Maria Cecilia Sternzon, CPDT-KA, MBA

Canine Behavior Counselor / Training Instructor International Business Development  / Strategic Marketing

The Principal and Founder of Canine Higher Learning, a canine behavior and  counseling business M. Cecilia Sternzon (formerly Saleme) also runs two blogs emphasizing her specialties: Crates and Cribs, focusing on life with dogs and children, and The HDDog Blog, detailing working sports dogs and high energy dogs. She also founded the High Drive Dogs Rescue Listing Service, dedicated to finding suitable working homes for high energy dogs.

Mrs. Sternzon has 20 years of experience in dog training instruction as well as an extensive understanding of dog behavior, ethology, humane training techniques, and training for various AKC sanctioned dog sports.  A Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), she counsels dog owners in working with their dogs on many types of challenges including family integration, common behavior challenges, separation anxiety, fear-related problems, and human and dog aggression. In training her own dogs, Mrs. Sternzon has achieved AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certificates, Therapy Dog International (TDI) certification, and titles in Flyball and Herding. She and her dogs have also competed in Agility, Disc Dogs and Rally Style Obedience, and have trained in Canine Freestyle, Scent Work, and carting. Alongside her behavior counseling business, Mrs. Sternzon has served as the Director of International Business Development for Bio-Sense Technologies,  an electronics company developing biological sensing solutions based on cutting-edge technology and the intelligent resources of nature. To this position, she brought over 15 years of marketing, sales, and business development experience, domestically and internationally, as well as her extensive experience in dog behavior. She has launched new products worldwide, and has developed successful public relations plans for a variety of industries. Mrs. Sternzon also founded and served as Executive Director of KADIE - Kids and Dogs Interactive Education, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to increasing child-dog safety through education including free seminars, workshops and collateral materials. In addition to the CPDT-KA certification, Mrs. Sternzon is an AKC CGC Certified Evaluator, is certified in Pet CPR,  and has an MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix. She contracts as a trainer for the Humane Society Silicon Valley and has volunteered as a behavior counsultant for Society Dog - a social club for dogs and their people; for Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary; and for Furry Friends Rescue. She was also a member of the South Bay Trainers- a network of trainers and animal professionals dedicated to the pursuit of modern, humane training techniques. She and her pack have also been members of Pawdemonium Flyball Club in San Jose, CA. The Sternzon Pack currently resides on a small family farm in San Martin, California. The pack includes Cecilia's dogs, cats, horses, sheep, a donkey, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, a turtle, and her husband and daughter.

Contact information: Email: dogtopia@earthlink.net Telephone: 1-408-656-4386 Curriculum Vitae Mrs. Sternzon's Videos