Introducing Susan Tripp, BA, MS
Director of Education, Practice Consultant
Syndicated Pet Behavior Columnist

Susan Tripp earned her California Life Teaching Credential from San Jose State University.  Always an advocate for pets, as a SJSU Resident Director, Susan was able to change the housing department rules by adding her first cat, Toby, to her dormitory residence. Soon, a Resident Director dog, and a Floor Advisor rabbit were added. Susan likes to point out that her teaching credential is appropriately - K9 - kindergarten through ninth grade. 

After a few years of teaching in public schools, Susan taught for eight years at Hillbrook, a private school in Los Gatos, and began additional coursework in Early Childhood Education. Susan added her new puppy and Netherlands dwarf rabbit, to the pre-kindergarten classroom and curriculum. She initiated a parent education class, authored a book, and began speaking at regional and state conferences. As an author and speaker, Susan was a guest on KABC television and radio, as well as others. She become the Program Director for a local cable program, People in Progress.

Interested in both human and pet behavior, Susan joined husband Rolan Tripp in their first pet-related business, TeleVet, Veterinary Telecommunications, in 1985. As Executive Director for TeleVet, Susan was instrumental in expanding the business to serve five Northern California Counties with veterinary referred clients to canine behavior and optimal health lectures given by Dr. Rolan Tripp, and puppy socialization classes provided by seven top trainers in the area, supervised by trainer Steve Grunow (apprenticed under Dr. Ian Dunbar's Sirius Puppy Training, now working for Guide Dogs for the Blind).

Susan taught and created curriculum for off-leash early socialization puppy classes, off and on leash classes "puppy graduate" and "puppy honors" classes, all held in the WellPet (now Petco) stores. Class tuition included a series of booklets by Dr. Ian Dunbar, William Campbell, and audio cassettes by Dr. Dog, Dr. Dennis Fetko.

In 1999, Susan and Rolan sold the La Mirada Animal Hospital to VCA. During the ten years owning and operating the veterinary practice, Susan developed new staff phase training, Animal Care Counselor Units and Certifications, implemented management by statistics, and helped Rolan transform their practice into "The Cookie Place" and "The Puppy Place!" by offering free community seminars, a volunteer program, puppy kindergarten classes, daycare, deluxe boarding and gentle grooming. Susan gave the free dog behavior seminars and taught the puppy classes there. With innovative programs in place,  the practice grew from 400K to 1.25 million in ten years. Susan developed her consulting business, Putting Principles into Practice with her first client, Dr. Gary Burge, founder of National Pet Centers. Susan earned a Veterinary Economics Merit Award for an article published on client service in 1993.

Since 1985, Susan has attended veterinary lectures and workshops by leading trainers and behaviorists. In 1989, she joined the Tustin Study Group, now the Southern California Dog Trainers Forum, a Southern California network of trainers that meet monthly to share cases and knowledge.

Susan was presented with the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Award for initiating a monthly Pet Adoptions cooperative with La Mirada Animal Hospital, L.A. County Animal Care and Control, and Petco. Susan selected hundreds of orphaned puppies and kittens over a period of five years and placed them into new homes with early behavior training and health care information.

Susan is co-author of Positive Pet Parenting®, Error-Free Puppy Raising® Tips, Error-Free Kitten Raising© Tips. In addition to writing and editing web content for AnimalBehavior.Net, Susan is a syndicated pet behavior columnist for Pet Connection Universal Syndicated Press.

In 2007, Susan founded Positive Pet Parenting Saves Lives 501c3 (http://positivepetparenting.org) to provide free ECourses to shelter volunteer, shelter teams and pet parents who adopt a shelter or rescue group pet. Positive Pet Parenting ECourses help to prevent pet neglect, abuse and surrender by providing education and services during the critical period of an adopted pet adjusting to a new home.

Susan's passion is creating kinder, gentler experiences for pets in the veterinary practice, shelter, and home settings through pet behavior education and services. The goal of Positive Pet Parenting ECourses are to improve relationships between people and pets through convenient, at-home, email education.

As a community volunteer, Susan has served as a La Mirada Chamber of  Commerce Board Member, Community Presbyterian Church Elder, Co-Chair of the Communitywide Disaster Preparedness Committee, Coordinator of the La Mirada Neighborhood Watch, and as the La Mirada Kiwanis Club Sponsored Youth Leader. She received the Norwalk-La Mirada School Board Superintendent's Community Award, the City of La Mirada Volunteers in Action Judges and Innovative Leadership Awards. Susan was elected to the La Mirada City Council in 2001, and was honored to serve as Mayor prior to her re-election in March 2005, and after her re-election in 2009.