Customer Care: Tim Kelliher
When asked to rate the quality of Tim’s care on a scale of 1 to 10, most clients give him an enthusiastic “11.” In his eight years as a professional pet sitter, Tim has also earned raves from the media and leaders in Seattle’s animal services community. CityDog Magazine has rated him Seattle’s #1 dog walker. Respected local trainers and behaviorists have made him their top pet care choice. And animal rescue professionals marvel at his sensitivity with challenging pets.

What is his secret? “It’s simple,” Tim says: “Every day, I challenge myself to do an even better job than I did the day before.” As for PugetPets: “It’s fantastic that PugetPets has won so many major awards—CityDog Magazine, CitySearch, King 5 TV, Evening Magazine—and won some of them more than once. In the end, though, we should really be competing against ourselves, always raising the bar on our quality of care.”

For information about our selection process and staff certifications, see the FAQ's.

Christine Able

Prior to joining PugetPets, Chris worked for nine years as a veterinary assistant at a busy practice in Anchorage. There she daily put to work her training in animal anatomy and physiology, nutrition and the aging cycle, animal behavior, pathology, pharmacology and emergency care. Now back in the balmier weather of the Puget Sound, Chris is excited about combining her pet care skills with her love of the outdoors.

Adriena Allen

Prior to joining PugetPets, Adriena worked for two years as an independent, professional pet sitter in Woodinville. During those years, she cared for a variety of pets, from single kitties to an entire kennel of Labrador Retrievers. Adriena comes to PugetPets with the highest of client recommendations.

Sam Arkans

Inspired by his work as a kennel attendant at a local critical care veterinary hospital, Sam pursued an animal-focused psychology degree from the University of Washington. Since his 2006 graduation, he has worked as a staff biologist at the Point Defiance Zoo, where his responsibilities have included feeding, care and observational research. At PugetPets, he enjoys the chance to work again with domestic companion animals.

Zach Ellison
Zach is training for the 2012 Olympics at the internationally renowned Pocock High-Performance Rowing Center here in Seattle. He is currently the United States’ #1 rated male rower. Zach is less well known for, though also extremely dedicated to, work with animals. Growing up in the mid-west he was surrounded by animals, and later as an adult, took on the role of company dog walker at a dog-friendly fitness center where he worked. Zach combines a natural athleticism with gentleness, sensitivity and an emphasis on positive dog handling. The happy result? Zach is already a gold medal dog walker in the eyes of his PugetPets’ human and canine clients.

Robert Flor
Bob Flor is best known in Seattle as the recently retired, highly successful Seattle transportation planner responsible for innovative programs such as bike racks on all the city’s buses. Bob is less well known for, though equally successful in, his work with animals. Bob has raised and trained shelties for more than 20 years, including training the sheltie of a former Seattle mayor. In addition, Bob has been involved with animal rescue for more than a decade. At PugetPets, Bob focuses on dog walking, where he can combine his love of “street-level Seattle” and his love of dogs.

August Henrich
Prior to joining PugetPets, August worked at the Seattle Humane Society. There, his busy days were split between the shelter care, boarding care and behavior assessment teams. With shelter and boarding care, August’s responsibilities included walking, bathing feeding and administering vaccines. As part of the behavior assessment team, August performed sophisticated analyses to determine the adoption status of dogs and follow up with any needed therapeutic treatment. Just how committed is August to animal health, happiness and well-being? In his free time, he volunteers for PAWS, with a focus on keeping difficult dogs socialized!

Abby Higgs

Abby began her professional life as a government pensions administrator, always finding time to volunteer with animals, as in her work for the SPCA Wildlife Center in Monterey. When she moved to Seattle, Abby began doing volunteer fostering for the Humane Society; and when the organization recruited her to be an Adoption Counselor, she accepted happily.  After several years at the Humane Society, Abby decided to try “the other side of the adoption equation.” She joined PugetPets, where each day she is thrilled to work with animals who have found such loving homes.

Sara Johnson
Sara Johnson knew early on that she wanted a career working with companion animals. One of her first jobs was as a kennel technician at a large dog boarding and daycare facility. There she was responsible for feeding, medicating, exercising and overseeing play of up to 30 dogs at once. Her outstanding work soon led to supervisory promotions. Sara then joined a new dog daycare start-up, where she worked for more than two years in a variety of aspects of the business. Realizing that she wanted to work with animals one-to-one, Sara has joined PugetPets, where she happily specializes in ongoing dog walks.

