Mary came to her love of dogs when she adopted her beloved first dog, a yellow lab named Kylie. During Mary’s workday as a software engineer, Kylie joined her at her desk almost every day, acting as “morale officer” for the company. Mary found that living and learning with Kylie added tremendously to her life, and she reveled in it. As her love for dogs grew, so did her interest in how dogs learn.

As Mary began to explore the possibility of becoming a dog trainer she took courses at the Harvard Extension School in canine learning and cognition. She was hooked! Mary began taking classes with many of the renowned positive animal trainers, including Bob Bailey, Terry Ryan, Pam Reid, Carolyn Barney, Patricia McConnell, and Kathy Sdao.

For about 3 years, Mary volunteered for NEADS, Dogs for Deaf and Disabled individuals. She also was a volunteer puppy raiser, working for 18 months with a puppy in the NEADS prison program, taking the puppy on weekends to socialize him to the outside world. It was an exciting and challenging experience.

Mary has always been interested in teaching, whether training dogs, giving presentations to her colleagues, teaching Tai Chi, or teaching drafting at WTI in Boston. She is passionate about finding win-win situations in any challenge, and thus found a true “home” in the positive dog training community. Mary believes that positive training methods are far more humane and intellectually stimulating to dogs and to humans (and a lot more fun!).

Mary was thrilled to have the opportunity to intern with Bette Yip as part of her Animal Behavior College training program, and is excited to be on the Picture Perfect Pets Training Team.

When not playing with her yellow Lab, Saffie, or reading any book on animal behavior she can get her hands on, Mary also enjoys kayaking, hiking, and working with shelter dogs as a volunteer at MSPCA in Methuen.

Animal Behavior College Certified Instructor, Honors Graduate
Dog Behavior and Training Workshops and Seminars Attended:
* Four-Component Discrimination with Bob Bailey and Terry Ryan
* Cues and Behavior Chains with Kathy Sdao
* See Mark and Reward Training with Kathy Sdao
* Saving Shelter Dogs with Pam Reid
* For the Love of a Dog - Emotions in You, Your Dog & How they Affect Training with Patricia McConnell
* Evolution, Cognition, and Behavior with Ray Coppinger, Bruce Blumberg, and Carolyn Barney
* Harvard Extension classes with Carolyn Barney and Bruce Blumberg:
PSYCH E-1091 – The Cognitive Dog
PSYCH E-1093 – The Learned Dog
* Tellington T-Touch Workshop with Edie Jane Eaton

Certified Tai Chi Instructor, Tree of Life Tai Chi Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, BS in Civil Engineering