Hi! I'm Mary and here's my story. I’ve always been in to training animals. I taught my first dog, a Scottie, how to roll over, sit pretty, give her paw, and close the door on command all before high school. While she learned tricks easily, I had no idea why. It wasn’t until college, when I started training my Shih Tzu, Cricket (now 10-yrs old), for Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) that I began what has become a very long journey of putting the pieces of animal behavior together.
The first step was getting educated. As a college student I wasn't sure what classes to take to satisfy my interest in animal behavior and training. When I brought my interest in training dogs to the attention of my adviser, she had me enroll me in Comparative Psychology and Learning and Behavior. In Learning and Behavior I quickly understood the science behind what I was doing with Cricket in AAT and why it worked. This class was an invaluable introduction into how animals learn and how to change behavior. I continued taking classes in behavior, such as Applied Behavior Analysis, and even completed an honors thesis investigating the science behind a popular training method at the time.
While completing my course work I fell further in love with dog training. Cricket and I passed the AAT certification test with flying colors and went straight to the hospitals where he snuggled with children, walked slowly for people relearning how to walk, fetched balls for patients regaining range of motion, and rewarded individuals in speech therapy by obeying commands spoken clearly. We later started competing in obedience where he got a 197 on his first leg and a 195 on the second leg (200 being a perfect score).
With all the fun I was having training my dog, the more I wanted a career in animal behavior. Researching my options I discovered the Animal Behavior Society Certification in Applied Animal Behavior. The requirements were steep but obtaining this certification was necessary for gaining credibility in my field and achieving my goals.
With becoming an Associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (ACAAB) in mind, after college I earned acceptance into American University’s Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience Master’s program. It was there that I learned the most about the principals of learning and behavior and how to apply them in a controlled setting. I trained rats and pigeons to press a lever and peck at a touchscreen, respectively, for food. Two years later, with Master's degree in hand, I found myself in an internship where I spent 1-year training monkeys.
As my internship ended I was presented with a job opportunity to train and enrich the lives of animals as an Animal Behaviorist for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I spent most of my time with the canines learning about normal and abnormal canine behavior from watching groups of canines interact day after day for sometimes hours at a time. I also clicker trained pigs to calmly enter and exit a sling to receive health maintenance and veterinary care. For a short time I socialized monkeys and worked with cats.
Having learned a lot about animal behavior in school, and watching and training animals; I realized I could use my skills to help pet dogs and cats. While working briefly as an independent contractor for a local small Animal Behavior business, I found that applying the learning theory I had learned in school to the household pet was challenging and that I needed a mentor. In April, 2008 I began an internship with Nancy Williams, an Associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (ACAAB). Together we have seen 500+ cases. Most cases deal with aggression, fear/phobia, elimination problems, and nuisance behaviors such and barking and destruction. We also see clients in need of guidance with their new puppy or having problems in the obedience and/or agility ring.
Since meeting Nancy I’ve taken home and rehabilitated 2 dogs, Mugsy and Scarlett. Mugsy went from a frighted dog that hid from and bit his owners for any interaction - to a lovable member of the family (See Mugsy’s page). Scarlett came from a breeder. When I got her at just under a year old in June 2009, she had only been off her home property once (other than vet visits), wasn't leash trained, had 3 types of worms, and no exposure to people or dogs (other than the breeder's family and shelties). As a result, I quickly found she was sound sensitive, scared of people, and fearful of anything novel. While very socially appropriate with dogs in proximity, she was terrified of dogs at a distance. Today she has overcome these issues and enjoys obedience, agility, and now herding. I'm so proud to say that she has just started training as my working partner with clients and their dogs. She has taught me a tremendous amount that will contribute to the success of my clients. Find out more about me, Cricket, and Scarlett on my blog.
Thanks for visiting my site! Mary
