About Us

Sam has been passionate about working with animals of all types for his entire life. He began my interest with how dogs learn when he was about 11 years old and wanted to train his own pet dog. He was inspired to pursue a career training dogs professionally when he got his puppy Stanley; an enthusiastic terrier who’s out of control tendencies turned his calm senior pet house into complete chaos.

However, through spending countless hours of work, play, and learning about what made each other happy, he helped Sam understand that it takes patience and trust to guide dogs through our crazy human world. Now there is nothing he loves more than creating a strong partnership with dogs and helping others have that same relationship. He lives with 3 dogs: Stanley, Debbie and 2 cats. In his free time he enjoys playing fun games with his dogs, teaching them new tasks and experimenting with new training techniques.

Sam is certified in Pet First Aid and CPR and a Certified Canine Good Citizen and Tricks Evaluator through the AKC and is a certified professional dog trainer through the CCPDT, one of the industry standards in certifying bodies. He is currently pursuing an application for certification with the IAABC in dog behavior.

Sam has worked full-time for PBC since 2019 teaching classes and lessons as well as working with clients in consultations. He's known for his charismatic warmth, love of training, enthusiasm about all things training, and his fabulous dock diving methods! If you'd like to reach Sam, please email sam@petbehaviorconsulting.com.

Alex grew up in a house full of various animals and has always loved being surrounded by them. After college, they started working at a busy dog daycare where they gained a lot of experience in caring for and handling dogs. During this time, they adopted their first dog of their own, Theo, and he proved to be a bit of a challenge. They spent a lot of time working with him to help him understand that the world wasn’t so bad and with time and patience he was able to trust humans again and make some fur friends too! Through this they developed an unbreakable bond, and they discovered their love for working with and training dogs.

Since then, they've added 2 more dogs to the family: Abbie and Sokka. They're excited to gain experience in training and hopes to be able to help more dogs like Theo in the future.

Alex works part-time for PBC and full-time in a non-pet-related field. If you'd like to reach Alex, please email info@petbehaviorconsulting.com or call (413) 200-8725.

Kayla always had a connection and love for all animals. Particularly, an interest in working with dogs. She grew up with two German Shepherds that showed her early on the love and loyalty a dog can share with their humans. Over the years, she has helped her mother foster several English Springer Spaniels from a local rescue and has had many of her own family dogs, all with unique personalities and abilities. She enjoyed finding ways to adapt and interact with each new foster in a positive way.

She was born, raised and still resides in Granby with her fiancé (Michael), two dogs (Bear and Camilla), and their spunky cat (Spooky). In her free time, she enjoys hiking with Bear and Camilla, and weekend getaways with her fiancé and friends. She has attended Springfield Technical community college and holds two healthcare certifications. She is looking forward to returning to education and obtaining certificates in dog training.

She is looking forward to attaining her lifelong passion working at Pet Behavior Consulting. She would like to create a caring, nurturing environment in which to have your dog learn to its highest potential.

Kayla is currently assisting in the Academy and with boarding dogs, as well as private lessons and group classes.

Norman has loved dogs for their whole life. As a young child, they would spend hours training the family dogs to complete homemade obstacle courses in the living room.

In graduate school, Norman took up dog walking, which quickly became more than just a way to pay the bills. The connections Norman formed with their canine clients developed into deep friendships. Upon graduating with a Master's degree in education, Norman realized that it was the education of dogs for which they had the greatest passion. They got a full-time job at a doggy daycare, grooming, and boarding facility and worked in all three departments, eventually managing the kennel. Being entrenched in the dog world led Norman to get a border collie of their own, Ronan. Thanks to Ronan, Norman is inspired and humbled every day by the richness of communication that is possible between dog and handler, the complexity of a dog's internal experience, and the incredible feats of which dogs are capable. There is nothing Norman would rather do than spend every day surrounded by, educating, and ultimately learning from dogs.

Norman joins our team with a great deal of experience in consent-based grooming, dog-dog behavior and playgroups, working with reactivity and inter-species dynamics. They will be full-time in the kennel while completing our trainer program, with the plan to move into group class and private training.

Briar was always the dog while playing house as a child. Decades later, earthly responsibilities ensued and they had to embrace their human form. The experience of simply being with dogs and also plants in particular serve as gateways for them into a deeper relationship with the infinite, more-than-human world - an experience for which they feel giddy and grateful.

Before arriving at PBC, they have been engaged for the past several years in self-study of dog behavior and training and obtained Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) instructor certification in 2023. They are thrilled to have found the PBC crew! Its supportive group learning environment is helping expand their understanding of how best to care for the needs of both people and their companion dogs as individuals and intertwined beings.

Their developing dog interests include shedding internalized cultural myths about misbehavior, research on and practice of addressing so-called reactive behavior with a wide perspective and curious patience, preventive health through nutrition and musing on the dog-handler leash collaboration.

Outside of PBC, they are a part-time dog walker, personal chef, sound artist and budding gardener. They live in Florence with their partner and their canine teacher, Ever.

Brian grew up with a love and passion for animals. His grandma liked to point out that from a young age, “he always gravitated towards them and had a deep communication with them”. He would spend hours sitting with his family dogs or befriend any creature he came across.

All his life Brian wanted to be a veterinarian, he would spend hours a day reading about different breeds of dogs and even playing simulating video games. After high school his goals changed and he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. Brian found a deep longing for education and teaching others. It wasn’t long before he realized that he could combine this passion with his love for animals.

