About
Meet Susan
More than 25 years spent learning how dogs think, and teaching their people to understand them.
Growing up in a household full of animals taught Susan responsibility, how to love, and how to understand loss. Her mother was a huge animal lover, so the house was always home to several dogs, cats, birds, and other critters. Susan always had a strong bond with animals and could read and understand them better than the rest of her family.
She started out as a kennel worker at three facilities: Emas Pet Hospital in Ardmore, the ASPCA in Media, and Old Marple Boarding Kennels in Springfield, feeding, bathing, and exercising hundreds of dogs of every energy and personality. Wanting to work with animals on a deeper level, she took a course in animal science and discovered her real passion: animal behavior.
Learning from the best
Susan enrolled in a dog-training course at The National Institute of Dog Training with Matthew Margolis, “Uncle Matty,” trainer of the stars’ dogs, where she learned corrections, the power of praise, training techniques, and how to run her own business.
She then spent about seven years as a veterinary technician at Old Marple Veterinary Hospital in Springfield, drawing blood, taking x-rays, treating sick animals, restraining, and assisting in surgery, learning pet health, disease, and injury care hands-on. The hospital owner let her read his behavior books, including University of Pennsylvania texts, and she read every chance she got, then applied what she learned to dogs in the hospital’s adoption program, all surrendered for behavioral issues. That work taught her a key truth: dogs need their new families to understand and enforce the rules, so she built a training program for adopting families and visited their homes to teach them.
Later, working for a breeder in Wynnewood, she spent her days surrounded by 20-plus dogs, watching littermates communicate, the dam correct her pups, and the role of the sire. Working with intense, dominant breeds like Rottweilers, Boerboels, and Cane Corsos, she learned her most important lesson of all: leadership is about respect, not harshness.
Still learning, every day
With over 25 years working with dogs and their owners, Susan is still learning. She has met and traded techniques with trainers and behaviorists across the country, including Cesar Millan, who helped her bring one of her own dogs into her pack and pointed out small details that took her work to a new level.
Today she shares her home with a pack of five dogs, five cats, and two humans, proof that even a full, busy household can be a calm and happy one.
Credentials & experience
- AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator: certified to evaluate dogs for the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen program.
- Therapy Pets Unlimited Certified Pet Evaluator: qualified to evaluate therapy pets.
- Trained at The National Institute of Dog Training under Matthew “Uncle Matty” Margolis.
- Has worked with Cesar Millan, sharing and refining techniques.
- 25+ years of hands-on experience as a kennel worker, veterinary technician, and behavior trainer.
Have a dog you’d like Susan to meet?
Tell her a little about your dog and what you’re working on. She serves the Philadelphia tri-state area, covering South Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.