Julia (she/her) is the founder and head trainer at Dog Speak Services. She graduated with distinction from Karen Pryor Academy.

Julia enjoys helping people better understand how they’re already influencing their dogs behavior, and how small changes can make a world of difference. Watching dogs bloom under this newfound understanding of what we want them to do is her favorite part of the job. She prides herself on keeping up with the latest concepts and techniques, and applying those new ideas with her existing knoweldge of dog behavior and the science of learning to help dog guardians improve their dog’s behavior.

Julia believes in clear communication for all: from human-human communication to human-dog communication. She believes in creating training plans that set you and your dog up for success, and holding your hand throughout to ensure that you can be successful. She believes in patience and empathy, and meets you with kindness and compassion instead of judgement and scolding. Practice makes permanent, and she wants to help you practice the right things to help you and your dog meet your goals.

Before becoming a credentialed dog trainer, Julia spent a decade in pharmaceutical research, in data analysis, project management, clinical trial study design, and training project managers. Before that, she was a musician. Each of these careers has influenced her training and teaching style greatly, from confidently collecting and look at the data your dog provides, to designing your training plan, to splitting skills to manageable bites, to ensuring you have all the communication you need, to teaching you in a way you can succeed, she’s evidence that the winding path can be the best path.

Training Methods

Julia always follows reward-based training methods. She follows Dr. Susan Friedman’s Hierarchy of Behavior Change, which provides the best support for the dog, and allows for the finding simplest, quickest, and most effective behavior change possible. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB), a leading organization dedicated to understanding and treating animal behavior problems, recommends reward-based training. You can view their full position statement here.

Credentials