Connect with yourself through your dog as your mirror.

My Name Is Annika

I want to help you feel understood and supported on your path to a deeper, more connected, and conscious relationship with your dog, that will serve and benefit both of you.

I want to help you understand your dog’s nuanced behaviour so you can interpret what they are teaching you - their soul’s purpose, if you will.

I want to empower you to listen to your inner knowing so you can confidently make intuitive decisions for you and your dog.  

After nearly 15 beautiful years of mastering the craft of dog training, it is time for me to step into my soul purpose of deeply supporting the human end of the leash.

Because when we heal, our dogs can heal. When we shift our perspectives, our dog’s behaviour has space to improve.

When working together, I will take your and your dog’s whole beings into consideration. I will help shine a light on what your dog might be communicating to you, and help you understand what currently feels overwhelming or even impossible to breakthrough.

Together we go beyond traditional dog training skills and common practice to get to the root cause of the disconnect or big feelings, for both of you. This means considering mind, body, and emotional wellness in order to facilitate deep healing, increased awareness, increased connection, increased self-confidence, and improved behaviour.

My D.E.E.P.E.N Framework

I have developed my signature D.E.E.P.E.N framework to help support you on your healing journey. DEEPEN is a holistic approach exploring the nuances that are impacting your and your dog’s dynamic, where we discuss:

Dynamic of your relationship
Your expectations of your dogs and yourself, your unique histories, and your shared life changes, experiences, and hardships.

Environment at home
The energy of your environment, and the restrictions and limitations.

Enrichment and exercise
How your and your dog’s innate needs are being met physically and mentally, the state of your shared mental wellness, and the outlets available for releasing stress.

Physiological health and wellbeing
Your and your dog’s histories of health, injury, limitations, and overall physical wellness.

Emotional and energetic wellness
Your and your dog’s quality of life, emotional safety, energetic hygiene, and energetic blocks.

Nature and nurture influences
Your dog’s genetics, and early puppyhood experiences, exposures, and traumas.

My Story

I am open minded and endlessly curious about WHY we (dogs included) behave or respond the way we do to any given environment or situation.

I grew up in a home that required me, at a young age, to develop a strong sense of energetic awareness. In order to establish physical and emotional safety, I learned how to read the emotional states of others - the silver lining to trauma.

These difficult and deeply influential childhood experiences lead me down a long, and sometimes dark, path of self-discovery and healing. It also granted me an infinite amount of empathy for others (dogs included) who experience big emotions while working on their ability to self-regulate a sensitive nervous system.

It took me a long time (…like 33 years) to recognize how anxiety was impacting my mental, physical, and relational wellness. I thought I was just a hyper-productive, tenacious go-getter. I have since learned that imbalanced coping mechanisms take many forms, some of which are celebrated as societal norms, but best not be confused as “healthy.”

My dogs, and experiences with wolves in Inner Mongolia (although brief) forced me to listen. To slow down. To tap into the rhythms of the energy world that shape our reality.

Dogs were always and have remained my greatest refuge in the darkest of days. I am drawn to their grounded energy, capacity to forgive, to live in the moment, to shake off conflict, and to love unconditionally without judgement.

And, they also have the uncanny tendency to stir up in us what is left unhealed. Show us the parts of us that we may struggle to love. Trigger our nervous system the same way someone has in our past. Fun stuff, right?

I look at this as an invitation. Can we move from conflict with our dogs to acceptance? Can we change our perspective on our relationship by understanding them deeper? Can we learn about ourselves through how we relate to and perceive our dogs? Can we change their behaviour by addressing our own? Can we recognize and work on the patterns that are no longer serving either of us?

This is my mission. To illuminate to you that you are not powerless. And that there is hope, that you both can grow - together.

I am endlessly grateful for the canine counterparts who have lead me, guided me and allowed me to continue to heal alongside them, and now, to facilitate this same support for you.

My Education and Certifications

  • Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner Certificate

  • TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICE TRAINING LEVEL 1 - Trauma Informed Practice Institute 

  • Somatic Practitioner in Training

  • Healing Touch For Animals
    Level 1

  • Reiki Level 2 For People and Animals

  • 3 Levels of Tellington T-Touch

  • Certified by Walks ‘N’ Wags Pet First Aid

  • Member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers

  • Broadcast Journalism College Graduate

  • Dogma Certified Behaviour Consultant (DDT)

  • Certified by the Karen Pryor Academy (CPA-CTP)

  • Certified by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA)

  • Sophomore in The Academy For Dog Trainers (CTC)