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’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 beyond impressed with Zen Dog Training and their exceptional training programs. They don’t just teach you techniques—they focus on building a true connection and effective communication with your dog. Before starting with Zen Dog Training, I was unsure how to train or communicate with my puppy, but now I feel completely confident and at ease with her. I know I can teach her anything I set my mind to!Shannon and Isabella are incredible dog trainers who go above and beyond to ensure you understand every step of the process. They provide fantastic support, answering all my questions and offering personalized advice to help me succeed. Their expertise has made a real difference in how I interact with my puppy, and I’m grateful for their guidance.If you’re in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver area) and want to build a strong, positive relationship with your dog, I highly recommend Zen Dog Training. Their courses are a game-changer for anyone looking to improve their dog’s behavior and strengthen their bond.
Shannon is the most knowledgeable dog trainer I know. She combines a common sense approach gained from years of experience with a thoughtful and detailed insight into dog behaviour. Plus, she makes training fun!
Shannon is the best trainer there is! Just finished the second series of classes and it’s truly amazing! Also have done some private training sessions at home with her as well. She uses positive reinforcement snd it’s so astounding what you can get your puppy to do with her showing you what to do! What a difference an amazing trainer makes!!!
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!
Shannon is truly a wonderful trainer/teacher! During the beginning weeks when we first got puppy, she gave us SO MANY helpful tips and advice and set us in the right path. Puppy is doing wonderful with her basic commands and she listens to my kids as well. Shannon’s classes are very interactive and she gives you a chance to practice new commands and gives feedback right away, which I appreciate! She also gives us videos to watch at home to review and has fun little assignments and contests each week to motivate us humans to train our puppies. Looking forward to Puppy Grade 1 class!
Shannon is the best! My dog Ram and I did the life skills 1 class this spring and had a blast! Shannon is fantastic at explaining exercises in an easy to understand way. I really liked getting real time feedback about how to hold the leash, body position for different exercise and how to clearly communicate with Ram. Ram was engaged for the full hour each week and he was super excited every time we pulled up to Carnavon school. His loose leash walking improved a ton and have made walks much more enjoyable. The detailed homework exersice descriptions Shannon sent out each week helped to keep us on track between classes. Totally recommend!
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
Shannon is fabulous and is a wonderful dog trainer. We took a puppy kindergarten class and learned a ton.
We have learned so much with Zen Dog, so happily. The classes are effective, with an outstanding trainer (Shannon) guiding our dogs to learn very happily. Everything is based on positive reinforcement and it all works so well. You will enjoy the training and your dog will thrive.Our Aussie Mountain Doodle puppy came home at 5 months. She is our first dog so we were a bit anxious about how to get it right. We quickly gained confidence with the Zen Dog JumpStart programme. It was astonishing on the first day to find that Indy could do so much already... when Shannon worked with her. Then we took over and things fell apart. It dawned on us that Shannon was actually training us, not the puppy! We applied ourselves, began guiding Indy better, and saw really rewarding results. Grade 1 was a great experience, too. We have made notable progress and, most importantly, now have considerable confidence as to how to proceed. We'll be back for Grade 2 with Zen dogs!
My Cavalier, Pippin, and I did Shannon's Puppy Kindergarten and Puppy Grade One classes. Both were great. I appreciated the small size and indoor setting of Kindergarten, and the chance to play on some agility equipment as well as learning some basics. Puppy Grade One was outdoors - that made it much easier to translate the exercises to the real world. Shannon is a great teacher - patient with both the dogs and the humans, always willing to answer questions and tailor suggestions to your specific breed of puppy, and sends out weekly lessons and videos that we can review. I highly recommend her classes.
Shannon is a professional, understanding and extremely knowledgeable trainer! I’ve had dogs my whole life but didn’t realize that there was so much more to learn about bringing up a well behaved and happy dog. My dog has learnt many useful habits from her class and he loved every second of it. Highly highly recommend!