Biographies of MHS
Behavior Consultants & Instructors
Anni grew up with an assortment of cats and dogs in rural Maine.
Since 1967, when her husband brought home a bedraggled 4-month-old Siberian, there have been Huskies in her life. She became a master at management and "managed" to keep all the subsequent Huskies and resident cats alive into old age. No mean feat, through moves to California and two children.
Currently, Anni has two cats, Angus Burton MacDuff, and Wombat le Blu, and one dog, Denali. She is inordinately proud of the fact that, in spite of the breed description, Denali enjoys hikes off leash, and comes when called, thanks to positive reinforcement and a lot of long-line work!
Anni started volunteering as a DTA in the B&T department in 1996 after 10 years in the adoption department and a stint in the clinic.
Within the B&T department, Anni teaches Town and Trail classes, out and about in a variety of Marin County locales, helping clients enjoy their dogs in real life situations; Workshops, Senior handling and some Small dog classes. On the feline side of the road Anni is one of the cat evaluators, checking out the great cats we put up for adoption.
Celeste Barker is a dog training instructor specialized in Agility. She works with a wide range of clients teaching beginning through advanced levels, leading agility runthroughs, agility demos, and initiating new training programs to broaden community interest in the sport and stimulate growth of the MHS agility program.
Celeste is a graduate of the Canine Behavior Academy I and II, member of a local agility club, and the APDT, and competes in CPE and NADAC agility trials throughout Northern California with her mixed breed rescue dog. She is also an active member of several agility and training forums that exchange best practices with a nationwide group of trainers, and continues the study of agility by frequently attending seminars, workshops, and agility training camps led by champion trainers.
While growing up in rural commuties of Northern California, Celeste’s family had both small farm and domestic animals, plus rescued and fostered injured wildlife including jack rabbits, possums, birds, and frogs. She was taught that all pets should be adopted from shelters, or as strays in need of your help. This philosophy enabled her to gain experience with both large and small breeds from Malamutes to Llasa Apsos, and to obedience-train multiple generations of dogs.
Celeste has taken many dog training classes at the MHS with her own dogs since 1985, and after adopting a very “special” shelter dog in 2001 and taking two solid years of dog training classes at MHS, started volunteering with dog training and behavior consultations and as a Pet Pal. For several years Celeste pursued this as an avocation while working full time as a client services executive in the high tech industry until it developed into a second profession. Celeste has been providing agility training classes as an instructor at the Marin Humane Society since 2005.
As an agility instructor Celeste helps people reach their training goals and build better, happier relationships with their pet dogs. She constantly strives to find new and better methods to overcome training and behavior problems, and works with compassion to ensure clients are nothing short of happy.
Darlene Blackman is the Community Programs Manager at the Marin Humane Society. She has worked at the shelter for 20 years, in the SHARE, education, adoptions and behavior and training departments. Her current position combines both the work of SHARE (Special Human Animal Relationships) and humane education. She also teaches the Your Dog to SHARE and the SHARE a Book with Your Dog classes. These specialty classes are the required training for new volunteers to become SHARE and/or education volunteers with their dogs, and the classes also educate many others about animal assisted therapy.
Darlene's love for animals and her dedication to promoting the human companion animal bond and teaching humane education have brought her to MHS. As Community Programs Manager she can combine all those areas and one of her biggest enjoyments is teaching the SHARE classes.
Prior to working here in Marin she worked for 10 years at the Massachusetts SPCA, starting as an animal care technician at the Angel Memorial Animal Hospital, then moving on to farm animal care coordinator, humane educator, and volunteer coordinator. She also worked at the Audubon Society, a farm education center and a livestock auction where she worked to create a safer more humane place for the animals. She attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and studied animal science/veterinary medicine.
She lives in Fairfax with her husband, daughter, and wonder dog Duncan and super cat Snowy. She enjoys gardening, volunteering for the school district and as a Girl Scout leader, reading, and traveling home to New England every summer.
Emma grew up in Ireland where she spent summers as a child at her grandmother's house in the country. Surrounded by cows, horses, dogs, cats and birds, her love of animals began.
Emma moved to Chicago in 1992, but missed the ocean so much that she decided to make San Francisco her home. Now she and her husband live in Novato with their two adopted dogs, Dusty and Chance.
When Emma adopted Dusty (a "challenging" puppy) in 2002, she became interested in learning more about canine behavior and training. She began volunteering as a Pet Pal and gradually started helping out with training classes and the Pet Partnership and Pen Pals of San Quentin programs.
Emma has completed CITA I and II, and is an APDT member. She currently teaches Family Dog I and Agility Basics. "Learning new stuff about dogs' behavior and communication never gets old. I am proud to be a member of the MHS Instructor team."
