Our Speakers
We are excited to bring together a diverse group of speakers to share their expertise at the Service Dog Summit 2026!
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Laura Harper
Meeting Their Needs: Life With a Service Dog
Laura will share the challenges of living with a service dog, and the unique needs these amazing partners have. She will discuss the welfare of working dogs and how we can help optimize their well-being while they are working and when they have time off. -
Martha Hoffman
Shelter Service Dog Selection
Selecting the right dog from a shelter requires the help of an experienced professional who understands temperament evaluation and Service Dog Temperament. Martha will discuss the pros and cons of adopting young puppies, adolescents and adult dogs, and the challenges that come with selecting a shelter dog. She will also stress the importance of having a backup plan early on, and when to wash the dog. -
Liz Pask
It's in the bones: the relationship between canine structure and function
Service dogs are working dogs who face a number of physical tasks. This talk focuses on the importance of good physical structure and condition as the foundation for helping your service dog having a successful working career.
Martha Hoffman
Shelter Service Dog Selection
Falling in love with a dog is natural, but we need to be objective also. Screening out fearful and aggressive dogs is the most important factor in success. Selecting for gentle friendly confident dogs is essential.
Martha Hoffman spent her 25 year career as Training Director for the Hearing Dog Program. Her many interests over the years have covered Agility, bitesports IGP international competition, Service Dogs, scent detection, tracking, and bedbug detection dog training and handling.
Martha was born hard of hearing, and trained her Yorkie to be her first Hearing Dog as soon as she heard about this exciting concept in the 1980s. She has trained several hundred Hearing Dogs and tested over 20,000 shelter dogs over the course of 25 years. She teaches online Hearing Dog and Service Dog alerting in her Soundwork courses, and is the author of the highly respected text on Hearing Dog training, Lend Me an Ear.
Martha retired to Bali in 2018, and now spends her days following Bali Dogs around, photographing and studying their behavior as they live natural lives while living free in her village. Her current Hearing Dog is Jeep, a Pug x Miniature Pinscher mix who has the best of both breeds! You can learn more about Martha here: http://patreon.com/faunabotanica
Laura Harper
Meeting Their Needs: Life With a Service Dog
Laura will approach the challenges and joys of living with a service dog from an animal welfare perspective. She will share her own experiences living with a service dog, as well as some of the myths and challenges she has seen in the service dog community. Laura will discuss the needs of a service dog including nutrition, exercise, social time, rest, enrichment, and sleep.
Laura is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, has a Masters in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and is partnered with a 4.5 year old Australian Shepherd Service Dog, Zero. Laura has been training dogs professionally for over eight years, and also offers behaviour consulting for cats. She has a keen interest in promoting welfare for the animals under our care, particularly working dogs who have unique roles in our lives. Laura is also the owner of Adlaya’s Art, a pet and wildlife portrait business. You can view her work here: https://adlayasart.ca/
Liz Pask
It's in the bones: the relationship between canine structure and function
Canine physical structure is important as it sets the future working dog up for success. Dogs that have good structure are able to move freely through their tasks which in turn allows the dog to focus on learning and completing the tasks at hand. The talk will also highlight some basic conditioning exercises to help keep your dog physically fit.
Elizabeth Pask, PhD, DVM, CCRP, holds a PhD in nutrition and toxicology and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Ontario Veterinary College, graduating in 2014. Her passion for animal medicine, particularly dog sports and rehabilitation, was inspired by her experience rehabilitating her Labrador, Mr. Ripley, who suffered from arthritis and muscle atrophy. This journey ignited her commitment to rehabilitation medicine, leading her to establish Gilmour Road Veterinary Services in 2016. In 2017, she became a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner through the University of Tennessee. Dr. Pask is dedicated to excellence in rehabilitation medicine, consistently pursuing continuing education to stay current in her field. She shares her life with three dogs—two Labradors and a Newfoundland—and actively competes in a variety of dog sports with her Labradors while her Newfoundland enjoys a life of leisure. You learn more about Dr. Pask here: http://guelphcompanionanimalrehab.ca/