Meet Shawna Gower

Hello, my name is Shawna Gower, I thought I would tell you a little history of who I am and where/what I have been doing! I was born and raised in Northern Ontario and have travelled around in my years currently living in Wheatly River PEI.

I am a certified Positive Reinforcement Game Based Dog Trainer. I have always had a passion for dogs since I had my first puppy at 4 years old named Peppy. In my mid 30’s after spending a number of years in Grand Cayman, I knew I wanted a dog but the timing wasn’t right as I was poor Scuba instructor that couldn’t afford to take on a dog – but when I got back to Canada I moved to BC and a few years after that I purchased my first house I was ready for a dog!! I got Bear dog – a big Chocolate Lab, and then about a year later I then got Moto. In 2015 I started volunteering with CARRE Rescue and this is where my desire to become a dog trainer began. (Plus, Moto was a bit out of control lol if you have a look at my blog posts you will see why) 2016 I took the leap and got certified as a trainer.

In July of 2017, I moved from Surrey BC to Duncan on Vancouver Island, because I wanted a better life for myself and the dogs, I no longer wanted the life off the hustle and bustle of the big city and it was time for me to get away from the grind of long commutes and high-stressed job, so we took the chance and made the change. That winter I started up Moto-Vated Dog Training and we strived! Hiking off leash dogs in the mountains and dog training 7 days a week- things progressed and we were BUSY!

In 2021 I had a devastating year where Moto died in March and then Bear passed that Aug. This has sent me on a journey of Holistic Health and Canine Food Nutrition. I got Sprocket in June of 2021 and later at the start of 2022 we got Slicks. In early spring of 2023, some uncontrollable events took life on a right-hand turn and changes/decisions needed to be made so in July of 2023, I sold my house and we packed up and made another huge leap and moved to Atlantic Canada in PEI. (Sprocket Slicks and I) drove the 5800km drive across the whole of Canada and landed in Wheatly River, with an acre of land and a little house.

I am ramping up Moto-Vated Dog Training 2.0 again, I am training on the weekends for now and will be expanding into full time training again in the near future – I have many plans ahead, making use of our fully fenced property in Wheatly River – wink wink good things are coming!!!

So that's a very long story short about me! I would love to chat to you if you are in need of a dog trainer – If you read my blog Slicks you'll find out she is a reactive dog and and I am learning so much from her – regarding trauma, pain and reactivity so if anyone has any questions for me I would love to chat to you about the issues you are facing with your dog(s) We train all stages of Puppy Training, General Obedience Training, Reactive Dog Training, Leash Walking and Recall Workshops. Come spring we will also be hosing Puppy Playtimes again!!! Stay Tuned

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Certification and Training

• 2015-2017 Volunteering with CARRE Rescue

• 2016 Graduated from the International Academy of Canine Trainers Delta BC

• September 2018 Graduated from the Fundamental Dog Trainers Reactivity Course through Tug Dog Coaching Elverta California

• 2019 Certified Dog First Aid with DogSafe Canine First Aid

• November 2022 Certified Acute First Aid Homeopathy of Animals

• Spring 2024 Working on Certification of Holistic Carnivore Animal Nutrition