BusinessPaws Spotlight: Carolark

Carolark, founded by Carolyn Clark, opened in Ottawa, Canada in 1992. One of the first dog training schools in North America to offer clicker training and puppy socialization classes. As a committed force-free and positive reinforcement (R+) training business, Carolark supports their community with six trainers teaching puppy classes, dog obedience, sports classes, and behaviour management. Their goal is to help dog owners understand canine behavior and training techniques, emphasizing how dogs think and learn.

In their 32 year history, Carolark has had the honor of hosting prominent trainers within their facility. Among them are Bob Bailey, Karen Pryor, Turid Rugraas and Kay Laurence. A rare and notable achievement. Additionally, rare among small business, and especially so within pet care, Carolark has successfully changed ownership twice. Currently owned and operated by Heather Laundry.

Like many petpreneurs, Laundry has always had a passion and affinity for being with dogs. Heather’s “Ah ha!” moment came while attending a 5 day program with Ken Ramirez at the Shedd Aquarium for Professional Trainers. Determined to switch careers following the program, luck struck as Carolark came to market within the year. Now leading Carolark with a wealth of experience and also assisting other trainers through seminars and workshops, Heather continues to advocate for kind training for humans and dogs.

Carolark’s journey has been long and storied, although not without its challenges.  All businesses have been affected by COVID in some way. For Heather and Carolark it meant a change in staff as many decided to not return to classroom teaching. It also meant a rapid change in service delivery, switching to online classes, supervised drop-off playgroups, digitizing printed materials, among other challenges. To fill roles of staff who had chosen to not return to the classroom during the pandemic, Heather contacted other businesses whom had not weathered the storm, or had chosen to stop, to inquire if their staff would be interested in now vacant teaching positions at Carolark. Heather’s grit lead them through, one step at a time by prioritizing the highest value activities. 

At its core, Carolark is about being kind and finding harmony in training humans and their dogs. They advocate for consumer education to ensure clients select the best trainers which enhance their pet’s health, and hope for a future in Canada where trainers are regulated and held to a standard of care everyone hopes to achieve for their clients and pets. Always a steward of animal care and walking-the-talk, Carolark provides resources to their clients such as free webinars and pet parent education towards prevention of dog bites. Additionally, Heather strives to provide learning opportunities for Carolark’s staff which align with this philosophy.

Dog owners frequently choose Carolark for their professional and knowledgeable trainers and organized classes. Their success and value is clear when seeing clients return years later with their third or fourth companion over many decades.

Passion for dogs is abundant within the industry, and Heather is no exception. What affects each individual is different but we all have memories and experiences that stick with us and serve as reminders for why we do what we do. Among Heather’s stories includes one which came with a memento: 

“I’ll use the story of a newly adopted German Shepherd from a number of years ago.  He was a young adult at the time, in a new home a little timid of the world.  By the 5th and 6th week of his beginner class he was leading the way, tail loose and waggy soliciting interaction from me.  I got a thank you note from his owners a few weeks after class with enclosed pictures.  The pictures remain near my desk to remind me it matters.” 

Now a successful entrepreneur doing what she loves, Heather offers some advice for fellow petpreneurs: delegate and automate where it makes sense, look to add value where it matters most, and always approach with kindness. As trends come and go, Carolark emphasizes the importance of sticking to the foundational science of canine behavior and learning. 

For more information or to become a client of Carolark, they can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and the web. 

Carolark is a valued client of BusyPaws, making use of our booking, CRM, communications, and payments systems. We’re pleased to share a small part of their story with the pet care community.