After decades of volunteering to help animals at animal shelters, rescues and on our own, we decided to bring our passion to fruition and start our own dog business. We are a team of two women, Rachel and Jen, who became best friends in high school. Now in our 40s, after years of hard work and schooling, we really just want to be with dogs. We're a registered LLC small business in Pennsylvania.
In high school and college, Rachel walked dogs for local rescues and worked part time at boarding kennels and doggy daycares. She attended Duquesne University for Elementary and Special Education, then IUP for a master's in School Counseling. As an educator, she shared her love for dogs and cats by coordinating service projects with students to benefit local shelters. After teaching for 13 years, Rachel earned a Principal Certification from California University of Pennsylvania. In 2018, along with two friends, Rachel started a nonprofit called Shelter's Helpers of Pittsburgh. Rachel currently has four senior dogs, including a Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix, Yellow Labrador Retriever, Husky/Chow mix, and a Pekingese/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix. Two of her seniors were adopted from Gray Paws Sanctuary, from which Rachel continually fosters dogs. To learn more about them click here: http://www.graypaws.org/
Jen began volunteering at animal shelters during her freshman year in college at IUP. After finishing a master's degree in Higher Education at IUP, she moved to Baltimore with her husband. She volunteered at the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter and Maryland SPCA on a regular basis for several years. By the time she started working on her second master's degree at Johns Hopkins University, she had learned about TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return). She has TNR'ed more than 150 community cats in both Maryland and Pennsylvania. To learn about TNR please visit https://www.alleycat.org/ Jen also volunteered for various rescues as a pet foster, organized silent auctions and fund raised extensively, walked dogs, socialized cats and cared for neonatal kittens. After working as an investigator for the Department of Health for almost a decade, Jen quit her job to return to Pittsburgh, start another master's degree in Conservation Biology and become a stay-at-home mom. She owns an American Pit Bull Terrier, a senior Fox Terrier (recently rescued during the Covid pandemic) and four cats, all rescues. Her first dog love was a neglected and rescued Boxer/American Pit Bull Terrier. Just in case you're wondering, yes, she is allergic, but she takes allergy shots and pills daily! Her allergist is fully aware that cats and dogs sleep in her bed, but he gets it.
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