Every day dogs rush into the doors of Pawtropolis, never looking back at their owners. They are excited and absolutely love being here. Owners tell us that the dogs know the way to Pawtropolis and start going crazy when the make the turn onto our road. Why is this? Well, though the paw prints on the walls are cute and the floors always get cleaned and sanitized and we have a catchy name...it's the employees of Pawtropolis that create an environment that brings the dogs in, tails wagging, every time. We thought you would like a chance to meet the team that are many of your dogs' best friends.

Just who is taking care of your pets?

Pawtropolis runs with a staff of 18-25 employees. Most employees are part-time and also college students. Once they begin working at Pawtropolis they are required to complete the Pawtropolis Training Program. This program is designed to help them learn about animal care, dog behavior, pack behavior, emergency procedures, discipline procedures and more.

What you may not have known is that many of our employees go above and beyond the training included in our program. The American Boarding and Kennels Association (ABKA) offers different levels of certification for kennel/daycare employees. We currently have 8 employees that have reached the level of Certified Pet Care Technician and three additional employees that are in the training for it.

Because the health of your pets is of up most concern, we also encourage employees to participate in the American Pet First Aid Class. This class goes into far more details than our program here. It even offers participants a chance to practice CPR on dummy dogs. This is an amazing program that is also offered to the public. Keep your eyes open for upcoming opportunities to take the class. The top picture shows Megan and Lauren receiving their certificates for becoming Certified in Pet First Aid.

Amanda Rodriguez
Owner

-Georgia Representative for ABKA
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Member American Dog Trainers Association
-Certified Pet First Aid

Amanda is the owner of Pawtropolis. From the age of 15 she always dreamed about a career working with animals. She began doing competitive obedience at age 16 and her love for dogs only intensified. Accompanying her here is Lacey, her very first dog of her own. Lacey is the true founder of Pawtropolis, for had she never come into Amanda's life, she never would have started training. She's why Amanda believes that pets are God's love wrapped in furry packages.

After obtaining a degree from the University of Georgia, Amanda began the process of opening Pawtropolis. Her dream came true grand opening day December 1st, 2001.

Amanda continues to do obedience, placing multiple titles on her own dogs as well as others she trains. Her training style is to incorporate and learn about as many techniques as you can so that you can find what will work best for your dog. Rescuing a dominant dog with aggression problems herself, Amanda has a special love for dogs with behavioral problems. This "aggressive" dog is now the sweet lovable Dalmatian Tyler that frequently greets everyone at the door of Pawtropolis. He is now one of the mascots for Pawtropolis, accompanying Amanda on speeches at Elementary schools and summer camps. She is currently competing with her youngest rescue dalmatian in agility and has already received several ribbons and awards. Amanda teaches classes at Pawtropolis and offers private lessons as well. She is a member of the American Dog Trainers Association. She has obtained over 12 obedience and agility titles.

Tamela Boyd
May 05-Present
Supervisor

-Animal Caretaker
-Dog Trainer
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Customer Service


You may recognize the spotted dog with Tamela. It's Tali.Tamela adopted Tali in July. Tali and Skoochie (the Australian Shepherd) have a perfect relationship. Tamela learned that two hyper dogs equals one calm household...imagine that! Tamela has been a great addition to the staff here. Having already completed beginner and advanced obedience training, Tamela uses her skills when working with the dogs in the playgroups. She is also an assistant trainer in The Basics class. Tamela is a full-time school teacher and helps us out during the summer and weekends.

Billie Rae Blanco
November 05-Present
Helping Paws Rescue Supervisor

-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid


Billie Rae is one of the supervisors here at Pawtropolis. She also takes pride in her role as the health care provider for Helping Paws Rescue. This means the Billie Rae makes sure that all the foster animals are healthy, up-to-date on all vaccines and spayed/neutered. She also volunteers for Dachshund Rescue. We jokingly say that Billie Rae has created a "Dachshund Cult" here in Athens. It seems that all the little weiner dogs come to her to get their toenails trimmed. She is pictured here with her two dogs, Scottie and Hannabelle.

Lauren Dooley
March 06-Present
Kennel Manager

-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid
-Groomer


What can I say about Lauren other than "Wow!" From the first day Lauren started her love for learning about dogs was evident. She obtained the American Boarding Kennels Association's Certified Pet Care Technician title quicker than any previous employee. She has since been certified in Pet First Aid by the American Red Cross and now tries her hand in grooming. Lauren recently adopted a Helping Paws dog, Cassie and already owned a toy poodle named Emmy.

