Denise Holmes
Denise Holmes, located in Northwest Arkansas, is a pet behavior consultant with 
over 25 years animal training experience. She specializes in behavior modification using positive reinforcement, and works with a variety of animals. She has a Bachelor of Science in microbiology from the University of Arkansas, as well as a minor in psychology. She has actively applied this knowledge to furthering the health and well being of both people and animals through the establishment of Pawsitive Connection, Arkansas’ 1st non-profit organization supporting animal-assisted therapy.
As a consultant for Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Denise helped bring about their very first animal-assisted therapy visits, as well as develop the TAILS (Therapeutic Animals Interventions Lift Spirits) program. Her work has been published by the Child Life Council in Bulletin, and she was a contributor to Delta Society’s first book educating visiting animal teams on interactions with hospitalized children. She became a Pet Partner visiting animal team over ten years ago, is a licensed site assessor, and a trained animal evaluator.
Denise has served the NWA community by helping to develop visiting animal programs at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital, Seven Hills Homeless Shelter and many other facilities. She developed Sit. Stay. Read!, the first animal-enhanced reading program at the Fayetteville Public Library, and BARK (Behavior and Respect through K-9’s) at the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center; for her work on the BARK project, she was awarded the Arkansas Juvenile Detention Center Association’s Volunteer of the Year Award. She served over 5 years on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team as both a dog handler and a field searcher, and for two years was the training specialist on the area’s first pet program, All Pet’s Considered , aired on Jones Television Network.
Now with her own training business, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Denise is available for private counseling. Helping families make the most of their relationships with their pets, she offers both problem-solving and basic training for a variety of animals.