Cecilia grew up with a passion for animals and a soft spot for dogs. At the age of 12, she trained her terrier mix to perform a variety of tricks for family and visitors. Yet, like so many from the Silicon Valley, she pursued a career in business, obtaining an MBA in Global Management. However, she never lost touch with the dogs, continuing her education through countless seminars and books, and teaching dog training part-time for many years before deciding to pursue her passion full-time.

Now, with over 10 years of experience in dog training instruction, Cecilia has an extensive understanding of dog behavior, ethology, humane training techniques, and training for various AKC sanctioned dog sports. A Certified Pet Dog Trainer specializing in the child-dog relationship, she also counsels dog owners in working with a variety of challenges including family integration, separation anxiety, fear-related problems, and human and dog aggression. She is also an AKC CGC Certified Evaluator and has completed a course in Pet First Aid and CPR.

She is the Executive Director and founder of KADIE – Kids and Dogs Interactive Education, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to child-dog safety. Whenever she can find spare time, she volunteers as a trainer for the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and as a behavior consultant for Society Dog and for Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary. She maintains her roots in business, consulting in business development for a variety of electronics and pet related products.

In training her own dogs, Cecilia has achieved Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certificates, Therapy Dog International (TDI) certification, and titles in Flyball and Herding. She and her dogs have also competed in Agility, Disc Dogs and Rally Style Obedience.

She lives with her three dogs, Claire, a border collie, Buzz, a border collie mix, and Flash, a Pyrenean Shepherd; two cats, KittyHawk and Laika; and two bunnies, Ace and Amelia.

Kristen Guy
ADL Certified Class Instructor, ACPCT

Kristen began working with dogs in September of 2004, and was immediately in love. She had grown up in the Bay Area doing multiple stints as a dog walker/pet sitter, but had never thought there were any "real" jobs to be had in it. It was only much later that she discovered the idea of "doggie daycare," and became involved in the pet care industry, where she started as a Playgroup Leader. When Director of Training and Programs Cecilia Sternzon joined the A DOG'S LIFE team, Kristen began assisting Cecilia with her classes, and was one of the first to join the newly christened Apprentice Trainer Program at A DOG'S LIFE. During her time as an apprentice, Kristen was also promoted to become the manager for A DOG'S LIFE's Sunnyvale daycare center. This was a mixed blessing: While her new role with the daycare prevented Kristen from immersing herself as fully with the apprenticeship program, it also gave Kristen a unique perspective on both dogs and their owners, and she was able to spend more time increasing her knowlege and skills before graduating from the program to become a Certified Trainer with the company.

Kristen has since moved on from her management role, but not without continuing to take on new and exciting endeavors. In April 2010, Kristen took over management of the Growly Dog program--a program close to her heart thanks to the help it gave her with her own reactive dog, a 140lb Boerboel named Toby (who is big and impressive-looking, but goofy and a bit of a chicken when it coms to things like orange traffic cones). Kristen now teaches classes and runs "Growly Dog" sessions on weekday mornings and every Saturday, and spends her free time with both Toby and her husband at their home in Campbell.

Kristen is an Advanced Certified Pet Care Technician through the Pet Care Services Association and has completed a course in Pet First Aid and CPR.

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Emily is definitely one of those "animal people", as she cannot remember a time when she didn't have and love animals. Born and raised in the bay area, she has always had pets and has been involved in animal raising clubs and volunteering at animal-related organizations since before she went to high school. Over the years she has owned, trained, or worked with not only dogs and cats, but horses (full and miniature), cows, sheep, pigs, goats, geese, chickens, rabbits, rodents, fish, birds, reptiles, and even llamas! When she finished high school she attended Modesto JC and later UC Davis in order to study animals and animal behavior academically. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Psychology with an emphasis in animal behavior. Even today if you ask her Emily will tell you she still constantly studies animal behavior and is always reading at least one book on the subject in her spare time.

