About Miriam Fields-Babineau
Owner and Trainer at Shady Mountain Pet Retreat
Miriam Fields-Babineau has authored 35 books about dog breeds, care and training. She has also authored an award winning cat training book, Cat Training in 10 Minutes and the soon-to-be-released book, Rat Training. Her most recent dog training books are: Puggle, Labradoodle, Mixed Breeds for Dummies, Click and Easy: Clicker Training for Dogs, Training Mixed Breed Dogs, Training Your Puppy in 5 Minutes and ABCs of Positive Dog Training. She has also published several short stories in anthologies and 2 novels. She has been providing animals of all specie for feature films, television programs, commercials and advertisements since 1983. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1981 with degrees in Psychology and Zoology, she began work as a research assistant at Georgetown University Medical Center. While there she studied how learning is affected by specific chemical combinations.
From 1977 - 1981 Miriam Fields-Babineau interned at Franklin Park Childrens Zoo and then at Washington DC National Zoo. She aided the zookeepers in their care of various animal species and aided head keepers with new training methods and behavioral studies.
Miriam Fields-Babineau grew up with animals. She was able to communicate with them before she could speak to humans. Her affinity for them continued to grow as her career took her into their worlds, learning more about their communication processes and natural behavioral patterns.
A statement from one of her Behavioral Science professors at Univ. of MD continues to be at the forefront of her understanding of the animal world: There are no higher or lower animals, only those perfect for their individual environments. Meaning: A dolphin is a more suitable for their life in the ocean, while a dog is more suitable for its life on land. One is not more intelligent than the other. All animals are capable of learning and memory, otherwise they wouldn't exist.
Ms. Fields-Babineau's instant understanding of all animals she meets helps her when teaching their humans to clearly communicate with them. During their visit Shady Mountain Pet Retreat she opens a path for the dogs to learn human words and visual cues, then passes this language on to the dogs' owners.
Whether one can call this psychic understanding or, as Ms. Fields-Babineau believes, merely a clear understanding of animal behavior, dogs who stay at Shady Mountain Pet Retreat become healthier, happier and learn how to perform desired behavior while extinguishing undesirable behavior. In other words, they become easier to live with and more fun to have around.
