Dog Sports & Diversity

Isabel Alvarez Arata on Pet Life Radio

Ayoka Bubar is a certified professional dog trainer based in Canada. She specializes in training dog sports and is passionate about making training fun for everyone involved.

In this episode, Isabel speaks to Ayoka both about dog sport basics and about the lack of diversity in the pet industry. Ayoka wants to see more dog breeds and dog owners trying their hand at dog sports because of the many benefits dog sports bring to the lives of dogs and their humans. She also wants to see more BIPOC in the pet industry, be it in veterinary roles, pet care, grooming, or behavior. The pet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Ayoka and Isabel agree that there is room for everyone to be represented.

BIO:


My name is Ayoka (pronounced Ah-Yo-kah), my pronouns are she/her, or they/them, and I am passionate about dogs, dog behaviour, and dog training.

I believe that dog training should be fun for dogs and their humans and I like to employ a number of positive reinforcement techniques to help handlers communicate more effectively with their dogs.My formative dog training and behavior experience was during the 7 years I owned Prairie Dog Daycare and was a lead dog training instructor at Two Brown Dogs Canine Consultants for Dr. Renee Will. During that time, managed and staffed, all aspects of the dog daycare business and enjoyed teaching a variety of classes including classes for reactive dogs, foundation sport classes and, rally obedience classes.

I am a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed and an approved Canadian Association of Rally Obedience Judge for all levels and I have never passed up an opportunity to try a new sport with my Rottweilers. Together, we have trained and/or trialed in Flyball, Agility, Tracking, Trick Titling, Herding, Rally Obedience, Mondioring, IGP, and Scentwork. This broad range of behavior, training, teaching, and competition experience provides me with a unique perspective and a wealth of knowledge to draw upon to help dog and handler teams reach their training goals.