Issue 29 | February 2024 — Business of Behavior
Expanding Your Reach: A Guide to Hiring Your First Employee
Finally, you feel like all the investments you’ve made in pursuing certifications, completing courses, attending conferences, reading books, and helping your early clients succeed with their animals is paying off! You are busier than ever and able to pick and choose...
Written by Andre Yeu, KPA CTP, CPDT-KACareer Paths and Life Lessons: Know Your Resources And Be Proactive
I recently was a guest lecturer for the Shelter Veterinary Medicine Class at Purdue University and presented on a topic near and dear to my heart: how career paths can be different based on life’s opportunities, and how knowing your resources can help you be...
Written by Dr. Sheryl Walker, CAABIssue 18 | February 2024 — Business of Behavior
What Behavior Consultants Need To Know About Liability Waivers
A FEW DEFINITIONS Entire books have been written about these legal terms, but for the purposes of this article, let’s agree on the following: Negligence: The failure to use the care that a reasonably careful person would use. Gross negligence: A voluntary act or...
Written by Christina Schenk-Hargrove, Esq., CPDT-KAIssue 12 | November 2020 — Business of Behavior
Marketing your dog behavior consulting business without myths
“You can’t train a lion with force, so why would you do it with a dog?” I see this claim weekly on the Facebook pages of my dog training friends. It’s usually accompanied by a lovely photo or video of a lion, tiger, orca, or elephant calmly engaging in...
Written by Kayla FrattTime Management Skills for Teaching Group Dog Training Classes
Running a group dog training class is an inherently different challenge than working individually with owners and their dogs. The behaviors you teach may of course be very different, but there are also the management questions. What sequence of behaviors will you...
Written by Adria Karlsson, CDBCFrom Skinner Box to Show Biz and Beyond
When Marian Kruse entered the University of Minnesota in 1938, her ambition was to major in Latin and minor in Greek. Marian later wrote of “harboring the strange notion of becoming a Latin teacher in Alaska.” Before matriculating and heading to Alaska, however, even...
Written by William Van NostranIssue 8 | April 2019 — Business of Behavior
Career Paths: Barbara Davis
When did you decide to pursue behavior as a profession? There were really two times this came up for me. In the early days of my training career (in the 1970 and ’80s, so really prehistoric!), I worked with a lot of mentors and was fascinated by the way they worked...
Written by IAABC Editing StaffIssue 7 | April 2018 — Business of Behavior
Career Paths: Katenna Jones
Animal behavior consultants come from all walks of life. One of the most common questions IAABC gets is about how to get started working with pets and their people. The truth is, there’s no set career path, and no single qualification that prepares you for this...
Written by IAABC Editing TeamIssue 6 | February 2018 — Business of Behavior
Career Paths: Stephanie Edlund
Animal behavior consultants come from all walks of life. One of the most common questions IAABC gets is about how to get started working with pets and their people. The truth is, there’s no set career path, and no single qualification that prepares you for this...
Written by IAABC Editing TeamHow to Run Facebook Ads to Grow Your Animal Consulting Business
Facebook ads have become very popular in the animal training industry. Many animal professionals are on Facebook quite frequently, so it is natural to jump into Facebook ads without hesitation. However, without a clear plan outlined, it can quickly drain your...
Written by Ines McNeil, CPDT-KAIssue 5 | October 2017 — Business of Behavior
Testifying in Court
As professionals in the field of applied animal behavior, we are well-placed to understand the antecedents that cause an animal to act in a certain way. In cases where an animal has been implicated in causing injury, nuisance, or destruction of property that has...
Written by Melissa McMath Hatfield, MS, CBCC-KA, CDBCWriting for the Internet: Promotion, Feedback, and Metrics
In previous Journal articles I have shared what I’ve learned about writing for an internet audience and things to consider when choosing how to publish to get the most out of the medium. There a few more things to touch on before wrapping up this series. Promoting...
Written by Eric BradIssue 4 | July 2017 — Business of Behavior
Identity Crisis (It’s a Good Thing to Have One): Discovering the Heart of Your Behavior Business for Sustainable Success
Part Two of The Business of Animal Behavior in the 21st Century Marketplace Series In our first article in this series, we tackled some of our collective industry assumptions about financial obstacles. We talked about the important reasons why we need to start to...
Written by Kim Brophey, CDBCIssue 3 | April 2017 — Business of Behavior
Virtual Consultations – Why, If, and How
For eight years, I worked remotely from a home office for organizations that were in different time zones. Perhaps that is why virtual consultations came so naturally to me. However, if you are not used to spending 30 to 40 hours a week online, the concept may be...
Written by Katenna JonesWithin Reach: The Business of Animal Behavior in the 21st Century Marketplace
You love your job. You wake up every day with a passion for working with animals and their people, for making the world a slightly better place one case at a time. You shed light on challenging situations between humans and their critter companions and place valuable...
