Animal Training Academy

Eva Bertilsson - Bio Eva Bertilsson has a master’s degree in behavior analysis and a passion for all things related to behavior, learning and animal welfare. Together with business partner Emelie Johnson Vegh, Eva runs their collaboration Carpe Momentum, teaching seminars on the general principles of behavior and learning, and coaching trainers in the art of structuring great training sessions regardless of the venue or the species. Eva is a board member of the Swedish Association for Behavior Analysis, a faculty member of Clicker Expo, and an enthusiastic disseminator of ethical practices based in behavioral science. In addition to her own teaching, she has also been instrumental in introducing TAGteach ™ and Fear Free™, as well as numerous renown speakers (for example Susan Friedman, Susan Schneider and Clive Wynne), to the Scandinavian audience.

Dr Robert Hewings bio Dr Robert Hewings is the author of ‘Scent and Scent-ability’ and head of learning and development for the UK College of Scent Detection, and a highly experienced Canine Trainer. He retired from the Metropolitan Police after 30 years’ exemplary service, 25 of which was as a Police Dog Handler.  The final nine years as a full-time trainer with the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment. He has enhanced this experience with a BSc (Canine Training and Behaviour) MA (Professional Practice Police Dog Training) and a Doctor of Professional Practice (D/Prof) Canine Scent Detection. Rob has instructed all police canine-search disciplines including explosive search and narcotics, supporting this with an amazing academic journey that has without doubt enhanced his relationship with the dogs he trains. Combining his scent detection experience Rob is currently training scent detection within the ‘Assistance Dog Community’ where, working in partnership with the PTSD Charity Bravehound is rese

Michelle Skurski Bio Michelle is going on almost 30 years now training animals in a zoological setting.  She began her career at a facility called marine World Africa USA, training predominantly tigers.  She joined Disney in 1998 and in 2001 became a Zoological Manager of Behavioural Husbandry.  In this role she supports the animal care teams at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with maintaining training and enrichment programs for all species under their care.  Along with her special interest in tigers Michelle has a passion for training reptiles large and small.  Currently she sits on the AZA (American Zoological Association) Professional Development Committee and is co-course administrator and instructor for the AZA Professional Course: Environmental Enrichment in Zoo and Aquarium Settings.

Agnieszka Janarek Bio Behavior nerd, advocate of choice in animal training, nosework addict, obedience and concept training geek, trainer with passion and knowledge. Founder of Polish Nosework Association. Owner of three rescued mixed breeds with whom take part in various canine sports. Agnieszka relies on international education (courses and seminars in the USA, UK, Netherlands, Germany) and experience. Her priorities are combining learning science and practice, dog-handler relationship and balance between maintaining precision and fun.

Lindsay Wood Brown Bio Lindsay Wood Brown is a board-certified Associate Applied Animal Behaviourist (ACAAB) with a master’s degree in Animal Behavior.  She specializes in finding solutions for behavioural challenges and consults for animal shelters on the design and implementation of behavior programs, effective behavior modification methods, and the development of robust operational strategies to achieve behavioral health for animals within the shelter environment. Lindsay teaches seminars and workshops around the country and serves as a faculty member for Karen Pryor Academy and Clicker Expo.  She offers coaching and 1:1 mentorship opportunity for behavior consultants. Lindsay has a long history of leadership and building high functioning teams within animal shelters.  She served as the Director of Operations for Lynchburg Humane Society (LHS), an open-admission animal shelter located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  Her role at Lynchburg Humane included the oversight of all shelt

Jean is the founder and principal instructor of The Academy for Dog Trainers.  The Academy is celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2019.  She is a four-time winner of The Dog Writers' Association of America's Maxwell Award.  In 2017, Jean was recruited to create Dog Training 101 for The Great Courses. Born in Montreal, Canada, Jean founded the Montreal Flyball Association, and Renaissance Dog Training, the first positive reinforcement-based school, and counseling service in the province.  Her own dogs and dogs she has trained have earned numerous titles and wins in a variety of dog sports, including OTCh, TDX, HIT and FDCh.  While a student, she worked as an adoption counselor at the Montreal SPCA and later served on its Board of Directors.  Before founding The Academy, Jean did exclusively referral aggression cases for six years.  She lives in Oakland, California, with her dog, Brian, adopted in 2015.

Laura Ryder  - Bio Laura is the Head Dog Trainer at Morley Vet centre in Perth, Western Australia. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP), a Full Member of the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT) and is also on the Fear-Free Speakers Bureau. Laura has three passions when it comes to dog training: As a member of the Fear-Free Speakers Bureau, she passionately brings low-stress handling and Fear-Free training into veterinary clinics – focusing on both the physical and emotional health of patients. Laura is one half of the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers Australia education team. IMDT Australia launched in January 2019, and Laura hopes to see it follow in the IMDT UK’s footsteps – where it is known as the leading education provider for dog trainers and behaviourists. Laura also spends a lot of her time creating fun and engaging training courses for pet dogs. 2014 saw Laura create The Canine Adventure course – a non-competitive dog sp

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Ken Ramirez Bio Ken Ramirez is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training where he oversees the vision, development, and implementation of training education programs for the organization, including ClickerExpo, Karen Pryor Academy, and The Ranch. This allows Ken to help bring positive reinforcement training to all corners of the animal training world. Previously, Ken served as the Executive Vice-President of animal care and animal training at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, where he developed and supervised animal care and animal health programs, staff training and development as well as public presentation programs for a collection of more than 32,000 animals. He worked at Shedd Aquarium for over 25 years. A 40+ year veteran of animal care and training, Ramirez is a biologist and animal behaviorist who served nine years at Marineworld of Texas.  He also was a trainer and coordinator at Ocean Safari in South Padre Island, Texas, as we

