McMillan Animal Behavior

McMillan Animal Behavior Animal behavior and shelter consulting, based in Mars Hill, NC She works with behavior problems and trains dogs, cats, and horses.

Trish McMillan is a certified professional dog trainer who holds a Master’s degree in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter in England. During nearly eight years with the ASPCA, Trish gained a wide variety of experience in the field of animal behavior. For three years she was the director of the animal behavior department at the ASPCA’s New York City shelter, helping staff, volunteers, an

d adopters work with animals and make great matches. Trish has also helped assess and rehabilitate animals from cruelty, hoarding, and dogfighting cases, as well as pets rescued from natural disasters. In addition to writing for the ASPCA’s Virtual Pet Behaviorist and other publications, she helped create and present several very popular webinars on dog and cat behavior and handling. She has presented nationally and internationally on canine, feline and equine training and behavior as well as sheltering issues and defensive handling. Prior to her work with the ASPCA, Trish managed dog daycares, volunteered in animal shelters, taught obedience classes, and took in board-and-train dogs. She has also trained and shown with horses in various disciplines, and has begun incorporating clicker training in her equine work. Trish also clicker trains cats and does in-person and remote behavior consulting for feline behavior issues. She is available for shelter consulting work on behavior issues and defensive handling. Trish lives in a tiny house on a tiny farm near Asheville, North Carolina with an assortment of animals of five species.

05/11/2026

Here's some really nice self handicapping!

05/05/2026

Drop a photo of your "one dog" - do you think some of us get more than one?

05/02/2026

This is the first time in my life I've had a group of dogs with no real howlers. (Roodle does very occasionally). I love this amazingly on key singing Doberman! Do you have a singing dog too? Post a pic or video!

04/05/2026

Ok, this world needs more sweet animal stories like Blossom's.

Day 2 of our Arousal, Aggression, and Dysregulation in Animal Shelters seminar in Tacoma, WA is completed! I cannot than...
03/31/2026

Day 2 of our Arousal, Aggression, and Dysregulation in Animal Shelters seminar in Tacoma, WA is completed! I cannot thank all of the amazing shelter managers, animal care staff, trainers, consultants, and volunteers who came to learn how to better support our dogs in our animal shelters. We talked about various interventions, pathway strategies, removing barriers, collecting data, and all about the massive benefits of playgroups in our shelters.

Trish and I also swapped stories and shared in-depth about our experiences with quality of life and behavioral euthanasia in shelters. The fall out and negative impacts on our dogs, communities, colleagues, and volunteers by either long-term housing or placing marginal dogs, has continued to increase significantly over years, and Trish and I recognize this very topic in one of the largest contributing factors to compassion fatigue and staff turnover in our shelters. We cannot avoid talking about death as part of our responsibility as ethical animal welfare practitioners, and breaking down barriers, myths, and truths, and having these hard conversations is critical in animal welfare as we move forward and I am proud of these folks for being so open to these stories, conversations, and the hard learning lessons Trish and I have both had in our combined 47 years of experience in shelters.

I hope we can offer this seminar in other locations around the country in the future! But in the meantime, I feel very lucky to have been able to speak with and connect with so many amazing people who showed up here to show up for the animals they work with.

03/17/2026

If Ritz had been wearing a collar with his phone number on it, he would've been home in time for dinner… Beastie bands, Boomerang tags

Very excited to talk to Maddie's fund folks this afternoon about how to break up a dog fight! It's free and recorded, si...
02/26/2026

Very excited to talk to Maddie's fund folks this afternoon about how to break up a dog fight! It's free and recorded, sign up here!

February 2026 Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection Breaking Up a Dog Fight One of the

02/24/2026

Sit is on point now! Here's me attempting to teach Dyson to lie down . Is what I do at the end cheating?

Address

125 Bowens Drive
Mars Hill, NC
28754

Telephone

(828) 575-8373

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