Our Staff

Dr. Sarah J. Cutler is a small animal veterinarian with more than 34 years of experience working with cats and dogs in the suburban and urban New York region. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine in 1997, where she began her studies in small animal behavior medicine with Dr. Karen Overall. For the past three decades Dr. Cutler has practiced medicine, surgery, and focused on the science of learning behavior and the human-animal bond. She has worked in large busy hospitals (Park East Animal Hospital, Animal Medical Center, Somers Animal Hospital, Sutton Animal Hospital) and consulted with multiple canine rescue groups along the way. She founded a house call practice At Home Vet Care in 2010 to provide high-quality medical and behavioral care in the comfort of pets’ homes.  Her most recent endeavor in 2021 was to open the Behavior Clinic for Cats and Dogs in Bedford Hills.  Her expanded team consists of a veterinary administrative assistant, an experienced veterinary assistant, and a Behavior Consultant who is also a CPDT-KA trainer.  Everyone is a Certified Fear Free Professional.  Dr. Cutler is licensed to practice in both NY and CT.   She has been seeing behavior cases since graduating from vet school, but has pivoted the focus of her practice to this focus in the past 15 years. She continues to study and learn through attending NAVC Institutes and yearly continuing education.  She completed the CVE course in Behavioral Medicine, and one on one mentoring with board certified veterinary behaviorists.  These courses have been dedicated to the study of canine and feline behavior, training methods, behavior modification, and the uses of medications to help particular issues such as fears, phobias, anxieties and aggression. You can read articles about pet related themes authored by her in https://connecttomag.com/  

She is passionate about continuing her education while helping to educate others, as well as using her voice to protect and advocate for the rights and needs of our beloved cats and dogs.

Behavior Consultant

Candy Higgins has been working with Dr. Cutler’s Behavior Clinic for Cats and Dogs since July of 2021. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the National Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers® and a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

Candy has been involved with local canine rescue organizations since 2015, and founded her private training business Candy’s Canine Coaching in Bedford, NY. Through handling hundreds of dogs in rescue, she developed a fascination with behavior, and is deeply committed to ongoing education in order to support pets and their people. In 2022 she completed The Aggression in Dogs Master Course, and she is currently enrolled in Karen Pryor’s Puppy Start Right program. Candy is a member of the Association for Professional Dog Trainers, the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and the International Pet Professional Guild.

Prior to working formally in the field of canine behavior, Candy’s career was in marketing and media in Manhattan and in her native Toronto, Canada. Candy and her husband have three rescue dogs (l-r Otis, Frank and Callie) and an elderly grey cat named Jack.