About
Doggy Haven Resort was established in 2002 to serve the boarding needs of our daycare clients. There was a search for property in south Snohomish County that would enable our daycare clients to not go too far out of their way to see us. Doggy Haven Resort sits on nearly five acres in a quiet valley next to a horse ranch. David and Donnell Boyd purchased Doggy Haven from the founder in 2006 and live nearby in Mill Creek. David and Donnell are lifelong animal lovers who both have a variety of business experience in technology, construction and business services. It is our mission to always do what is best for the dog, because your dog deserves the very best!
Becca
Becca started working at Doggy Haven in July of 2017. She’s grown up with dogs and is an avid animal lover! Her golden retriever, Wilson, has been coming here since he was a pup so as soon as she was old enough she applied for a job. When she graduates from Jackson high school in 2019, Becca plans on going to college in hopes of becoming a veterinarian! Ideally she would like to be a wildlife or zoo veterinarian so she can be with animals of all kinds. Her favorite kind of days are days spent at the beach sunbathing with Wilson or throwing him a tennis ball. She loves Wilson even more than he loves playing fetch, which is a lot! Dogs are always in the center of her heart and she loves coming to work to spend time cuddling and playing with furry friends!
Christa
Christa’s dream job is an appraiser on Antiques Road Show, but for now she’s happy to spend her time as a part of the Doggy Haven Team (since July 2013). Christa’s hard work and dedication earned her a promotion to Lead in August of 2015. Growing up in New York, Christa was always the neighborhood pet sitter. She has done a year and a half of volunteering at Homeward Pet Adoption Center, is certified in Pet CPR and First Aid, and took a trip to Thailand in 2014 in volunteer with Elephants. Her spare time is spent obsessively knitting, camping and hiking with her husband and dog (goofball Shepard mix – Otis), traveling, and eating fancy food. She loves the dogs at Doggy Haven; they make her smile every day. Working with other dog people is a plus too – we understand each other!
Debbie
Debbie has been grooming professionally since 1995, and she joined the Doggy Haven team October of 2013. Puppies are her passion; she’s so excited to build trusting relationships with dogs and parents resulting in life long clients. The most rewarding grooms for her are the ones where she gets to transform a dog completely. Debbie was born and raised here, and now she’s watching her kids grow up here too. Her kids are always number one. When not grooming, she likes to read, watch movies, and hang out with her four kids (they especially love to be outdoors camping, boating, fishing, and swimming), and all things Seahawks. There has always been a dog in her home, currently a Shih Tzu and an English Cream Golden Retriever. Debbie loves working at Doggy Haven, and likens coming to work every day to coming home. She says the Doggy Haven family is “way too fun!”
Holly
Holly has an extensive background in pet care. In addition to being part of the Doggy Haven team since March of 2010, she has worked at 3 other daycares, 2 vet clinics, and 2 pet supply stores. She did pet sitting and dog walking as a teen, was certified in pet first aid and CPR, spent a year volunteering a couple days at HPAC, fostered ferrets, has been a loving mom to chinchillas, birds, a hedgehog, cats, and dogs. She is currently mom to 1 dog (Finley) and 3 little humans. Holly loves Irish music, and played the bag pipes for 15 years—she would love to pick it up again. Some day she’d like to run a marathon, and climb Mt. Rainier. In the meantime she spends her time playing with her kids and husband, going to the dog park, hiking, traveling, and reading. Holly and Finley love coming to DH, especially when they get to run, play, and watch dogs being dogs! Holly would be happy to spend the rest of her days as part of Doggy Haven.
Jennifer
Jennifer joined the Doggy Haven team in July of 2017. She currently is a dog trainer, working closely with trainer Kim, teaching orientation and levels classes. Jennifer has spent all of her life around athletics and because of that spent time coaching. She decided to take her passions for teaching and dogs to the next level by entering the apprentice program. Her favorite dogs are black labradors because of their loyalty, young spirit, and active nature. She is pictured here with her 13 year old first love, Pointer, who passed away December of 2016.
Jeska
Jeska happily joined the fantastic grooming staff at Doggy Haven in August of 2018, where she looks forward to working with dogs both familiar and new!
Jess
Jess started at Doggy Haven in February of 2017 as a Resort Companion, and is now currently a Lead. She has an extensive background in retail, as well as experience working at a vet clinic. Jess has been an animal lover all her life, and spent 10 years in 4-H in her home state of Minnesota raising sheep, goats, and llamas on her grandfather’s farm, as well as hanging out with the various exotic animals he had, including a yak and camel. She also trained and showed her Mini Schnauzer in the 4-H dog training program with great success.
Nowadays, Jess enjoys hanging out with her boyfriend and dog (super shelter mutt PJ) and enjoying hikes and nature walks. She also shares her home with two rats (Archie and Billy). Her hobbies include pretty much any craft or art project that strikes her fancy, (crochet, drawing, painting, sewing, taxidermy, cosplay, etc…) going to thrift stores, and playing video games.
