Sasha Philip

Sasha is a certified service dog trainer (Atlas-CT) and is currently enrolled in the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Professional program, which she expects to complete in September 2025. Her day job – while she figures out whether she wants to be a full-time dog trainer when she grows up! – is as a professional mediator and arbitrator: She founded her company, Philip Mediation, in early 2014, and currently specializes in special education mediation. More recently, she started her private dog training business, Sound Service Dogs.

Sasha has been owned by animals for most of her life, starting with “Tippu”, an English Cocker Spaniel who was her constant companion and childhood best friend. She has both adopted cats and dogs from shelters, and purchased dogs from reputable breeders. Her two current dogs, “Mocha” and “Toffee”, led her down the rabbit hole of dog training, dog sports (specifically nosework, agility, a bit of rally, and a sprinkling of parkour – though we do not currently compete), and cooperative care.

Sasha is especially passionate about supporting both ends of the leash by integrating her mediation, special education, and dog training knowledge. She offers active listening and problem-solving to the human while also emphasizing the welfare of the dogs in our care.

​She utilizes a positive reinforcement training philosophy and methodologies in her training. She is a fierce advocate for cooperative husbandry and veterinary care, having had first-hand experience with its benefits to both humans and dogs. And she strives to give both companion dogs and working dogs as much agency as possible, by emphasizing the need for two-way communication between handlers and their animals.

Sasha is a board member at Atlas Assistance Dogs, which helps owners train their own dogs as service dogs, volunteers as a facilitator/trainer for that organization, and is a service dog handler herself.
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Sasha grew up in Germany as the daughter of Indian immigrant parents, arriving in the U.S. as a foreign exchange student. She has a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science from Vassar College, and a J.D. from Tulane University Law School. She has held adjunct faculty/lecturer positions at Seattle University School of Law and the University of Washington School of Law, and has been a planning committee member for the annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference since 2014.