CPCP LIVE SERIES
@ CONNECT
CPCP is hosting a Live Speaker Series at CONNECT on March 4th 2026
CPCP Live Series is FREE for all Pet Industry Businesses!
Please register for both CPCP Live Series and Main CONNECT event below!
Approved CEU Credits
6 CEUs
Join us at Connect March 4&5, 2026, Canada’s premier platform for collaboration and innovation in the pet industry. This event brings together leaders from across the sector, including manufacturers, retailers, distributors and other pet professionals. To build strong relationships, spark fresh ideas, and create opportunities for growth. With expert speakers, Connect Tool Box vendors, and focused networking sessions, you’ll gain valuable insights and strategies to help your business thrive in a changing market.
More than just a trade show, Connect is a community built by pet professionals, for pet professionals. We’re committed to empowering retailers with the knowledge, skills, and connections they need to succeed while ensuring access to brands that truly support them.
Let’s Grow, Innovate and Connect!
Schedule of Events
March 4th 2026 Schedule
- 9:00am-5:00pm | CONNECT Tradeshow Hours
- 10:00am | Amy Toman,“Diamond” Product Expert and Owner of Pet Sitter SEO
- 11:00am | Laura Tolhoek, CHRL – Founder & Principal Consultant at EssentialHR
- 12:00pm | Lunch Break
- 1:00pm | Jenn Dahinten, BSc, CPACO – Chair of PACCC
- 2:00pm | Karen Baxter L-CCC | CPDT-KA | ABCDT | FDM | CBDC
- 3:00pm | Andrea Dinan CPDT-KA, LFDM, FFCT, KAD-PA
- 4:00pm | Leadership Panel: Lessons From the Top
- 7:00pm | CONNECT LIVE – The Ultimate Pet Industry Party!
March 5th 2026
- 9:00am-5:00pm | CONNECT Tradeshow Hours
- 11:30am – 1:00pm | Connect Lunch
Pet Pro Educational Sessions
March 4th 2026 | 10:00am
Optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) for success
Amy Toman, “Diamond” Product Expert and Owner of Pet Sitter SEO
This session will provide an in-depth look at best methods of creation, management, and protection of Google Business Profiles. Topics will include planning, email management, and optimization, Because Google listings are essential to marketing pet care businesses, they should be created with care and planning. This presentation will guide business owners on how to optimize their listing and prevent it from suspension.
Takeaways:
- Best paperwork to support the listing
- Email management
- Best elements to optimize
- Best areas to optimize on an ongoing basis
March 4th 2026 | 11:00am
Building the Dream Team
Laura Tolhoek, CHRL - Founder & Principal Consultant at EssentialHR
Scaling a business is not an easy task. Being the marketing, finance, customer service and HR expert for your growing business is tough. We hear you and we’re here to help. Essential HR’s team of experts give you tools, strategies, and tangible documents to save your sanity and time when scaling your team in your start-up business.
You will walk away with an understanding of the requirements and an action plan for how to scale your start-up and safeguard your business. As a bonus, we’ll also provide our time-saving templates for creating job descriptions, job postings and interview guides you can implement immediately!
Takeaways:
In this masterclass, you will learn:
- Subcontractor vs employee – who have you hired?
- The two documents that will reduce your risk when hiring and protect your business.
- Safeguarding your business and your emotions when hiring friends and family
- How to build an effective onboarding plan for your new hires
LUNCH BREAK | 12:00pm - 1:00pm
March 4th 2026 | 1:00pm
Why your business feels harder than it should
How Operational KPIs Become SOPs and Profitable Pricing
Jenn Dahinten, BSc, CPACO - Chair of PACCC
Most pet care professionals think of KPIs as only sales numbers, revenue, bookings, or how many pets they cared for last month. But the KPIs that most influence burnout, consistency, safety, and profit are almost never financial…they’re operational.
“If you’ve ever said ‘I don’t know where the time went,’ ‘I should be making more than this,’ or ‘I can’t raise my rates because clients won’t understand’—you already have KPIs. You’re just not measuring them yet.”
This session is designed for solo operators, mobile pet sitters and walkers, and growing facilities alike, and it demystifies what “operational KPIs” actually look like in real pet care businesses. From time spent per visit/pet, documentation habits, and incident frequency, to transitions between pets, communication touchpoints, and decision making under pressure, these are the metrics that quietly determine whether your business feels sustainable or chaotic.
Jenn uses the Professional Animal Care Certification Council (PACCC) Body of Knowledge as a guiding framework, and will show attendees how to identify a starting point of a small, manageable set of operational KPIs that make sense for their business model.