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Tiki, Bear, Blue, Sasha and Lele (though she had difficulty limiting her list.)

Amanda Griffin
April 06-Present
Home Alone Supervisor

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid

Amanda is a student at the University of Georgia. She is double majoring in Avian Biology and Biology. Amanda loves horseback riding, reading, painting and of course spending time with her dog, Link. Link is a Boston Terrier she adopted from our Helping Paws Rescue. You may also see Amanda at her other job working at Loco's off Atlanta Highway. The dogs always love her, but especially when comes to work smelling like Loco's food:)

Her favorite daycare dogs include: Bear Farrell, Abbagale McClellan, Riley Steffe, Moonpie Townsell, Woody Thompson, and Freedom Carpenter.

Jen Wright
May 06-Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician

Jen is also a student at the University of Georgia. She is majoring in the Romance Languages, specializing in Spanish and Italian. Her hobbies include traveling, scrapbooking and, of course, doing anything with her dog, Juno. Juno is the dog on the right. The other dog is one of our fosters, Sadie, whom Jen adores. She is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Phi Sigma Pi, the National Co-ed Honors Fraternity.

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Blue Baine, Riley Steffe and Whiskerbiscuit.

Sara Beth Moore
May 06-Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid

Another student at UGA, Sara Beth is majoring in Bioscience and is in the pre-vet program. She is an active member in Delta Zeta and enjoys participating in all the events through her sorority. Sara Beth loves to volunteer at Athens Animal Control. This is where she met her dog Bailey and decided to adopt him in April of 06. Sara Beth is the most cheerful fun person to be around. She takes such pleasure just being around the dogs here.

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Clyde, Riley Steffe, Oliver Bywater and Indy Powell.

Jessica Watkins
July 06-Present
Kennel Manager

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Groomer
-Certified Pet First Aid

Jessica has been such a great addition to the staff. She has a thirst for knowledge when it comes to dogs. She started as our official bather, but quickly learned the animal caretaker position and completed a training class with her dog Maggie Rose (the one on the right in the picture.) She takes her job working with the dogs very seriously. She teaches them all and expects them to "mind their manners" at pick-up time and not jump on their mommies or drag her down the hall. At first the dogs were like, "we've never had to behave leaving before," but now many of them understand to walk slowly by Jessica's side when leaving. She teaches the dogs using a calm persistent demeanor which the dogs both love and respect.

Her favorite daycare dogs include: Blue Baine, Darla Morgan, Charlotte C., Angel Krueger, Otto-Otto, Woody Thompson, and Max Hudson

Nicole Glowaz
October 06-Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid

Nicole is one of the most popular employees with the customers. The reason? Nicole is the one that takes the adorable pictures that you see on the blog and on our Paw Prints board. She has the best skill of catching the pets' at their cutest moments. Nicole has such a delightful personality. She is smiling and always upbeat. Other staff members look forward to working with her.

When not at Pawtropolis Nicole enjoys writing screenplays, watching movies with her husband and going to the beach with her husband Mike and Athens pound puppy Dignon. Her favorite daycare dogs include; Carlos, Georgia, Schooner, Waylan and Rudy Hodge.

Jen Benoit
November 06-Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician

Jen brings a very positive energy to Pawtropolis. She is a senior at the University of Georgia majoring in Psychology. She enjoys her time working with the capuchin monkeys at the UGA primate lab. She is seen here with one of our favorite daycare dogs Bear. Bear is commonly found in the arms of our staff members (his favorite place.) Jen's hobbies include belly dancing and attending concerts. Some of Jen's favorite daycare dogs are; Atesh, Dakota, Sunfire, Jake and, of course, Bear.

Lamar Hughston
March 07-Present

-Volunteer
-Trainer

Lamar has been a special gift to Pawtropolis. Starting as a customer, he got "hooked" and now can't get enough of us. Lamar volunteers him time doing things like hanging shelves to painting fences. However, the most spectacular is his work with our foster dogs. He is pictured here with Moose. Moose was a particularly hard case, very high energy and dominant. Moose needing someone special to have the patience to work with him. Lamar has been dedicated to working with him almost everyday. He has taught Moose how to walk on the treadmill, sit, down, heel, come, "go to bed," just to name a few. He learned these behaviors so well that he graduated from The Basics class. We hope to have Lamar's smiling face around for a long time.

Lamar is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons from 1979 until he retired in '05. During this time he served as the Chief of Security at the most secure prison in the world (according to the Guiness Book of World Records.) Lamar says that if he can handle inmates, then dogs.....no problem, lol. Lamar's favorite breed is the rottweiler, though you can find him at home spoiling little dachshunds.

