Biographies of MHS
Behavior Consultants & Instructors
Anni grew up with an assortment of cats and dogs in rural Maine.
Since 1967, when her husband brought home a bedraggled 4-month-old Siberian, there have been Huskies in her life. She became a master at management and "managed" to keep all the subsequent Huskies and resident cats alive into old age. No mean feat, through moves to California and two children.
Anni started volunteering as a DTA in the B&T department in 1996 after 10 years in the adoption department and a stint in the clinic. She stayed on to be a behavior volunteer and now gets to coordinate the behavior volunteers – a job she really enjoys! What more to ask for working with, good people doing interesting 'work' with dogs!
Currently, Anni has one cat, Angus Burton MacDuff, and two dogs, Kanuti and Denali. She is inordinately proud of the fact that, in spite of their breed description, both dogs hike off leash with her, thanks to positive reinforcement and a lot of long-line work!
Within the B&T department, her role is behavior volunteer coordinator, which entails recruiting, training and supporting the volunteers who are indispensable to the B&T department. She teaches Family Dog classes, Tricks and Street Smarts, plus a variety of Small Dog classes.
Anni is one of the cat evaluators, checking out the great cats we put up for adoption.
Celeste Barker is a dog training instructor specialized in Agility. She works with a wide range of clients teaching beginning through advanced levels, leading agility runthroughs, agility demos, and initiating new training programs to broaden community interest in the sport and stimulate growth of the MHS agility program.
Celeste is a graduate of the Canine Behavior Academy I and II, member of a local agility club, and the APDT, and competes in CPE and NADAC agility trials throughout Northern California with her mixed breed rescue dog. She is also an active member of several agility and training forums that exchange best practices with a nationwide group of trainers, and continues the study of agility by frequently attending seminars, workshops, and agility training camps led by champion trainers.
While growing up in rural commuties of Northern California, Celeste’s family had both small farm and domestic animals, plus rescued and fostered injured wildlife including jack rabbits, possums, birds, and frogs. She was taught that all pets should be adopted from shelters, or as strays in need of your help. This philosophy enabled her to gain experience with both large and small breeds from Malamutes to Llasa Apsos, and to obedience-train multiple generations of dogs.
Celeste has taken many dog training classes at the MHS with her own dogs since 1985, and after adopting a very “special” shelter dog in 2001 and taking two solid years of dog training classes at MHS, started volunteering with dog training and behavior consultations and as a Pet Pal. For several years Celeste pursued this as an avocation while working full time as a client services executive in the high tech industry until it developed into a second profession. Celeste has been providing agility training classes as an instructor at the Marin Humane Society since 2005.
As an agility instructor Celeste helps people reach their training goals and build better, happier relationships with their pet dogs. She constantly strives to find new and better methods to overcome training and behavior problems, and works with compassion to ensure clients are nothing short of happy.
Emma grew up in Ireland where she spent summers as a child at her grandmother's house in the country. Surrounded by cows, horses, dogs, cats and birds, her love of animals began.
Emma moved to Chicago in 1992, but missed the ocean so much that she decided to make San Francisco her home. Now she and her husband live in Novato with their two adopted dogs, Dusty and Chance.
When Emma adopted Dusty (a "challenging" puppy) in 2002, she became interested in learning more about canine behavior and training. She began volunteering as a Pet Pal and gradually started helping out with training classes and the Pet Partnership and Pen Pals of San Quentin programs.
Emma has completed CITA I and II, and is an APDT member. She currently teaches Family Dog I and Agility Basics. "Learning new stuff about dogs' behavior and communication never gets old. I am proud to be a member of the MHS Instructor team."
Emma is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
Patty Gable began a second career in dog training after moving from Carmel Valley to Petaluma, where extra living space allowed her to significantly expand her involvement with companion animals. A lifelong adopter of rescue animals, Patty is currently caring for a Golden Retriever mix, a Jack Russell Terrier mix, a Fox Terrier mix and a Miniature Pinscher. A household with three terriers can be a lot of fun, as Patty has discovered, but can easily become out of control without regular training. In addition to her dog pack, she shares her home with her husband, three cats, two parakeets and a cockatiel.
