McMillan Animal Behavior
125 Bowens Drive, Mars Hill NC
212-203-2896
About Trish
Certified Pet Behavior Professional
Looking for an experienced, certified behavior professional in the Asheville area to help you with your pet’s behavior or training problems?
Trish McMillan holds a Master’s degree in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter in England, and is a certified professional dog trainer (through CCPDT). She specializes in training and behavior modification work using positive reinforcement with dogs, cats, and horses.
Animal Shelter Behavior Expert
Trish started in animal welfare as a volunteer in the mid 1990’s. Over nearly eight years of employment with the ASPCA, Trish gained a wide variety of experience in the field of animal behavior. For three years she was the director of the animal behavior department at the ASPCA’s New York City shelter, helping staff, volunteers, and adopters work with animals, many of them from a background of neglect or abuse. Trish has also helped assess and rehabilitate animals from cruelty, hoarding, and dogfighting cases, as well as pets rescued from natural disasters. In addition to writing for the ASPCA’s Virtual Pet Behaviorist and other publications, she helped create and present several very popular webinars on dog and cat behavior and handling for ASPCA Pro. Trish also runs an online shelter dog and cat behavior mentorships through Shelter Behavior Hub. She has spoken nationally and internationally on shelter behavior issues, and also offers in-person and remote consulting services. Trish is the author of the defensive handling section of Animal Behavior for Shelter Veterinarians and Staff.
Extensive Training and Behavior Background With Dogs, Cats and Horses
Prior to her work with the ASPCA, Trish showed and trained horses, trained dogs privately, managed dog daycares, taught group classes, and worked with board-and-train dogs in her home, focusing on positive, motivational training methods such as lure/reward and clicker training.
Trish has also incorporated clicker training in her equine and feline training and behavior work for many years now. Trish does in-home and zoom consults for cats with behavior issues, from litter box problems to hyperesthesia and aggression.
Trish presents and consults nationally and internationally on canine, feline and equine behavior as well as on sheltering topics, and can be hired to present at your shelter or facility on a wide variety of training and behavior topics.
Pibble Hill
Pibble Hill is Trish’s little farm in Mars Hill, North Carolina. She currently shares her life with an assortment of animal friends of five species. She offers in-person dog training on location, with plenty of interesting distractions and socialization experiences. There is a shelter to get out of the weather, so outdoor training is offered year-round. This is ideal for puppies who need new experiences, and our well-socialized goats, horses, ducks and chickens can also provide distractions for dogs working toward their AKC Farm Dog title. Trish’s dogs often help with socialization or distraction work, and teaching reactive dogs how to walk past other animals without lunging and barking is a particular specialty.
