What makes Mimi's style so unique?

I'm Miss Mimi and I still wrangle a pack of dogs here at Doggy Doolil Daycare, which I founded in 2005. I operate out of my home, and when I started this daycare at 41 years of age, all I had was a lifetime of owning dogs and other pets. We took all 3 of our dogs to obedience class back home in Sweden in the 70's, and we had dogs for most of my 40 plus years on top of all the other animals we rescued or owned. We brought the 3 dogs to Canada in 1979 and we added another one to the pack a year after that.

I worked in the corporate world and in theatre and film, and logo design as a desk top publisher, and even started out as a hair dresser in my late teens. I travelled the world and had my share of adventures in my early 20's when I went back to Europe for 3 years. Then I moved back to Canada and started a family. After getting the daycare up and running in 2005, I started studying everything I could find and read a lot of top dog training books, but the one that captured most of my attention was Cesar Milan. He understood packs and that was what I needed to learn. His techniques worked every time and all I had to do was use calm energy and a slight poke to get their attention, if they needed it. In the worst case scenarios, I even mastered the Alpha roll. I got myself certified in Dog Obedience in early 2011, and started offering obedience classes in that same year and I used the pack training I got from all I learned from Cesar to tweak it a bit.

Over the years, I also got certified in Pet First Aid and then Animal Behaviour in 2018, allowing me to expertly care for and study the dogs behaviour in a pack setting of up to 25 regular dogs daily, in an open concept facility, free from kennels or crates.

This 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 also taught me a deeper level of understanding dogs emotions.

My certification on Animal Emotions 2018

When it comes to rehabilitating and behaviour modifying a dog and its owner, I can easily say I know what I am doing and have a lot of experience in the field. I might not have a bunch of certifications from top dog training schools, but I have real lived life experience and 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. 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 after living in Richmond for a year. That's where I discovered western riding and I was hooked.  Later on in life as a single mother of 2 young girls, 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. 

Doggy Doolil daycare yard ca. 2008

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. 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, just like children. 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 in my life, although hard to live with, also allowed me to delve into the behaviours of the humans that came along with those dogs, in daycare as well as my training clients, and it helped me understand them both better as a unit. I found that the ones really needing the training was usually the human on the other end of the leash. Once we got that under control, the dogs just seemed to be normal.

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. 

When they come in for an assessment, they need to be prepared to answer some personal questions I might have about who they are as the dogs owner/master/parent/ husse/matte/mom/dad etc... because the more I know about them, the better I will understand their dog and its behaviours.

So I ask them, 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.

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 ca. 2009

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 trying to and 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~

Mimi Jacobson C.P.D.T/A.B.C

a.k.a Mimi the dog whisperer