Melanie Hughston
March 07-Present

-Office Manager
-Certified Pet First Aid

You may recognize Melanie's last name. She is married to Lamar Hughston listed above. As with him, Melanie started first as a customer. After only being with us for a short time we don't know what we would do without her! Melanie has become our office manager. She keeps the front organized and stocked with supplies. When she isn't busy making us run more efficiently, Melanie spends her days and even nights taking care of our foster animals. Her and Lamar seem to attract newborn puppies. They commonly step up to the plate to take care of puppies that have lost their mother but are too young to be on their own. This means many sleepless nights. Melanie is retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons so keeping us in line is no problem.

Lauren Schaaf
April 07 -Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid

Lauren has loved animals ever since she was a baby. Her parents even fostered dogs. So it was natural for her to want to work here. Lauren is a student at UGA, majoring in sociology with a minor in anthropology. Lauren is pictured here with Panda. She got him when he was only 7 1/2 weeks old. She also has a cat named Nigel (a Russian Blue.) Lauren enjoys traveling and can say that she has been to 8 countries! She will be a certified English language teacher in 2008 and will be going to Northern California and Italy. Another great addition to our staff!

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Moonpie, Sasha, Carlos, Logan, Schooner, Sabine, Bailey & Bosley, Blue, Molly Brown and Athena

Anna Krueger
April 07 -Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet Care Technician
-Certified Pet First Aid

Anna is a ray of light here at Pawtropolis. She is such a wonderful asset to our staff. Even as a child, watching the Westminster Dog Show was a yearly tradition. Anna enjoys reading, watching movies, shopping and most of all learning obedience with her dog Angel. Angel was adopted from Helping Paws Rescue shortly after Anna started working here. Anna has worked wonders with this very shy dog.

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Bear Farrell, Bailey & Bosley, Dooley, Carlos, Blue and Mollie & Maggie.

Brooke Matheson
July 07 -Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet First Aid

Brooke started working at Pawtropolis to learn more about dogs and to be able to be a part of Helping Paws Rescue. She is looking forward to going back to school to become a vet tech. Brooke adopted her dog Pluto from Helping Paws Rescue and continues to help with other foster dogs in our care. She especially likes working with Drake who is recovering from major fear issues. Brooke's other passion is music. She enjoys playing her guitar and writing music. Another fantastic addition to the Pawtropolis staff!

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Bear Farrell, Dooley, Moonpie, Georgia & Riley, Tiki and Bailey & Bosley

Ashley Jacobsohn
August 07 -Present

-Animal Caretaker
-Certified Pet First Aid

Since working here, Ashly has taken a strong liking to our foster dog Drake (the dane mix in the picture.) He has major anxiety issues and she spends much time trying to help him. She is instrumental in his recovery. Bailey and Lily are her dogs and are the other two dogs with her. Ashley loves horseback riding, long walks (with her dogs of course,) cooking and eating. She also really enjoys taking her dogs and Drake to Sandy Creek Park.

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Magnolia, Georgia & Riley, Beau & Buzz, Blue, Logan and Lucas

Lila Givens
September 07 -Present

-Animal Caretaker

Lila is a newer addition to the staff. She has jumped right in and does a great job. Though she has always had family dogs, Lila says there's nothing like owning a dog of your own. Lila is pictured here with her dog Falcor, which she has owned for about one year. When not playing with Falcor or the other dogs here, you can find Lila reading, doing photography, horseback riding or cooking.

Her favorite daycare dogs include; Molly Brown, George & Chance

Shane Allen
October 07 -Present

-Animal Caretaker

Shane says his favorite thing in the world is dogs. What a perfect fit to work here! He jokes, "They are so much smarter than cats..or people, for that matter." He is currently training to be an internationally accredited dog obedience trainer with Animal Behavior College. He loves Danish butter cookies and Kahluah so much he could live off them (not at work, of course, lol.) He has two dogs, Mya, pictured here, and a Siberian husky named Blaze. Shane's hobbies are martial arts (he is a teacher,) playing guitar and hopefully one day the drums. Shane has been a great addition to our staff.

His favorite daycare dogs include; Molly Brown and Rocky

Alison Wilbanks
January 08 -Present

-Pet Stylist

Alison attended the Internation Academy of Pet Design in Alpharetta, GA. Then she worked for a year in the Sandy Springs area. The three years before beginning at Pawtropolis Alison lived and groomed in Asheville, NC. She has experience with all breeds and does a wonderful job. She lives here in the Watkinsville area with her husband and her two furry babies, Scrappy and Zeus.