About
Behavior science meets environment design
Christine Pazdalski is the founder of Fear Free Spaces and its two practice divisions — Puppy Love (dog training) and The Pet Behaviorist (behavior consulting). Her consulting work is grounded in applied animal behavior and Fear Free principles, focused on helping facilities and families create environments that reduce unnecessary stressors and support lower-stress experiences for every animal in their care.
Fear Free
certified × 2
About the founder
Christine Pazdalski has worked with families and their pets since 2008 — teaching, consulting, and problem-solving across training, behavior consulting, and environmental consulting.
A Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior from the University of Washington provides the professional foundation. That credential enables evaluation of a space from the animal's perspective — identifying potential sources of sensory stress, assessing how the environment shapes behavior, and developing behavior-informed recommendations that create a more predictable, lower-stress experience. That is a different discipline from interior design.
As a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Professional and Fear Free Certified Animal Trainer, Christine draws on Fear Free principles in every assessment of a veterinary practice, grooming salon, boarding facility, or home — not to certify the facility, but to consult on the specific changes that will most effectively support Fear Free practices.
That work extends to cats and multi-species households. Feline behavior is its own language — subtle, often misread, and deeply tied to environment. Christine applies the same evidence-based approach to cats as to dogs: reading body language, identifying stressors, and building recommendations that fit how cats actually think and communicate.
Christine's work has been published in Animal Wellness magazine and featured across numerous pet-related blogs and resources.
Three credentials. One integrated approach.
Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior — University of Washington
A scientific foundation for understanding how animals perceive and respond to their environments — enabling identification of potential sources of sensory stress and development of behavior-informed recommendations, not interior design advice.
Fear Free Certified Veterinary Professional
Firsthand knowledge of how clinical and care environments influence fear, anxiety, and stress in animal patients — and what environmental changes most effectively support Fear Free practices in those settings.
Fear Free Certified Animal Trainer
Deep understanding of how environment shapes learning and behavior. A space designed to reduce unnecessary stressors creates a more predictable environment — and that directly affects how well animals can engage and respond.
Canine behavior
Two decades working with dogs of all ages and temperaments — reading body language, identifying stressors, and building individualized protocols that build trust, not fear.
Feline behavior
Feline stress is subtle and frequently misread. Christine applies the same evidence-based approach to cats: evaluating how the environment shapes their sense of safety, territory, and predictability.
Facility & professional consulting
Christine works with veterinary practices, grooming salons, boarding facilities, and shelters to deliver behavior-informed environmental recommendations — practical, prioritized, and grounded in behavioral science and Fear Free principles.
Ready to work together?
Whether you're running an animal-care facility or creating a calmer home for your pet — Christine would love to help.