Coaching for the New Generation Trainer
Hi! I’m Hélène and I work with discouraged dog sport and working dog trainers to help them become the New Generation Trainer:
Calm. Confident. Courageous.
Masters of +R2.0 training concepts
and of putting them into action.
Work with me to achieve mindset and concept mastery you need to overcome anxiety, imposter syndrome, frustration, and overwhelm and finally achieve the results you currently only dream of.
I got my first dog – a Border Collie named Jake – in 1989 and have been training dogs ever since. Jake and I never did any formal sports or training. Agility was just in its infancy and I had never heard of it, nor did I have access to sheep (living downtown Vancouver at the time).
So Jake and I invented our own games and fun everywhere and anywhere we went. Looking back, we would have totally rocked Parkour, if Parkour had been a thing.
After Jake died in 2003, I adopted my beloved Ross (RIP 2018) from Glenhighland Farm Border Collie Rescue, and became quite involved with the world of rescue. Over the next decade I fostered roughly 50 border collies and mixes, and one Australian Kelpie, working on foundations with each to help them integrate into their new forever homes. A few became permanent additions along the way, until my inn was too full to continue fostering.
During those years I dabbled in nose work, tracking, and Search and Rescue. I discovered agility in 2004, and herding in 2005. In 2006, I bought my first herding dog, Hannah, who turned out to be a niece of Jake’s. Coincidence? Or serendipity?
And yes, I was so keen to start herding that I took lessons for a year before I even had a dog!
Hannah and I had a very successful career, winning the Ontario novice herding championship in 2008, after just two years of training. We went on to become an Open level team (the top level of USBCHA herding) while simultaneously competing in agility to the Masters level and qualifying for the AAC (agility) Canadian Nationals.
Today I run a working mixed livestock farm, with sheep, goats, horses, and poultry. Hannah (now retired), along with my other highly talented bitch, Kestrel (who also trained and competed in agility) became the foundation of my breeding and training program.
Training Philosophy: I am dedicated to using positive reinforcement (+R)-based training methods. Initially a “balanced trainer” who was subsequently strongly influenced by the “golden age of clicker training”, I now teach and train using what I call the New Generation method of training, or +R2.0.
My Mission:
- To breed calm, confident, healthy, and sound working border collies for stock work and sport.
- To help passionate but frustrated dog sport and working dog trainers master their mindset and learn the critical +R2.0 concepts so that they can reclaim the joy in training and competing and achieve the success they currently only dream of.
- To build and strengthen the human-animal bond through deep understanding and clear communication.
I strive to keep current with understanding and applying the most cutting edge concepts around learning, training, and teaching.
I am also deeply committed to the philosophy of natural rearing as a major component of dog training, as I believe a clear, sound mind and a strong, healthy body results in a calm, confident, eager to learn animal partner.
Kynic Stockdogs 