Emma is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
From the age of six months, when my parents got a Cairn Terrier puppy to help my sister get over her fear of dogs, to the present, I don’t think I have spent one day without an animal in my life. While I was growing up we had at times dogs of various breeds and mixes, cats, ducks, chickens, rats, mice, snakes, a rabbit, gerbils, hamsters, lizards, tropical and saltwater fish, birds of various types (mynah, macaw, African grey, Double Yellow-Headed Amazon, rice birds, conures, parakeets), horses, and a burro. No cows or pigs but my grandparents had a ranch in Sebastopol where I spent many holidays with the
When I was 14 years old I took my first formal dog training lessons from a
Fast forward a few years. When I finally settled in
Then I heard a seminar given by Trish King in
I live on a small ranch near Rohnert Park and am currently owned by two horses (Wrobin, a 34- year-old Arabian mare and her 11-year-old Half-Arabian son, Coco), a conure parrot named Bubba III, three Ibizan Hounds (three-year-old Zsa Zsa, her 10-year-old mother Porter, and her 10-year-old auntie Polly), and 12 beautiful barn cats. I don’t show the horses anymore, it’s too expensive, so I ride recreationally. But I do show the Ibizan Hounds in conformation and have recently started Zsa Zsa in agility training to help her focus her quick mind and endless energy.
Laura Hazard grew up in Southern California. Her family had a full range of pets, from dogs and cats to chickens and owls. She is currently owned by her almost lifelong companion cat, Spookie. Laura has been working as a veterinary technician for more than six years and is currently employed in a pet hospital in Kentfield. She is also attending San Francisco State University to further her education in behavior. A volunteer at MHS since 2002, Laura is presently the cat behavior consultant at MHS. And still enjoys playing with the dogs at MHS!
A Marin native, Kristin Herrera and her husband, Benn, enjoy life in San Rafael with Girl Friday, a Cardigan Corgi, Jones, a Doxie/Labrador mix and Doc, an elderly, deaf Border Collie. Her two cats, Banjo and Sawyer, add even more love and fur to the mix. Kristin competes in Agility with Girl Friday - they have a great time working together!
Kristin came to MHS in 2001 shortly after adopting Jones and began volunteering as a Pet Pal, Dog Training Assistant and Behavior volunteer. She quickly became enamored of the world of dog behavior and training, and realized she had found her calling. Now she works at MHS as a behavior consultant, shelter dog evaluator and training instructor (for Family Dog and Agility classes). She also participates in both the Pet Partnership and Pen Pals programs.
Kristin is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) and a graduate of the Canine Behavior Academy, Levels I and II.
Trish is a nationally recognized dog behavior and training expert. Trish shares her home with a formerly stray German Shepherd, two Australian Shepherds, and a Bull Terrier/heeler/something mix.
Trish has extensively studied, taught and written about dogs. She has been at MHS for more than 19 years and established the
Trish frequently teaches workshops and seminars on dog behavior, canine management, behavior assessment and handling difficult dogs. She is also an instructor for the
Trish says she is “eternally fascinated by canine communication and human interactions with animals.” And people and their animal companions are the better for it.
Dawn Kovell and her five-year-old daughter share their home with three dogs and two cats. The dogs are Kiko, a female Alaskan Malamute, Quinn, a female German Sheppard, and Ringo, a male Belgian Shepherd (Malanois). The cats are Louie, a female, and Elwood, a male.
Dawn and Ringo have earned their Flyball Master title and are working on Flyball Master Excellent. The two have been competing in California flyball tournaments with the nationally ranked Gold Rush club for a year, and Ringo can consistently run the flyball course in under five seconds!
She also enjoys mountain biking, hiking, roller blading, and horseback riding with her dogs.
Growing up on a dairy farm, Dawn is experienced with horses, Holstein dairy cattle and Hereford beef cattle. She showed dairy cattle as a 4H member. The horses she has owned include a Shetland pony, a registered Quarter Horse and an Arab/Quarter horse cross.
She has also sponsored and participated in endurance trail riding in the Sierra Nevadas and Marin with an off-the-track Thoroughbred, and has owned and shown cattle.
On the smaller side, Dawn has hatched and raised 35 chickens and six ducks, which all went off to live happily at the Burton Ranch.
Dawn schedules all of the B&T classes, consults and shelter dog evaluations, and assigns staff members to cover these needs. She teaches Family Dog classes and oversees the training of new instructors, consultants and shelter dog evaluators. In-between these duties, she does consults and evaluations.
Her title? Department Manager, of course.
