About Us

I’ve always loved and admired animals and nature, and for as long as I can remember I’ve had a pet in my life. I raised many hamsters and bunnies in my youth, and my family always had a rescue kitty or two. My grandfather built beautiful outdoor rabbit hutches to house my bunnies and I enjoyed watching them play, run, binkie, and dig tunnels in our yard. When I became familiar with the House Rabbit Society I learned the importance of keeping rabbits indoors. I rescued bunnies from the Oakland Animal Shelter and HRS, and loved being able to care for them in a new way that provided them safety and longevity! The life they truly deserved! When I was 16 I got a job at Pet Food Express and gained so much product knowledge not only for cats and dogs, but exotics too, and I would bring my green iguana with work to me often. I also discovered my love for animal medicine through the vaccine clinic PFE provides monthly. Eventually, this curiosity for pet medicine landed me a job at Pet Vet where I had my first hands-on experience with assisting Veterinarians. From there I got a job at Animal Care Clinic, a pet hospital, and was trained as a veterinary technician. After several years of education and experience and training as a surgical assistant, my love for exotic animals had increased and I wanted to further my education and career. I left ACC and started working at Berkeley Dog and Cat Hospital. There I had the opportunity of a lifetime to work with the one and only Dr. Ken Harkewitz, an exotics vet who I had admired and dreamed of working with. Now having 2 green iguanas, I was excited to be able to assist in the neuter of my male green iguana, Clover. While working there I adopted a Whites tree frog, who needed surgery for a mass, a bearded dragon who was living in a neglectful situation, and a cockatiel who a fella vet tech found outside the hospital. All of those animals taught me incredible lessons and left me with experiences to apply to my future pet care business. Clover, who lived free roam in my home along with all my dogs, cats, bunnies, and other lizards, moved with me several times, and escaped every house we lived in, always scaring a neighbor when he’d show up in their yard or tree. He lived and loved a long, beautiful life, until he died at home at the very old age of 24. An experience I’ll never forget and one I’ll truly treasure forever! Doggie Dance was born when clients from the hospital would hire me for after care, care. Their pet would be discharged from the hospital but would need continued care at home, which maybe the client wasn’t quite comfortable or capable of doing on their own. I would come to their home and give oral, topical, Sub Q, and even intravenous medications. I loved being able to provide this for not only the clients but their beloved pets/family members. By this time I had 6 rescue dogs of my own and had started taking trips to the dog park for exercise and socializing. Other dog owners started asking if I was a dog walker and if I would be interested in walking their dog(s). Having no real professional experience I wasn’t sure how to answer this question so I applied for a dog walking job with Fetch. As I grew my skills of professional dog walking, I realized this was something I could do on my own and for a living. So I did. I branched out and started walking dogs professionally while I continued my work as a veterinary nurse. It took 10 hard years of working full-time at the vet hospital, and dog walking and pet sitting in between shifts, but in 2000 I was finally able to leave my job at the vet hospital and bring Doggie Dance to life as my full-time business. While my original 6 pack of dogs, lizards, frogs, and birds have all crossed over the rainbow bridge, the lessons and experience, love and loyalty, and the bonds I was fortunate enough to have with each of them has made it possible for Doggie Dance to become one of the most successful dog walking and pet care businesses in the Bay Area. We are proudly accredited with the BBB.