Out of college Emily worked at a couple of different animal jobs before she took one at a major pet supply chain as a dog training instructor where she successfully taught training classes and helped many dog families with behavior issues find understanding and an improved harmony and quality of life. She has also trained and consulted on the training of assistance dogs for the physically disabled. Emily passionately loves training people and pets and came to ADL looking for a smaller more family like company to work with which she most definitely found. She is currently taking a break from training to hone her skills as a Playgroup Leader, but she looks forward to getting back into the training arena in the future.

Though she has lived with many more animals in the past, she currently has a mere 2 dogs (German Shepherd and a Boxer), one cat, one horse, three chickens, and a handful of guppy fish. When she isn't working she can be found hiking in the forests and county parks with either her dogs or riding on her horse. Once in a blue moon, she can even be found out sailing with her father on his 22ft Catalina boat in the bay.

Emily is a Certified Pet Care Technician through the Pet Care Services Association, a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, and a member of the APDT.

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Donna Medeiros
ADL Certified Class Instructor, CTC

Donna specializes in puppy training through modern-method animal training techniques. She formalized her dog training career by receiving certification from the Marin Humane Society Canine Behavior Academy 1 & 2. She graduated with honors from the SF SPCA Dog Training Academy, known as the Harvard of Dog Training Programs. Donna completed her Puppy Training apprenticeship with Nancy Weller, CPDT.

Donna also continues attending classes, workshops and seminars by world-renown trainers, such as Dr. Jennifer Hurley (Moss Landing Marine Labs), Dr. Ian Dunbar, and Jean Donaldson. She has participated in and/or assisted in, numerous classes with various trainers; including Puppy 1, Puppy 2, Puppy 3, Advanced Obedience, Agility, Freestyle, Multiple Dog Household classes, and Reactive Dog classes.

Donna has two JRTs, Saffie and Tomi, plus a foster cattle dog, Lou. Donna has fostered a dozen dogs (from JRT’s to Foxhounds) for Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary, and for Jack Russell Rescue. She is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, and has completed Pet First Aid Certification. In her personal life, Donna enjoys training with her dogs, Flamenco music and dance, spending time at her Sonoma cabin, and enjoying good food & wine.

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Michelle Martin
ADL Certified Class Instructor

Michelle’s passion for dogs goes back into childhood. She has spent the last 11 years volunteering for Furry Friends Animal Rescue, including fostering, adoption counseling and testing shelter dogs to pull into the rescue. She is a certified Vet Assistant and worked as a vet tech for 5 years. Michelle is in the process of graduation from Animal Behavior College, enjoys very much attending seminars specializing in dog sports and is always looking to continue her education.

Michelle has been training and competing in dog sports for the past 8 years. Her dogs have earned high level titles in flyball and have competed at local, state, regional and national levels for disc dogs. Her dogs have placed in the top 3 at many of the disc dog competitions including the 09 California state championships where her dogs placed 3rd and 4th respectfully and 09 UFO major where her dogs place 3rd and 6th; these placements earned one of them a qualifying spot to the world championship. Her dogs have also earned top placements in the 07 Skyhounds Southwest regional and the 06 and 07 USDDN (US Disc Dogs National Championships) which was their first big competition. They also bring home prizes at almost all the local competitions they attend. Michelle is an active member of Disc Dogs of the Golden Gate and has a place on their demo team which performs all over the Bay Area. Michelle is looking forward to the upcoming 2010 season and is training hard in hope for great competitions to come.

Michelle and her dogs have also competed and earned titles in agility and dock diving and are training in Rally Obedience. She has also achieved Canine Good Citizen certificates with her own dogs.

Michelle lives with a boyfriend and their 4 dogs, Harley, a border collie, Jake, a Dalmatian, Jasmine, a lab/whippet mix, and Emma, a husky mix – all rescues!!!

Susanne Cohen
ADL Certified Class Instructor

Professionally, Susanne has been an instructor and course designer in the Silicon Valley for more than 15 years. The majority of her career has been spent training writing and teaching professionals how to use, administer, and optimize technology software packages used to improve business productivity.

