Welcome!

I am Miss Mimi, and I manage a pack of dogs at Doggy Doolil Daycare, which I founded in 2005. Operating from my home, I launched this daycare at the age of 40, equipped with a lifetime of experience in owning dogs and other pets, as well as equine sports. My professional background includes roles in the corporate sector, theatre and film, logo design as a desktop publisher, and even as a hair technician in my late teens. I have travelled extensively and experienced numerous adventures. After establishing the daycare, I became certified in Dog Obedience and began offering obedience classes and private in-home session in 2011. Over the years, I also read a lot of books on dog behaviour and then I obtained certifications in Pet First Aid and Animal Behaviour in 2018, enabling me to expertly care for and analyze dog behaviour in a pack setting of up to 25 regular dogs daily, within an open-concept facility free from kennels or crates. I did it with boundaries and limitations and good old calm energy.

This daycare pack gave me a unique opportunity to study pack behaviour and how dogs relate to and learn from each other. How they play, use their sound and their body language to communicate. And after 20 years of doing it daily, I can easily call myself a professional behaviourist and animal emotions specialist. My certification in Animal Emotions taught me a deeper level of understanding dogs emotions.

When it comes to rehabilitating and behaviour modifying a dog and its owner, I can assess their behaviours and evaluate what is going on based on all my years experience in the field. I might not have a bunch of certifications from top dog training schools, but I have real life experience and over 55 years of growth in action. And that, my friends is Priceless!

Growing up we always had a pack of at least 3 dogs and any other critter that needed rescue or saving. From lizzards, to doves and even a family of Hedgehogs. We had a turtle, a bunny named Napoleon, because he was all black with one white paw. And we had budgies and canaries. Our home growing up was a literal zoo.

I took horseback riding classes, English style, back home in Sweden and when our mom moved back here to Canada when I was a young teen, we landed in Kelowna. That's where I discovered western riding and I was hooked.  Later on in life as a single mother of 2 young girls, my sister and I relocated to Surrey, the city of parks, and found a home on just over an acre in a big old house that had a huge yard. Getting a dog was the obvious next move, and soon enough we had 5 dogs and a doggy daycare. 

Our front yard

As a single mom, I went through some tough times with the girls, but that taught me a lot about my own behaviours and the power of calm energy. I always wished I had the dog training skills before having the children, because the difficult behaviours are so similar in how to control the situation. And I still think it's a lot harder to train a human. Calm and assertive in my motto! In dog training this is the golden ticket! Any time you act out emotionally by yelling and being unstable, they stop listening to you. It's amazing what time and experience will give you. And don't we all wish we could do it all over again?

This situation also allowed me to delve into the behaviour of the humans that came along with those dogs, in daycare as well as my training clients, and it has helped me understand them both better as a unit. I found that the ones really needing the training was the human on the other end of the leash. So my behavioural skills go way past just understanding the animal. I feel the energy and recognize anxiety in the human just like a dog can smell it. 

So when you come in for the assessment, be prepared to answer some personal questions I might have about who you are as the dog owner/master/parent/ husse/matte/mom/dad etc... because the more I know about you, the better I will understand your dog.

So please... be as honest and forthcoming as you can be. I'm here to help and support your dog in the daycare, as your personal, private coach and your dogs private one-on-one trainer/behaviourist.

Doggy Doolil's dog yard with Scooby, Woody, Rosie, Apollo and Tory.

The love and respect I have cultivated in the clients I have taught and the dogs I wrangled throughout the past 20 years have fostered an exceptional pack here at the daycare that aids in rehabilitating new dogs anxieties or fears, teaching them patience and trust like never before. There's really nothing else like it. Operating this members only daycare has truly given this pack a place where everyone knows their name. Cheers!

Since the start of the daycare back in 2005 I have had a pack of dogs that on a continuous basis kept the pack hierarchy going, as one dog left a new one came along to learn the ropes. The longest a member attended our daycare was 12 years! And boy do I miss 'Woody'. 

Woody 2010

I have maintained top Alpha position and the pack instinctively knows what I need and want, and work with me to achieve the calm and happy pack we have today. That's not to say they can't have their zoomies and frisky frolics. They trust me and know that I would establish top dog position with all new dogs, so no one is out there vying for the top position. This keeps everyone on the same level and equal to a degree. The older Omega dogs have their job and the alpha dog in the dog realm has his, and backs me up as top dog all the time. That position switches depending on the day and what member dogs are here. I am here to maintain a good energy and control it, and allow for the fun to flow.

This rewarding experience is the highlight of our pack's journey, and we all flourish in this nurturing environment. It's a way for them to live a true dog life.

So c'mon... give the dog a bone! 

Book an assessment today!

~Join the pack~