By Katie Vaughn | Photo courtesy Laura Strimpel
From shops to daycares to training services, women lead many of the city’s pet-focused businesses. Sit, stay and read on to meet a few of them.
SMALL AND MIGHTY
Get to know Laura Strimpel, a internationally certified professional dog trainer who owns Taproot Dog Training and North Paw, a dog daycare and boarding provider.
How did you become interested in working with animals?
When I adopted my first dog, Timbre, years ago, I started taking training classes and fell in love with how she learned! I quickly began volunteering as a trainer, was asked to be a lead trainer at a popular training company in Madison, then earned my certification and started my own training company because I wanted to improve both the human and dog learning experience.
What is your approach to dog training?
I wholeheartedly believe in a science- and choice-based approach to dog training, which is why I am certified. But I also believe there is room for honoring that every dog is an individual and that not every dog fits into how we think all dogs will learn.
Can you tell us about North Paw?
North Paw is the only daycare in the state that is focused on smaller dogs and cats. Other daycares may have a small space or group for these pint-sized dogs, but my entire property is dedicated to their needs … I designed the entire outdoor space myself, and everything from the play equipment to the different play arenas are built with littles in mind. We are also queer-owned!
SO FETCH
While spending time with a friend and her dog, Jasmine Wong found herself distracted by garish pet toys standing out in the beautiful house.
“I thought, ‘What if we made toys that looked good in a home?’” she recalls. Wong, a product manager, and her husband, Nick, a mechanical engineer, decided to try, with her focusing on design and him on durability. They started their company East Mission, named after the century-old Labrador Retriever statue that overlooks East Mission Street in Santa Barbara, where Wong and her husband lived before moving to the Madison area.
The company’s dog ball is made with a natural rubber exterior, has an embedded squeaker and infused beef flavor, and is offered in cream, dark blue and light brown colors. The Wongs sell the toys on Amazon and Etsy.
They have ideas for more ball patterns and products to develop, but are happy that customers are loving the aesthetics and durability of their first ball.
“One of the things we’re most proud of since we started selling over a year ago, is having no dog completely destroy it,” Wong says.
DEN MOTHER
When Laura Schorrak began taking her first dog to The Dog Den, she felt pulled to start helping out at the training facility. “Here and there came to be more and more,” she says, and she took over the business in 2011.
Schorrak expanded The Dog Den to two locations, and, in 2017, opened The Puppy Den to serve exclusively young pups and their unique developmental stages.
At all three sites, staff use positive reinforcement to encourage dogs’ best behavior.
“We have an amazing team,” Schorrak says of her 35 employees, many of whom have worked at the company for more than a decade. “We’re very focused on continuing education and trying to do what’s best for the dogs at each turn.”
Schorrak also offers free daycare and training to dogs in foster care to teach them good behavior and ultimately make them more adoptable. “We want to give them as much of a chance to find their next home,” she says.
