IAABC Foundation

Lauren Novack is an Associate Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, and Family Paws Parent Educator. Lauren's journey as an animal trainer started in 2012. In 2017 she began graduate coursework in Hunter College's Animal Behavior and Conservation department. In 2018 Hunter's Applied Behavior Analysis graduate program came under the direction of Dr. April Kisamore who was graciously willing to let Lauren study ABA while keeping her focus on animals. Lauren serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for Daily Paws, a new digitally based pet brand at Meredith Corporation. Her television appearances include Fox & Friends, Fox5 NY, Fox Philadelphia, and Rachel Ray. She has taught seminars and appeared on panels at zoos and rescue organizations and regularly contributes to articles on various online platforms and print media including Broadway Barks, NY Mag, Chewy, BarkPost, and The DoDo. She recently contributed an article to the B.F. Skinner Foundation’s Operants Magazine. Lauren operated a private dog training and behavior consulting service 2018, at which time Lauren accepted the positions of Director of Behavior Therapy and Behavior Consultant at Behavior Vets NYC. Lauren helps to inform the company's vision, processes, and direction while gaining tremendous experience working with the most challenging dog behavior cases in Manhattan alongside a team of world class veterinarians and trainers. She creates custom behavior intervention plans for dogs (and their people) who have been diagnosed with neophobia, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, various types of aggression, compulsive disorder, and separation anxiety. In addition to her work with private clients, Lauren offers webinars on various applied behavior analysis topics to animal behavior professionals. Lauren lives in the center of Manhattan with one rescued mixed breed pup (Grayson), one cat (Maui) and one husband. In the rare moments when she’s not working or studying, she enjoys exploring Manhattan’s concrete and culinary landscape with her family.

Renée has a long history working with puppies. As a hobby breeder of golden retrievers, Renée is invested in raising puppies with behavioral health as a primary factor. Environmental & cognitive enrichment is planned from birth, with video documentation of litter raising available to the future puppy homes. Understanding the developing puppy brain and body, enables both training clients and new puppy owners to have an enjoyable experience in the pup’s first crucial year. Renée owns Let’s Speak Dog Ltd, a small company focusing on integrated puppy/dog training, daycare/boarding and is actively involved within the community mentoring dog trainers and dog owners on the wonders of successfully raising puppies.

Kathrine is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and owner of Hands Full Dog Training, LLC in Wichita, Kansas. Her team focuses primarily on helping companion dog owners live in harmony with their beloved canines. Kathrine is also the lead trainer for Midwest Battle Buddies, a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to teach military veterans how to train their own service dogs to “give back the freedom they fought for.” In the past, Kathrine volunteered for five years with an animal rescue in Texas, working as manager of the behavior and training department and then as executive director. She also supervised the puppy raising program for the student organization Aggie Guide Dogs and Service Dogs as an undergraduate at Texas A&M University. As a 2011 graduate of the Bush School of Government and Public Service with a Master of International Affairs degree, Kathrine has had an ongoing interest in public policy and ethics. Prior to starting her own business, Kathrine worked as a research compliance officer for Texas A&M University, reviewing research protocols and working with the Institutional Review Board to ensure ethical treatment of the human subjects involved in research at the university. Her experience in regulatory affairs also included service in a U.S. Embassy as an intern in the consulate, investigating treaty trader visas and performing initial intake of visa applicants. She has also made inroads with local policy, serving on the Dangerous Dog Subcommittee of the Wichita Animal Control Advisory Board, and successfully promoting changes to city codes that provide finer-tuned assessment of and consequences for dogs involved in bite or aggression incidents. Kathrine earned a B.A. in Psychology in 2005 and is also a graduate of the Academy for Dog Trainers. She is a licensed Family Paws Parent Educator, a certified Fear Free professional, a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer, and a member of the Association for Professional Dog Trainers. She has been training dogs professionally since 2003.

Tabitha Kucera is an Elite Fear Free and Low Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician, Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) in Behavior, CCBC, and KPA CTP. She owns her own business in Cleveland, Ohio. Tabitha’s teaching credentials include lecturing on the regional and national level and lecturing at multiple veterinary technology programs. Her lectures cover relevant topics such as canine and feline body language, cooperative care, Fear Free and low stress handling, feline and canine aggression, prevention and management for common behavior concerns, and many others. She is a Fear Free certified speaker, a Fear Free Practice Certification Consultant, and host of a podcast. Tabitha has helped to develop training and behavior programs including Fear Free implementation for various veterinary hospitals and shelters and works as a consultant for many shelters and private veterinary practices.

Michelle Mullins CDBC, KPA CTP is the owner of Honest To Dog, LLC in Richmond, Virginia, USA and currently serves as the IAABC Foundation president. Michelle has been training dogs for 20 years and all of her work has the same objective - developing long, enriching relationships between pets and their people. In addition to her work in the pet product industry, she has worked with private clients for basic manners, puppy socialization, cooperative care training and through aggression issues. Michelle is passionate about a team approach, working closely with other trainers, certified behavior consultants and veterinary professionals. In addition to her IAABC Certified Dog Behavior Consultant credential, she holds certificates as a Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) Certified Training Partner (CTP), a Fear Free Certified Animal Trainer, TAGteach Level One Certified and has completed the Master Course – Aggression In Dogs. Currently, Michelle focuses on providing educational content, presentations, and mentorships for pet professional organizations and as a guest speaker. She contributes to conferences, panels, podcasts, and consultations both on behavior case and pet product development.

