I am native to Colorado and grew up in the little (at the time!) town of Erie, CO.  Of course, animals have always been a large part of my life.  I was given my first dog, Missy Bee, when I was 2 years old and I have rarely spent a moment without some furry or feathered creature in my life since then!

I have attended Colorado State University for my BS in Microbiology, some graduate work in Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Veterinary Medical School.  After my Bachelor’s degree, I began working at the Longmont Humane Society cleaning kennels, but within the first year took over their training and behavior program.  During veterinary school, I continued my work with the shelter as their Dog Training Coordinator and developed several types of training classes, temperament tests, shelter-dog training programs for volunteers, and have written a dog training manual. 
 

Several years ago my training experience took an interesting turn when I had the pleasure of working with the Division of Wildlife and helped train three orphaned mountain lion cubs.  Watching those wild cats learn was the greatest proof that all animals can be taught without force or coercion. 

Through my years as a trainer and during veterinary school, I have found that I have a passion for working with people and their pets!  There isn’t anything better than helping families create wonderful companions through early intervention and education (for both ends of the leash).

In October 2004, I joined the Care team and I am thrilled to be part of such a compassionate, friendly, and talented group.  As a veterinarian, animal behavior is still my greatest interest, but I truly love the varied nature of this career.  Other areas of veterinary medicine that I enjoy are anesthesia, surgery, and I am drawn to the business side of veterinary medicine as well.
 

Currently, I share my life with two dogs and a bird---all from the Longmont Humane Society. 

Oakley is a 7-year old Poodle/Schnauzer mix that loves to learn new tricks and is truly a case of the “tail that wags the dog”.  She was found as a stray 8-week old puppy and I had my dibs on her before her little curly feet touched the kennel floor. 
 

Porter is a 4-year old Portuguese Water Dog mix that loves to snuggle, loves to run and fetch, and contrary to his breed is only moderately interested in water.  An animal control officer found him as an 8-week old puppy being drug on a rope by some kids.  So, she brought him to the shelter and called me in to do a behavior evaluation to see if his considerable fear issues could be overcome.  I took him home to work with him and the rest, as they say, is history.       

Finally, there’s Pesto the Quaker parakeet.  She doesn’t talk much, but she does several tricks and continues to think that a person’s head is a great landing strip!

When I’m not at work, I enjoy hiking with the dogs, gardening, reading novels, cooking, and I am always trying new and different craft projects…my current ones are beading jewelry and scrapbooking.