How it started
In October 2018, my sport dog Fizz was injured. Little did we know that we’d be spending the next 4.5 years doing testing, surgeries and extensive rehab. This “adventure” put me in contact with many amazing vets (Dr Chris Zink, Dr Rita McKay, Dr Tara Hudye among others) who gave me the courage to pursue every avenue to get Fizz back to playing the sports we both love. Along the way I discovered my passion for canine fitness and in May 2022 I registered for the Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer (CPCFT) course. The lecture portion wrapped up in January 2023 and I spent the following 6 months completing case studies. In August, I sat for the certification exam and officially became a CPCFT. From there I started brainstorming ways to help the dog community to avoid going through the same heartbreak that I did and thus was born K9 PE.
Savannah
I’ve been passionate about dogs since a young age. In 2008, at age 15, I got my Shetland Sheepdog, Kiwi to play agility with. She taught me so much about training, both for everyday life as well as agility. While she never shared the passion for agility that I had, we did go on to play at the 2016 Canadian Agility Nationals in Montreal. Meanwhile, in May 2013, I began my career as a professional dog groomer. This gave me more hands-on experience working with dogs, learning how they learn and how their bodies move. With plans of retiring Kiwi from agility soon, I decided to get a dog who had the same drive for sports that I had…cue bringing home my first sport-bred mix, Fizz, in January 2017. He was everything I had hoped for, drive and desire to do anything and everything that I wanted to try. Unfortunately it wasn’t all smooth sailing but nothing in life ever seems to be.
Fizz
Fizz was born October 23rd 2016 and came home in January 2017. He was everything you could ask for in a sport dog, confident, outgoing, driven and loving with a do anything attitude. In April 2017, it was discovered that Fizz had PDA, a life threatening heart condition, and required heart surgery. Unfortunately I didn’t have the funds to pay for such an expensive operation but thankfully the dog community stepped up and helped cover some of the expenses which allowed me to take him to Minneapolis to receive surgery at just 6 months old. Due to our quick action, he had no lasting damage and would return to regular puppy fun just 3 weeks later. He learned to play flyball, agility, disc, dock diving, lure coursing and barn hunt. We enjoyed learning together until he became injured in October 2018, effectively ending all of that. We spent the following 4.5 years doing testing, surgeries and extensive rehab in hopes of giving him the ability to live life as a dog once again. Late 2022, he was cleared to begin conditioning to return to agility and in June 2023 we competed together once again.
Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer
Manitoba’s only Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer. With extensive knowledge in canine anatomy and physiology we ensure that every fitness program is safe and effective. With years of experience in dog sports we have in depth knowledge of the physical and mental demands of the activities in which we partake and will ensure that special attention is paid to the higher risk movements.