Meet Your Training Team
Mary Crawford, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CCS, Behavior Specialist
Mary left her long term career as a foot and ankle surgeon in 2018 and focused all her energy and passion toward the care and well-being of dogs and their humans. She had previously volunteered at the local animal shelter and saw dogs who were relinquished to the shelter due to behavioral problems. It quickly became apparent that to really help these animals, the behaviors needed to be addressed in the home before they got to a shelter. Mary began the educational journey to become a canine behavior specialist and has since obtained a number of certifications and certificates, including certification as a Certified Behavior Consultant Canine–Knowledge Assessed, CBCC-KA, Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed, CPDT-KA and is a Fear Free Certified Professional. She continues to participate in online and weekend courses, along with other activities to further her education and skills, including local hands-on workshops and national conferences.
CBCC-KA: Certified Behavior Consultant Canine-Knowledge Assessed
CPDT-KA: Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
CCS: Certificate in Canine Studies, Northwest School of Canine Studies
IAABC: Supporting Member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants
APDT: Member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers
PPG: Supporting Member of the Pet Professional Guild
Other Credentials:
CDW: Certified Dog Walker by Dog Walking Academy
Karen Pryor Academy: Certificate in Dog Trainer Foundations
CCN: Certificate in Canine Nutrition, Academy of Natural Health Sciences
Kimberlee Spicer, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, Behavior Specialist
A life long animal lover, Kimberlee has worked with animals professionally for over 12 years. Her career working with animals began at a local animal shelter as an adoption counselor. It was there she had an opportunity to work under one of only eighty Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist. It was at that moment she realized that training the animals that society has given up on was the work she was meant to do. Her focus and compassion then helped her create an entire behavior program for the shelter and was the shelter’s first behavior manager.
Since then Kimberlee’s passion has taken her on a journey of working with families and their pets doing in home behavior consulting and training and eventually to Seattle Animal Shelter as their animal behavior consultant/trainer. Because of Kimberlee’s decade in shelters she has seen and worked with a variety of behaviors from on-leash reactivity, resource guarding, barrier frustration, jumpy/mouthy behavior, dog aggression, human aggression, dog-cat interrelations, anxiety and fear based behaviors.
Kimberlee understands that education is an ongoing process and constantly seeks out opportunities to expand her knowledge so she can continue to offer clients the best information available. She has obtained her certification as a Certified Behavior Canine-Consultant, CBCC-KA, Certified Profession Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed, CPDT-KA and a Fear Free Certified Professional.
Kimberlee’s experience with animals far surpasses just dogs and she has had the pleasure of consulting on cases including cats, guinea pigs, rats, reptiles, rabbits, pigs and goats! Kimberlee understands that the key to a successful behavior plan is not just “training” the dog but working with, educating and supporting the family members that love and support their animals to become successful members of the family.
Kimberlee is also is affiliated with:
- APDT: Member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers
- PPG: Supporting Member of the Pet Professional Guild
Sumner Ames, UW-AAB, KPA-CTP, Trainer Specialist
Sumner started working with dogs at the age of 18 and has since held a number of positions within the pet care and animal welfare industry. Through her work experience and the support of her mentors, her passion for helping people and their pets grew. Most recently she has worked as an assistant trainer for Ahimsa Dog Training before she went on to take a temporary position with the Seattle Animal Shelter while also taking on a seasonal position with the Regional Animal Services of King County.
With the combined experience of working both in private pet care and large-scale animal sheltering, she discovered how much she enjoyed not only working with the pet but the human family members as well. Having experienced living with a severely reactive dog herself, she values the emotional experience of the human just as much as the pet in front of her. She approaches every scenario with compassion, honesty and patience and the intention to set all parties involved up for success. She currently holds a position in the behavior department at the Seattle Humane.
While holding these positions and moving through these jobs, Sumner has pursued continuing education. Sumner is a certified professional dog trainer and obtained her first certification through the University of Washington, completing the UW Applied Animal Behaviorist (UW-AAB) course in 2018, and then went on to graduating as a KPA Certified Training Partner(KPA-CTP) through the Karen Pryor Academy(KPA) in 2020. In the Fall of 2022, she completed Living & Learning with Animals: The Fundamental Principles and Procedures of Teaching and Learning, a certification program instructed by Dr Susan Friedman and is also a Fear Free Certified Professional. As this profession continues to evolve and theories and methods change, Sumner will continue to remain educated and skilled in the most current methods available to help each and every dog and family be as successful as possible in their home.
