Ask an alum! Karlie Butler BA’04 turns a love of dogs into service to community

By Sabrina Cataldo, BA’97, BJ’99, Cert. PR’04, MA’23

August 26 is National Dog Day, a day that focuses on raising awareness about animal welfare and promoting adoption. It coincides with a time of year when many people choose to bring new dogs and puppies into their homes, and it’s a great time to start training outside in milder weather. While Karlie Butler is perhaps best known on campus as the University of Regina's head of English Language Programs, he's also a long time dog lover and a contract dog trainer with the Regina Humane Society, helping dogs (and people) learn how to live happily together.

Karlie Butler has always been a dog person, but it wasn’t until he took a sabbatical from his position at the University of Regina in 2017 – 18 that he got serious about them. “In addition to my sabbatical activities, I started volunteering at the Regina Humane Society (RHS), walking dogs. I began observing dog training classes because I wanted to improve my skills as a volunteer,” he says. Not long afterward, he became more interested in training and was accepted into an eight-month apprenticeship, becoming a contract trainer at the RHS in 2018.

The RHS requires its trainers to achieve the “Certified Professional Dog Trainer Knowledge Assessed” credential from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. This involves hands-on and online learning, including passing an exam. “To maintain the credential, you have to do a certain amount of professional development over the three-year renewal cycle. I work a lot with behaviour rather than obedience and sport, so I prefer to take courses on topics like loose leash walking and behaviour modification to apply them to the training I do,” Butler explains. The licensed trainers then pass their knowledge on to dog owners by teaching them to train their own dogs in training classes.

Butler's first experience with dog training was taking his dog, Bella, to classes in about 2016, shortly after he adopted the seven-or eight-year-old chihuahua cross from the RHS. (She recently passed away at the age of 16.) Butler learned firsthand the challenges—and rewards—of having a dog with behavioural issues. “Bella had a lot of anxiety, which made the first two years of owning her not the easiest experience. I took her through foundations training, and she didn’t do very well. I was stuck on the idea that she needed to do it again, but the trainer encouraged us to take just a silly tricks class,” he says. Butler soon learned that it’s possible to teach an old dog new tricks. “She was voted ‘most improved’ in the tricks class. We had a lot of fun. That experience really changed my attitude toward her. She was driving me a bit nuts before but taking that tricks class and learning little things like ‘high five’ changed my relationship with her. Little victories gave me the confidence to keep working with her, both on general relationship building and the behavioural concerns at the time.”

Butler understands the challenge of having a dog with behavioural issues, and he wants others who may be struggling to know that “behaviour can change. Even if it’s stressful or looks impossible right now, that doesn’t mean it can’t get better.” He notes that owners need to be patient and willing to put in the work. “It’s like human behaviour: people don’t change overnight. Neither do dogs. But there’s hope and potential for things to improve. It’s easy to get stuck just seeing the behavioural problems with your dog," he says. "Of course, work on the behaviour but also look past the behaviour and have fun with them when you can.”

Butler sees parallels between dealing with dogs and people in everyday life. “You don’t always know—whether it’s a dog or a person—what someone’s going through, what’s going on in their heads, what might be difficult or challenging for them," he says. "You need to have an open mind and be understanding. Patience is a large part of working with dogs, especially dogs with behavioural struggles. And as stressors in the world for people increase, you need to have a willingness to be adaptable and approach things in different ways—it’s not ‘one size fits all.”

For those interested in becoming a dog trainer, Butler suggests connecting with a current trainer and shadowing them. “Having a mentor is essential to learning that side of dog training. Then apply what you're learning wherever you can—with your own dogs or volunteering with dogs at places like the RHS," he says. "Finding opportunities to work with dogs is important. Volume doesn’t equal skill, but volume offers the opportunity to practice skills. This is really applied knowledge.”

As National Dog Day reminds us, the bond between humans and dogs is worth investing in. And if you're struggling with a dog whose behaviour feels overwhelming, Butler's advice is simple: find help and put in the work, but also be patient, look past the problem, find the fun and trust that things can get better. Because, after all, even an anxious chihuahua can learn to high five.

Individual holding dog.
Karlie Butler BA'04 and friend at the Regina Humane Society's former home on Armour Road in 2018.

Five tips for bringing a new dog into your home

 

Fall is a great time to welcome a new canine friend to your home; it's still warm enough to get some solid outdoor training time, and a good opportunity to incorporate your dog into work and school routines. Karlie offers five tips for making that transition a smooth one.

