About us
Born and raised in the Ottawa Valley, Olivia has lived and breathed the dog mom life since she was able to walk. With over 10 years in the veterinary field, a small army for a pack of her own and now one of the owner/operators of The Dog House Ottawa, it's safe to say she lives and breathes dogs - literally!
While training at her home is not only mandatory & a passion, she spends her remaining free time training and competing with her pack in sports such as agility, dock diving, barn hunt, conformation, obedience, and sporting scent detection to name a few.
Being an Australian Cattle Dog owner (amongst other breeds) has really pushed her to take a keen interest in many herding breeds, as well as taking the time to really understand their tenacious and sometimes unwanted behaviours that come along with those genetics. Though not partial to one type of dog, she works with many breeds and loves to teach others about breed qualities. She is so passionate about this, and getting to see a dog do something it was bred to do sparks joy in her heart!
Her previous time in rescue has shown her how great of a need Ottawa has for experienced trainers, understanding and knowledgeable of rescue dogs and their specific needs. Olivia is passionate about developing the relationship between dog and owner by building a solid foundation of obedience but more importantly, a relationship so that you and your dog can truly enjoy life together!
Olivia
Holly
Growing up around working K9's Holly has had a soft spot for all things power breed since day one. After moving to Ottawa, Holly quickly became involved with various rescues across the Ottawa Valley. After fostering hundreds of dogs over the years, a familiar pattern emerged: most dogs who walked in the door had been inaccurately assessed either by the shelter or the rescue.
After intensive training with what would become a permeant addition (who was labelled as dog and human aggressive incorrectly), Holly felt responsible for advocating for these animals and ensuring accurate assessment and training programs were put in place. This eventually led to the opening of Dog House Animal Rescue in 2019.
After spending even more time training and assessing dogs in need, a growing need for continuing support of adopted dogs became clear.
She is adamant about ensuring all dogs (especially rescue dogs) are placed appropriately and develop a relationship built on mutual respect so they are able to be the best ambassadors possible.
