Similar to most people in the animal industry, Sumner has always been around animals. From a young age her parents gave her the opportunity to live with or engage with a variety of different species. From hermit crabs to goats, she's never lived in a home without some type of animal companion. Early on in her life she showed interest in animal welfare, volunteering with a local pet rescue, starting with walking dogs accompanied by one of her parents, to eventually working directly with the lead dog program managers. As soon as she turned 18 she was hired at a local dog daycare, boarding and training facility which started her professional career working with animals. Since then she has held a number of positions within the pet care and animal welfare industry. Her first certification was through the University of Washington, completing the UW Applied Animal Behavior course, and then went on to graduating as a KPA Certified Training Partner through the Karen Pryor Academy(KPA). Fall of 2022 she completed Living & Learning with Animals: The Fundamental Principles and Procedures of Teaching and Learning, a certification program instructed by Dr Susan Friedman. Most recently she achieved her Fear Free Certified Professional status by Fear Free Pets in 2023.  That same year she left her job as a Behavior Program Associate II at Seattle Humane to join a private behavior consultation company where she worked as a training specialist.  

Sumner spends much of her free time working with families navigating living with a reactive/fearful dog and devoting time to continuing education. When not thinking about dogs, she can be found going on adventures with her own dogs Iris and Oatis, both rescue Belgian Malinois, and her boyfriend or staying in working on arts and craft projects.

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