 

  • Remember the 3-3-3 rule: 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to learn routine and 3 months to feel at home.
  • Give them space and don’t force interaction.
  • Set clear and consistent routines right away.
  • Praise and reward behaviours you want to continue.
  • Pet-proof your home to minimize accidents or initial unwanted behaviours

Banner image: Karlie Butler BA'04 on the University of Regina main campus. Photo: Trevor Hopkin, University of Regina Photography.

About the Author

Sabrina Cataldo is an award-winning Regina writer and communications specialist.

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What role do you think art plays in literacy?

Libraries traditionally are about books and reading literacy. Now, it supports literacy across many different platforms and modes of learning. It's not just about accessing text-based information but also music, art, financial advice, social cohesion, and more. It creates opportunities for connection-that speaks to the function of the library, which has really expanded over the years, and how we serve our communities. Community needs have changed over the years as well.

What does the role of Director/Curator entail?

My role is to oversee the direction of gallery exhibitions and programming and to make sure it's integrated with the Regina Public Library vision and values, meaning that the Dunlop follows the same direction as RPL as part of its strategic planning process. We have a staff of 11 members, whom I oversee to make sure they're supported and have meaningful work at the library. I tend to be a collaborative leader in my work. Even though I'm setting and approving directions, I'm always seeking the input of team members, the library community and the community at large. A big part of my job is paying attention to the needs of the community. The public we serve is a different kind of public than would typically go to the Art Gallery of Regina, MacKenzie Art Gallery or Neutral Ground. They're parents with children, tourists, people who come to the library to use the photocopier. It's a privilege to serve those populations and create an experience where they can discover art at the library.

What have been some of the high points of your job over the past year?

What's most valuable to me is what I'm providing to my community. What is the public receiving? Do they feel welcome? Do they feel safe? I don't want them to feel they need to have a degree to appreciate the gallery. My goal is that I want to be able to speak to anyone as opposed to a niche group of people who are very knowledgeable about art. Being surrounded by community is a real high point in my work. I was never that good at being alone in the studio-my energy is fed by being around other people and ideas, and that's lead me to where I am right now.

Individual with artworks from vault Wendy Peart, Director/Curator, Dunlop Art Gallery, with artworks in the Regina Public Library Art Rental Collection.

Tell us about your metal composter installation, Rolling Composter, that's installed in the Regina Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG) garden on the U of R's main campus.

At the time when I made that work, I was obsessed with the composting process. I wanted to draw attention to composting as a wonderous, ecological process. On it are little inscribed plaques with the elements the composter needs to work, like oxygen and water, as well as some phrases about my personal relationship to the composting process. It was created and placed for a sculpture contest for a conference, which it won. Then I was asked to present the work in Saskatoon on the grounds of City Hall for two years. When I brought it back, I proposed to the President's Art Collection that they purchase it, and they did, installing it in the community gardens.

How do you feel that your time as a sessional lecturer and a student at the University of Regina helped prepare you for your career?

It's all around working with people and nurturing that creative impulse. I always say I came to education through the back door. I didn't intend to become a teacher, but I enjoy guiding people with lots of flexibility in how the person grows. My experience in education, such as teaching as a sessional lecturer at the University of Regina's Department of Visual Art, as well as an instructor at the Neil Balkwill Centre, led me to the Dunlop. My connection to the University of Regina is strong and deep. I have two degrees from the U of R and, as a teacher, I was nurtured by Leesa Streifler, Dennis Evans and Roger Lee. Leesa mentored me for years, and two years ago, I was the liaison with her show at the Dunlop. Being able to provide a platform for her expression was a turning point for me as professional-a full circle moment.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a curator or director of a gallery?

Listen to artists. Try to really listen to what they're doing and saying and make room for them. Do the best job you can to set the stage and provide the best possible context for their work. Prioritize your artists and your visitors. You have to be a good listener and be very flexible. Get out of the way. For me as a white settler working with racialized folks on Treaty 4 Territory, I prioritize getting out of the way, so their voice is salient in the gallery space.

Banner image: Wendy Peart BFA'91, BA'93 in the exhbition Connective Tissue at the Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina. Photo: Trevor Hopkin, University of Regina Photography.