Written by Kim BropheyPublishing for the Internet
So you have taken the time to sit down and carefully write out your thoughts on dogs, training, behaviour, management, or some combination thereof. Now what? Publishing your writing on the Internet seems like a simple problem to solve. There are just so many options....
Written by Eric BradIssue 2 | February 2017 — Business of Behavior
Writing for the Internet
The Internet has offered us a wonderful means of communicating with each other. Whether you want to write for pet dog owners or other dog trainers, or even produce more scholarly articles to explore the frontiers of science as it relates to dogs and behaviour, the...
Written by Eric BradIssue 1 | October 2016 — Business of Behavior
New Strategies for Improving Veterinary Visits
I have heard a lot of horror stories from both clients and other pet professionals about problems taking pets to the vet. The reactions range from pets shaking and struggling, to clawing and biting to the extent that they have to be harshly restrained or even sedated....
Written by Jonathan P. Klein
Mike is an emerging animal behaviorist sitting in Minnesota in the US. He carries an MSc in social science research methods (U. of Kentucky) and brings a passion for understanding how the methods we favor shape the knowledge we privilege. Coming from careers in teaching and non-profit program evaluation, he found companion animal behavior by accident helping anxious feline friends in a unique shelter in Ohio. It is a privilege and a joy to combine these and advance the journal in this exciting time of growth.
Alexandra is a certified dog behavior consultant and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She has spent over a decade in academic research and is author of numerous scientific articles on different aspects of brain development, including olfaction, neurogenesis, and memory formation. Her work as a behavior consultant focuses on creating trusting relationships between humans and their dogs through communication, respect, and science-based knowledge. Alexandra is very dedicated to promoting more science within the dog training world. She supports dog guardians and professionals to build a solid understanding of scientific principles and provides guidance on how to apply these to life with dogs. She runs Canine Mindscape in Alicante, Spain.
I’m an Argentinean-Italian dog trainer and CSAT who spent eight amazing years in Brazil learning and working with dogs. Now based in Europe, I volunteer with the IAABC as a translator and, in my free time, help rehomed dogs settle into their new families. I love bridging languages—and hearts—between people and their dogs.
I’m a translator, editor and journalist, as well as canine educator for children and families, specialized in canine body language. I am part of the IAABC Family since 2019, as Language Director at the IAABC and Translators Team Lead at the IAABC Foundation, at the moment. I volunteer at local shelters and promote bite prevention and animal welfare at schools and events all over my country, Uruguay.
I’m a Chilean veterinarian and certified dog trainer, based in Madrid and working at a veterinary clinic. I’ve been volunteering with the IAABC and the IAABC Foundation for over seven years. In my free time, I help dogs and their guardians strengthen their bond, and I love spending quality time with my own dogs.
Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences, with a strong interest in environmental sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Passionate about writing and science communication, she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on research projects, such as Equine International, and with non-profit initiatives in the environmental and cultural fields. She is writing for different magazines, including IAABC Foundation. Her major goal is to improve horse’s welfare through behaviour research and empirical practice.
Adrienne Hovey is the copy editor for the IAABC Foundation journal and the owner of
I believe that knowledge from a wide range of disciplines fosters a more empathetic, curious, and engaging world. I am passionate about social, environmental, and minority rights issues (both human and non-human), and this has invariably led me down the road of multi-species anthropology. Perpetually curious about the world we live in, I hope to contribute towards making the world a kinder place for all of us earthlings to live on!
Beckie Wheldon is based in England, UK, and has been supporting the IAABC Foundation Journal team as a volunteer journal content editor since early 2025. She has a BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and has recently completed a MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour. With a passion for both practical and theory, Beckie is proud to be a part of the journal submission journey and support the process of applied animal behaviour information and research getting from our writers to the readers. As her full-time career, Beckie is currently part of the UK veterinary charity, PDSA, as a Learning and Development Business Partner for Veterinary, where she supports the professional development of people in their Veterinary Hospitals. Her last position was with the rescue charity, Dogs Trust, as a Canine Behavioural Welfare Manager, where she worked on embedding evidence-based behavioural welfare best practices throughout policy and practices, with both internal and external professional stakeholders, such as the police and military. With a varied background in kennels, caregiver education, and charity dog training classes, Beckie is also an accredited Animal Training Instructor (APDT UK) and an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (APBC).
Erin Jones, PhD, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CANZ-ATI, CANZ-ABC, is the Journal Director of the IAABC Foundation Journal. She holds a PhD in Human–Animal Studies, an MSc in Anthrozoology, a PG Dip in Animal Welfare, and a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology and Psychology. An international presenter, editor, writer and mentor, Erin’s writing bridges research and practice with a focus on the intersection of philosophy, ethics and dog-centered behaviour practice. She is the author of Constructing Canine Consent and co-editor of Topics in Non/Human Coexistence and numerous academic and trade journal publications.