Experience

Sherry is a professional dog trainer, with over 20 years of experience helping dogs with behavior challenges.

Her passion to help dogs understand and encourage change has earned her a reputation as a highly skilled and compassionate dog trainer.

​

Her training techniques are founded in the principles of:

• Creative problem solving.

• Positive reinforcement.

• Cognitive learning.

• Social learning.

• Neuroscience.

• Relaxation.

• Kindness.

​

Values based dog training.

Brainy Dog's Values Based Dog Training puts training in the hands of guardians in a way that makes sense.

​

Guardians want a better life with their dogs. Values Based Dog Training, first defines what "better" is, then designs programs and training exercises that help meet needs for the guardians by meeting needs for their dogs.

 

Value based training is a layer between scientific information and the needs of dogs and their guardians.

 

Company

In 2001, Sherry founded Brainy Dog,

a private company and trademarked name in the industry.

 

Her journey with dog training began at the young age of nine when she taught her Dachshund, Dixie, to sit for an ice cream cone.

 

Sherry's ongoing curiosity about improving communication with animals lead her to walk away from a career in engineering design to become a professional dog trainer.

​

Education

Sherry designed a path to education by including segments that support her goals which are helping families keep their dogs.

She accomplished this by taking selected courses, learning directly from trainers, studying various disciplines and by working with shelters to help dogs in need join families.

​

Canine Specialty Training

In 2001 Sherry learned to train shelter dogs to become service dogs, from a trainer who trained search and rescue dogs for the military and attended Bergin University. Susan Bass has a comprehensive school that teaches trainers through all methods of dog training.

​

PetSmart

At PetSmart, Sherry focused on "Positive Reinforcement" (reward training) for family dog issues. These methods were more in-line with the way Sherry taught her own dogs.

​

Wolf Park

is where she spent a week during the Wolf and Dog Behavior Camp with Ray Coppinger, author of Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution and Erich Klinghammer (founder of Wolf Park), who spoke about starting Wolf Park and the lessons he learned from the wolves in his care.

​

Sherry was able to interact one-on-one with captive-bred wolves. Wolves, like all other animals, can be trained using positive reinforcement.

​

Easter Seals, Bay Area

is where she trained to teach children using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Easter Seals Bay Area has programs to help a large population of people who learn best by using a systematic step-by-step approach. The same ABA techniques can be used by all of us, including non-human animals.

 

Bergin University

is the original Service Dog Training School.

Sherry attended Mock Client training which is the same training Bergin clients go through to receive a service dog. It’s intended to help Bergin students practice teaching real clients.

​

Volunteer

North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG)

is a highly trained group that rescues animals during evacuations from fires. Sherry joined the group in 2007 and worked through the 2008 California fires in Butte County, sharing emergency shelter management responsibilities with two other skilled volunteers.

​

Training was on-going at the Butte County Police Department Training Center which included incident management, animal handling and other emergency training.

​

Sherry trained for search and rescue

with her German Shepherd Dog, Moose. She trained with a Missouri Search and Rescue unit leader in 2001, attended the Absaroka Search Dogs yearly training, and practiced weekly wilderness scent work sessions with the Inland Empire Bloodhounds in North Idaho.

​

Volunteer work at animal shelters

include:

• Butte Humane Society,

• Jackson County Animal Shelter

• Kootenai County Animal Shelter

• Second Chance Animal Shelter

• Scooter's Pals

• Sonoma County Animal Services

• Rohnert Park Animal Services

Sherry has helped hundreds of shelters dogs learn skills to become successful living in family homes. Sherry trained and designed training programs for shelter staff that incorporated training into all interactions staff had with their dog guests.

​

Continuing Education

Seminars, webinars, and courses.

Subjects of interest for her are:

• Fear, anxiety and trauma in dogs.

• Aggression in dogs.

• Applied Behavior Analysis.

• Behavior challenges in children.

• Protocols from many categories of dog training.

• Neuroscience, learning theories, perception, memory, and behavior.

 

Brainy Dog Camp

Sherry runs Dog Training Camps where hundreds of client dogs, have lived with her to learn new skills to change old habits.

​

Current

Currently offers phone-guided-training nationwide and is looking for a shelter to work with.

 

​