Sandra Toney
Growing up, kids have dreams of what they want to be.
“This is the order of the careers I wanted as a child and into early adulthood: Veterinarian, ballet dancer, actor, and then, finally, a dog trainer,” says Ayelet Berger, co-owner and co-director of Instinct Dog Behavior and Training in Nashville, Tennessee.
Berger didn’t grow up wanting to be a dog trainer because she didn’t know that was a job option, but she wanted to be successful in a career so she could retire early and volunteer with dogs.
“One day, when I realized that I could actually work with dogs,” says Berger, “and I didn’t have to become a successful actor first just so I could make enough money to quit and spend my days with dogs, I was floored! When I realized that being a dog trainer could be a career, I was in 100 percent. I was 28 years old at the time and just started over.”
Besides becoming a Fear Free Certified Professional in Training (FFCP) in 2019, she has other credentials she worked to acquire so she could flourish in her profession: KPA CTP (Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner), CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Training – Knowledge Assessed), and FPPE (Family Paws Parent Educator). Currently, she is working toward her CDBC (Certified Dog Behavior Consultant).
Before turning to a full-time career in dog training—a step she took in 2012—Berger volunteered with shelters and worked in animal hospitals. She recalls how her professional career started.
“I was quite fortunate that, in the first year of my career, I was introduced to an extraordinary group of people in New York City, where I was living at the time,” she says. “They were all Karen Pryor Academy graduates.
“They were my introduction into Fear Free training. I was mentored by an amazing trainer, but there were a few training protocols that she used that included punitive measures, which I didn’t love. Meeting this incredible group of trainers really set me on my path to Fear Free training.”
Berger’s most memorable success story using Fear Free methods happened in a prison. “I worked in a medium-security male prison when I first moved to Nashville. I was hired by a Greyhound rescue group who placed dogs with inmates. The men trained the dogs and got them ready for adoption.
“I remember this incredible moment with one of the shyer Greyhounds and her caretaker,” Berger says. “We were working on lying down, and she just wasn’t doing it. She was still adjusting to her new environment, warming up to her new handler and had not built a relationship with him yet. As many people do, he applied pressure on her back in an attempt to get her to lie down.
“At that point I said to him, ‘Let’s try this without applying any pressure. Remember, she gets to say no; she is working with you, not for you.’ We talked about her body language, what it meant, and how to help her feel more comfortable.”
Berger even decided to give him homework. “His homework that week was to click and treat her for any and all interactions they had. She made eye contact with you? Click and treat! She took a step toward you? Click and treat!
“The next week in class, her handler was beaming,” says Berger, “Was she lying down on cue? Nope! Not even close! But she was approaching him and leaning into him and was forming a real bond, thus coming out of her shell.
“He was so proud because he was the only person in the entire prison whom she solicited affection from. He really got what we were doing and I hope it has helped him make other Fear Free decisions later in his life.”
This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.