Patty has completed both Canine Instructor's Training Academy I and II (now Canine Behavior Academy) and was a volunteer at MHS in all beginning, intermediate, advanced and specialty training classes for several years before taking on instructor duties. She is also the director of the all-volunteer dancing dog troupe Dancing Paws, and has done additional training in Canine Freestyle.
A firm believer in Marin Humane Society's positive training methods, Patty especially enjoys teaching tricks classes and working with multiple-dog households. "With four dogs, a cat and 6-foot-five-inch husband all sleeping in the bed," she says, "everyone has to get along."
From the age of six months, when my parents got a Cairn Terrier puppy to help my sister get over her fear of dogs, to the present, I don’t think I have spent one day without an animal in my life. While I was growing up we had at times dogs of various breeds and mixes, cats, ducks, chickens, rats, mice, snakes, a rabbit, gerbils, hamsters, lizards, tropical and saltwater fish, birds of various types (mynah, macaw, African grey, Double Yellow-Headed Amazon, rice birds, conures, parakeets), horses, and a burro. No cows or pigs but my grandparents had a ranch in Sebastopol where I spent many holidays with the
When I was 14 years old I took my first formal dog training lessons from a
Fast forward a few years. When I finally settled in
Then I heard a seminar given by Trish King in
I live on a small ranch near Rohnert Park and am currently owned by two horses (Wrobin, a 34- year-old Arabian mare and her 11-year-old Half-Arabian son, Coco), a conure parrot named Bubba III, three Ibizan Hounds (three-year-old Zsa Zsa, her 10-year-old mother Porter, and her 10-year-old auntie Polly), and 12 beautiful barn cats. I don’t show the horses anymore, it’s too expensive, so I ride recreationally. But I do show the Ibizan Hounds in conformation and have recently started Zsa Zsa in agility training to help her focus her quick mind and endless energy.
Laura Hazard grew up in Southern California. Her family had a full range of pets, from dogs and cats to chickens and owls. She is currently owned by her almost lifelong companion cat, Spookie. Laura has been working as a veterinary technician for more than six years and is currently employed in a pet hospital in Kentfield. She is also attending San Francisco State University to further her education in behavior. A volunteer at MHS since 2002, Laura is presently the cat behavior consultant at MHS. And still enjoys playing with the dogs at MHS!
Virginia Heath has three dogs at home: Kali, a 13-year-old Chow Chow, Chase, a nine-year-old Pit/Boxer mix, and Poncho, an eight-year-old German Shepherd/Labrador/Chow mix. She also has experience with German Short-Haired Pointers and Cockapoos.
While she does not have cats anymore, she has managed a household with a Chow and three cats, to which she then added an extremely prey-driven stray male Chow. She is also working with her dogs and her friends’ children, teaching all to get along together.
Virginia is experienced with household dog-to-dog aggression, dog who are aggressive to strange dogs, difficult-to-train breeds, and issues surrounding rehomed and rescued dogs. Before moving to California and becoming involved with MHS, she did rescue work in New York City, including in the city shelter. She also has agility experience.
Coming in after and around her “day” job in San Francisco, Virginia teaches Family Dog and Difficult Dog classes, as well as shelter dog evaluations. She also pioneered the MHS Bull Breed Basics class and also helps with the fly ball team. Virginia began her life at MHS as a behavior volunteer and dog training assistant.
Virginia is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
A Marin native, Kristin Herrera and her husband, Benn, enjoy life in San Rafael with Girl Friday, a Cardigan Corgi, Jones, a Doxie/Labrador mix and Doc, an elderly, deaf Border Collie. Her two cats, Banjo and Sawyer, add even more love and fur to the mix. Kristin competes in Agility with Girl Friday - they have a great time working together!
Kristin came to MHS in 2001 shortly after adopting Jones and began volunteering as a Pet Pal, Dog Training Assistant and Behavior volunteer. She quickly became enamored of the world of dog behavior and training, and realized she had found her calling. Now she works at MHS as a behavior consultant, shelter dog evaluator and training instructor (for Family Dog and Agility classes). She also participates in both the Pet Partnership and Pen Pals programs.
