Meet Cat Harbord | ImPAWSible Possible
Chief Behaviour Nerd & Founder
Hey, I’m Cat your dog trainer! I’m a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant, systems theorist, behaviour technologist, and canine science nerd.
Since 2009, I’ve been on a mission to better understand dogs and to help others do the same. My work is a continuous dialogue between theory and practice, carved out nearly two decades of experience and research and a deep respect for the human-canine relationship.
My journey started in 2007, not with credentials, but with what I can only describe as a “gravitational pull” towards working with dogs. If I am honest, I had not idea what exactly I was being pulled towards or where it was all lead. I just knew I had to do it. So I did. I started a dog running company in SW Calgary. Now that was a learning experience! Many of the dogs I was running had fairly significant behavioural challenges and I was increasingly finding myself over my head in terms of how to safely navigate the day to day with these dogs (squirrels, ice, passing other dogs etc.). So, I started to study dog training and behaviour and obsessively applied what I was learning to my clients dogs. I thought I was their teacher, but in retrospect, I was their student. With time, I was increasingly pulled towards behaviour and training, and in 2009, I started ImPAWSible Possible.
One of my greatest teachers to date, was Mouse (see photo), my late rescue dog who came to me in 2011 with separation anxiety, reactivity, and aggression (that’s the short list). My goal was to “fix” Mouse with all my scientific tools and protocols, but Mouse had a bigger lesson for me. Mouse taught me to truly see him and the interconnected web connecting both of us .
Mouse showed me that behaviour doesn’t exist in isolation; it is part of an unfolding story between dog, human, and world. I came to understand that my world and Mouse’s were inherently different. As Gomez-Marin & Ghazanfar (2019) say, “all animals share a common world, but not all animals share a world in common.” The inherent tension held in this difference that is present in every relationship can either catalyze growth or become a destructive force.
The most profound lesson I learned from Mouse was about identity. Who we are and who our dogs are is made real in relationship. And within every relationship there is an inherent paradox. The simultaneous desire to assert our independence and to integrate (Gatlin, 1972). Unity comes from the continuous ebb and flow between these opposites (Capra, 2020). This is illuminated in the Zulu greeting Sawubona (“I see you”) and the response Ngikhona (“I am here”). Until we are truly seen, we don’t fully exist. As Cabrera (2021) writes, Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu “A person is a person through other people.” Identity emerges out of relationship.
Mouse passed away in August 2024. His legacy of love lives on in all of my work.
How I Work
Dogs and people are dynamic living systems (processes). You can’t reduce them to parts without breaking the whole (Capra, Bateson).
My work draws from:
Systems Theories (Cybernetics, Complexity, Dynamical Systems, General Systems Theory and more!)
Ethology
Conflict & Peace Studies
Behavioural Sciences
Developmental Psychology
Attachment Theory
I’ve synthesized these theories into a living meta-framework called Pooch Peacebuilding. This framework forms the ethical, philosophical, theoretical, and practical foundation of my work. It is woven into every facet of what I do with people and dogs. From academic research and mentoring professionals worldwide to working hands-on with clients and their dogs. Pooch Peacebuilding is a conversation between theory and practice, creating an adaptive, real-time, relational, and intuitive approach to working with dogs and their people This is training that transforms!
Credentials
Diploma in Canine Behaviour Science & Technology
Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant (IAABC)
Certified Family Dog Mediator
Certificate in Systems Thinking & Leadership – Cornell
Member, International Association for Perceptual Control Theory
Mentor to professionals everywhere
Speaking & Events
APDT Conference (2024)
L.E.G.S. in Motion (2025)
IAPCT 35th Annual Conference (upcoming)
I love sharing my work, even though I’m an introvert. Interested in collaborating or booking a talk? Get in touch.
Beyond the Bio
I was born on Vancouver Island, and raised in Victoria, BC. I came to Calgary in 1999 for a mountain bike race and never left!
When I’m not working, you can find me walking, likely with my headphones on listening to research papers, audiobooks, my favorite podcasts or music. Oh, and did I mention, I love coffee?
My work is my purpose. I am grateful every day for the opportunity to do this work and to help people deepen their relationships with their dogs through curiosity, trust, and mutual understanding.
Whether you’re overwhelmed by a reactive dog, navigating the mayhem of puppyhood or adolescence, or simply wondering “Why does my dog do that?” I’m here.
With Science.
With Heart.
With Purpose.