Debbie lives in San Rafael with her husband of 23 years, Bill. Currently, they have Ellie, an 9-year-old Dalmatian, and Ernie, a 5-year-old Terrier mix. Ernie was rescued from the Madera County Animal Shelter through the MHS Pet Partnership Program. Previously, Debbie and Bill had another Dalmatian and a Vizsla, both of whom are now in doggie heaven.
Debbie started at MHS as a volunteer Dog Training Assistant (DTA) in 1994 and then became an Instructor in 2000. She teaches all levels of obedience classes. Debbie is a graduate of MHS' Canine Behavior Academy Levels 1 and 2 .
Being a part of MHS is Debbie’s third (and last!) career. After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1976 with a degree in sociology/psychology/criminology, she was a welfare-social worker, then a group home counselor for boys aged 12–17, then she became a job counselor-coach for prison parolees. Her second career was in human resources, in which, as Director of HR, she was responsible for employee recruitment and retention, compensation planning, benefits administration and conflict resolution.
Debbie has a special affinity for high-energy, athletic dogs who like to have fun.
Betsy has been volunteering and working with the Marin Humane Society (MHS) since 1985. She volunteered as an adoption counselor originally, while also enrolling her two puppies in Family Dog One class (FD1), eventually moving on to FD2 and FD3.
In 1986 Betsy joined the Behavior & Training department as a volunteer dog training assistant. Two years later Betsy became an instructor and she’s been teaching classes ever since. She particularly likes introducing people to beginning dog training – giving them the essential skills and knowledge to integrate their dogs as members of the family.
Betsy has also worked at MHS in Customer Care, Adoptions, Animal Care, and Outreach. In 1997 Betsy and her husband adopted a retired racing greyhound, and she has volunteered with greyhound rescue since that time. (Betsy says that living with ex-racers is like living with cats – even though they are capable of running very fast for very short distances, their favorite past time is lounging around looking elegant.)
Betsy currently volunteers at MHS as a dog training instructor and evaluator of dogs and cats for adoption. She also assists in the Pet Partnership Program, gives talks on dog racing and greyhounds for summer camp, and assists with web-related adoption postings for the Marketing department.
Betsy is a native Marinite and lives in Larkspur with her husband, Bill Clarke, two ex-racing greyhounds, Cindy and Banjo, and two MHS feline adoptees, Tessie and MacDuff. When not working with MHS and greyhound rescue, Betsy volunteers as a Marin Master Gardener and tends her home and community gardens.
When she met and married her wonderful husband Larry, the first thing they adopted was a teri-poo “Opus,” and several schnauzers.
Several years ago, Sue began raising puppies for Canine Companions for
Sue became a dog walker for Sonoma Humane, then DTA for MHS, CBA I and II followed by an internship under the guidance of Behavior and Training. Sue joined the adoptions staff in winter 2007 and joined Behavior and Training shortly after. You can find her doing consultations and teaching classes. She loves working with families with young children who want to have a well mannered family pet.
Sue also has two daughters who love that mom is dog crazy. The home menagerie includes two
Sue is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
Meg Sorota's 90-pound, mixed-breed rescue dog, Bogie, has taught her firsthand how to manage and modify a range of behavior issues, including – among other things – territoriality, barking and fear-based reactivity. As she grew up, Meg and her family enjoyed life with a Poodle and a Cockapoo.
Meg has been involved with MHS as a behavior assistant, a dog training assistant and part of the Pet Partnership Program; she is also a CITA (now CBA) graduate. Before coming to MHS, she volunteered at Guide Dogs for the Blind as a docent, a trainer for other volunteer dog walkers, and a walker for kennel dogs, providing them with the exercise, socialization and training that helped mold these “career-changed” dogs into wonderful family companions.
Meg became a volunteer in the B&T department in April, 2003. She now teaches Family Dog classes and is training to do consults and evaluations.
Stop the presses! Meg was blessed with TWINS, Adam and Jillian, in the spring of 2005!
Growing up in
Jane Zabielskis enjoys life at home with Echo, a seven-year-old Golden Retriever, and Mac, a 14-year-old West Highland White Terrier. She has past experience with Labs, Boxers, Wire-Haired Fox Terriers, Poodles, Springer Spaniels and Cocker Spaniels. Jane’s two children grew up around dogs and are now successfully enrolled in college away from home.
Before her life went “to the dogs,” Jane worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist, so she now knows how to help both canine and human families enjoy a happy homelife together.
First as a dog training assistant and then a behavior volunteer, Jane is now beteaching Family Dog classes and is a consultant. She helps with Kinderpuppy and loves those pups!
Jane is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
