Daelik Hackenbrook

Daelik Hackenbrook: As a Canadian dance artist I dedicated over 25 years of my life contributing to the Canadian dance milieu as a performer, a choreographer, a teacher, and as co-artistic director of MACHiNENOiSY Dance Society. Early in my career I worked primarily interpreting the choreographies of several Canadian choreographers, most significantly those of Peter Bingham as part of EDAM. Parallel to my work as a dancer I began to create and perform in my own creations. The decision to perform predominantly in my own work became concrete in 2002 when I founded MACHiNENOiSY (co-directed with Delia Brett since 2006).

Being a dance artist has been an important and fulfilling part of my adult life for almost 30 years. As I contemplated what I wanted to do as I finished my dance career, I knew I wanted to do something from which I would find a similar sense of fulfillment. It wasn’t hard for me to determine what that would be. I have been interested in dog welfare for many years and I chose to become a dog trainer and behavior specialist.

I did not follow a traditional retraining path through an institution. Having researched the field of dog behavior training, there was no full-time training program that allowed me to follow my career path. With the help of the DTRC I formulated a way to combine part-time courses at the Academy of Canine Trainers, mentoring with a dog daycare, and volunteering with the dog wellness program at the Vancouver SPCA. Mentoring at a daycare and volunteering at the SPCA were instrumental in giving me opportunities to work hands on with a variety of dogs.

The certification courses at the Academy of Canine Trainers combined academic classes in dog training theory, designing dog training classes, marketing and starting a business with hands-on classes for safe handling and training dogs, clinics with real clients assessing dogs with behavior issues and developing training programs specific to each dog’s needs.

My short-term plan is to start my own business providing dog wellness services such as dog walking, dog sitting and dog training. My long-term plan is to create a rescue society where I can rescue, rehabilitate, foster, and re-home dogs.

Member since 1998, (Recipient of Career Exploration Grant, Retraining and FTS-II)
Daelik is a Canadian dancer and creator with an aspiration to open his own dog wellness services business by attaining dog behavior specialist certification at the International Academy of Canine Trainers. After having an extensive dance career for over 25 years, Daelik was looking to transition into a career that would offer him fulfillment similar to what he experienced working as a dance artist.