Sabrina Brando - Bio   Sabrina Brando is Director of Animal Welfare with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Her favourite job title, however, is ‘I am in the business of animal happiness’. For the last 27 years, she has been working in and with the global zoo and wildlife profession, including zoos, aquariums, wildlife centers, and sanctuaries. Sabrina has a BSc. in psychology and has an MSc. in animal studies, which focused on “An evaluation of zoo animal welfare assessment from inspection to daily practices with recommendations for a holistic approach”.  Sabrina is fortunate to be involved in book chapter writing, presenting at conferences, running workshops, and to collaborate on several research projects on animal advocacy, welfare, and behaviour. Sabrina teaches, and always learns new things when teaching as a guest lecturer at various universities and colleges on e.g. animal welfare, behaviour, and the human-animal interaction and relationship. Sabrina loves storytelling and writing - particul

Joan Orr is a scientist and internationally recognized clicker trainer. Along with Theresa McKeon, Joan is one of the co-founders of TAGteach International, a company that promotes the application of marker-based positive reinforcement training for humans. Joan was a member of the Karen Pryor Clickertraining Clicker Expo Faculty for 9 years and content creator and advisor to the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior. She is a pioneer in the field of clicker training rabbits and co-author of a book on the subject. Joan and Teresa Lewin are co-founders of Doggone Crazy Inc, a company dedicated to dog bite prevention through education. They created the board game Doggone Crazy!, the “Doggie Detective”  bite prevention education program for elementary school children and the Clicker Puppy training DVD. Joan has published many articles on dog bite prevention, positive training methods and the importance of understanding dog body language and has received many awards for her work. Most recently Joan

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Lori Nanan Bio Lori Nanan runs LoriNanan.com, a company that offers online educational resources for dog owners and website and marketing services for rewards-based dog trainers. Lori also works for The Academy for Dog Trainers, where she provides orientation to new students and project management for events. She s worked […] The post Lori Nanan – Nailed it; 5 tips for trimming your animals nails appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Alexandra Kurland Bio Alexandra Kurland is a graduate of Cornell University where she specialized in animal behavior. She began teaching in the early 1980’s. Her area of particular interest is the development of a horse’s balance: physical and emotional. Helping horses stay sound throughout a long lifetime is the […] The post Alexandra Kurland – “We live on a very intelligent planet” appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline. Lynn Webb (M.A., KPA CTP, CTMT) Bio Lynn Webb is a dog trainer and canine massage therapist who lives in Escondido, California, in North San Diego County. She is certified as a dog trainer through the Karen Pryor Academy and as a massage therapist through the Rocky Mountain School […] The post Lynn Webb – The proficient pup; Avoiding snake avoidance training… appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Geoff Flemming bio Geoff is the General Manager and Business Development at VitalSmarts Australia & New Zealand which is licensed to deliver the crucial conversations training in this part of the world. He is both a skilled facilitator, with intimate knowledge of crucial conversations & the other vital […] The post Geoff Flemming – Crucial Conversations; Tools for talking when stakes are high… appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Leslie McDevitt Bio Leslie McDevitt is a certified dog behavior consultant, internationally renowned speaker and author of three books, Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog, Control Unleashed: Puppy Program and one coming out for this winter US Time – Control Unleashed: Reactive to Relaxed. Leslie s writing has […] The post Leslie McDevitt – Control unleashed! appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

Arianna Bailey Bio As a native Floridian, Arianna has always had a love an appreciation for the unique ecosystem and state she was raised in. Her career started out at a small zoo in the Orlando area where she worked mostly with reptiles. This is where she found her passion for training, enrichment, and animal […] The post Arianna Bailey – Natural Encounters; The art & skill of learning as humans in the animal field appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

Dr. Vanessa Rolhf Bio Dr. Vanessa Rohlf is a consultant, counselor and educator to those who work with and care for animals. She has a Ph.D. with a specialisation in psychology (human-animal interactions), a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Psychology and has worked in the animal industry for over 15 years. She has additional […] The post Dr Vanessa Rohlf – Compassion fatigue, stress management & grief! appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Nick Benger – Bio Nick Benger is a professional dog trainer that specializes in what he calls “engagement training” for pet dogs. He runs his business Bark Play Teach in his hometown of Bristol, England but is best known as the host of the Dog Talk with Nick Benger […] The post Nick Benger; How to create Animal Training podcasts/content appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline. Sarah Dixon Bio Sarah Dixon is a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant who originates from British Columbia Canada but is currently working for Instinct Dog Behavior & Training LLC in New York City. She has had articles published in the APDT (Association of Professional Dog Trainers) Chronicle of the Dog, […] The post Sarah Dixon – President of IAABC: “Earning your chops in NYC” appeared first on Animal Training Academy.

CLICK HERE for the podcast outline Steve White Bio In his 43rd year of a K9-centered law enforcement career, Steve White is the only person to have served as a handler, trainer, training-sergeant, and supervisor for the Seattle Police Canine Unit. Accredited as a Master Trainer in 1993 by the Washington State Police Canine Association, […] The post Steve White – ProActive K9; Get “curious” with your animal training. appeared first on Animal Training Academy.