Peer Consults
Are you new to training or shelter behavior, and would you like to rent some time in Trish’s brain? Or are you a more experienced behavior professional and you’d just like a second opinion on a case that’s frustrating you? Perhaps you just have a complicated shelter dog and you’d like a fresh set of eyes on their behavior plan?
Here are some issues you can get help with:
- Reviewing and troubleshooting difficult behavior cases
- Reviewing and implementing behavior modification plans for shelter or foster dogs
- Advice on shelter enrichment and volunteer programs
- Consulting on possible behavioral euthanasia and other alternatives for shelter or owned dogs
- Help with behavior plans and other policies or documents for shelters
- Advice on earning certifications and other possible career pathways in animal behavior
- Honing mechanical skills and safety techniques taught in my seminars (defensive handling, leash skills, breaking up dog fights)
- Creating art from found objects (Theodore the pit bull teaches this part, and it’s free)
$100/hour
Behavior Webinars
I am a professional animal behaviorist who works with a municipal animal control facility. I used Trish's services to help facilitate staff meetings on our behavior policy, and subsequently draft and publish our shelter's adoptability criteria. Trish's help was absolutely invaluable to us. She is incredibly knowledgeable, one of the most talented in the industry. She worked well with everyone from our experienced animal control staff to our administrators. Using her expertise and guidance, we were able to create a very sound policy, that was clearly explained and keeps the public safe, while giving animals a fair chance at adoption. I would highly recommend her to all pet parents and professionals needing help.
Thank you will never be enough for everything Trish did for my dog and me. I work on the behavior team at a large shelter in Kansas City, MO, while also working towards my master’s in Clinical Animal Behaviour. Trish had been kind enough to advise me years ago when I first considered furthering my education. When I saw she was offering virtual consultations, I jumped on the opportunity to get some help for my foster dog. Harry had been with us for about ten months at the time and was essentially feral. He had made some progress, but even with intense behavior modification both in the shelter and in foster, he was not a pet, and his quality of life was always a question. Trish was incredible and gave me so much information! I walked away from our consultation feeling my first small ray of hope for not just saving his life but providing him with a life worth living. It’s been about two months since our consultation, and using what Trish told me, Harry has made fantastic progress. She gave me some things to try that I had never considered before, and they changed everything. Where Harry used to spend his days pacing, staring, and shaking, he now wakes me up every morning with a loose body and wagging tail. He doesn’t just tolerate me touching him, he seeks it out and chooses to spend his time on the couch with me. His tail is always wagging these days! Of course, he is still a work in progress, but I finalized his adoption last week and, thanks to Trish, am looking excitedly towards his future. Thank you, Trish!!
I’ve known Trish for 20 years. For the first 4 of those years, I worked as a behavior consultant in a shelter. Over the last 16 years, my wife and I built an 8 trainer private practice where I personally specialize in aggression, fear, and anxiety. When I get stuck on a tough case, the very first person that I call for ideas is Trish, and I’m always glad that I did. The depth and variety of her experience mean that she can always offer perspective I haven’t thought of. She has done it all in our industry (seriously, she has) and she’s done it with humility and an unwavering commitment to the welfare of learners of all species, including humans. If you need the perspective of a colleague or mentor on tough cases or shelter practices, you literally couldn’t do any better. I’ve been picking her brain for decades, and I’m much better at my job for having done so.
"While I pride myself on my ability to look at the world from a dog's point-of-view, Trish always helps me gain even more depth and nuance. Her compassion for animals and depth of training knowledge are a great combo to help me break through when I feel stuck on a case."
I attended Trish’s workshop last year and it blew me away. The main difference between Trish’s work and many other trainers is not only the depth of knowledge but the hands-on experience. The technical mechanical skills this trainer have are what sets her apart from anyone else. Her handling is precise and kind, avoids risk, and is practical for shelter volunteers. I am so grateful that she shared her knowledge with us trainers and am excited about consulting with her when I need an extra pair of eyes on a tricky case.
Trish's level of expertise is impressive. But it's her perspective and her compassion that's been invaluable to me. I've agonized over cases for weeks, just to have Trish crystalize my thought process within an hour. She's said things like "it sounds like you're waiting for blood to provide certainty" that have left me enlightened and dumbfounded (because that's exactly what I was doing). She's taught me so many new things. She's reminded me of things I already knew. Both have been very important.
I attended Trish's lectures at Midwest Veterinary conference and they were awesome. My only criticism is that Theodore was not in attendance. Leash skills were great, fight breakup information was practical and the videos and powerpoint were A+