Dr. Ha’s academic and practical training is in the social behavior of birds and mammals, with a special focus on highly social species like domestic dogs, crows and jays, and primates. At the University of Washington since 1990, he is a retired Emeritus Research Professor in Psychology (Animal Behavior Program) where he continues to teach and conduct research in complex social behavior of several animal species. He is also a specialist in behavioral data collection methodology (developer of the EVENT-Palm and EVENT-Apps custom-written behavior data collection software).

His background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Millersville University (1980), a Master’s degree in Biology from Wake Forest University (1983), a Ph.D. in Zoology, with a specialization in animal behavior, from Colorado State University (1989), and professional credentialing as a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB, 2005-present), the highest level of certification in applied behavior that is available.

During his graduate training, Dr. Ha interned with Dr. Philip Lehner (Colorado State University) and was active in his early behavior consulting business in Colorado, Animal Behavior Associates of Colorado. Dr. Ha started his own consulting business in companion animal behavior in 1999, Animal Behavior Associates of Washington, LLC, and currently practices through Adaptive Animals, LLC with Dr. Robin Foster. He has performed in-home evaluations and treatments on behavior issues (80% aggression) in dogs, cats and parrots (averaging 45 cases/year) and still advises on additional cases seen by his colleagues. He acts as a consultant to major pet food companies, several shelter organizations, and the Center for Animal Welfare Science at Purdue University.

In addition, he has participated in a number of legal cases as an expert witness, both Consulting and Testifying, and on cases involving both dog bites and dog tracking behavior. He served as a member of the Animal Behavior Society’s Executive Committee for many years.

Dr. Ha and his wife, Dr. Renee Ha, are responsible for the Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior Program at the University of Washington, the first solely-online academic program in animal behavior from an accredited academic institution.