Volunteers

The Animal Behavior Center is run by volunteers and students seeking experience in animal behavior and the use of applied behavior analysis. Once in a while we have a volunteer position available. If you are interested in volunteering and are over the age of 18, please contact us, and we will get back to you in touch with you.

Internships

Our internship inquiries are coming in at a high rate and we are working with a few different colleges nationwide to provide this service. Please contact us with questions.

Staff

Karen Pratt

Karen has worked in the marketing and communications field for 23 years as an Accounting Supervisor and then as a Director of Administration and Accounting. She then went on to a whole new endeavor as an Accounting Manager for 8 years and a Practice Manager for 1 year until a major medical incident cut her professional career short in 2011. She has been with The Animal Behavior Center for three years. Karen is not only the manager of The Animal Behavior Center, but also serves as The Volunteer Coordinator and heads all Marketing and Public Relations. Karen lives in Sylvania very close to The Animal Behavior Center with her youngest daughter Sandy. Sandy also volunteers at The Animal Behavior Center. Karen’s other daughter, Michelle is a Veteran Marine Corporal and married to a fellow veteran Marine, Wes. They reside in Columbus, Ohio. Karen loves any kind of animals! She has 3 dogs, 6 cats, an African Grey, an English Budgie, one regular budgies, 24 rats, 1 fire-belly newt, a very large aquarium and a few smaller ones as well.

Sandy Pratt

sandy-cropped Sandy previously worked at a local pet boarding and care facility for the past three years and had previously worked for another dog facility for a year. Sandy has grown up with dogs, cats, and fish but now at 23 years old, she has all the animals listed in Karen’s biography and helps care for them as well. Sandy volunteers on a regular basis helping out with feeding, cleaning and training. Also, volunteers at the events wherever she is needed. Sandy has a passion for rescuing animals in need and will go out of her way to help the owner or get the animal in good hands, whether it be a veterinarian, shelter, etc. Sandy’s dream is to open a rescue facility someday.

Crystal Phelps

crystal-bio-pic Crystal is a graduate student pursuing her Master of Fine Arts degree through Maine College of Art. After living in Phoenix, AZ for several years she moved back to Toledo, OH to be closer to her family. She is married to her best friend, Tim, and they have a small menagerie that they share their home with: Amelia Bearhart, a corgi-beagle mix, Budgie-Budge, a parakeet, and Lizzie the leopard gecko. In her spare time Crystal stays actively involved in the local arts community and trains with Bird’s Eye View Circus at the Collingwood Arts Center. Crystal has a passion for communication with both people and animals!

Angie Knannlein-Rahman

Angie-Circular.erer

Angie is a mother of 2 (Alexxis-22 & Mason-17) beautiful children; as well as an umbrella cockatoo (Roscoe), a black lab (Pearl), a chorkie (Churro), a boa (Rosie), & a ball python (Kaa).She has been a registered nurse in critical care for going on 20 years. In her spare time she coaches high school track (@ Central Catholic) & and she volunteer as a transporter & fosters for Nature’s Nursery. She is a tattoo collector & very much enjoy the multitude of colors in our beautiful world, whether it be on canvas of paper, wood, skin, flora or fauna.

Lindsay Douglas

Angie-Circularerer

Lindsay is currently a student at the University of Toledo majoring in Biology with a concentration in Organismal Biology. She plans to go into Wildlife Biology to study animal behavior after school. Ever since she was old enough to recognize what an animal is, she’s been in love and felt desperate to learn more about them. Growing up, Lindsay always had animals in the house including dogs, cats, frogs, hermit crabs, hamsters, guinea pigs, and even a bearded dragon.She volunteered at the Toledo Zoo for five years as a ZooTeen and participated in many outreach projects including some at the Toledo Humane Society. Angie says she has a passion for learning about every animal out there which is why she chose Wildlife biology for her future career.

Amanda Gutek

From a Sun Devil to a Buckeye, Amanda has been to the desert and back on a journey that has brought her here to the Animal Behavioral Center. She is coming to us with degrees in Zoology and Microbiology from The Ohio State University. Amanda has spent the last 7 years participating in research through both the Departments of Animal Science and Horticulture and Crop Science. For 5 years, she volunteered at the Ohio Wildlife Center in Dublin, Ohio, rehabilitating orphaned or injured wild animals in preparation for their release back into nature. She has 2 dogs and 1 cat and when not spending her time with her pets, you can find her reading, painting, water-coloring and movie watching. Amanda hopes to learn more about animal behavior and the training techniques used here at the center in order to utilize this knowledge for future work in a zoo or aquarium.