Kristin is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) and a graduate of the Canine Behavior Academy, Levels I and II.
Suzanne’s life with animals began on a small family farm on the central California coast where she grew up, helping care for all of her family’s pets, from iguanas to horses. Suzanne was an active member in 4-H for 10 years, raising everything from chickens, livestock, horses, and of course dogs. She credits her father, who was an Animal Husbandry and Horticulture professor, her 4-H leaders and all her animals as her mentors throughout her early years. Suzanne has continued her education in training horses and dogs throughout her adult life by attending seminars, talks, conferences and keeping up to date on the latest training and behavior publications.
Several years ago she made the decision to leave a career as a chef to devote all her time to understanding the behavior and training of dogs. She is a trainer of family dog classes, conducts behavior consults for canine problems and is a behavior evaluator of shelter dogs. Suzanne believes that helping people develop a better relationship and understanding of their canine companions will not only enrich their own lives but also help keep dogs in loving homes and out of shelters.
Through her life Suzanne has shared her home with a wide range of canines, from the early years with the Dachshunds, Herding Dogs, Labrador Retrievers, Pointers, Terriers, and Hounds. She currently lives on a ranch in Occidental with 4 horses, 3 goats, 30 chickens, an Australian Cattle Dog and an adopted Belgian Malinois x German Shepherd.
Carey King has lived in California all of her life, and was raised in Saratoga back in the days when most of the Santa Clara Valley was still planted in plum orchards. Her family had the usual complement of pets: various rodents, reptiles, cats and dogs – among the latter a German Shepherd and a Cocker-Setter mix named "Penny" who lived to be 22. The unfulfilled dream of her childhood was to have a horse of her own.
When she married her husband Fred, he had been showing Boxers in conformation for a few years, and Carey was instantly hooked on the breed (much less so on competing with them in conformation). They moved to Santa Rosa where the dog pack grew to seven and the horse actually materialized, along with a cat, sheep, pigs and chickens. Over time, though, the menagerie has been pared back to two nicely portable Boxers.
Carey became interested in canine behavior with the arrival of her current Boxer, Annie, who needed far more in the way of management and training than any dog with whom she'd ever lived. She brought Annie to MHS for a behavior consultation, and then just sort of stuck around, quite happily taking classes with Annie, going through Canine Behavior Academy I and II, and eventually moving from volunteering in Behavior & Training to becoming an instructor. Managing her time at the shelter around her "day job" as a Senior Programmer Analyst at Sonoma State University, she particularly enjoys teaching the beginning-level classes, as well as assisting with Difficult Dog. She says the opportunity to participate in the breathtaking progress that some owners are able to make in those classes is extremely rewarding to her.
Trish is a nationally recognized dog behavior and training expert. Trish shares her home with a formerly stray German Shepherd, two Australian Shepherds, and a Bull Terrier/heeler/something mix.
Trish has extensively studied, taught and written about dogs. She has been at MHS for more than 19 years and established the
Trish frequently teaches workshops and seminars on dog behavior, canine management, behavior assessment and handling difficult dogs. She is also an instructor for the
Trish says she is “eternally fascinated by canine communication and human interactions with animals.” And people and their animal companions are the better for it.
Dawn Kovell and her five-year-old daughter share their home with three dogs and two cats. The dogs are Kiko, a female Alaskan Malamute, Quinn, a female German Sheppard, and Ringo, a male Belgian Shepherd (Malanois). The cats are Louie, a female, and Elwood, a male.
Dawn and Ringo have earned their Flyball Master title and are working on Flyball Master Excellent. The two have been competing in California flyball tournaments with the nationally ranked Gold Rush club for a year, and Ringo can consistently run the flyball course in under five seconds!
She also enjoys mountain biking, hiking, roller blading, and horseback riding with her dogs.
Growing up on a dairy farm, Dawn is experienced with horses, Holstein dairy cattle and Hereford beef cattle. She showed dairy cattle as a 4H member. The horses she has owned include a Shetland pony, a registered Quarter Horse and an Arab/Quarter horse cross.
