Monica Bush MS CVT CCMT

I have been training animals for more than 40 years. It all started with training my Mother's chihuahuas at the age of five. Horses were a big part of my life growing up and my first taste of competition. I competed in youth rodeo from the age of 9-19. After that, I rode  hunter jumpers for Texas A&M's equestrian team.  After college, I was a zookeeper at Hogel Zoo in Salt Lake City where I worked with small mammals, birds, zebras, hippos and giraffes before becoming a full time cat keeper. Hogel Zoo is where I discovered operant conditioning and I haven't looked back as an animal trainer.  The big cats taught me timing, reward placement and consent while teaching veterinary husbandry behaviors. I believe in creating a thinking animal when training.

I started competing in agility in 1999 with my field Labrador retriever.  I have trained and competed with two labs and four border collies.  I do not subscribe to a single handling system.  Instead, I pull from 22 years of experience and from the many great handlers I have trained with over the years. I become more addicted to the sport the more scientific it becomes! Photo: John Lee

I am a certified veterinary technician and a certified canine massage therapist with a masters in immunology.  Before becoming a canine massage therapist, I was a surgical research technician for a cardiovascular medical device company, an orthopedic surgical veterinary technician and a developmental biology research associate.