Testimonials

"Visiting The Animal Behavior Center was like a breath of fresh air. Her passion and dedication for providing outstanding care to her animals was reflected in literally every inch of her center. Without a doubt, she has gone above and beyond to ensure that her animals are never without both mental and physical enrichment. The level of care that she provides for her animals should be the standard. While I was at the center, I had the privilege of watching Lara train her animals and mine and it is clear that she is an exceptionally talented trainer. Every interaction she has with her animals, formal training session or not, is flexible and focused on creating an environment in which they are comfortable and empowered.
As a future veterinary behaviorist, I aspire to reach Lara's level of finesse, expertise, and thoughtfulness in every aspect of animal training and husbandry. She is truly in it for the animals."

Jessica, Wheaton College, Massachusetts, vet student and animal trainer

"You know when your instincts kick in and tell you something before you have proof?…I knew Lara Joseph was unique and special before I ever even met her. And now that I "have" met her and chatted at length with her, I endorse her 100 percent. A woman with heart, patience and a sense of humor, she is going to take this field by storm... Look out world, you have been gifted with a rare and gifted soul. What I like best about her professionally is that she gives animals what we as humans all want for ourselves...quality of life through communication, love and play. It was an honor to meet you Lara …Thank you for your dedication and look forward to crossing paths with you again soon."

Connie English, Wildlife Philanthropist, East Bay SF, CA

"It was a-freaking-mazing on SO many levels. I can't even put it into words."

Jessica, Wheaton College, Massachusetts, vet student and animal trainer

As a professional trainer, I believe that continued education is really important. I also think it is important to be thoughtful about where you invest your time and money in terms of learning opportunities. Travelling from California to Ohio to spend two days doing Lara Joseph's Day with the Trainer was so worth it on so many levels. I learned so much. Lara was very committed to working on what I wanted to focus on. She made me feel comfortable and relaxed in her coaching and teaching. Lara and her animals are wonderful teachers and I have every intention of going back to train with them again as soon as I can! I highly recommend this program to anyone who is interested in animal training or behavior.

Vicki Ronchette, CPDT, CAP2, CNWI

San Leandro, California

http://www.braveheartdogtraining.com

As a board member and co-conference chair of the Ohio Wildlife Rehabilitator’s Association we have had Lara speak at our conference the last two years. The first year, we had Lara teach a one hour session and our attendees told us that they wanted more. The following year, we had Lara offer a half day workshop and it was very well received as our conference evaluations indicated.

We were able to watch Lara work wild animals. Lara also offered us an opportunity to observe her in action but more importantly we were offered many hands on opportunities to put in action her methods of positive reinforcement training.

Upon our return to our facility I began to implement the methods that I learned from Lara with some of our education animals. I was totally amazed at how readily our animals took to the training.

I would strongly recommend Lara’s trainings as she is a wonderful teacher and truly has a gift working with animals.

Manon VanSchoyck, executive director Ohio Nature Education Johnstown, Ohio

I have attended and held a number of Lara's workshops and each time I have walked away with a much better understanding of ABA. Her workshops are fun and educational, especially the hands on training workshops. I encourage you to attend at least 1. You won't be sorry you did.

Viki Bullock

As a person who works with non-releasable wild animals that are kept for education purposes, I am always looking for ways to reduce their stress in being at in captivity, and to get them to participate willingly in their own care, such as allowing grooming, going into carriers, and coming to a human's hand, for example. Positive reinforcement allows me to 'communicate' with the animals, and empowers the animal to make his own choices. Lara's blogs and videos have been very helpful to me in learning the fundamentals of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement, which has allowed me to improve my own training skills. Her videos and blogs illustrate the concepts clearly, and I am most impressed by the helpful videos and descriptions of case studies of real animals learning in this way, which bring the concepts to life in an easy-to-understand, lively way.

Michele Wellard, PA State Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator

I can't tell you the difference your toys have made in the life of this older YNA. He used to never forage and never eat anything fresh. I've got him foraging for stuff all the time now and started with getting him to do this with one of your Berrie Blocks. He has graduated to more complex forms of foraging where items are now hidden from view and he must "hunt" to find them. This toy of yours was a good learning tool to teach him this.

Kelly Reed Lucas

Lara is a gifted teacher and trainer. She is such an intelligent, special, caring, warm and inviting person! Her center is spectacular and is set up perfectly for any sort of animal you might need help with. She shows you how to achieve the utmost enjoyment from your animal by teaching how to reinforce good behaviors by making it desirable for them to want to continue doing the behavior! There are no words that even begin to express the admiration I have for the gift she obviously has in working with animals in such a positive and make-sense fashion. She is absolutely a wonder! I feel so much gratitude toward Lara for the positive behaviors she has helped me to bring forth, sustain and enjoy in my Kwynn as well as Fetta! The workshop far exceeded any expectations that I had going into it. I am just beside myself with awe at her connection with animals! I highly encourage you to utilize her services if you have some things you wish to work on with your pets.

Karrie Fleetwood, owner of Fleetwood farms