Melinda Miano
Melinda has two passions: animals and art. She graduated from Western Washington University with a fine arts degree, and is dedicated to her mixed media work. She is equally dedicated in her work with animals: after part-time high school/college animal care positions, she was hired as a vet tech by one of the Olympic Peninsula’s most respected veterinarians, responsible for immunizations, dental care, surgical preparation and more. Melinda was later recruited by a large luxury dog boarding facility, where she expanded her skills in pack management and enjoyed the chance to interact with customers. She then went on to the Bellingham Humane Society combining her skills for her varied roles as adoption counselor, kennel cleaner, dog walker and more. Melinda has moved to Seattle to advance her art and to work at PugetPets, where she is excited to be caring for animals in their loving homes.

Leah Myrbeck
Leah has an unparalleled devotion to animals.  Beginning her work at as a kennel attendant when she was just a teen, Leah quickly moved up to become a vet assistant, then a vet technician at hospitals that included the ASPCA Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. Leah then pursued her dream of working in animal rescue and for two and a half years worked at the Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York, a 175-acre animal rescue devoted to lifelong care and rehabilitation of farm animals rescued from cruelty and neglect. Leah lived right on the property, specializing in medical care. Now at PugetPets, Leah is thrilled to work with healthy animals who have found such loving homes.

Caroline Pederson
Prior to joining PugetPets, Caroline worked at the Port Angeles Humane Society. Her responsibilities there ranged from walking dogs and keeping animal housing clean and comfortable, to temperament testing, microchipping and administering vaccines. She and her team also created the Shelter's first-ever off- leash run area so that compatible dogs could play, socialize and receive training. Caroline brings to PugetPets the compassion and professionalism that grow from her experience at the shelter.

Daniela Rothrock
Daniela started working professionally with animals in 2007. She started as a bather in the grooming department at PetCo, and was soon promoted to the professional grooming staff. Daniela has also been a volunteer dog walker at PAWS in Lynnwood, where she has focused on individual walks, many times for non-socialized dogs. At PugetPets, Daniela is excited about the chance to with socialized animals on their happy home turf.

Katrina Stokesbury
Katrina began working professionally with animals more than twelve years ago, as a vet tech at a large Los Angeles veterinary hospital. There, her responsibilities ranged from taking patient histories to giving immunizations, and from assisting with physical exams to providing post-operative care. Now relocated to Seattle, Katrina has re-directed her skill and experience into pet sitting and dog walking. At PugetPets, she is thrilled to be working with healthy animals in and around their happy homes.

Bobbie Tanner

Prior to joining PugetPets, Bobbie worked for six years at Interbay Animal hospital. There, she had charge of all the boarding animals: some, post surgical hospital patients, others healthy and staying while their people were out of town. Bobbie skillfully balanced the very different needs of her charges--from medicating and wound dressing to feeding to exercising. She was also known for "going above and beyond," spending quiet, calming time with her excited or frightened charges. At PugetPets, Bobbie looks forward to creating ongoing care relationships with clients.

Kelly Viergutz

Kelly is a certified veterinary technician who received her degree from the highly-respected Larimer Veterinary Technology program in Colorado. She has three years experience working in veterinary hospitals, where her responsibilities have ranged from assisting during surgery, to giving standard vaccines, to caring for the boarding animals. At PugetPets, Kelly is excited about forming ongoing care relationships with our animal clients.

Noah Wasser
Noah decided early on to devote his life to animals. Starting as a teen, and for the last six years, he has worked with the UW’s pioneering Conservation Canines Program, which rescues high-prey-drive dogs from shelters, teaches them to detect animal “scat,” and takes them all over the world to work on conservation projects where collecting scat samples gives vital information about the health of animals, flora and fauna. The program is notable for its rescue of the dogs, its positive-only dog training and handling methods, and its research contributions, which, for example, have helped shut down illegal wildlife trade in Africa, and assess orca whale health in Puget Sound. Noah began at Conservation Canines as a teen intern, providing basic care to the dogs, and over the next six years advanced to dog trainer and handler. He is now taking a year away from school to decide whether to pursue a career as a veterinarian or as an animal behaviorist. At PugetPets, Noah is excited about the chance to work with such a variety of dogs and their humans.

Kristen Watkins
Kristen has had a life-long dream to work with animals. As a student at the UW, she pursued a psychology degree focused on animal behavior and interned at the UW Infant Primate Lab.  Kristen complemented that academic experience with hands-on work at a local Seattle dog daycare, where her responsibilities included pack oversight, food, medication and individual walks. After graduation, Kristen was offered one of the coveted permanent jobs at the Infant Primate Lab; today her work there focuses on on environmental enrichment and education, including teaching infant macaques how to use a touch screen computer. And once again, Kristen enjoys balancing the academic with the hands-on, through her work at PugetPets.

Susan Wycoff

Susan’s love of animals started as a child, when her parents owned a pet grooming business, and the family was never without fosters in addition to their own dogs, cats and birds. That love developed further as she pursued animal-related college courses, and, in her free time, volunteered for her local Humane Society. Today, as Susan completes her graduate degree in animal behavior, she fulfills her love of daily animal care through work at PugetPets.