About

Sofía Brenes, Vsa-cdt

You can read the full story of my road into training here.

In the summer of 2008 while in the middle of grad school, I started volunteering at a local animal shelter. This is where I first got hands-on experience with positive reinforcement training and instantly felt fascinated by a dog’s cognitive abilities. After years of reading up everything I could, and practicing on my own dog Nacho, it was time to channel this passion into action so I decided to become a professional dog trainer.

I enrolled in the Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training and Behavior, where I graduated with distinction in 2017 and was granted official status as a VSA-Certified Dog Trainer (VSA-CDT). Here, I learned directly from Victoria and the rest of the amazing VSA faculty. Given my background, I was thrilled to learn a science-based methodology that combines animal cognition research with learning theory and applies it on four-legged bundles of love and happiness.

Since January 2018, I’ve been working as a trainer assistant in D For Dog, and starting February 2019 I lead one of their basic obedience group classes.

Outside of dog training, I did manage to finish grad school. I got my PhD in Computer Science and still work as a Software Engineer for Google in Mountain View.

I continue to study dog cognition and the latest in modern behavioral science to better understand and communicate with our dogs, learning how to build a bond that will last a lifetime using powerful force-free, positive reinforcement-based tools and techniques.