements.Shannon’s guidance has been invaluable, and we feel more equipped to handle any challenges that come our way.We highly recommend Shannon at Zen Dog Training to anyone looking for a knowledgeable and compassionate dog trainer.
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.
Shannon is a fantastic instructor with the experience and resources to help puppies truly thrive. As first-time puppy owners, her support and willingness to answer questions outside of class has been invaluable. We started with a private session, continued into Kindergarten, and are now beginning our third course with her. We can’t imagine training our puppy without Shannon!
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
We took Puppy Kindergarten and absolutely loved it! Shannon has structured the class to spend some time learning skills like sit, down etc but also to provide useful information on things like grooming, diet, spay/neuter etc which was super helpful as first time dog owners. I would definitely recommend this class and will be taking her more advanced classes as our puppy grows up!
Shannon is fabulous and is a wonderful dog trainer. We took a puppy kindergarten class and learned a ton.
