Greetings! Sam at a Glance: - Focused on providing a safe, fun, and comfortable home-away-from-home for your pups. - Home full time. - Fluent in dog behavioral queue languages (but learning more everyday!) - I have taken 3 dog psychology classes and am continuing my education on dogs at every chance I get. - 7 Years of boarding all sorts of dogs in my home on Rover since 2018. - 5 years professional experience working at doggy daycare facilities (included managing, supervising, and caring for groups of up to 30 dogs at a time) - 4 years volunteer experience with the Multnomah County Animal Shelter (included maintaining a clean, safe, and healthy environment, connecting adoptable dogs with potential families, veterinary assistance, and administrative work) - 1 1/2 years of experience working under and learning from a balanced trainer who works mostly with reactive and aggressive dogs. - Able to provide medication via oral pill, liquid, or shots - Requires proof of up-to-date vaccination records for each guest pup to ensure safety - Able to provide a wide variety of positive dog-to-dog social opportunities via my own pack of pups (see more below). I doubt you will be surprised to hear that I love dogs. Caring for, learning about, and working with dogs has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Discovering, exploring, and supporting the personality of each individual dog will never get old to me and I am delighted to be able to call it my job! Thanks to my multiple years of experience working for doggy daycares and volunteering with animal shelters, I feel confident in my ability to interpret the signals our furry friends are giving us, and adapting my behavior or their environment to provide the care and support they need to thrive. During your pup’s stay with me, they’ll enjoy spending time with my own unique pack (Sierra, Dewy, Buckley, Gaston, and Raya) as well as other boarders. Sierra (11) is my ever gentle mastiff mix whose endless patience and mellow temperament can help calm even the most nervous of newcomers. Dewy (5), our wrestle-mania blue brindle pitbull mix, and the vocal during play Buckley (6), our fluffy Texas heeler, are always happy to meet new friends and show them around with wagging tails and curious noses. Siblings Gaston (2.5) and Raya (2.5), Australian shepherd mixes, are our newest additions and enjoy making new friends. Gaston loves body contact play while Raya loves to be chased. I can always count on my crew to provide our guests with plenty of safe opportunities to learn and practice appropriate play and social queues, as well as help me keep everyone entertained! I also do walks via "Pack Hike Adventures" that I offer for any Daycare or Boarding dog(no pressure to include these, they are optional and fun): Pack Hike Adventures: $40 for a 2 hour hike per dog. I choose a hiking destination(normally in nature) and have a structured pack walk of 3 to 5 dogs. They are always on leashes for safety. I currently do not have set days for Pack Hikes and am available all days of the week(besides snow days). Depending on the pup I oftentimes will use the first hike session to teach appropriate leash manners 1 on 1 before an actual hike. Helps everything flow smoother before adding another pup to the walk. I accommodate Pack Hikes on a requested bias. If you are interested please let me know so we can schedule a day during your dogs stay. I'd love to include them! <3