IN MEMORIAM Stephanie Ernst STEPHANIE ERNST
Stephanie Ernst 6/10/1967 TO 8/17/2010
WENDY CRAIG REMEMBERS STEPHANIE Stephanie was allotted only forty three years here on
earth. She lived her life to the fullest, with many human, furred and feathered friends. Stephanie died onAugust 17, 2010 after being diagnosed with breast cancer just a year before. Stephanie was the most upbeat, cheerful, positive person I know. Her love of animals was so well known it was an integral part of each of the services given after her death. Her pastor stated that you couldn’t talk about Stephanie without talking about her love of animals. Her horse carried her ashes at her funeral.
I firstmet Stephanie in 2003when she came tome look-
ing for a baby Congo African grey parrot. Some of you may have read about Stephanie and her grey, Dexter, in the very first issue of Good BirdMagazine in an article on harness training. Prior to looking for a parrot of her own Stephanie had already spent quite some time working with a parrot rescue group doing all the daily grungework that comes with owning a parrot. In January 2004 she at- tended Parrot Festival in Houston for the first time and came back gung ho on positive reinforcement. She had met Barbara Heidenreich and Dr. Susan Friedman and knew this was the way.
Stephanie never wavered from her belief in using posi-
tive reinforcement, not just with her parrots but her dogs and horses as well. Did I say parrots? After taking Dexter home in 2003 she acquired a blue and gold macaw, two red-fronted macaws, one with only one foot and various cockatiels, two which were adopted from the National Parrot Rescue and Preservation Foundation (NPRPF).
She read book after book on parrots and even more on
using positive reinforcement, always putting into practice what she had learned. She attended Parrot Festival year after year and other seminars as well, even hosting three “Good Bird” training seminars in her home. After seeing the benefits of positive reinforcement training on her own parrots and those of others, she made sure to use only those methods on all of her animals even driving an hour and a half for a weekly dog training class that she knew used positive reinforcement when there were other op- tions only twenty minutes from home. Her animals, their happiness and their welfare were everything to her. Stephanie’s presence will be greatly missed.
Good Bird Magazine 39
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