Molly Sumridge

Molly Sumridge is the owner and founder of Kindred Companions LLC. She is a professional Anthrozoologist and Certified Professional Dog Trainer & Behavioral Consultant with 20 years of experience working with a variety of pets and their humans. She has a deep passion for the human-animal bond and it is her vision to make animal training more enjoyable for pets and owners alike. Molly has a Master's in Anthrozoology and is a Ph.D. candidate finishing up her Ph.D. in Anthrozoology!

Training Philosophy

Kindred Companions® is dedicated to using only the most humane methods with your pet. Our techniques are designed to fit your pet's personality and temperament, while still committing to never using fear, pain or intimidation in our training.
We aren't interested in gimmicks and we know our clients aren't either. All of our methods are backed by scientific studies and literature to ensure that at the end of the day, what you are paying for works and your pets are happy and healthy, in both mind and body.

Services

Dog Training, All-Species Animal Behavioral Counseling, and Competition Sports Coaching. She is available for training sessions in-person in the Helena Montana area and remotely all over the world. Molly is also available for webinars, podcasts, and interviews and has experience as an expert witness for court cases.

Certifications

• Certified Dog Behavioral Consultant (CDBC)
• Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge and Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA)
• Certified Fear Free Professional
• Certified Behavior Adjustment Training Instructor (CBATI-KSA)
• Certified Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS)
• Dog and Handler Team for Intermountain Therapy Animals
• Chicken and Handler Team for Intermountain Therapy Animals
• Certified Whistle Recall Instructor (CWRI)
• Certified Compassion Fatigue Educator
• Certified Compassion Fatigue Therapist
• Certified QPR Gatekeeper Instructor
• Pet CPR and First Aid Certified
• AKC CGC, CGCA, CGCU, Trick Dog Evaluator