She has also sponsored and participated in endurance trail riding in the Sierra Nevadas and Marin with an off-the-track Thoroughbred, and has owned and shown cattle.
On the smaller side, Dawn has hatched and raised 35 chickens and six ducks, which all went off to live happily at the Burton Ranch.
Dawn schedules all of the B&T classes, consults and shelter dog evaluations, and assigns staff members to cover these needs. She teaches Family Dog classes and oversees the training of new instructors, consultants and shelter dog evaluators. In-between these duties, she does consults and evaluations.
Her title? Department Manager, of course.
Peggy Lee currently has a household full of dogs. In addition to four of her own, she "Board & Trains" an average of one dog a month. Her dogs consist of one Toy Fox Terrier, Yoda, an eight-year-old female, with whom she did competition obedience with for two years; Sasha, a female Rottweiler/Shepherd mix, about 6–7 years old, who came to stay by way of a “foster/train” because Sasha was very leash aggressive and fearful of big, loud trucks; and two male, 11-year-old Shar Peis, Tatsu and Tig – named by her husband as they were his dogs when she met him. Last but not least, one female cat by the name of Dazy, spelled like lazy, as she is.
Peggy is a private dog trainer in the Dixon area. She began her business in the fall of 2002. Her focus is the family companion dog, teaching families how to communicate and build relationships with their pets. Her goal is to keep as many pets together with their families as possible. The bulk of calls she gets come from families with adolescent Labs, Pit Bulls, Golden Retrievers, Beagles and a variety of small dogs.
Peggy has volunteered at the Fairfield Animal Shelter and worked as a dog walker for several years before making her love of animals her life’s work.
Peggy first came to MHS after attending Trish King’s CITA classes (now Canine Behavior Academy). In the fall of 2003, Tricia Breen recruited her as a volunteer to the Behavior & Training Department; shortly thereafter, Peggy began assisting other trainers with their classes and is now instructing for Family Dog 1 and Small Dog 1. She is looking forward to teaching a Tricks class, Family Dog 2, and doing consultations.
Peggy is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
Debbie lives in San Rafael with her husband of 18 years, Bill. Currently, they have Ellie, a 3-year-old Dalmatian, and Ernie, a 7-month-old JRT/Whippet Mix. Ernie was rescued from the Madera County Animal Shelter through the MHS Pet Partnership Program. Previously, Debbie and Bill had another Dalmatian and a Vizsla, both of whom are now in doggie heaven.
Debbie started at MHS as a volunteer Dog Training Assistant (DTA) in 1994 and then began substituting for Instructors in 1997, becoming an Instructor in 2000. She teaches Family Dog 1; Family Dog 2; Come On, Let’s Go; Leash Free; Agility Basics; and Musical Paws. From 1994 to 2002, Debbie assisted in and taught Beginning Puppy classes. Debbie also conducts “DTA Camp” several times a year, which is a five-week, 13-hour training program for new volunteer dog training assistants. Debbie is a CITA 1 graduate (now Canine Behavior Academy) .
Being a part of MHS is Debbie’s third (and last!) career. After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1976 with a degree in sociology/psychology/criminology, she was a welfare-social worker, then a group home counselor for boys aged 12–17, then she became a job counselor-coach for prison parolees. Her second career was in human resources, in which, as Director of HR, she was responsible for employee recruitment and retention, compensation planning, benefits administration and conflict resolution.
Debbie has a special affinity for high-energy, athletic dogs who like to have fun. Her newest dog, Ernie, the terrier mix, however, is challenging the depths of her dog training skills, but she figures you can’t consider yourself a good dog trainer until you’ve owned and trained a terrier!
Betsy has been volunteering and working with the Marin Humane Society (MHS) since 1985. She volunteered as an adoption counselor originally, while also enrolling her two puppies in Family Dog One class (FD1), eventually moving on to FD2 and FD3.
In 1986 Betsy joined the Behavior & Training department as a volunteer dog training assistant. Two years later Betsy became an instructor and she’s been teaching classes ever since.
