Explore My Ventures
El Perro Tambien
An epic road trip of indeterminate length and unknown destination. Join us.
(You can bring your dog).
The Dog, Too
My boyfriend, border collie, and I explore the Americas in our trusty car, "Turtle."
VisitJourney Dog Training
I provide professional animal training advice to anyone who needs it via my remote training services, my Ask A Trainer page, and my blog.
Publications That Trust My Expertise:
- The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants: Glucocorticoids and Behavior Consulting
- The New York Times Wirecutter: The Best Dog Boots and Best Winter Jackets and Raincoats for Dogs
- Hill's Science Diet: A Day in the Life of a Pet Adoption Counselor
- K9 of Mine: I am a regular contributor here, and write most of their dog behavior articles.
- Kennel Trainer: I wrote a series of articles for them.
- Paw Culture: Six Ways to Prepare Your Dog for a Baby
- Walkin' Pets Blog: Seven Ways to Create a Deeper Bond With Your Dog
- How Stuff Works: Can a D-O-G Learn to S-P-E-L-L?
- The Clymb: The Do's and Don't of Taking a Dog Camping
I'm direct, organized, & analytical. Sound like what you need?
If you need an excellent writer or web designer familiar with X Theme and obsessed with Google Analytics & SEO, I'm your girl.
Looking for a fully bilingual research assistant who can rock climb, run 26 miles in a day, and drive manual on rough and muddy roads? Count me in.
Struggling to change a behavior in yourself, your team, or your pet? I'm all in.
My story as an adventurer, scientist, and writer.
Enjoying yoga with sea lions in the Galapagos
I grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. I entertained myself by training homing pigeons and writing novels. My dad took me electroshocking for fish and we tagged butterflies.
My mom, a writer, taught me how to take what I learned and make it into something that could be shared.
I captained the high school ski team, totally falling in love with this challenging and frigid sport. I spent a semester at an outdoor leadership school and another semester at an agricultural school in rural Panama.
At Colorado College, I started a dog-training business so I could buy more rock climbing gear (and pay rent). I tackled a degree in biology on the fast-paced blog plan and did thesis research on the communicative and cognitive abilities of a monk parakeet named Francis. I took classes on cognition, learning theory, and neuroethology. I did research on stress behaviors in zoo-housed gorillas and the purpose and perception of America's National Parks.
Post-college, I worked on the communications team for Conservation Colorado, then worked at the nation's fourth largest animal shelter as an animal behavior technician.
And Now…
In March of 2018, I left Denver for an international road trip known as El Perro Tambien. We're traveling the US and Canada until October, then we're turning south and plan to drive until we hit the end of South America (or I get accepted as a Fulbright Scholar to New Zealand, whichever comes first).
I spend my days teaching people how to interact with behaviorally challenging animals, writing, reading research studies, and designing websites. My clients include K9ofMine.com, KennelTrainer.com, and PlantSnap.com.
My weekends are full of mountain trail runs with my border collie, cocktail sampling with my boyfriend, and freelance work.