About Me
Having dogs has always been a part of my life. My parents had a dog before I was born, so technically I’ve never not had a dog. When we moved to Washington State in the early 1990’s, our animal family grew to include cats, chickens, llamas and alpaca. When our family’s Alpaca hobby farm was running at its peak, we had over 40 Alpacas, a couple of barn cats, 2 house cats, 12 chickens, and a dog. I spent many hours cleaning pens, working the fair and shows and talking with people wanting to learn about animals.
Life changes and after I took a career Firefighter / Paramedic job in Virginia, my brother joined the military, my sister moved and my mom took a job overseas, the farm was slowly reduced to no animals. Now, my parents family farm is starting to see the signs of new life. This time, it’s with 3 grand daughters, 4 dogs, 2 cats and our first 2 bee hives.
After a 20+ year career in the Fire Department with 15 of those as a Paramedic, I retired and moved back to Spokane. I co-own, with my wife, a growing dog training business. I became a Pet First Aid and CPR Instructor so I could teach our trainers, groomers and other employees how to be prepared for emergencies with the animals in their care. I discovered that many of our clients and other pet businesses also wanted to take my classes. I created the Pet Safety Pro to help educate people in pet first aid and CPR. Now, it has also begun to grow into pet safety awareness at home and while enjoying the friendship of your pets on daily adventures and vacations. I also want to provide a place for people to learn about safe pet products and to be able to purchase them if desired.
Why Teach Pet Safety Awareness and Pet First Aid
I taught the community emergency response team program for 10 years, helping citizens prepare for disasters. I was also an instructor for our fire safety trailer teaching kids and adults how to prevent accidents and fires in the home. After a few tropical storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, I realized there was a need to help people plan for dealing with emergencies with their pets, so they wouldn’t have to leave their pets behind. Today I’m developing 2 programs to address those problems.
Using my combined knowledge in Fire/EMS Prevention and Pet First Aid, I am helping pet parents and professionals, provide a safe environment for their pets and to provide proper care during an emergency. I also want pet parents to safely take their dogs on adventures and other outings as a member of their family.
