• 3.1About the Pack Leaders
• 3.2: Recommended Products & Services
• 3.3: A Pet's Picnic

About the Pack LeaderS

Julie Bernier:  I founded Dances With Dogs because I believe that puppies need to be with each other in a safe, supervised, loving environment in order to work through their fears, test out boundaries and learn how to negotiate relationships with others.  Bringing home a new puppy, even in the best of circumstances, can be stressful and challenging.  I believe that new owners need support, guidance and coaching as they learn how puppies behave, what they need and how to integrate them successfully into their lives.  It has been my privilege and my pleasure to meet the needs of puppies and their families at Dances With Dogs.  I believe that each puppy who comes into the nursery school CAN learn to be comfortable around other puppies and dogs, given the right supervision, support and encouragement as part of our pack.  I believe that Exercise, Discipline and Affection are your pup's essential/basic needs and have modeled everything that I do with and for my students and my customers around those three essentials.  I've been blessed to have over 1000 puppies train and play here at Dances With Dogs since opening in 2006 and to count them and their owners among my friends ever since.  It is my sincere hope that EVERY puppy in our area gets to experience puppy nursery school...because we absolutely can help shape and guide them into a great family dog for life.

Michael Bernier:  Though I did not start out as my wife's partner in the puppy nursery school, I have played a role in the background since its inception.  Little by little as I have watched and assisted Julie, I have developed a huge respect for all that she has learned and accomplished, and a deep love for dogs in general and for puppies in particular.  I feel strongly about our three guiding principles...Exercise, Discipline and Affection...and have seen the power of all three in transforming the personalities and behavior of our students.  I believe that helping the owners of our puppy students understand and apply these principles with their pups empowers them to raise healthy, well-adjusted dogs that they are proud to have as part of their families.  The powerful results of this work are now evident in our community, as we encounter countless DWD graduates playing kindly, enjoying off-leash freedom and interacting appropriately with humans and other dogs on beaches, in parks, in the woods and on the streets of our area.  A key part of my work at DWD includes providing off-leash adventures for our small breed adult students, all of whom have trained here as puppies.  It is noble and joyful work, allowing me to experience dogs at their very happiest, enjoying their freedom and behaving respectfully as we trek through some incredible open spaces.  Whether hiking with dogs, assisting with puppy nursery school classes, visiting puppies at their homes or driving the DWD dog bus, I continue to be inspired and driven by the love that our customers have for their dogs, and by the joy and happiness that I see in our students as they work on becoming well-adjusted, well-behaved canine citizens.