Meet the Trainer!
Liza Rader KPA CTP
Dogs are Liza’s greatest passion! Wild child puppies, high-energy adolescents, and especially chaos-incarnate bird dogs!
The dogs that people describe as nutty, out of control, hyperactive, toy obsessed, or just too much – these dogs are Liza’s jam!
Liza can help take the challenge out of living with your high energy, over the top dog, and help you get on with enjoying activities and life together.
Liza has been handling, competing with and working with dogs for most of their life, and is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. Liza is highly experienced in working with all breeds, types and ages of dog, and is skilled at helping people resolve their dog’s problem behaviours. They specialize in high energy, high drive sporting dogs, but enjoy working with dogs from all backgrounds.
The learning never stops, and Liza is committed to continuing education, regularly taking classes and attending seminars on topics ranging from dog sports to solving complex behaviour problems.
This includes industry leading programs such as the Aggression in Dog Masterclass and Learning and Living with Animals.
Liza has extensive experience raising puppies, teaching puppy classes and loves helping puppy guardians get off on the right foot.
As a lifelong Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever person, their specialty is the wild child dogs, those with big feelings and challenging behaviours.
As a "crossover" trainer (someone who was originally taught compulsive and outdated methods before moving to reinforcement-based training), Liza values meeting people where they're at and teaching without judgement.
Liza is also an artist, and graduated from NSCAD University with a BFA in Fine Art in 2012. They have worked in the arts and as a disability justice organizer.
You can contact Liza here, or via email.
Our Philosophy
Dog training shouldn’t suck, for you or for your dog.
At Focus Dogs, we are committed to effective, ethical and engaging teaching practices for both ends of the leash. We believe that training should be practical and fun, and that good training can transform the lives of both people and dogs. We are committed to using the most modern and least invasive or harmful methods possible.
These methods aren’t just ethical, they’re highly effective at resolving behaviour problems without the risk of unsafe or harmful side effects.
Listen to Focus Dog Training
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Cog Dog Radio
Let’s Talk About Fetch, Baby!
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K9 Conservationists
Arousal in Working Dogs PART TWO
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K9 Conservationists
Arousal in Working Dogs with Liza Rader
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Brilliant Dog Pod - I Have a Treasure
Resource Guarding and Big Feelings About Treasures
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Cog Dog Radio
Reinforcement, Birds, and Screaming Tollers with Liza Rader KPA-CTP
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Paws & Reward
Exploring Canine Exercise with Liza Rader
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Brilliant Dog Pod
Hunt, Point, & Retrieve Type Dogs with Liza Rader
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Make it Click!
Why Does Responsible Dog Breeding Matter?
The Family Connection
Liza got their start in dogs thanks to their grandmother, world-renowned author and sporting dog expert Alison Strang. She mentored Liza from the age of 10 in everything from raising neonatal puppies, to gundog training, conformation showing and so much more. Together they travelled across Canada many times, and spent countless hours enjoying all things dog.
Alison taught Liza to never stop learning, to be a generous and engaging teacher and to find the fun in everything.
Alison passed away in 2018, but her work is reflected in those she mentored.
Meet the Dogs
Percy
Percy was a wonderful Rough Collie, a very sweet and gentle dog who adored babies and puppies. He was a fantastic demo/decoy dog and was loved by so many.
He passed away in March of 2023, and is sorely missed
Biscuit
The resident wild child, Biscuit is a 4 year old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Biscuit is the undefeated Focus Dogs Employee of the Month, always around to help demonstrate for digital training sessions. There is never a dull moment with him, and he trains for and competes in multiple sports with Liza.
Photo by Asheligh Wells of Sit Stay Studio