Sophia always wanted to be a veterinarian...
And in 1993 her dream came true. She graduated from veterinary school and started working on small animals. She saw cats and dogs and treated their medical ailments.

Sophia noticed that more pets came in with behavior problems than with medical problems. She tried to counsel the families, but the job was too big for one person.

What if everyone learned the basics of animal behavior? If children learned by watching cartoons. If adults learned by reading popular magazines. If veterinarians learned by watching videos? Then people could communicate with their pets better. Everyone would be happier.


Sophia’s program consisted of a Master’s in Animal Science at UC Davis under Dr. Edward Price, where she studied barking in dogs, took tons of classes on behavior, worked on numerous animal behavior projects, and lectured on behavior and on biochemistry to students.

She also made animal behavior housecalls while consulting a broad network of veterinary behaviorists, applied animal behaviorists, ethologists, trainers, and other behavior specialists.

At animal training seminars, veterinary conferences, and through university courses. Check out her lecture topics.

She's the pet columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle* and she's written for The Bark, Dog Fancy, Cat Fancy, and Dog & Kennel.

She won the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA)awards for Best Newspaper Pet Column in 2000 & 2004 & Best Feature in a newspaper in 2000 & 2001.
She was also nominated by the Cat Writer's Association for Best Pet Column and Best Feature Article Awards in 2001 and won Best Web Feature Article in 2002 and best Newspaper Feature article in 2004.

*Read Sophia's articles including the 14 nominated for Best Feature Article.

She's a lecturer at the UC Davis Animal Science Department where she teaches three upper division domestic animal behavior courses.

She is on the professional advisory board for Kids-n-Pets, a non profit organization committed to teaching positive life skills to children through their relationship with animals. www.kids-n-pets.org.


She's written a book on dog behavior and training, 
"How To Behave So Your Dog Behaves", which is published by TFH Publishing.

She owns a publishing company (CattleDog Publishing)and has published two editions of “The Small Animal Veterinary Nerdbook®,” a best-selling veterinary text book. A German translation sells in Germany and the books is also being translated into Japanese.

She's taken video, photography, and animation classes at the Disney Institute, Davis Community Television, and Cosumnes River College. Her first video for community television, Ben-A Typical Family Dog won her the 2000 Davis Community Television Award and her second video, a 40 minute documentary on Natural Horsemanship, received an honorable mention.

These experiences along with the forty plus videos she's developed for her speaking presentations and behavior consultations prepared her for her biggest project, a 3.5 hour entertaining instructional video that accompanies her Treat & Train Dog Training System (www.nerdbook.com/sophia/treat&train). This system, which she developed with The Sharper Image (www.sharperimage.com) helps owners decrease barking, jumping, and other unruly behaviors that their dogs exhibit when guest come to the door. It includes a remote-controlled kibble-dispensing device, a detailed instructional DVD and an equally fun instruction manual.

Dr. Yin has also appeared on the Todd Mundt Show, Discovery Canada, CBS News Radio, KTVU News in San Francisco, and on numerous other TV and radio spots.

She currently works with dogs, cats, horses, and exotic zoo species. She can help organize operant conditioning/training programs for zoo animals, laboratory animals, and animals used for teaching purposes.

For competition obedience, regular home etiquette, and for sheep and duck herding. She has assisted in difficult dog classes at the Marin Humane Society and taken several client dogs through the course.
Click to view PDF She's has taught or is currently teaching classes for:
The UC Davis Canine Medicine Club Shelter Dog Program
The UC Davis Experimental College - Dog Training.
The UC Davis Experimental College

  • Safari West (2003, 2004). Trained and supervised students in the training of animals to cooperate for daiy enrichment and husbandry procedures.
 

 

 

 

  • Association of Pet Dog Trainer's conference in St. Louis (May 1998, 2003).
  • Marin Dog Training Academy (June 1998).
  • Six Day Wolf Behavior Seminar at Wolf Park in Indiana (1999).
  • 30-day horse behavior and horsemanship clinics through Reis Ranch Universal Horsemanship (1999, 2001).
  • Calf fence-line weaning project (1999, 2000).
  • Bud Williams Low Stress Livestock Herding 2-Day Workshop in Texas(2002).
  • California Grazing Academy/Low Stress Livestock Handling School at the University of California Sierra Research and Extension Center (2003) .
  • UC Davis Goat Grazing & Nutrition 3-day Workshop (2003).
  • Clinical rotations on the radiology, clinical pathology & anesthesia services at the UC Davis Vet Medical Teaching Hospital (Fall 2003).
Additionally, she attends international behavior, welfare and veterinary conferences yearly.


