Harness Dog Sports Coaching

Karen started skijoring and bikejoring in 2004 with her first ever dog, a retired sled dog that still loved to pull! She had no idea what she was doing and ended up in a heap several times as she tried to figure out techniques and equipment on her own. Now almost 20 years later she has a large scope of knowledge to share with beginners, intermediate and advanced harness dog sports enthusiasts through lesson with Your Outdoors/Haliburton Forest. She brings experience from training thousands of kilometers with her dogs and experience competing at the World Class level in Skijoring, Bikjoring, Canicross and Scooter.

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While she has been teaching harness dog sports since 2017, she also has well developed teaching skills from teaching a large variety of sports at outdoor centres and camps, and tour companies since 1997, and from a number of years teaching in the Elementary School System.

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She enjoys meeting clients, dog and person, where they are in their connection with each other, and athletic ability in the harness dog activity (bikejor, canicross, skijoring, kicksledding, or scootering), and loves being able to break things down into small easy steps.

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Harness dog sports is truly her favourite way to bond with her dogs. "It really keeps you sharp, and in the moment when you are exploring the world and increasing your fitness with your dog connected to you, moving at their speed. It is hard not to finish the activity without a runner’s high for you and the dog!" Her dogs love harness dog sports. If she simply picks up one collar, all four of her dogs (German Short Hair/Greyhound mixes) come running in excitement knowing they are going outside to exercise together at their speed!

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Personal Training

Karen had been training herself, since 1996 (27 years) to be ready for various races (cross country skiing, triathlons, running races, races with the dogs and even a marathons). She used books and tips from people to help her place often in the top 3 at events, or the top 3 of her age group.

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However she did run into some issues over time health wise. Her feet caused her quite a bit of pain from time to time as they were flat and she also got plantar fasciitis. Her forearms and hands would become particularly painful during the winter when there were more demands on them from skiing. At times the movement in her hands was even impaired. They would tingle and feel as though they were on fire. She had bad tendentious in her right elbow and both wrists, issues in her right knee and lower back, and easily sprained her ankles. She also had issues with her digestion including heart burn. For many years she was carrying 20-30 pounds more weight. Karen was able to fix all these things naturally with the help of physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, natural paths and a personal trainer. Now in her early 50s she is feeling better than she did in her 20s, and 30s.

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She decided to get a little help working with a certified personal trainer, in February 2023 to be as ready as possible for a Canadian Skijoring Championship in March. In her own training she had dabbled with resistance training exercises, but she learned this was the corner stone of personal training programs.  She felt the difference it was making in her body immediately. She felt stronger and safer working with her dogs.  While she was excited she was her lightest weight ever as an adult when she started the training she quickly realized, as she began to do more research, that at the age of 50 she was getting lighter from loss of bone and muscle. She loved personal training so much she decided to become a trainer and was certified by early June 2023.

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She is loving training clients, meeting them where ever they are. She is passionate about tailoring programs for them with basic equipment that is not expensive and easy to move around. She loves seeing her clients leave her sessions energized and with a big smile. She helps people with homework they choose to be held accountable for. Driven by her passion to successfully heal health issues in her own body, she works with her clients on lifestyle changes, and health and mindset coaching however it is helpful for each individual, so they can feel their healthiest and happiest from the inside out. This includes helping clients decide what specialists may be helpful to connect with and to connect with clients specialist when necessary to make sure programming is appropriate.

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Health and Mindset Coaching

In 2020 Karen became a Health and Life Coach.  She was interested in improving her wellness on her life journey and to help others interested in being and feeling their healthiest and happiest.

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Just like our body can hold tension that causes pain, our old habits can hold tension that cause us pain. Once we become aware of the habits keeping us stuck (in our health or other areas of our lives) we can shift and release them to get more of what we actually want. 

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Karen has deep bag of tools to help people with a variety of things from improving health and fitness to better releasing stress, anxiety, and managing clutter in their lives. She is very passionate about this work, because it is so rewarding to see people find more peace, calm, happiness and overall wellness. Life is a continuous journey of ups and downs, but we can learn to manage the downs so we can more quickly return to calm and a feeling of overall balance. This ability keeps us healthier. It also helps our canine and everyone around us, as we have more energy to bring forward! That has been Karen's experience as well. As a result of immersing in health and mindset coaching, Karen enjoys more balanced self esteem and mood. When things are difficult she more easily comes back into a state of good esteem and happiness. And her dogs love that because they get to go out more!