Our Philosophy
We firmly believe that training should be a fun, low-stress experience for all involved (humans & pets), and we focus on methods rooted in positivity. We strive to find what motivates our pets (food, praise, petting, play, etc), and then we give them access to those things when they offer "good" behaviors. We will not use or recommend aversive techniques (choke chains, shock collars, etc.), as these have the risk of creating stress, fear related behavior problems and/or physically harming the dog. Instead, we will work with you on finding out your pet's favorite activities or items, and we will coach you on using those to your advantage! You and your pet(s) should enjoy training as you reach your goals. Our trainers are excited to help you on the journey of teaching your good pet how to be a GREAT pet! We are proud members of The Association of Professional Dog Trainers, The Pet Professional Guild, and Force Free Trainers of Wisconsin. Our trainers are also certified in pet first aid & pet CPR and are committed to keeping classes safe and successful. Dog training is still an unregulated industry, but all our trainers hold professionally recognized certifications and complete continuing education to maintain their credentials. Using the most humane, up to date, and effective methods is of the utmost importance to us!
Meet Our Team
Sarah Miller, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
Owner & Lead Trainer
sarah@teacherspettraining.com
Sarah holds a B.S. in Psychology from UW-Madison, with many classes centering on animal behavior. She became a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT-KA) in 2016, and earned her canine behavior consultant certification (CBCC-KA) in 2019. Sarah is also certified to administer evaluations for the AKC Canine Good Citizen, Puppy Star, and Urban Good Citizen titles. While always having an assortment of pets including dogs, cats and pocket pets, she naturally sparked an interest in animal behavior at a young age. Her interest in the training aspect of behavior was secured after interning for a dolphin research facility. Sarah has been with Teacher’s Pet since April of 2013. Her training partners are sweet and loving hound/pit mix, Leya, and silly springer spaniel, Echo.
Emma Cross, CPDT-KA
Owner & Lead Trainer
emma@teacherspettraining.com
Emma has been with Teacher's Pet since March of 2016, and holds a B.S. from UW - Madison in Conservation Biology, Environmental Studies, and Community & Environmental Sociology. She has had a lifelong love of animals and became especially interested in animal training after becoming a puppy raiser for the seeing eye dog organization, Leader Dogs for the Blind. After adopting her own dog, Copper, and beginning to work through his socialization and training challenges with the help of Teacher's Pet, she became interested in learning to help others with their furry friends. The bond between Emma and her dog was fostered and strengthened through science based training methods, and she is passionate about helping others build pawsitive relationships with their own pets using these meaningful tools. She earned her CPDT-KA in 2019, and her training partners are Copper the energetic German Shorthaired Pointer, and Hazel the spunky coonhound mix puppy.
Brianne Statz, CPDT-KA
Lead Trainer
brianne@teacherspettraining.com
Brianne first joined Teacher’s Pet in 2004. While her training journey took her away from Teacher’s Pet for a bit, we are so delighted to welcome her back in 2022! Brianne’s love for animals started young and when she went to college at UW Madison, she got her bachelor of science in Zoology. She became a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT-KA) in 2006 and has diligently kept up on her continuing education to know the most up to date training methods. Her love of animals did not stop with training though as she became a Certified Veterinary Technician in 2010. Brianne particularly enjoys training tricks, agility, and parkour fun with her pets! Brianne’s current crew of pets includes a deaf/blind Aussie named Simon, a deaf Border Collie named Banjo, a vision impaired Aussie named Kuma, a Pomeranian mix named Pepper, a cat named Joan, and a chinchilla named Eleanor (yes, even her chinchillas are trained too!). Brianne also welcomed her beautiful (human) baby girl in 2021.
What Do Those Letters Mean?
While much of the training industry is unregulated, we are proud to be members of the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT), the leading independent certifying organization for the dog training profession. The CCPDT is at the forefront in the development of rigorous exams to demonstrate proficiency of humane, science-based dog training practices while maintaining that all certificants further their knowledge through continuing education requirements.
CPDT-KA: Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed - This certification requires 300 hours of classroom experience, along with passing a written exam. Once certified, trainers complete required continuing education to stay certified.
CBCC-KA: Certified Behavior Consultant Canine, Knowledge Assessed - This certification requires 300 hours of experience consulting on canine behavior such as fear, phobias, compulsive behaviors, anxiety, reactivity, and more. The consultant must then pass a written exam. Once certified, consultants complete required continuing education to stay certified.