Her favorite part of working at Doggy Haven is how well everyone gets along, and how much the dogs love it there. She comes home smelling like dog every day, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. 😉
Kellie
Kellie started working at Doggy Haven September of 2017 as a full-time Resort Companion. When she was young, her automatic reply to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was, “A veterinarian!” Animals have always been and will continue to be, a big part of her life. Since the age 13, has been a pet sitter and dog walker for her neighbors and family. She volunteered at PAWS for two years where her duties included: dog walking, cat room cleaning, and being on the Clinic Call Team. For her senior project when in high school, she spent 45 hours job shadowing at VCA Silver Lake Animal Hospital. Throughout her life she has had four cats and one dog. Sadly, about a week after she started at Doggy Haven, her dog of 15 years, Skip, passed away from cancer. She thought it would be difficult to come in and see dogs the next day, but it ended up helping immensely. Different quirks, and physicalities that these dogs have, remind her of Skip and it helps keep the memories alive!
In her spare time, she enjoys reading, playing with her cat, and listening to music. She hopes one day to travel the world — first on her list… Europe!
Kim
Kim is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT), a Fear Free Certified Animal Trainer, an AKC CGC Evaluator and a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT). She has been at Doggy Haven since March of 2003 and worked her way through the ranks to become Training Manager as of July 2013.
Kim helps train the employees about dog body language and behavior as part of Doggy Haven Resort’s continuing education program for employees. She is also one of the instructors for group classes, works with board & trains, daycare & trains and also offers private lessons at Doggy Haven Resort. She loves to attend training conferences and seminars as part of her continuing education.
Outside of work, Kim enjoys hiking with her dogs, yoga, jogging and snowboarding. She and her husband live in the Mill Creek area with their four dogs – Angus (Mastiff), Aloha (Shar Pei mix), Hula (Terrier mix) and Radar (Cane Corso).
Kim’s students are lucky to have the best of both worlds: a savvy and motivated dog trainer as well as a kind, supportive, humorous people person.
Laura
Laura started at Doggy Haven as a Resort Companion in March of 2014, and was promoted to a Lead position in July of 2015. She has been a dog lover since birth, and has had a dog all of her life. Her background is in Retail Management and she would like to continue working with dogs in some way for the rest of her life. Laura is passionate about rescuing and can’t wait to save more. Laura currently has 2 rescues, a pug named Arlo and a boxer named Mia. Spending time with her husband, two kids and the rest of the family is a favorite past time. Some of her other loves are cooking, antiquing and vintage cars.
Lauren
Lauren joined Doggy Haven as a Resort Companion in October of 2018 and hit the ground running since she had previously been a dog walker in Seattle for many years, as well as training her Australian Shepherd mix and Golden Retriever in 4-H since she was 10. When not at work, she loves hiking, camping, running, cross county skiing, and drawing, but especially loves being surrounded by dogs every day at Doggy Haven. In the future, Lauren would love to continue traveling all around the world, visit Europe and Asia again, and go to New Zealand and Scandinavia, and on her travels maybe find a vegetable farm to settle down on for a while. Although she currently has no dogs at home, there are already plans in the works to get a Border Collie!
Leah
Leah has been grooming for over 10 years. she started at Doggy Haven Resort in June of 2016, and loves the passionate, family atmosphere. Dog grooming basically fell into her lap, and she has been drawn in ever since. Working with dogs is therapeutic for her, and her favorite part of the day is all the love and kisses she gets from them. She has two dogs – Xandria the Blue Heeler who is almost six, and Lilith the Lab who is almost ten – that are Leah’s whole world. She says you can’t have a bad day when dogs are in your life!
Lindsay
Lindsay has been grooming for over 13 years, and she joined Doggy Haven Resort in June of 2016. She specializes in grooming senior dogs that can need an extra patient and gentle touch. At home she has two rescue dogs, Gracie an adorable Havanese, and Bodhi a stubborn but affectionate black lab. When not grooming, she enjoys crime shows, baking, trying new Pinterest recipes, and watching the Seahawks!
Mary
Mary started as a part time resort companion in July of 2008, and has worked her way up to Assistant Manager as of July 2015. She is the nighttime caretaker, and gives our boarding dogs that need it a past-bedtime potty-break. Mary loves being around and working with animals, especially dogs. She is pet CPR and First Aid certified, and has taken most of the training classes Doggy Haven has to offer with her own dogs. The most dogs she owned at one time is 8 when she lived on a farm in Granite Falls. She currently has four dogs. Licorice, her black lab, helps run the barn next door at Ride N Shine Farm. Cedrick her Min Pin, thinks he runs everything. Jasmine and Sparky enjoy getting lots of love and nap time in. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Nate, and 2 adult children, catching big salmon, the Seahawks, reading mystery novels, and watching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Mary is looking forward to someday being a final refuge home for Old Dog Haven dogs.
Nichole
Nikki TeSelle is a certified trainer who joined Doggy Haven in March of 2017, she’s now teaching Feisty Fido and Levels classes, with a focus on cautious canines and rescue dogs that need a little extra help in their new home. Nikki stays current on the latest in positive reinforcement training and theory by attending seminars and workshops throughout the Northwest.
