Patricia Bean McConnell Ph.D, CAAB Emeritus (Née Patricia Bean) was born November 16, 1948. She is an Ethologist who consulted with pet dog and cat owners for over thirty years regarding serious behavioral problems, has given seminars on companion animal behavior both domestically and internationally, and has written several books on training and behavior relating to their dogs. She has been invited to speak all over the world about canine behavior and training. McConnell taught "The Biology and Philosophy of Human/Animal Relationships" in the Department of Integrative Biology (formerly the Department of Zoology) for twenty-five years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and remains a sought-out expert in the field of animal behavior. Her nationally published books include The Other End of the Leash (published by Ballintine Books and is available in 13 languages ), and her memoir The Education of Will (published by Simon and Schuster). Her book, For the Love of a Dog, went on to win an Audie award for the audiobook in 2007. She has also produced a number of pet training DVDs. In both her academic and popular writing she has focused on issues of interspecies communication. She also runs her own publishing company, McConnell Publishing. She retired from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May 2015. Early life and education McConnell was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her sisters are Liza Piatt of Thousand Oaks, CA, and the poet Wendy Barker of San Antonio, TX. McConnell is a trained ethologist, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (see Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour), and received her Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. Her doctoral dissertation, "Acoustic structure and receiver response in mammalian signal systems", won the Warder Clyde Allee competition the same year. The W.C. Allee award is presented to a student in a juried competition who demonstrated the best presentation of ethological research. Animal Behavior Career The same year she earned her Ph.D., McConnell founded Dog’s Best Friend, Ltd. with her business partner, Nancy Raffetto. For 30 years, McConnell used her expertise and education to help people understand their dog's behaviors. The business started as the duo using their knowledge of animal behavior to help people address serious behavior problems in dogs. What was unique about their methods as they were the only animal behavior practitioners of positive reinforcement in the area, a