Meet Norma Jeanne
NJ & Spark
Norma Jeanne began her dog training studies in 1987 while she toured North America as a professional musician. She began private dog training in the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph area in 1989 and opened Puppy Power, the first positive reinforcement dog training school in Kitchener Waterloo in 1992.
Norma Jeanne has consulted with clients as far as China, and people have come to her school from as far as Italy to study with her. She is founder and Chair of the International Positive Dog Training Association (IPDTA), long-time member and former Editor in Chief for the Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers (CAPPDT), mentor dog trainer for the Animal Behaviour College of California (ABC), columnist for CAPPDT Forum, IPDTA PawPrint and Pets & Animals magazine.
She has lectured at the CAPPDT Annual Conference, Camp Dog Would in Barrie and Ottawa, Chienposium in Montreal, numerous other venues and hosted Puppy Power’s Annual Dog Show in Kitchener/Waterloo for ten years as a fund-raising event, with proceeds donated to the Kitchener/Waterloo Humane Society and IPDTA Dogs In Need Fund.
Norma Jeanne has consulted with clients as far as China, and people have come to her school from as far as Italy to study with her. She is founder and Chair of the International Positive Dog Training Association (IPDTA), long-time member and former Editor in Chief for the Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers (CAPPDT), mentor dog trainer for the Animal Behaviour College of California (ABC), columnist for CAPPDT Forum, IPDTA PawPrint and Pets & Animals magazine.
She has lectured at the CAPPDT Annual Conference, Camp Dog Would in Barrie and Ottawa, Chienposium in Montreal, numerous other venues and hosted Puppy Power’s Annual Dog Show in Kitchener/Waterloo for ten years as a fund-raising event, with proceeds donated to the Kitchener/Waterloo Humane Society and IPDTA Dogs In Need Fund.
Norma Jeanne's Training History
Norma Jeanne and Dr. Ian Dunbar
Norma Jeanne is a ‘cross-over’ dog trainer. With no other options available at the time, she was taught common dog training practices including the use of choke chains, pinch collars, alpha rollovers etc. While implementing these techniques during the beginning of her career, she began to realize that something was wrong with this picture. She saw dogs cringing with fear or discomfort, and some were downright traumatized. She noticed another trend as well; although she was taught that most canine aggression was based on ‘dominance’ she found this to be untrue. She learned through experience that most aggressive dogs were reacting to fear and were forced to defend themselves, many resulting from unpleasant dog training methods. Many were misdiagnosed as ‘dominant dogs’ and paid with their lives.
Norma Jeanne strongly believes dog trainers should not be contributing to the problem, and has made it her life-long goal to present as many humane and effective options possible for dog training, behaviour and aggression modification, so that the use of fear and pain in dog training will no longer be necessary. Norma Jeanne has applied the shaping technique to other species including her horse Spark of Genius.
Norma Jeanne strongly believes dog trainers should not be contributing to the problem, and has made it her life-long goal to present as many humane and effective options possible for dog training, behaviour and aggression modification, so that the use of fear and pain in dog training will no longer be necessary. Norma Jeanne has applied the shaping technique to other species including her horse Spark of Genius.
International Positive Dog Training Association - IPDTA
Norma Jeanne founded IPDTA in Kitchener/Waterloo in 1992 because she felt it was time to take a stand and stop abuse in the name of dog training. She believes that physical punishment in dog training often compromises the dog's trust and temperament. With all the humane and effective options available, she strongly believes there is no need or excuse for the intentional use of fear or pain in dog training. After many very successful years running her dog training school in Kitchener using only humane methods, she has proven this to be true.
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