The session will show how these KPIs naturally inform clear SOPs, reduce guesswork, protect both pets and professionals, and ultimately make pricing for profit possible, whether you care for one pet at a time or one hundred.
Takeaways:
- KPIs (what you track)
- SOPs (how you control variance)
- Pricing (what it actually costs to do it right)
March 4th 2026 | 2:00pm
Every Tail Tells a Story: Putting Welfare at the Heart of Pet Services
Karen Baxter L-CCC | CPDT-KA | ABCDT | FDM | CBDC
As our understanding of animal welfare deepens, it’s clear that the way pets live and interact with humans has profound effects on their physical and emotional well-being. Today, pet care professionals are not just service providers — they are stewards of trust and guardians of welfare. This presentation explores how everyday practices in grooming, pet sitting, dog walking, and training can either support or compromise the animals in our care. With a focus on ethical responsibility and practical strategies, we’ll examine how to align business operations with the evolving standards of animal welfare ensuring that every tail truly tells a story of compassion, safety, and respect.
Takeaways:
- Animal welfare is not optional, it’s foundational to ethical, sustainable pet services. Every interaction shapes an animal’s emotional and physical well-being.
- Pet care professionals are frontline advocates for welfare, with the power to influence industry standards through daily practices and client education.
- Understanding species specific needs and stress signals is critical to preventing harm and promoting trust in grooming, training, walking, and sitting services.
- Business success and animal welfare are not at odds. Integrating compassionate care builds client loyalty, professional credibility, and long-term growth.
March 4th 2026 | 3:00pm
From Overwhelmed to Understood:
Recognizing and Responding to Stress Signals in Dogs
Andrea Dinan CPDT-KA, LFDM, FFCT, KAD-PA
Everyday interactions can either build a dog’s confidence or add to their stress — and pet professionals are on the front lines. In this session, I take a deeper look at canine body language to identify subtle signs of stress before they escalate into bigger challenges. You’ll learn how to recognize early warning signals and, more importantly, how to respond in ways that help dogs feel safe, supported, and understood. I will share role-specific strategies tailored to different professions: pause-and-reset techniques for groomers, route and pacing choices for walkers, group management adjustments for daycare staff, and safe space setups for sitters. Through real-life clients and scenarios, I’ll highlight how early recognition and thoughtful intervention can prevent stress, improve cooperation, and strengthen the human-dog relationship. Whether you’re clipping nails, leading a walk, supervising playgroups, or caring for a dog at home, you’ll leave with practical tools to keep dogs calmer and interactions smoother.
Takeaways:
- Learn to identify subtle signs of stress and discomfort in dogs.
- Understand how stress impacts safety, cooperation, and well-being.
- Discover role-specific strategies to reduce stress in training, grooming, walking, daycare, and sitting.
- Gain confidence in making quick, informed adjustments in the moment.
- See how early intervention can transform outcomes
Leadership Panel: Lessons From the Top
March 4th 2026 | 4:00pm
Join us for a powerful leadership panel featuring some of the most successful and respected pet business owners in the industry. These are founders and operators who have built sustainable, scalable businesses, through real-world challenges, rapid growth, team expansion, and industry change.
This candid conversation will go beyond surface-level success stories to explore what it actually takes to lead in today’s pet care landscape—from decision-making and culture-building to navigating burnout, growth plateaus, and evolving client expectations.
Expect practical insights, honest lessons learned, and actionable takeaways you can apply immediately—whether you’re a solo operator, growing a team, or leading a multi-service pet business.
This is leadership, unfiltered—by people who are in it every day.
Our Panelists
Morag Willcox
Co-founder of Canadian Pet Care Professionals and Founder/Owner of York Professional Pet Sitting & Dog Walking since 2000.
From a one-woman show to today, she now leads a team of 22+ dog walkers and pet sitters.
Katie Fuller
Owner of The Fox and Hound Canine Retreat.
Over the past 11 years, she has grown her “small facility” into a thriving canine retreat with 30 employees, caring for over 200 dogs per day.
Sheri Canjar
PACCC-CPACO and Owner of Furry Friends Pet Resort.
Sherri is a national award winning writer, public speaker, mentor and subject matter expert in Canine Nutrition, Canine Reproduction and Whelping.
Jessica Abernathy
Past President of National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS) Founder of Chicagoland Cat Sitters and Founder of PetBizPeople.
Moderator
Erika Godwin
Co-Founder of Canadian Pet Care Professionals, Co-Founder of ProPet Software (Software for pet boarding, daycare, training and grooming facilities), and Owner of Barketing Solutions (Website design and maintenance services for pet businesses).