Ever since she was young, Nikki had a passion for animals, growing up as the only child in a family with lots of pets – dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, frogs, etc. She transferred this passion into a career by attending the Karen Pryor Trainer Foundation and becoming a Certified Training Partner of Karen Pryor Academy (KPA-CTP); she is also certified in Pet First-Aid and CPR. Nikki is currently continuing her education in dog training and animal behavior and is excited to take the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) test very soon.
Nikki lives in the Mill Creek area with her husband, Mike, and two beloved Siberian Huskies, Koda and Meika. While she and her husband enjoy traveling all over the world, they especially enjoy hiking alongside their huskies whenever they get the chance.
Rachel
Rachel came to us in January of 2017 after being a stay-at-home mom for 14 years. However, before deciding to stay home she worked in the veterinary field for 7 yrs. She’s had animals since the age of 8 when she acquired a male cat she promptly named Maria Snow White Fluffy. She’s passed her love of animals onto her two daughters. Her girls personally own a corn snake, stick bugs and a beta fish. She and her family currently have two dogs, a Labradoodle named Birdie and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Josie, and two cats, Finn & Rue. In the past she and her family have owned dogs, cats, fish, gerbils, leaf bugs, stick bugs, frogs and chickens. When not at Doggy Haven, Rachel enjoys photography, making jewelry, water-coloring, baking, and reading.
Rebecca
Rebecca joined the doggy haven team in July of 2017 as a Resort companion and grooming assistant. She’s currently a senior in high school and a full time running start student. After finishing at EvCC, she plans on going to medical school. Rebecca has always been an animal lover. Here she is pictured with her “fur family,” Ella, Daisy, and Genevieve.
Ryan
Ryan started working at Doggy Haven in October of 2018 as a Resort Companion. He loves to go hiking and being outside, as well as spending lots of time with dogs, so working at Doggy Haven is a perfect opportunity to combine his passions! Prior to working at Doggy Haven, Ryan was in construction, but in the future he hopes to provide a foster home for dogs of all types who are in need of a temporary, loving home. Currently he has three dogs at home, Remi a 1 year old chocolate lab who they have had since she was puppy, Macie a long haired dachshund who has been with them from 5 weeks to 5 years, and Nellie a rat terrier/beagle mix, also 5 years, who they’ve had since about 6 months old.
Sam
Sam been part of the team since June of 2017 and loves every day of it. She could not think of a better place to work. Working with dogs is what she’s always wanted to do. It can be a challenge but it is also very rewarding. She has had many different jobs in the past but this is her absolute favorite. In her spare time Sam loves to go to concerts and just hang out with her husband and their dogs. She has always had dogs and life wouldn’t be the same without them. Sam’s favorite part of working at Doggy Haven is getting to meet new dogs everyday.
Sarah
Sarah joined the team at Doggy Haven in May of 2017 and she absolutely loves it. Sarah moved here from Michigan at the beginning of the year and misses her dogs like crazy (German Shepherd, black Labrador Retriever, and Labrador/Pitt Bull mix), but luckily she has the best job in the world where she gets to see dogs everyday! Working with animals has always been Sarah’s passion, and she would not trade this job for anything. In her spare time she enjoys reading, writing, relaxing, and especially baking. Sarah is happy to report that she added an adorable chocolate lab to her family, his name is Archer and he is a huge fan of dandelions!
Shayla
Shayla joined the Doggy Haven team as a Resort Companion in July of 2018. Shayla has grown up with dogs all her life and has been a pet sitter and dog walker for all of her friends and family. When she’s not at Doggy Haven, she’s most likely at a dog park hanging out with her best friend Franklin (supermutt). Franklin is a rescue from California and loves Shayla almost as much as he loves swimming (which is a lot!). In her free time Shayla enjoys painting, hiking, and traveling.
Tasha
Tasha was part of the Doggy Haven team from May of 2006 to May of 2007. After that she moved to Spokane where she worked at another dog daycare for a year. She missed all things Doggy Haven so much during that year that she ran back, and worked her way up to the general manager position (which she has held since July 2013). Tasha’s fine work as the GM includes (but is not limited to): Hiring, training, scheduling, care of the dogs and facility, and helping our 2 legged clients. She is pet CPR and First Aid certified. Tasha loves her job more than just about anyone ever could, and feels so lucky to be able to say that.
When she’s not at Doggy Haven you can find her spending time with her daughter, hanging out with friends and family (furry or not), and enthusiastically pointing out every dog on the street. She is a huge Mariners fan and goes to as many games as she can, goes to movies and concerts, watches The Walking Dead, is an avid reader and totally crazy for books (it’s more of a sickness really). Writing is as much a passion as reading, and she spends the rest of her time writing for children and young adults. Tasha meets regularly with an amazing writing group since 2012. She’s also a member of SCBWI and AWP, and attends writing conferences and retreats several times a year.
