Niki and Ryan Covert

        Owners

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Niki Covert has owned Sylvan Pet Lodge since February of 2005. Niki joined the Sylvan Pet Lodge team in July of 2001, with extensive experience in pet care. She grew up in Shelton and was always around animals. Many of her pets included, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and hedgehogs. She worked as a volunteer for Adopt-A-Pet, a non-kill shelter for abused or abandoned animals, from 1994-1998. She graduated from Shelton High School in 1998 with an AA degree from South Puget Sound Community College, after completing the Running Start program. Niki followed her interest in an animal care field, by completing her Bachelor's Degree from Washington State University in 2000. She received her degree in Zoology with a Specialty in Animal Care.

 

When Niki returned to the Shelton area after graduation she took a position with Mason County as the Animal Control Officer. This caused some frustration, with only being able to deal with the "bad dogs", not those that she could help or rehabilitate.

 

Niki obtained her American Boarding Kennels Association Pet Care Technician Certification and her Advanced level certification. She continues to attend seminars in the field of animal care. Some outstanding ones include Clothier's seminar on Dog to Human Relationships, Ian Dunbar's Instructors course on Dog Behavior and Training and Sue Sternberg's class on managing dogs in shelter and confined areas. These are all classes utilizing positive handling techniques.

 

Niki's other passion is playing soccer. She has been playing since she was five years old and continued to play through High School and College, and is still active in the adult leagues in the area.

 

Niki's husband Ryan is also active in the business, doing all of the maintenance and landscaping on the property. They have two dogs and a cat. Chester a Mix and Rolo a Rottweiler Cross plus Dallas, the kitty.

 

Ryan and Niki have 3 children named Austin, Colton, and Wyatt.  Many of you will see them out and about on the property, or helping us outside.

 

 

Cortni Herrera

    Pet Care

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Cortni is Niki's youngest sister and has been working at Sylvan since 2001. She took a few years off after having her son Gabriel in 2015 but has recently come back to help a couple days a week after having her daughter Adeline in July of 2017. She has one dog named Butters that you may see greeting customers every now and then :)

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Cortni enjoys playing soccer with niki and has always had a passion for photography.

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Sam Kilts

 Pet Care

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam has been apart of the Sylvan team since 2014. She volunteered at Adopt-A-Pet for 2 years prior to Sylvan. She has 3 girls at home and a English Mastiff named Brutus AKA Brutty Tootie.