Meet The Speakers!
Amy Toman
Diamond Google Product Expert and Pet Sitter SEO
Amy Toman specializes in Local SEO and Google Business Profile (GBP) management, helping businesses strengthen their visibility and attract more customers online. She started her career working with pet sitters in 2015, and began Pet Sitter SEO in 2017.
She was the first woman to achieve “Diamond” Product Expert status for Google Business Profiles in Google’s Product Expert program, a recognition of her exceptional expertise in GBP maintenance, troubleshooting, and reinstatements. Since 2017, she has audited over 2,000 websites and hundreds of Google listings, providing strategic guidance that empowers businesses to grow locally and nationally.
Her insights have been featured in webinars, magazine articles, and live presentations, and she has contributed to four editions of Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors report, the industry’s leading resource on local marketing.
Laura Tolhoek, CHRL
Founder & Principal Consultant at EssentialHR and Certified Human Resource Leader (CHRL)
For over 15 years, Laura has used sound HR practices with a pragmatic approach to improve business performance. Laura hosts the CPCP Monthly HR Power Hour.
Laura Tolhoek is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Essential HR, where she leads a team of experts delivering clear, results-focused solutions to businesses facing HR challenges. With over 20 years of experience, Laura has helped companies in the restaurant, foodservice, and retail industries improve performance through pragmatic, high-volume decision-making.
As a Certified Human Resource Leader (CHRL), Laura specializes in guiding managers through complex HR issues, providing actionable solutions, and building confidence in the teams her company works with. She thrives navigating complex issues that arise in fast-paced industries and recognizes the tenacity required for a company, large or small, to be successful.
Jenn Dahinten, BSc, CPACO
Founder & Principal Consultant at EssentialHR and Certified Human Resource Leader (CHRL)
Jenn Dahinten is the owner and operator of Royal Pets Hotel and Enrichment and the founder of the benevolent Racers Fund supporting retired law enforcement dogs. A lifelong pet parent and client of pet care providers on four continents, Jenn entered the industry determined to raise standards of care, safety, and professionalism.
Before pet care, Jenn worked as a human paramedic, providing air and ground emergency care across Africa, Europe, and the UK before becoming involved in the business world through pharmaceutical R&D and sales and marketing. This background shaped her systems based, risk aware approach to animal care, operations, and decision making.
An active operator growing her own business since 2009, Jenn has also been supporting other pet care professionals through coaching and business guidance since 2019. She helps operators of all sizes translate care standards into practical systems, operational KPIs, clear SOPs, and pricing models that support both animal welfare and long-term business viability. Jenn is a strong advocate for education, certification, and professional standards through her leadership with the Professional Animal Care Certification Council (PACCC) and the broader pet care industry.
Karen Baxter L-CCC | CPDT-KA | ABCDT | FDM | CBDC
Behaviour Consultant, Dog Trainer and Co-Owner of Unified K9 Behaviour Centre. Karen’s specialties include Behaviour work focusing on reactivity, anxiety and fear, Rally Obedience, Agility & Hoopers, and anything Puppy!
Karen Baxter is a passionate advocate for animal welfare and a dedicated pet care professional. As owner and head trainer at Unified K9 Behaviour Centre in Newmarket ON, Karen has hands-on experience in dog training and behaviour and brings a thoughtful and compassionate approach to her work. She’s committed to helping pet care providers create environments that support both animals and the people who love them. Whether she’s sharing insights at industry events or working directly with families, Karen’s focus is always on building trust, promoting kindness, and raising the standard of care across the pet services community.
Andrea Dinan CPDT-KA, LFDM, FFCT, KAD-PA
Serves on the board of the Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers (CAPDT) Founder of City Dogs Training & Behaviour in Toronto and the creator and host of the annual Dogs and the City Conference.
Andrea Dinan is the Founder of City Dogs Training & Behaviour in Toronto and the creator and host of the annual Dogs and the City Conference, Canada’s largest event dedicated to urban dog training and behaviour. With a background in teaching, Andrea brings a unique ability to make complex training concepts clear and practical, helping city dogs and their people thrive together.
She holds multiple professional certifications, including CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed), LFDM (Licensed Family Dog Mediator), FFCT (Fear Free Certified Trainer), and KAD-PA (Kids Around Dogs Professional Affiliate), and is a Fear Free Certified Professional. Andrea also serves on the board of the Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers (CAPDT) and collaborates with leading trainers and behaviour consultants worldwide. Passionate about education and community, she has developed signature programs such as Condo Canine, the Reactive City Dogs Club, and Urban Agility Parkour.