In recent years, she has channeled her education development and training skills toward helping people build stronger relationships with their dogs. Susanne attended the Canine Behavior Academy at the Marin Humane Society. This certification training provided her with hands-on experience in the most up-to-date training and behavior modification methodologies and philosophies available today.She received a Certificate in Canine Behavior Assessment and Counseling through this program. Additionally, she has attended seminars given by many of the top agility trainers and competitors in the Bay area, such as Weave Pole workshops, Distance Handling seminars, and contacts workshops. She currently competes in USDAA agility and is working on titles at the Masters level.

While training her own dogs to compete in the sport of agility, Susanne learned how best to work with dogs as partners. Her personal goal for dog training is to provide dog sport enthusiasts or pet dog owners with the information and techniques necessary to build solid and rewarding relationships with their dogs. She strongly believes that owners and their pets should both have fun in the process!

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Joan Amaratti
ADL Certified Class Instructor

Joan was born and raised in northeast Ohio and spent much of her youth volunteering with a local park participating in their education and animal rehabilitation programs. She earned her Bachelor's Degree at the College of Wooster and soon thereafter, adopted her dog Piper from the local animal shelter.

Joan and Piper moved to California in the summer of 2003 and Joan was hired as an adoption associate for Humane Society Silicon Valley later that year. Much of her work with the shelter involved educating clients on positive training techniques, and it became very apparent to her that the best way to keep dogs out of the shelter was through education of the pet guardians and proper dog training. Preventing the euthanasia or surrender of animals to shelters through training has since become Joan's passion in life.

Joan began to educate herself on training techniques and learning theory, as well as developing an interest in dog sports. She was introduced to A DOG'S LIFE at an event at Santana Row, and began attending classes at A DOG'S LIFE in 2007 with the aim of learning agility and passing the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. During this time, she applied and was accepted into ADL's apprenticeship program.

Joan is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and the South Bay Trainers, as well as being a graduate of the Marin Humane Society's Canine Behavior Academy. She has also completed a course in Pet First Aid and CPR. When she is not assisting with classes or puppy socials, Joan works in the development office of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. She and Piper have earned the AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate as well as Therapy Dog International certification. They live in a lively, bustling household in San Jose.

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Peggy McCarty
ADL Certified Class Trainer, CTC

A Bay Area native, Peggy has been a life long animal lover. She grew up in a large family and with various pets including dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and a few others. She began her “dog training” at a young age by tucking a string under the dogs collar to take her for a walk.

After working in restaurant management overseeing several locations for over 15 years, she decided to try a new venture. In 2004 Peggy began doing personal assistant work for individuals with pet sitting and dog walking as an added service. It soon became evident that the dogs were taking over. This gave her the itch to learn as much as possible about animal behavior and working with dogs. In 2007 Peggy formalized her dog training education by attending the San Francisco SPCA academy for dog trainers where she received her Certificate in Training and Counseling (CTC). She also attended the dogTEC dog-walking academy and is a Certified Dog Walker (CDW).

Peggy is committed to continuing her education and keeping up to date on animal behavior and positive training methods. She is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and the South Bay Trainers (SBT). Both APDT and SBT are organizations committed to providing continuing education in animal behavior and positive training methods to their members. She is also certified in Pet first aid and CPR. She attends various seminars and training workshops throughout the year to improve her knowledge and skills in canine behavior and training.

Peggy lives in Santa Clara with her dog Marley, a sweet but rambunctious lab mix. She does volunteer work at the Silicon Valley Animal Care and Control socializing and training dogs. She also loves to garden, take photos and spend time with friends and family.

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Ruthanna Levy
Trainer, CTC

Ruthanna Levy, a certified pet dog trainer, graduated from the prestigious San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers in 2000. After graduation, Ruthanna joined Sirius Puppy Training, teaching for over five years under the guidance of world-renown puppy trainer, Dr. Ian Dunbar. In addition to training puppies AND people, she has found a way to combine this vocation, dog training, with her previous avocation, dance. The result is Canine Freestyle, which combines training, movement and music, and provides a wonderful and enjoyable way to train adult dogs.