Comparative Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Principles of Domestic Animal Behavior, Hormones and Behavior, Physiologic Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Applied Domestic Animal Behavior, Animal Cognition, Animal Welfare, Evolution of Primate Behavior, Advanced Animal Behavior, Companion & Captive Animal Nutrition, Avian Nutrition, Comparative Psychology, Acoustic Communication in Animals, Topics in Psychology.



When we adopted Kate, she was afraid of people and dogs. Even daily walks were a chore with Kate constantly straining at the lead and going into a barking frenzy every time she saw another dog. After our first consult and week of practice we could already see a tremendous difference in Kate's behavior both at home and on walks. Kate continues to improve each week. Dr. Yin really understands animals and is patient in teaching owners such as myself how to communicate better with them.

--Betsy Ramsey, Psychoanalyst


Our friends told us to put our Golden Retriever, Ben, to sleep because he was dangerous around the food bowl, but Dr. Yin worked diligently with him and us and now we feel confident keeping Ben as part of our family. If there's one thing we really learned through this experience, it's that training is as much an art as it is a science.

-- Dr. Neil Fleming, Anesthesiologist
Related Links: Ben


Since Dr. Yin's been working with us, we're enjoying our dog Licorice so much more. Now we realize how bright he is. Dr. Yin really gets inside the mind of the animal.

-- Fran Mazza Hair dresser, business owner
Related Links: Licorice


Sophia Yin is a TERRIFIC speaker. Her powerpoints with the descriptive videos are WONDERFUL. She definitely meets the needs for a keynote speaker. In fact I’m getting ready to contact her now about presenting at another of our conferences. I highly recommend her. If you have room on your schedule to give her more time, it is absolutely amazing to watch her actually work with a dog. Here are some of the comments we received on our evaluation....

An intriguing, informative, and enlightening presentation of concepts varying from the “norm” of veterinary practice. Dr. Yin’s demo was great! Even with dogs that weren’t crazy, I was able to see a big difference.

All of Dr. Yin’s presentations were very practical and interesting. She gave lots of excellent real life examples. Videos were very helpful, especially for this topic. Great conference!

Linda M. Johnson, PhD
Instructor/Director, Instructional Technology Center
Coordinator, Veterinary Medical Conferences
College of Veterinary Medicine
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
Phone: 785-532-4024
email: johnson@vet.ksu.edu


The Capital Kennel Club of Juneau (CKCoJ) invited Dr. Yin to Juneau, Alaska last spring to address animal behavior issues. These lectures were open to both club members and the public. I found Dr. Yin to be very well-organized, adaptable and easy to communicate with in making arrangements for the seminars. She kept our attendees spellbound for several evenings and two weekend days. Word of mouth spread and even more people came as the weekend wore on. She kept everyone's attention whether they were new to the field or had done a great deal of animal training. Dr. Yin has an amazing depth of well-edited videos and slides to illustrate examples of animal behavior and how to shape it. She's an enthusiastic, concise, natural speaker who knows her subject well.

Linda Shipman
2/16/06 Linda.Shipman@chezor.com
Golden Retriever Club of America
Western Regional Director
Public Education Committee Chair


"The MannersMinder is utterly amazing! We tried for months to get our dog to remain calm when visitors came to the door. But no matter what we did, she would jump on everyone from our mom to the mail man. Then we got MannersMinder. After just a few short training sessions, our dog's entire behavior changed when visitors arrived. Now she sits calmly in front of the machine, instead of wrecking havoc at the front door. It's like a little doggie babysitter. We cannot recommend this product highly enough, especially if you have an energetic dog in your life. Thank you!"
C.C. USA
May 4, 2005


Julie Shaw-Lewis's picture "I'm currently helping my son and his service dog make the transition into the school setting. My son is able to reward his dog without missing a beat. We love it!"

Julie Shaw R.V.T.
Indiana
March 28th, 2005



"I was in the audience last summer when Dr. Yin presented her results of her studies and the MannersMinder and I was practically jumping out of my chair with the realization of the possibilities that this product represented as a humane remote training system. I think that this system is a humane advance in pet dog behavior management and for the benefit of dogs, their owners and the human animal bond; I really want to see it succeed."

J. Willard DVM, MS
March 25, 2005


This is one of the best pieces of training equipment brought to the public in the last 30+ years.  Not only is the device designed  so that the average public consumer can operate it effectively, the instructions that accompany the MannersMinder are just outstandingly well presented. This product applies sound principles of learning and makes it clear.

