Bette Yip, Neighbor

Picture Perfect Pets is the culmination of Bette Yip's passions and talents all in one company. Bette has had a life-long love for animals, and also has a passion for the fields of photography and teaching.  

Bette is an honors graduate of Animal Behavior College and a Certified Pet Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA). In addition, she passed PetSmart's Pet Trainer Accreditation program, and taught for that organization until opening her own business, first in Newton, MA, later moving the company to Arlington, MA.  She was awarded Best of Boston 2006 for Best Pet Trainer by Boston Magazine as well as the Beantown Tails Readers' Choice Award for Best Trainer in 2008 and 2009.  

Bette earned her BS in Cinema & Photography from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY (1994). Her minor was in Art History. After graduating, Bette continued to produce and show her artwork in Central New York as well as in national juried fine arts shows until she moved to Japan as a teacher in 1997.

In Japan, Bette spent about five years teaching English (for Nova's English Conversation schools as well as Motoyoshiwara Elementary and Junior High Schools) in immersion programs. This means that no Japanese could be used in lessons.

This experience of communicating solely in English with the aid of body language and props to teach Japanese students from toddlers to adult how to understand and use our language has given Bette a unique perspective as a pet trainer. She has learned ways to communicate with those who cannot speak our language, which is an extremely useful skill when dealing with animals. She has also learned how to read and empathize with both her human and canine students in order to tailor teaching methods to best suit their specific needs.  

It is not enough for a dog trainer to be adept at training the dogs. Since dogs, in particular, do not generalize most behaviors easily, it is equally important for dog trainers to be good at training people to acquire the skills needed to train their own pets. Through her work as a trainer of other instructors (for Nova) in Japan, Bette also fortified her skills as a people trainer, enabling her to more effectively teach clients as well as their pets. Bette is an avid proponent of positive reinforcement training techniques for both her human and animal subjects<i>!</i>

Bette shares her home with a borzoi dog (Russian wolfhounds) named Tatsuya and a rescued orange tiger cat named Heeky Peeky (short for Hikoshinohinekko, long name, long story!)