In the Spring of 2007, Ruthanna brought Canine Freestyle workshops and classes to A DOG'S LIFE. In the Summer of 2007, Ruthanna brought her extensive experience with puppies to A DOG'S LIFE to teach puppy classes at our Palo Alto location.

Ruthanna is a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), an organization which provides ongoing education to their members. Prior to become a pet dog trainer, Ruthanna spent 15 years as a professional theatrical dancer, culminating in her selection to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1980 Los Angeles Olympics. Ruthanna offers Canine Freestyle workshops, Canine Freestyle classes, and private consultations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ruthanna lives with her husband Jeff, an Art Director, her dog Ziggy, and cats Sister Sara and Hootie.

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Joyce Hao
Trainer

Joyce has been teaching Flyball and Agility for a number of years. She competes with her dogs locally.



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Lisa Johnson
Apprentice Trainer

Lisa grew up in the bay area. She attended Foothill College and then went to Bryman College and received a degree in medical billing. Lisa's heart has always been with animals, however, and she has worked at a number of places revolving around animals (including three other doggie daycares and a vet clinic). After all of the exposure she has gotten to other doggie daycares, she really feels that ADL is the place for her! She plans on going through our Apprentice Program to become a trainer with us, and she also would love to get involved with our Board and Train program. She says, "This isn't a job to me. It's a career."

Lisa has a yellow lab named Sunnie and a 9 month old kitten named Mayhem, who Lisa says, "eats rubber bands, q-tips, and clothes. She totally lives up to her name!" When Lisa is not rescuing her belongings from her crazy kitten, she loves working out, enjoying great food, and watching all of the animal related channels on TV to learn more about just about anything she can. She also loves taking her pooch to the beach.

When asked what her favorite part of working at ADL is, her enthusiastic reply was, "Everything! …The genuine love and kindness that everyone gives the dogs. The dog's are in a positive environment and that means a lot to me because I've seen what else is out there. The one thing that has really stood out for me is learning what works with a particular dog and what doesn't. I'm learning everyday! I really love that!"

Lisa is a Certified Pet Care Technician through the Pet Care Services Association and has completed a course in Pet First Aid and CPR.

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Diane Troup
Apprentice Trainer

Diane was born and raised in the south bay area. After high school, she went on to obtain a Bachelor's Degree at San Jose State University. During college, she began working for a veterinarian and was hooked. She spent the next 7 years as a veterinary assistant, working with veterinarians ranging from general practitioners to specialists in oncology, radiology, and neurology. Though her choice of careers evolved over the years, her love of animals has remained strong.

Diane is currently a firefighter for the City of Santa Clara as well as a certified American Heart Association CPR and Basic Life Support instructor. For over two years, Diane has also assisted distinguished dog trainer Nancy Weller, and most recently she joined the A Dog's Life apprentice program. She is a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) and the South Bay Trainers (SBT) group for dog professionals. She is also a volunteer and foster parent for 'special needs' dogs at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley.

Recently, Diane combined her experience and love of animals with her passion for emergency care and started her own company called CParf!. Through CParf!, Diane teaches classes in pet CPR, first aid, and general wellness. She created this company in an effort to give pet owners knowledge and confidence in caring for their pets, whether it's in an emergency situation or maintaining a high quality of life for their furry family members.

Diane currently lives with her two dogs, Sunny and Daisy, and three cats, Roo, Zoey, and Calvin.

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Ashley Miller
Apprentice Trainer

Ashley grew up in a house full of animals including dogs, cats, rats, various birds, fish, horses and an iguana. She had a particular attachment to dogs and horses and loved the intense bond that developed between them and their owners through training. She eventually found herself working at a pet store where she specialized in small mammal and bird care. She also started volunteering at HSSV as a dog socializer. Eventually her love of dogs won her over so completely that she left the pet store to work at a dog daycare.

She is thrilled to be working at A DOG'S LIFE where she is working as a Playgroup Leader and an apprentice dog trainer. She spends most of her spare time with her dog Ana and her horse Victor. She also enjoys finding ways to use positive reinforcement training on her husband.

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Arnita Bowman
Apprentice Trainer, CTC

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