Mary lee nitschke
mnitschk@linfield.edu
Professor of Psychology
Linfield College, Portland, Oregon
Animal School Services
AnimalSchoolServices.com


The MannersMinder is a bone-a-fide winner for both dogs and their humans. Dogs get quality playtime with their owners and owners get a better behaved dog in the house. Like the dog and human suddenly speak each other's language, the MannersMinder is a great way for dog and human to communicate better and bond more strongly. Every dog whether "show dog" well-behaved or a ruffian in need of serious indoor manners, should have one. Two opposable thumbs, two furry paws up!

 

--Dr. Marty Becker,
Veterinarian for Good morning America and Author of Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul.

For more information on Sophia: www.nerdbook.com/sophia.
E-mail: sophia@nerdbook.com

For more information on dog and cat behavior problems check out the following:

Dogs & Cats:

  • Dogs: A Startling new Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution by Lorna Coppinger and Raymond Coppinger (ISBN 0-684-85530-5). Drawing on insight gleaned from 45 years of raising, training, and studying the behaviors of dogs worldwide, Lorna and Raymond Coppinger expore the processes by which dog breeds have evolved into their unique shapes and behaviors.
  • Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor: This book is a must for anyone who deals with people or animals. It's not about training dogs, it's about using positive reinforcement to train anything.
  • The Cat Who Cried for Help by Nicholas Dodman (ISBN 0-553-10453-5)
  • The Dog Who Loved Too Much by Nicholas Dodman (ISBN0-553-10194-3)
  • Dogs Behaving Badly by Nicholas Dodman
  • How Dogs Learn by Mary Burch and Jon Bailey (ISBN 0-87604-371-1)
  • The Domestic Cat: The biology of its behaviour by Dennis C. Turner and Patrick Bateson (ISBN 0-521-63648-5)
  • The Domestic Dog: Its evolution, behaviour and interactions with people by James Serpell (ISBN 0-521-42537-9)
  • Childproofing Your Dog by Brain Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson (ISBN: 0-446-67016-2).
  • Sirius Puppy Training Video by Ian Dunbar (ISBN: 1-888047-03-8):
  • Excel-erated Learning by Pam Reid An excellent book on learning theory written for dog trainers, by a dog trainer & A PhD in Psychology.
  • How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves by Dr. Sophia Yin
  • The Domestic Dog: It's Evolution,Behavior & interactions with People by James Serpelled.(ISBN 0-521-42537-9)
  • How to Behave so your Dog Behaves by Sophia Yin, (Release - Fall 2004).
  • For puppy training classes in the Bay area, contact:
    • Sirius Puppy Training at: (800) 419-9748.
    • The Marin Humane Society at (415) 883-4621 #236
  • For more information on training and behavior seminars on dogs visit www.apdt.com or www.puppyworks.com.

Horses:

  • You Can Train Your Horse To Do Anything (Video) by Shawna and Vinton Karrasch (ISBN: 1-57075-175-2). Shawna and Vinton Karrasch explain and demonstrate how the principles of behavior modification work. They take the viewer step-by-step on how to apply reward reinforcement training to everyday horse handling.
  • You Can Train Your Horse to do Anything! Clicker training and beyond (video) by Shawna and Vinton Karrasch (www.on-target-training.com or (800) 638-2090)
  • Understanding the Ancient Secrets of the Horses Mind by Robert Miller, D.V.M.

Animal cognition & learning & Comparative behavior:

  • Clever Like a Fox by Sonja Yoerg (ISBN: 1-58234-115-X)
    In this insightful investigation, Dr. Sonja Yoerg, a recognized expert in the field of psychological and biological approaches to behavioral research, examines our many complicated, often incorrect, beliefs about animal intelligence.
  • Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think by Marc D. Hauser (ISBN 0-8050-5669-6)
  • The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots by Irene M. Pepperberg (ISBN 0-674-00051-X)
  • Unravelling Animal Behavior by Marian Stamp Dawkins (ISBN 0-470-23428-8) This is an excellent primer on animal behavior. Everyone interested in comparative behavior should read it.
  • Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (ISBN 0-3933-31755-2)
  • Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson (ISBN 0-395-69001-1)
  • Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality by Jared Diamond(ISBN 0-465-03126-9)

Other pets and animals:

  • Rats! by Debbie Ducommun (ISBN 1-889540-04-6)
  • House Rabbit Handbook: How to live with an urban rabbit by Marinell Harriman (ISBN 0-940920-12-3)
  • Potbellied Pig: Behavior and Training by Prescilla Valentine (ISBN 1-930580-03-7)
  • Training the Companion Parrot (video, tapes 1-4) by Sally Blanchard, www.ctsproductions.com or (303) 973-2107 These videos address very basic husbandry issues.
You can contact Sophia by e-mail at Sophia@nerdbook.com

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