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"David started off as this brash art student at the U of R looking for something that would allow him to explore his experiences of life," says Timothy Long BFA'86, BAHons'86, former Head Curator at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, who co-curated the retrospective Road Trips and Other Diversions with Sandra Fraser of the Mendel Art Gallery in 2014-15. "He didn't find it at first-in his mind, the modernist movement had come and gone and had become rigid and uninviting"  

When David Gilhooly, a leading ceramicist within the Funk art movement in California, arrived to teach at the University in 1969, it opened a door for Thauberger. "He learned that art can be fun, it can be about your own personal experience, it can be irreverent and can take you to places in your imagination that can have no limit," Long explains. Thauberger began emulating Gilhooly 's playful style by crafting clay sculptures of items such as a Thanksgiving turkey covered in perogies and cabbage rolls. He had barely finished his undergraduate degree when he was given a solo exhibition at Memorial University that toured Atlantic Canada. After completing his MA in California and MFA in Montana, Thauberger returned to Regina, where he began painting in the style for which he is best known. 

That style evolved due, in part, to his work for the Saskatchewan Arts Board's (now SK Arts') Permanent Collection, where he discovered Saskatchewan folk artists, also known as self-taught artists. "He realized through their work that rural Saskatchewan was every bit as exotic as the work he was seeing in California and Chicago," Long says. "He made work about the rural, agricultural, ethnic and local experience, always keeping in mind the broader picture-that we live in an urban, industrialized, international society that we've all assimilated through mass media. He could see things as both local and cosmopolitan." 

Thauberger maintained his strong connection with the University of Regina throughout his artistic career. He donated work by other artists to the University of Regina Collection at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, gifts of his own work to the President's Art Collection and made regular donations of his papers to the University Archives. The donations to the collection and archives work together-students, staff and visitors can see his works on the walls throughout the University, and then they have the ability to "meet" the artist through the materials found in the archives. Thauberger's contributions to the archives include articles, catalogues, correspondence, newspaper clippings, artworks, photos and slides of Canadian folk art, all of which were donated since 1985.

 

David Thauberger, 'Ghost Red (Solar Flare)', 1993-2003, acrylic pastel, drypoint, aquatint etching (edition of 35); University of Regina President's Art Collection; pc.2017.46 David Thauberger, 'Ghost Red (Solar Flare)', 1993-2003, acrylic pastel, drypoint, aquatint etching (edition of 35); University of Regina President's Art Collection; pc.2017.46

The archives don't usually include finished artworks-those often will go to the President's Art Collection-rather, they contain material that supports finalized pieces, like sketches, various iterations, layers in silk screening and colours used. "Researchers already know what the finished piece looks like," says Alyssa Hyduk, University Archivist. "But they want to know about the process and the thought behind the process."  

While Hyduk had the privilege of meeting Thauberger in person, she recognizes that many wouldn't have had that opportunity. The archives are a way to put the artist in perspective and bring his artwork to life, so researchers and members of the public can see his personality in the record. 

"The finished piece is what the artist wants you to see. What they put up in the gallery, that's the polished them showing. Those processes, those mess-ups, those sketches, those letters between friends and artists that express happiness and challenges-that is the side of the person that they weren't guarding. There is a big vulnerability and openness in that record. That's why I enjoy getting those records of artists," Hyduk says. 

While the archives give a unique glimpse behind the scenes, the President's Art Collection puts artists' work front-and-centre. The collection contains more than 1,000 works of art; over 50 per cent of that work is installed around campus to enhance working and learning environments.  

David Thaubert with Order of Canada medal. University of Regina Archives and Special Collections; David Thauberger Fonds, 2026-37, Box 3, File 21, photograph 3. Photograph by Digneyphotographics. David Thaubert with Order of Canada medal. University of Regina Archives and Special Collections; David Thauberger Fonds, 2026-37, Box 3, File 21, photograph 3. Photograph by Digneyphotographics.

Nine pieces of Thauberger's art are currently in the collection, with eight on display throughout the University, and a future donation in the works. "David started off studying education and had a love of teaching and learning that we saw throughout his career," says Julia Krueger, Curator/Preparator of the President's Art Collection. "He was always so generous and open, genuinely excited to share his knowledge with students, other artists and collectors. The project the Archives and the President's Art Collection were working on with him reflects that again-creating opportunities for people to see his work, his creative process and other pieces he collected as well."  

For Krueger, it's fitting to have Thauberger's work on display throughout the University. "One of the things the President's Art Collection does is celebrate alumni accomplishments," she says. "As an alumnus, David made such a mark on the Canadian art landscape. Important accomplishments should be celebrated through the display of art around campus and connecting with the community. In his practice, his paintings elevate the everyday here and now-installing paintings of Saskatchewan on the walls really grounds the University in the 'here', not somewhere else. It shows that we can look around and celebrate what's around us." 

Banner image: David Thauberger in his studio in the 1980s. University of Regina Archives and Special Collections; David Thauberger Fonds, 86-69, Box 9, File 4, photograph 158.

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