Our Team - Veterinary Behavior Specialties of Minnesota

Dr. Deborah Bryant

DVM, DACVB

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Dr. Deborah Bryant is a board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA), and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB).

She has given presentations at the annual Veterinary Behavior Symposium as well as lectures to veterinary students and at other veterinary continuing education seminars.

Dr. Bryant is passionate about caring for animal patients, and assisting their humans, through Veterinary Behavior Specialties of Minnesota!

Dr. Robyn Hayes

DVM, CVA, ACVB Resident

Fear Free Elite Certified, Low Stress Handling and Restraint Certified

Dr. Hayes is originally from upstate New York and has lived all over the world, most recently relocating from Kentucky to Minnesota. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Cornell University, then attended two years of veterinary school at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College. Dr. Hayes transferred to North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 2005.

During her years in private practice as a small animal veterinarian, Dr. Hayes especially enjoyed managing dermatology and chronic pain cases as well as general surgery. She is a Fear Free Elite certificate holder and is also certified in Low-Stress Handling and Restraint through Dr. Sophia Yin’s Low-Stress Handling University. In addition, she achieved credentials as a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. Dr. Hayes has been involved with animal rescue, as well as animal training courses, which led to her special interest in veterinary behavior and nurturing the human-animal bond.

Dr. Hayes spends her time outside the office with her family and enjoys hiking, camping, horseback riding, and spending time exploring the great outdoors in their new home state of Minnesota.

Dr. Camille Squair

MSc, DVM, DACVB

Dr. Camille Squair received her DVM from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon, SK, Canada in 2019. Following this, she completed a one year rotating small animal internship at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), working as part of the Emergency, Internal Medicine, and Surgery services. In September 2020 she began AVC’s first residency in Behavioural Medicine with Dr. Karen Overall. Together they launched the Behavioural Medicine Service at the AVC, the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

In conjunction with her residency, Dr. Squair completed a Master of Science degree at the University of PEI. Her thesis research project assessed physical examination and routine blood draw in canine patients, which demonstrated that collaborative and adaptive changes in handling and examination helped to reduce canine stress and fear during veterinary visits. Dr. Squair has a passionate interest in improving pet’s and their family member’s experience at veterinary clinics through research, engagement, and education within the veterinary and pet owner communities.

Dr. Squair is originally from Winnipeg, MB, but is excited to now call Minnesota home. She has one cat, who loves eating and clicker training.

Jasmine Palmer

Behavior Therapy

BA, UW-AAB, KPA-CTP, FDM

Jasmine is certified in Applied Animal Behavior by the University of Washington and is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, as well as a supporting member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Her goal is to help people and their pets live together happily by teaching skills, through positive training methods, that improve their communication and make their lives easier. She enjoys seeing the animals she works with become happy, eager learners. When not working, Jasmine enjoys the outdoors, performing arts, dog sports, and spending time with her Norwegian Elkhounds and her cats.

Lora Zimmerman

Practice Manager

BS, LVT, FDM, Fear Free Certified Professional, Low-Stress Silver Certified Professional

Lora became a Certified Veterinary Technician in 2001. The bulk of her career has been in small animal private practice with a specialty in dentistry. Her interest in behavior was sparked when her son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum at 2 ½ years old. Through her son’s journey, Lora learned that much of the tools that she learned for her son were similar to the strategies used in veterinary behavior medicine and behavior modification training. This brought her to make connections in the veterinary behavior community that led her to VBSMN.

Lora has obtained her Fear Free Certification, as well as the Low Stress Silver Certification in 2019. She is a professional member of several Veterinary Technician groups both locally and nationally. Lora has since moved into the role of Practice Manager at VBSMN. When she’s not working, Lora enjoys hobby cake making, crocheting, llamas and spending time with her husband, children and pets.

Michelle Stelzig

Behavior Therapy

LVT, CPDT-KA, FDM

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Michelle became a CVT in 2009, and has worked across various settings including corporate and privately owned general practices. In 2022, she completed a mentorship journey with a certified behavior consultant, delving deeper into the intricacies of animal behavior and communication. This experience laid the groundwork for Michelle’s next achievement in 2023 when she attained certification as a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA). Now, as a professional member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, Michelle remains committed to ongoing education and stays abreast of the latest advancements in her field.

Her passion lies in guiding pet owners through the challenges of their pets’ “troublesome teenaged years,” fostering understanding and empathy to strengthen the human-animal bond. Michelle finds immense fulfillment in helping owners create harmonious living environments where both pets and their families thrive.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Michelle enjoys embarking on adventures with her husband, two children, and dog, or unwinding at home with her cat and bearded dragon while indulging in her hobbies of crocheting and reading.

Gael Robb

Behavior Therapy

KPA-CTP, FDM

Gael is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner and supporting member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Their interest in the behavior field began during their pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, eventually focusing on animal behavior. Gael started working in the veterinary field in 2021 while concurrently deepening their understanding of animal behavior by earning their KPA-CTP certification in 2023. They are passionate in helping pets and their families better understand and communicate with one another, as well as in helping animals have quality and fulfilling lives. In their free time, Gael enjoys baking, fiber arts, table top games, and puppy training/socialization. They also enjoy spending quality time with their dog and multiple cats.

Holly Yahnke

Client Services

CPDT-KA, FDM

Holly is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer as well as a Certified Family Dog Mediator. Her compassion for animals and desire to assist the humans on the other end of the leash are evident. She very much enjoys and continues to pursue education in the science of dog training by attending classes and seminars, and looks forward to passing that knowledge on to her clients. Holly loves watching the relationship between dogs and their owners grow as she introduces the positive training techniques she has to offer. She finds it incredibly fulfilling when both the owners and their dogs have fun training and learn how to effectively communicate with each other.

Holly has two dogs of her own, both Weimaraner’s named Izzy and Benny, and a cat named Bazinga. In her free time she loves spending time with her fur family and of course her husband too.

Sarah (Sally) Kieser

Client Services/Pharmacy Technician

LVT, Feline Friendly, Fear Free Certified

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Sarah became a Certified Veterinary Technician in 2016. While working in general practice, she always had a soft spot for nervous and anxious patients. After adopting her own anxious rescue pup, Rookie, her interest in behavior expanded while helping him to gain confidence and comfort in the world.

When not at work, Sarah can be found snuggling her multiple dogs, cats, and chickens, and befriending the neighborhood strays. Sarah also enjoys horseback riding, volunteering at the Minnesota Zoo, gardening, and anything crafty.