Brian got a full-time job working at a doggy daycare, grooming, and boarding facility; where he rose through the ranks eventually overseeing and managing most of the facility. While Brian was putting in as many hours as he could on the side he continued his education. He is certified as a trainer Animal Behavior College, in Pet CPR/First Aid Certification, and took a course in Fear Free Practices. 

When Brian is not working he spends his free time with his rambunctious dog Archer, they can be found hiking mountains, swimming and paddle boarding, and recently traveling the world in their camper.

Brian joins our team with many years of experience in daycare/kennel environments as well as private training. His goals here are to spend as much hands-on time with dogs as possible, keep pursuing his love of learning and educating others, and of course to provide training services for our PBC dogs.

Michelle joins our team, bringing literally decades of experience working with dogs in daycare, kennel and breeding contexts. She has a wealth of knowledge and shows the dogs both patience and consistent structure. She is a pro when it comes to understanding what it takes to keep a boarding environment clean and in perfect shape. She joins us part-time and is a tremendously sweet and fun addition to our team!

Hello, my name is Michelle. I am a huge dog person and dog lover. One day I hope to own my own business that is a doggie daycare, dog boarding and dog training business. I have had multiple dogs in my childhood. I am a fun loving person that cares a lot about dogs and people. For hobbies, I also love to walk as much as I can right now. Currently, I own a three legged pure breed German Shepherd Dog that is named Sheba. She is my very best dog friend in the world!

Michelle works part-time at PBC and if you'd like to reach her, her email is michelle@petbehaviorconsulting.com.

Heather grew up with large breed dogs, cats, even had birds, a rat and other rodents. She loves all animals! As an adult she decided to rescue her own dog who proved to have some challenging behaviors. She continued with that rescue volunteering and fostering. All the challenges just gave her the push to pursue dog training. She is currently enrolled in school to become a certified dog trainer. Currently, Heather has two dogs (Colt and Sig) and cat (Jacob).

She got her start at PBC as a client with her two dogs to help them the best she could. She was so excited when the opportunity came up to join the PBC team! She can’t wait to learn more and help others strengthen their relationship and understanding of their own dogs.

Heather is currently a part-time assistant trainer here so you will see her Sunday and Monday evenings. Hopefully, we can eventually snag her full-time so we will all see her more often! Heather has a great energy with the dogs, a strong work ethic and solid common sense. We are thrilled to have her as part of the team and excited to see her grow and develop as a trainer.

Anna has always wanted to work with animals since she was young. She graduated from Holyoke Community College’s Veterinary Technician program and has been working as a Certified Veterinary Technician for the last seven years.

When Anna was in high school her family adopted a dog named Blizzard. After working through Blizzard’s fear aggression and anxiety Anna found a passion in behavior and dog training.

She is here part-time currently, on Friday and Saturday mornings. She is assisting in the Academy and with boarding dogs, and as time allows will hopefully be able to join in with group classes and private lessons.

Located in the heart of Granby, Ferry Hill Farm consists of over 17 acres of fenced in pastures and wooded areas. The original barn, built in the 1700s, has served many purposes including housing dairy cattle, cars being renovated, and lots of farm animals. You can see from the woodwork that the barn has been around for hundreds of years and its strong bones will keep it around for many more to come.

Now home to PBC and Kaistar Kennels, the barn has been renovated so we can teach group classes, hold consultations and board dogs. With over 4500 square feet of open (but insulated) space, we look forward to hosting puppy classes, family pet obedience and competition obedience, Rally, nosework, dock diving, fitness classes and more - maybe even barn hunt! Of course, Elise has brought back her much-requested reactive classes. Lastly, private and semi-private lessons and ring rental are available with Elise and other trainers on staff.

The lower barn has a small kennel with capacity for ten dogs. The kennel has been designed to keep dogs safe, feeling secure, and we specialize in boarding dogs that typically have a hard time being away from home either due to reactivity or anxiety. We only board client's dogs and/or dogs coming in for Board & Train.

Suites are spacious, climate-controlled, clean and comfortable. The kennel includes a grooming station, washer/dryer, air conditioning, heating, an air purifying system, television & special lighting. Additionally, every aspect of it has been carefully thought out, including moisture resistant dry-wall, acoustic insulation and other building materials that won't be visibly obvious but will improve the quality of boarding for every dog who visits. Here is a quick video of the kennel as of December 2017. More upgrades continue to be made!

In addition to our training room and kennel, we have several other spaces with specific purposes. We have a Cloud Room (named after all the poofy insulation in it) for dogs that have a hard time settling and are barking. Here, we can work with them 1:1 and they won't be disrupting the other dogs. We have a Real Life room, which is a large room with a living room area, kitchen area and tv room. We practice a lot here, so dogs can apply skills such as not counter surfing, staying off of furniture, settling while dinner is being prepped and so on - you know, all those real life skills you want your dog to have! We have several offices for consultations and private sessions, a competition size dock diving pool, ramp and dock, and a complete competition obedience set-up.

Last but not least, we have a full range of fitness equipment, ranging from Flexiness and FitPaws equipment, a class IV laser, several PEMF devices, dry treadmill and more. We are always growing and developing what we have so that your dogs benefit from the best of the best!