Sandi Thompson

Sandi Thompson is the founder and owner of Bravo!Pup LLC, which she launched in 2008 to bring state-of-the-art dog training and socialization activities to East Bay dog lovers. BravoPup's mission is to engage dog owners in positive reinforcement training through group classes that are entertaining, effective, and taught by the most qualified team of instructors in the area.With over 25 years of training education and experience, Sandi is personally recommended by both veterinarians and leaders in the field of canine behavior. Her dynamic teaching style and easy-to-understand lessons have produced multiple generations of positively trained dogs as well as happy owners.Sandi started her animal training career as a 12-year-old volunteer at the Oakland Zoo where she cared for a variety of exotic animals and taught sign language to the chimpanzees. After graduating from college, Sandi began training dogs and puppies professionally for Sirius Puppy Training where she taught classes for two decades and became their lead trainer.She is an honors graduate of the San Francisco SPCA's prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers as well as one of the first trainers in the US to become a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT). She is a charter member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and has coached numerous trainers in the art and science of dog training. In recognition of these and other accomplishments, Sandi was named the APDT National Trainer of the Year in 2006.Sandi's media appearances include Animal Planet, CNN, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Amazing Animals in Japan, and Fine Living Network (HGTV). She is also the co-inventor of KongTime, an award winning product designed to reducing anxiety in home-alone dogs.Sandi resides in the Berkeley hills with her dogs Siam Sam and Turtle. She enjoys hiking, climbing, and adventure travel. Her travels have taken her throughout Southeast Asia to observe wildlife and spend time with tribal people. She has also visited Rwanda, Uganda and Borneo where she fulfilled her childhood dream of trekking with mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans in the wild. In recent years, Sandi completed an internship at the Oakland Zoo and continues to volunteer time, including raising and training the zoo's 'ambassador dog', a Golden Retriever named Lily.