About me

I live in the Bell Mountain Ranch Community with my parents and our house full of dogs, cats and horses. I have been working at Camp Bow Wow Castle Rock for a little over three years and am currently the assistant manager and assistant dog trainer. I am also a student at Metropolitan State University studying psychology and sociology.

Getting into dog training

I've always been very interested in working with animals. I spent all of my free time in barns growing up, and have worked at, and managed multiple facilities. The barn I managed before moving to Colorado left me exhausted, so I decided to look into dog-related jobs when I moved out here. Camp Bow Wow was a pretty perfect fit. We started offering training about a year and a half later. I was always willing to help our head trainer, so she decided to make me assistant trainer. While dogs are at camp for either day care or boarding I can work with them on basic obedience like sit, stay and leash manners. I think training is one of the most important things a person should do with their animals. It's a great way to form a relationship with your dog and helps build a strong, reliable bond. I wish more people realized training takes a lot of work and consistency, and that training isn't a one-and-done deal, you have to continue to train and challenge your dog to learn more things.

Hundreds of friends

Working at Camp Bow Wow is super rewarding. I get to build a relationship with every dog that comes to camp, and who else can say their friends with hundreds of dogs? If I'm having a bad day I come to work and snuggle and play with dogs all day, you can't stay upset when you're doing that!

In my free time…

Working full time and going to school full time doesn't leave me with a lot of free time. I try to spend what time I do have playing and hiking with my pups, and spending time with friends and family.

My mantra

I don't really have a mantra, but if I had to have one it would be to be kind, and not judge other people.

If you have suggestions for My Name Is…, contact Jessica Gibbs at jgibbs@coloradocommunitymedia.com.