📌 Forum Guidelines 📌

Welcome to the Nordic Education Space! This space is built on mutual respect, shared learning, and a deep care for dogs and their people. 

This place is for everyone. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind — including on the basis of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, body size, or neurodiversity. Accessibility is also deeply important to us. If there’s anything we can do to make this space more usable or welcoming for you, please reach out. We are always learning too!

To help keep this space supportive and safe, we ask that all students adhere to the following:

1. Kindness is non-negotiable.

We do not allow criticism, judgment, or unkind language to be directed at other students or at the Nordic team. All communication here must stay respectful, warm, and constructive.

Of course, if you have constructive feedback about the platform, content, or the way things are structured, we welcome it! Please email us directly at support@nordicdogtrainer.com or use the feedback surveys we routinely send out–do not use the Ask-a-Trainer or Announcements forums for this.

2. We are here to learn The Nordic Way.

Our Dog Guardian Academy and Dog Professional School are grounded in the Nordic philosophy of dog training: gentle, choice-based, respectful interactions rooted in observation and empathy. We ask that all training discussions stay aligned with this approach.

We firmly advocate for the exclusive use of force-free and fear-free methods in our dog training practices. We distinctly reject any approach that involves force, intimidation, fear/scaring, or the application of verbal and/or physical punishment to dogs. For our full code of ethics please follow this link: https://www.nordicdogtrainer.com/code-of-ethics

Please do not advocate for or show images/videos of tools or devices that can inflict discomfort, pain, or fear upon dogs. This includes, but is not limited to, shock collars/e-collars, prong collars, retriever leashes, choke chains, spray or noise collars, and so-called no-pull harnesses. These tools and methods are completely opposed to the Nordic Way.

3. If something looks off, trust that we’ll handle it.

If you see a post that includes a tool, method, or moment that looks aversive or even just uncomfortable for the dog, please don’t step in yourself. Tamara and Emma actively monitor posts to ensure they align with our guidelines, and our Nordic Dog Trainers are here to gently support students when improvements can be made. If you have any doubts, you can message the admins privately or email us at support@nordicdogtrainer.com.

We ask that you trust our team to guide those moments with kindness, care, and consistency. This allows our space to stay safe and supportive for everyone.

4. Training advice should only be given by our Nordic Dog Trainers ONLY.

If you’re a dog guardian looking for professional support and you signed up for our Ask-A-Trainer Access, please post in the Ask A Dog Trainer forum and be sure to follow the posting guidelines listed there to get the best help possible.

In order to ensure that any training advice given is accurate, consistent, and supportive of the Nordic Way, we kindly ask that students do not give any advice to other students (even if you are a dog professional yourself). This role is restricted to our Nordic Dog Trainers who are labeled as such in our forums. This also applies to the chat function during any Live Events hosted here.

5. We select our partners, experts and recommendations with care. 

All our partners are selected based on a shared set of values to ensure that our recommendations follow our Nordic philosophy of dog training. Please do not post or refer to advertisements from other businesses or share recommendations based on your personal experience (unless you refer to one of our official partners, such as Canuzzo or experts, such as separation anxiety expert Rosee Riggs).

If ever any of your posts with a non-promotional intention shows a product other students ask you about, please feel free to @ mention either Emma or Tamara (your admins) in the thread to get confirmation that it’s ok to share the brand (we only want to ensure the brand/product is in line with our code of ethics).

If ever you feel like there is a trusted professional from your own personal experience who could be beneficial to name/recommend in one of your posts - but this professional is not part of the trusted Nordic experts - please reach out to your admins and we are happy to look into that person’s background and verify if they align with the Nordic code of ethics and can be openly referred to within our forums. 

6. When in doubt, ask.

If you're unsure whether something you want to post or comment may go against our guidelines, please reach out before posting. You can message Tamara or Emma, or email us at support@nordicdogtrainer.com ✉️

The above guidelines apply across both the Ask-a-Trainer and Announcement forums as well as the chat sections of any live event. Be advised that posts or comments that violate these guidelines may be deleted without notice.

While we would never want to lose a Nordic student, repeated violations may result in removal.

Thank you for helping us protect the kind, intentional culture of this space. 💛