Page 149 - ALMExperts 2023 Mid-Atlantic Directory

ALM EXPERTS: Mid-Atlantic Edition 2023 NON-MEDICAL RESUMES

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

17816 Spielman Rd., Fairplay, MD 21733
301-582-9420
www.peaceablepaws.com /[email protected]
Bio
Pat Miller, author of The Power of Positive Dog Training (2001), Positive Perspectives (2003), Positive
Perspectives 2 (2008), Play With Your Dog (2008), Do Over Dogs (2010), How to Foster Dogs (2013) and
Beware of the Dog (2016) has been training dogs for more than 30 years. She has trained a variety of breeds and
mixed breeds (her own dogs) including Rough Collies, a Bloodhound, Australian Kelpies, Bull Terrier, Irish
Setter, St. Bernard, Scottish Terrier, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Australian Shepherd, Pomeranians, and a Springer
Spaniel, and competed successfully with many of them in the obedience and Rally rings. She also trained her first
Australian Kelpie to herd sheep and ducks (or more correctly, Keli taught Pat to herd). Keli was Miller’s Canine
Field Agent, riding with her on patrol during the years she was an Animal Services/Humane Officer in California.
NON-MEDICAL RESUMES
Miller worked for 20 years at the Marin Humane Society in Novato, California, during which time she
collaborated with Trish King to create the country’s first “Color Coding” system for shelter dogs and volunteers.
This system was successful in reducing behavior problems in shelter dogs (with a corresponding reduction in
euthanasia) by identifying difficult-to-handle dogs and matching them with more experienced and capable
volunteer handlers. Miller was a humane officer/animal control officer and testified successfully in numerous
animal cruelty and abuse cases. She also played a major role in the development and implementation of Marin
County and State of California Dangerous Dog laws.

Miller moved to California’s Central Coast in 1996 after completing her BS degree in Business Administration
with honors in the major. There she launched Peaceable Paws, LLC in Monterey/Santa Cruz, and introduced the
Color-Coding system at the Santa Cruz SPCA while serving on the Board of that organization. She joined the
Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) in 1996, was elected to the APDT Board and is past President
of that organization. She is also a member of the Pet Professional Guild.

In the fall of 2001, Miller and her 14-year-old Terrier mix, Josie, were one of the first 23 dog/owner teams in the
world to earn a title in the then-newest canine sport, at the first sanctioned Rally Trials ever held, during the
APDT annual conference in Ellenville, New York. Miller was one of the first 136 trainers to be awarded the title
of Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) that fall, through the Certification Council for Professional
Dog Trainers (CCPDT), and has also received her CBCC-KA (Certified Behavior Consultant) through CCPDT,
and served on that Board as well.

In the fall of 1999, Miller and her husband, Paul, relocated Peaceable Paws, LLC to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Where she helped create FOCAS – Friends of Chattanooga Animal Services – a non-profit organization whose
mission is to support the work of the Chattanooga Animal Services Division. Also in Chattanooga, she opened
the Peaceable Paws Intern Academy, which draws trainers from around the world. In cooperation with several
other training professionals, she helped create TAPPT, the Tennessee Association of Positive Pet Trainers and
MAAPPPT – the Mid-Atlantic Association of Positive Professional Pet Trainers. Miller also holds an Associate
Degree in Administration of Justice, is a freelance writer and regular contributor to and Training Editor of The
Whole Dog Journal. Her first book, “The Power of Positive Dog Training” was published in August of 2001 by
Howell Publishing and has been on Amazon.com’s best-selling dog training book list since January of 2002. Her
most recent book, “Beware of the Dog (2016),” is a highly acclaimed work on canine aggression. In March of
2015 she was named by Dog Fancy Magazine as one of “45 People Who Have Changed the Dog World,” and in
October of 2018 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Professional Dog Trainers.

Miller and her husband moved to Fairplay, Maryland in the Spring of 2004 where they live on an 80-acre farm
with their three dogs, four cats, three horses and a pot-bellied pig. Pat and Paul operate their Peaceable Paws dog-
friendly training center and Peaceable Pastures horse boarding facility there. Pat offers group dog training classes,
private behavior consults, training camps, seminars and workshops worldwide, expert witness services for animal-
related legal cases, and is Director of the Peaceable Paws Trainer Academies and Training Programs.

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