Course Begins: March 3, 2026
Course Begins: July 23, 2026
Dr. Wailani Sung is a Board-Certified Veterinary Behaviorist dedicated to improving the wellbeing of animals and strengthening the human–animal bond. Dr. Sung currently serves as Senior Director of Animal Admissions and Wellbeing at Joybound People and Pets in Walnut Creek, California. In this role, she oversees three key areas: the transfer of pets from municipal shelters, the assessment and management of the shelter’s behavior population, and the training classes and consultations provided to privately owned pets. She also advises animal shelters nationwide on individual case evaluations and the development of effective behavior programs.
An accomplished author and speaker, Dr. Sung is co-author of From Fearful to Fear Free (with Dr. Marty Becker, Dr. Lisa Radosta, and Mikkel Becker) and a contributing author to Decoding Your Cat. She has also written extensively for veterinary textbooks, including Feline Behavior and Welfare, Handbook of Feline Behavior, and Animal Behavior for Shelter Veterinarians and Staff.
Dr. Sung has also been featured in the PBS NOVA documentary Cat Tales and the Netflix documentary Inside the Mind of a Cat.
Valli Parthasarathy, DVM, DACVB, is the owner of Synergy Veterinary Behavior, a veterinary behavior specialty practice in Portland, Oregon. She works with families whose dogs, cats, birds, horses, and other species display behavior concerns, focusing on strengthening the human–animal bond through improved understanding and evidence-based treatment.
Dr. Parthasarathy is a nationally and internationally invited speaker on topics including early recognition of behavior problems, multi-species behavior treatment, and reducing stress during veterinary care. She is one of the few veterinary behaviorists in the U.S. who treats birds, has spoken about avian behavior for the USDA and the Association of Avian Behavior, and developed a hands-on parrot behavior camp for veterinary behavior residents.
A passion for animal welfare, canine behaviour, has been the cornerstone of Tom’s (he/him) career, spanning over 15 years in shelter and rescue. This experience, alongside a drive to better support shelter animals, led Tom to found Simplifying Shelter Behaviour.
Tom began volunteering in rescue at the age of 15 and has since been involved in a wide range of shelter and rescue roles. This hands-on experience led him to complete a BSc (Hons) in Bioveterinary Science and an MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour at the University of Lincoln, UK.
After graduating, Tom worked with the UK’s largest dog welfare organisation, supporting multiple rehoming centres before progressing to Senior Training and Behaviour Advisor. He now works as a Senior Clinical Animal Behaviourist Development Officer, focusing on upskilling staff and teams to reach their full potential.</span
Tom is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist (ABTC), a Certified Canine Behaviour Consultant and Shelter Behaviour Specialist (IAABC), and a faculty member and CBATI-KA with the Grisha Stewart Academy.
Tabitha Kucera is an Elite Fear Free and Low-Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician, a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior, a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner.
She is the founder of Chirrups and Chatter Cat and Dog Behavior Consulting and Training and Co-Founder of Small-Paws. An award-winning educator and international speaker, Tabitha lectures at regional, national, and international conferences, helping animal care professionals and pet caregivers deepen their understanding of animal behavior and strengthen the human-animal bond. She is a Fear Free Certified Speaker, a Fear Free Practice Certification Consultant, and the host of the podcast Tails from a Vet Tech.
In addition to working directly with clients, Tabitha consults with veterinary hospitals and animal shelters, focusing on education, implementation, and the development of practical training, behavior programs, and SOPs that improve animal welfare and team success. Her contributions have helped create comprehensive onboarding, training, and behavior resources for organizations across the industry.
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University and the owner of Behavior Works Consulting, LLC. Susan has co-authored chapters on behavior change in five veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 17 languages. Susan teaches seminars and courses on animal learning online (How Behavior Works: Living & Learning with Animals), which has been attended by students from 64 countries so far. Susan consults with zoos and animal organizations around the world and teaches yearly for the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) Animal Trainer Accreditation program. She was appointed to the Fish & Wildlife Service’s California Condor Recovery Team from 2002 – 2010, after which the team was retired due to the success of the birds in the wild. Currently, she is the Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee of American Humane Association (AHA) Film and TV Unit. In 2022, Susan was honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
Mindy is a clinical assistant professor in the Animal Behavior Program at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI and instructor at Virginia Tech. She is a board-Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB).
In addition to teaching and consulting as a legal expert witness, Mindy engages in research on companion animal behavior. Her early studies
focused on interventions for mouthing behavior in dogs. Recent studies focused on developing and testing protocols simple enough to be performed by owners or other non-behavior professionals. For example, she recently trained owners and dogs to work cooperatively to clean the dog’s ears.
Current studies focus on the efficacy of devices to reduce reactivity in dogs, such as Calming Caps and window film, as well as training dogs to willingly enter crates. Her research has received several awards, including the Marian Breland-Bailey Award and Fear Free Award, as well as competitive funding from Fear Free. She received her PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan and MS in Behavior Analysis from Marquette University. She lives in Waunakee, WI.