Betsy has also worked at MHS in Customer Care, Adoptions, Animal Care, and Outreach. In 1997 Betsy and her husband adopted a retired racing greyhound, and she has volunteered with greyhound rescue ever since. (Betsy says that living with ex-racers is like living with cats – even though they are capable of running very fast for very short distances, their favorite past time is lounging around looking elegant.)
Betsy currently works at MHS as a dog training instructor and evaluator of dogs and cats for adoption. She also volunteers in the Society’s Pet Partnership Program and in the Education department – giving shelter tours and assisting with summer camp programs.
Betsy is a native Marinite and lives in Larkspur with her husband, Bill Clarke, two ex-racing greyhounds, Nicky and Cindy, and an MHS senior partner cat, Tessie. When not working with MHS and greyhound rescue, Betsy tends her home and community gardens, takes yoga class, hikes and bird watches around Marin, and rides her bike and plays tennis.
When she met and married her wonderful husband Larry, the first thing they adopted was a teri-poo “Opus,” and several schnauzers.
Several years ago, Sue began raising puppies for Canine Companions for
Sue became a dog walker for Sonoma Humane, then DTA for MHS, CBA I and II followed by an internship under the guidance of Behavior and Training. Sue joined the adoptions staff in winter 2007 and joined Behavior and Training shortly after. You can find her doing consultations and teaching classes. She loves working with families with young children who want to have a well mannered family pet.
Sue also has two daughters who love that mom is dog crazy. The home menagerie includes two
Sue is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
Meg Sorota's 90-pound, mixed-breed rescue dog, Bogie, has taught her firsthand how to manage and modify a range of behavior issues, including – among other things – territoriality, barking and fear-based reactivity. As she grew up, Meg and her family enjoyed life with a Poodle and a Cockapoo.
Meg has been involved with MHS as a behavior assistant, a dog training assistant and part of the Pet Partnership Program; she is also a CITA (now CBA) graduate. Before coming to MHS, she volunteered at Guide Dogs for the Blind as a docent, a trainer for other volunteer dog walkers, and a walker for kennel dogs, providing them with the exercise, socialization and training that helped mold these “career-changed” dogs into wonderful family companions.
Meg became a volunteer in the B&T department in April, 2003. She now teaches Family Dog classes and is training to do consults and evaluations.
Stop the presses! Meg was blessed with TWINS, Adam and Jillian, in the spring of 2005!
Growing up in
Suzie Yokomizo has significant experience with large mixed-breed dogs, especially Rottweilers and Shepherds. Although she once had a household full of dogs, she now shares her life with a 10-year old Rottweiler/Lab/German Shepherd mix named Rocky. In the past, she has shared her life with Fuji, a northern breed/Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, Spyke, a northern breed/Shepherd mix, Pochi, a terrier mix and Jack, a German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, who was truly the love of her life!
Suzie has enjoyed carting with her dogs and doing freestyle work with them. She believes that the more fun you have with your dog, the better!
She has experience living with multiple dogs, difficult dogs, dog-to-dog aggression, and major possession issues. She has been able to utilize her personal experiences to help others who are experiencing these issues in their households.
Suzie believes in "Improving the Quality of Life That We Live with Our Pets Through Education" and is a graduate of CITA I and CITA II (now CBA). She enjoys teaching classes and serving as a behavior consultant at the Marin Humane Society.
Jane Zabielskis enjoys life at home with Echo, a seven-year-old Golden Retriever, and Mac, a 14-year-old West Highland White Terrier. She has past experience with Labs, Boxers, Wire-Haired Fox Terriers, Poodles, Springer Spaniels and Cocker Spaniels. Jane’s two children grew up around dogs and are now successfully enrolled in college away from home.
Before her life went “to the dogs,” Jane worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist, so she now knows how to help both canine and human families enjoy a happy homelife together.
First as a dog training assistant and then a behavior volunteer, Jane is now beteaching Family Dog classes and is a consultant. She helps with Kinderpuppy and loves those pups!
Jane is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
