Bryony Aviles

Owner, Head Dog Trainer

Bryony, Founder and Owner of Sandy Paws, is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and is a Certified Training Partner of the prestigious, Karen Pryor Academy, a leader in the movement of positive reward training for pet animals.  She is also a graduate of Catch Canine Trainers Academy and is a Certified Family Educator through Family Paws Parent Education.  As evidenced by her credentials, Bryony is committed to always advancing her educations and skills and is committed to providing the most effective methods of training and behavior modification to her clients.

Bryony teaches group classes, supervises our play groups, and is available for day training and private training sessions.

Bryony likes to refer to herself as a “recovering attorney.”  After running her own successful law practice in Denver, Colorado for over 5 years, Bryony decided that she needed a change of pace when moving with her husband back to the east coast. Leaving her law practice in the competent hands of her partner, Bryony set out down the road of dog training and opening a top-quality pet services business, Sandy Paws, LLC.  In love with dogs and cats, and craving to be outside and physically active (practicing law didn’t leave much time for either of these), working with dogs along the CT shoreline presented itself as the perfect answer.  In 2018, Bryony decided to focus her business on dog training, and has happily been helping CT shoreline families raise well mannered puppies and dogs.

In addition to her professional credentials, Bryony is committed to helping abandoned and rescued animals.  She has volunteered extensively with animal rescues and shelters, including in New York and Colorado, and now in Connecticut through the East Haven Animal Shelter, Connecticut Humane Society and Branford’s Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter.  Most recently, she has become a trainer for the CT-based, Homeward Bound rescue group.

When not adventuring with her fur clients, Bryony stays busy at home with her husband, Jose,  and their two young daughters, Emma and Sofia.  Their family also includes four crazy fur babies: two adopted kitties, Nugget and Neko, and two adopted dogs: Luna, a lab mix rescued from the Dumb Friends League in Denver, CO and Lily, a pit/terrier mix rescued from The Bully Project in NY.  Lily and Luna help can often be found helping Bryony with socializing puppies and helping with fearful or reactive adult dogs.