Dr. Erin Jones is a writer, educator, and dog behaviour consultant. She has a BSc in psychology and anthropology, a MSc in anthrozoology and a PhD in Human-Animal Studies. Additionally, she has a postgraduate diploma in animal welfare. Erin has been working both in behaviour/training and scholarly advocacy for decades and has a special research interest in the ethical dimension of the dog-human relationship. Erin is a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant (CDBC) and Accredited Dog Trainer (IAABC-ADT) with IAABC, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) with the CCPDT, and Accredited Animal Behaviour Consultant (CANZ-ABC) with Companion Animals New Zealand. Erin is the IAABC Foundation Journal Director and teaches for the Foundation. Her writing projects include authoring Constructing Canine Consent (2024, CRC Press), Co-editing Exploring Topic in Non/Human Animal Coexistance (2025, Lanturn), and has two additional books under contract with CRC Press with a 2025 and 2026 production date, respectively. Other scholarly publications can be found on her website. Erin is a Canadian living in Christchurch, New Zealand with her dog, Juno, and husband, Mike.

Dante is the founder of DanteDogWorks. His focus is on teaching other dog trainers and dog owners around the world how to successfully train and live with dogs using positive reinforcement-based training. Dante started his dog training career in the late 1990s and was one of the first dog trainers to introduce clicker training in Brazil. He is an international presenter and a dog sports enthusiast, having represented Brazil and Canada in multiple World Agility competitions, titled dogs in Rally Obedience and Dock Diving, and taught and performed Dog Dancing for almost a decade in Canada and the United States. In recent years, Dante developed a dog training platform that offers multiple courses for his Brazilian audience. He also teaches a post-grad course at the UNIRP University (Centro Universit?rio de Rio Preto). Since 2020, Dante has worked as a volunteer developing training programs and training staff at the Rio Preto Zoo.

Allie Bender, CDBC, CPDT-KA, SBA & Emily Strong CDBC, SBA are the co-owners of Pet Harmony Animal Behavior & Training and the co-authors of Canine Enrichment for the Real World. Through Pet Harmony, Allie (she/her) and Emily (she/her) help pets and their people all over the world have a more harmonious household, run a Mentorship Program for budding behavior professionals, and a membership site called Pet Harmony Pro Campus to help established behavior professionals to reach their professional goals. Allie and Emily are national speakers, published authors, animal welfare advocates, and have made radio, podcast, commercial, and TV appearances. Allie has been working in animal welfare since 2006 and started professionally training in 2012. Emily has been working in animal welfare since 1990. Allie has a BS in Animal Science from Iowa State University and is certified through the Council for Certification of Professionals Dog Trainers. Both Allie & Emily are certified through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

Emily Strong is co-owner and behavior consultant at Pet Harmony, LLC and co-author of the book Canine Enrichment For The Real World. She and her business partner, Allie Bender, run several programs through Pet Harmony, including their Mentorship Program for prospective behavior consultants, a membership site for professionals called Pro Campus, and a membership site for clients called Community Campus. Emily has been involved in various animal welfare fields since 1990, working and volunteering in animal shelters, rescue groups, sanctuaries, veterinary hospitals, stables, wildlife rehabs, an aviary, and finally as a behavior consultant, which she has been doing since 2008. Her passion is working with multiple species, but her favorite species to work with is humans, which is why her primary focus is running the mentorship program! In addition to co-running Pet Harmony and its various programs, she is also a national speaker, a freelance writer, and has an international client base.

Alicia has been teaching classes since 2010, starting in teaching therapy dog prep classes to help increase her footprint for helping others in her community. She has certified her own dogs, completing more than 1,000 therapy visits. Alicia also played a material role in starting programs for Temple Hospital, Philadelphia Family Court, and Moss Rehab. In recent years, Alicia has developed a deep passion for helping those in need and began offering a shy dog class to help handlers and dogs. She has also taught all level obedience, tricks, rally, house manners, cooperative care, and other specialty classes. Her own dogs have collectively earned a combined total of approximately 100 titles, badges, competitions, and awards in a variety of areas. Alicia is also a guest lecturer at Temple University, Temple Medical School Bioethics, Temple Hospital Grand Rounds, University Hospital of Pennsylvania, Simmons School of Social Work, and Jefferson Health System. She has also been a guest speaker at elementary schools talking with kids about dog safety, care, and proper interactions. Alicia lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and best friend of more than 30 years, and their four dogs, Vegas (Pit mix), Lola (Mini Dachshund), Dillon (Mini Dachshund) and Liberty Belle (Treeing Walker Coonhound).

Jackie Laubacher is the Senior Trainer and Manager of Behavior and Training for the Richmond SPCA in Virginia, United States. Her commitment to shelter work began in 2008 where her volunteer experience sparked not only her love of animals but began her passion for training. Jackie manages the shelter’s more challenging behavioral issues such as fear aggression, dog reactivity, guarding, and stranger anxiety. Her commitment to each pet’s success extends well after adoption. Jackie teaches a variety of group classes, including Good Start Puppy, Surviving Adolescence, Basic Obedience, and Bringing Home Baby. Her dedication at the Richmond SPCA exemplifies her commitment to enhance the quality of life for the shelter dogs in her care.