Specializations

Working with aggressive, fearful, or hard-to-train dogs

Training Methods

Positive Reinforcement type training

Customer Reviews

Katie Grillaert CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CBATI Fetch Dog Training and Behavior - “I am excited to recommend my friend and colleague Molly Sumridge to dog sport competitors looking for an edge, and future enthusiasts hoping for a positive and tailored introduction to competition obedience, rally, and other dog sports. With coaching from a dual behavior consultant and accomplished competitor, you will have every support you need to develop a rounded, confident, and happy sport dog.”
F.D, Neshanic NJ - “There are many approaches to training dogs as there are dog trainers, but they do fall under two large umbrellas – positive re-enforcement and negative re-enforcement. Many of the television trainers fall under the negative re-enforcement umbrella, and their methods are persuasive. However, as dog owners who have tried these methods, they do not work for the long run.
Molly and Kindred Companions uses the positive re-enforcement approach, and we have a good feeling that this will work much better for our dog, Mochi.
She was focused on Mochi from the moment she entered our house. She came with tons of credentials and experience under her belt. She was recommended by local social media groups, and our veterinarian recommended her as well. She is obviously well-trained, and was very willing to share what she has learned about dogs in order to help us better read Mochi’s queues. She taught us to recognize queues before Mochi has to ratchet them up, re-enforcing his good behaviors of trying to govern himself and rewarding these behaviors, resetting his behaviors to with which he has become comfortable.
Mochi has more work to do, but we are confident that Molly has a good approach which will help Mochi with some of his problem areas and give him the tools to be more under control in stressful situations. I also have confidence that we will better understand what he is trying to tell us so that we can help him to feel comfortable when he looks to us for guidance.”
G & K - Flemington NJ - “I couldn’t be more pleased with the extraordinary experience my fiancé Kevin and I had with our dogs (Parker and Penny) attending training with the Kindred Companions team! Molly listened to our needs and gave us detailed insights based on her expertise and experience with all kinds of dogs. She gave us perfect recommendations for an educational journey to enable us to achieve our desired outcomes. We are fortunate and very lucky to have had such a rewarding, educational and unforgettable experience in the adult manners class with Karen and Melita! The comfortable group social setting, Karen’s evaluation of each dog, and her deep focus on their individual needs to achieve our goals was the perfect combination. Karen emphasizes positive reinforcement and taught us how to get our dogs to be remarkably focused and ready to learn with all sorts of distractions. Kevin and I now have practical knowledge and find it much easier and more fun to teach Parker and Penny desirable behaviors! The Kindred Companions team is a joy to work with and I recommend them highly!”
K.H. - New Hope PA - “The videos are a godsend! I literally have them open on my computer and just bounce back and forth from working to them to refresh myself and just listen to what you say. You definitely are a wealth of knowledge, you explain it so well, and everything you say makes sense of why she does what she does. It gives me so much more insight to her thoughts. I am so grateful the rescue in NYC connected us.”
The Reinhardt's Carrie, Sarah & Sasha - “On December 26, 2014, we rescued a semi-feral, 2 year old female pit-mix from Puerto Rico. Sasha came to us straight from the airport, so we were her first ever home. All she knew was life as a stray, and 6 months at a shelter. While Sasha easily attached to us, we quickly realized that she was scared of men, and seemed to have general trust issues - All very understandable considering her background.
Within a week of having Sasha, we started to work with Molly. Molly took the time to peel back the layers of Sasha’s behavior, and helped us understand what was going on, and why Sasha was the way that she was. After our initial visit, we knew that it was going to be a long road, but that we also picked the right trainer to guide us.
We followed every word of what Molly said. We were very diligent about our training, and sent video updates in-between sessions for additional feedback. We can now say that Sasha has completely transformed, and is close to reaching her full potential. To fully appreciate how much this is, during her first visit, Sasha would barely walk into our kitchen when Molly was there, let alone take a treat from her hand. By our last visit, Molly and Sasha were laying in the grass together, with Molly giving her a belly scratch (one of Sasha’s favorite things), and also played fetch. We’re amazed that after having her exactly 5 months, we still see new pieces of her personality coming out everyday.
We’re so thankful for what we learned, and for what Molly has helped us bring out in Sasha. We now have a very happy, very loved dog. We’re eternally grateful, and thankful to Molly and Kindred Companions!
”
P.W. - Milford NJ - “Before taking lessons from Molly our rescue dog Pepper had no confidence & was fearful. Molly has given us the skills to help Pepper to restore his confidence & we see a change already after only a few lessons. Thanks Molly .”
Susan & Guinness - “My meeting with Karen this morning was AWESOME!!! It was wonderful to work one on one with her as she evaluated Guinness (and his behavior & mine) in our home. I am thankful for the time she spent with me (without Guinness) to show me and practice how to use the clicker properly. I am looking forward to working with Guinness on these new behaviors and meeting with Karen again next week. The private lesson, in our home, is EXACTLY what I was looking for!!!
FANTASTIC!”
S.S. - Upper Black Eddy PA - “Molly and Sam, Thanks for all of your help with Bruno. After 4 sessions with you, I can see a big difference in him. He is much better on a leash & far less possessive of his toys. Bruno is tuned in to training & is learning new tricks like “take a bow” & “stand up.” Most importantly, I feel more confident in him. You really helped me understand him better. I can’t thank you enough.
”
Carol B - Lawrenceville NJ - “I did not know what to expect and was very pleased with Karen’s knowledge and comforting verbal mannerisms. I started the session feeling anxious and overwhelmed with the unknown. It’s human nature to feel like we will be judged by our actions negatively and blame ourselves for doing it all wrong.
I feel relief taking charge of the situation now, having a plan and a direction. I am looking ahead, not back with a positive attitude knowing I can make a difference from here on.
Changing a lifetime of learned behaviors will take a conscious effort to slowly dissolve moving forward.
I am excited to continue my sessions, looking forward to improvement with myself and my best buddy.”
K.B. - Bristol, PA - “Molly is an amazing trainer. My pitbull Max was traumatized after being attacked by a few small dogs. I knew if he hurt one of them he would be in trouble. After no luck with other trainers I was very glad to find a force free trainer. She showed me my dog could be helped without more trauma. Now I have a much happier, balanced dog.”
C.G - Frenchtown NJ - “I SOOO appreciate your amazing teaching skills and patience and high level communication with dogs. Ezra is a better boy because of you. And me too! I also really appreciated you taking the time to work with us one-on-one when we missed a class. I think of you every time Ezzie does “down.” In sum, THANK YOU! You are much valued in this household! And we hope to continue with you soon.”
M.G. - New Hope PA - “A year ago we adopted the most perfect dog in the world. No puppy because we didn’t have the time with work to be able to appropriately potty train so here came the adorable and smart 2 year old that was going to be nothing but fun. Then we woke up from our dream. Every day was crazy to say the least. Erratic bathroom times, crazy around new people, and don’t even get me started with what happened on our walks (we hated those!). Needless to say we were frustrated and at a loss. What do you do with a 2 year old dog who should have had the training it needed long before now? Enter Molly. We (my boyfriend and I) can honestly say that without Molly we might have given up on Roxy like the two other families before us. But even after just one lesson, we saw what she was capable of. We kept at it, and with Molly’s help (and lots of practice time on our own) we started to see the dog that we had envisioned bringing into our home. Walks are fun, and nothing makes me more proud than being on a walk and watching Roxy use what Molly has taught us instead of being the crazy dog at the end of her leash (like all those other dogs!). Roxy even has settled in and isn’t as erratic with going to the bathroom and being in her crate, and the aloof girl will even give us a cuddle sometimes! I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t called, but I’m sure glad we don’t have to find out :) ...
Even today at the end of our walk I had her watching my face almost the entire way back and when we got inside I asked her to sit so I could dry her and she walked around to my left side and sat like we were practicing yesterday. Maybe it was a fluke but I praised her like there was no tomorrow. Thank you so much for everything Molly!!!!!! ”
R & T - Flemington, NJ - “My boyfriend and I have two sweet dogs, a Sheltie (Jack) and an American Eskimo (Tiger) they are probably two of the happiest dogs in the world; which I am pretty sure Sam and Molly could attest to!
In the beginning of the winter Tiger started to keep us both up all night when our space heater in our bedroom would click on and off. We had no idea it was bothering him but he would climb all over us and behind our heads just to hide! Once we figured out it was the clicking that bothered him, we tried to fix the problem ourselves, however the issue became worse. We then noticed that even when we turned our electric fire place on/off in our living room (something he use to enjoy laying in front) his tail would go down, he would start panting, shake and run away and no longer wanted to hang out with us.
When we realized it was either, no longer sleeping, having a freezing bedroom, OR helping Tiger get over his fear we called Kindred Companions. Molly and Sam became literally our saviors, not only have they trained US to work with our babies and speak dog but they helped Tiger get over his anxiety with BAT training. Jack has definitely lucked out in the treat department, but even he is more responsive and even happier than ever.
We cannot thank Molly and Sam enough for giving us back our sleep and basically being our family/dog therapists!
”
D.P. - Point Pleasant PA - “Molly has a very high level of integrity in all that she does. Her dedication to helping people, as well as their dogs, to understand & work together is a true gift to those she works with. I have complete faith in her ability to not only handle every aspect of one on one training, but also to go the extra mile to be insure the best possible result, and help you to meet your goals. I would most certainly hire her again! ”