Our story
Built for the dogs I used to meet at 2 a.m.
Northbound K9 is a small, focused behavior practice in Northeast Minneapolis, founded in 2016 by a former ER vet tech and her once-reactive dog.
Maren Lindqvist, CDTA
Nine years in the emergency room.
Before Northbound K9, I worked overnight shifts as a certified veterinary technician at a 24-hour emergency hospital in St. Paul. I held a lot of dogs on a lot of hard nights.
Some of the hardest cases weren't medical. They were dogs who had bitten out of fear, dogs who had panicked and been muzzled, dogs whose families came in exhausted and out of options. Again and again I thought: this dog isn't bad. This dog is overwhelmed, and nobody gave them a plan.
That medical background still shapes everything we do. We look for pain first, we read body language like vital signs, and we work as part of your dog's care team, not apart from it.
Then came Birch
The dog who changed my career.
In 2014 I adopted Birch, a two-year-old shepherd mix from a rural rescue up north. Inside, she was sweet and silly. Outside, she lunged and screamed at every dog on the Midtown Greenway.
I tried everything I was told. Treats alone couldn't reach her once she was over threshold. Harsh corrections made her fear worse, and I could see it. What finally worked was structure. I built trust and skills with rewards, worked at distances where she could actually learn, added clear and fair communication once she understood what I was asking, and had my vet check her for pain and anxiety. (It turned out she had a sore hip.)
Today Birch walks the Minnehaha Falls trails on a loose leash. She's our studio's resident "neutral dog," the calm, steady dog that reactive dogs practice around, safely, at a distance. She's the reason this practice exists.
Credentials & training
Medical roots, behavior focus.
Ongoing education matters in a field that keeps learning. Here's what Maren brings to every case.
IACP Certified Dog Trainer – Advanced (CDTA)
International Association of Canine Professionals, a professional body for trainers who use a full range of humane methods and tools.
Certified Veterinary Technician (former)
Nine years in emergency and critical care. Fluent in canine stress signals, pain behavior and low-stress handling.
Advanced behavior coursework
Canine body language, desensitization and counter-conditioning, aggression case management, and leash-handling and training-tool education.
Pet First Aid & CPR instructor
Every session is run by someone who knows exactly what to do if something goes wrong.
What we believe
No dog is "bad"
Behavior is communication. Our job is to understand what your dog is telling us and give them a better option.
Honesty over hype
No guarantees of overnight fixes. We'll tell you what's realistic, what it will take, and when to bring in a veterinary behaviorist.
You're the trainer
We coach you, because you're the one on the leash every day. Our goal is to make ourselves unnecessary.
Start with clarity
Every plan begins with a 90-minute behavior assessment.
In-home across the Twin Cities or virtual anywhere. You'll leave with first steps the same day and a written plan within three business days.