August 2019

 

Certified Professional Spotlight

Born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, Stephanie Shipley opened Paw & Order Inc. in December 2009 after having dreamed of helping, playing and working with dogs as a career since she was a young child. After spending much of her adult life in both the operations and human resource areas of the hospitality industry for Delta Hotels and Marriott International with a staff of 300+ employees, it was an easy decision to make the leap from working in the human hospitality field to providing exceptional pet hospitality. Stephanie started training dogs to play flyball many years ago but soon became much more interested in the specialty of Canine Communication and Behaviour. She is heavily involved with local dog rescue and rehabilitation for local, provincial and national organizations. Stephanie initially set out to change the way that pet care is viewed in her own community on the east coast of Canada by raising the bar through training, education and certification.

Stephanie operates her own pet care facility, Paw & Order, and provides facility consulting services all over North America through Higher Paws. When not at the facility, her time is spent with her 4-month twin girls, Lincoln and Lennon. She enjoys speaking with groups ranging from kindergarten age to seniors about responsible pet ownership, canine communication, providing enrichment for family pets, entrepreneurship and human resources. She does this all while lobbying for tougher animal protection legislation. She is a Certified Animal Care Provider, a Certified Animal Care Operator and a Certified PetTech Instructor.

PACCC: How did you find out about PACCC?

Stephanie: I found out about PACCC while scrolling through Facebook several years ago and then had the opportunity to meet some of the Board Members while attending a conference in Hershey, PA.

PACCC: What was your motivation for becoming a CPACP and a CPACO?

Stephanie: From the first moment that I realized there existed a third-party independent certification for the pet care industry, I knew that I had to be a part of it. In a virtually unregulated industry, the public can’t tell the difference from a company’s Facebook page of website whether they are actually qualified to care for people’s pets. All along I was telling my clients that I was good at what I was doing and that I knew what I was doing but I had no way to actually prove it to them before asking them to trust me to love and care for their furry family member. PACCC certification allows me to say “Don’t believe me because I can tell you anything I want. Believe this!” and I show them my certification.

PACCC: Has being certified made a change to your business? Relationships with staff or clients? Reputation in the community?

Stephanie: Most definitely!! I proudly boast on every medium available that my facility has four PACCC Certified team members and five certifications – 4 CPACPs and Canada’s only CPACO! Our clients have supported us every step of the way and are so supportive of our efforts to raise the bar for pet care in our community. They tell their family and their friends that certification is a big reason why they picked us from the list on Google when they searched for pet care. The community has taken notice of us and we are preceded by our excellent reputation. We stand very proud of our accomplishment of becoming certified professionals, our clients stand tall beside us because they are proud of how serious we take pet care and our community has recognized us as a leader in pet care.

PACCC: Would you recommend certification to other pet care professionals? If so, why? If not, why not?

Stephanie: I most definitely recommend sitting for the PACCC Exam. It has changed everything in our business for the better! Our staff are speaking to our clients and potential clients with more pride than ever before. We are getting better qualified candidates applying to work with us. Our clients are boasting about our accomplishments and sharing in our success and our company name is recognized throughout our city.

PACCC: Anything else you would like to add?

Stephanie: In business I hate spending money. As a matter of fact, I refuse to spend any money. Instead of spending it I choose to invest it. The difference between spending and investing is that with any investment there is always a return (ROI). PACCC certification has been one of the best investments I have ever made since the returns have been significant with no signs of slowing down any time soon. I just sent in my CEUs for my CPACP renewal and stand very tall and proud of this accomplishment.

 

Congratulations New Certified Pros!

In June, PACCC had another group of exceptional pet care providers, managers and operators join the list of certified professionals who have stepped forward to prove their skills and body of knowledge in the pet care industry. Congratulations to these newly certified pet care industry professionals:

 

Ryan Bretl, CPACP – Henrico, VA
Michael Cillen-Bedoya, CPACP – Orlando, FL
Kathryn Cushing, CPACP – Inverness, IL
Zachary Fuqua, CPACP – North Chesterfield, VA
Jessica Josefchuk, CPACP – Calgary, AB
Kathleen Lawyer, CPACP – Richmond, VA
Elizabeth Linquist, CPACP – Burlington, IA
Richard Martinson, CPACP – Richmond, VA
Mary Medina, CPACP – Richmond, VA
Mary Mullen, CPACP – Richmond, VA
Melissa Peters, CPACP – Lykens, PA
Schylar Postle, CPACP – Ricjmond, VT
Glenda Schroeder, CPACP – Crozier, VA
Jessica Scott, CPACP – Burlington, IA
Daniel Stirling, CPACP – Richmond, VA

Kelley Nelson, CPACM – New Orleans, LA

Michelle Sparacino, CPACM – Clinton, MD

Stephanie Tausher, CPACM – Evansville, WI

Jane Budnick, CPACO – St. Louis, MO
Dawn Hallgren, CPACO – Amarillo, TX
Kimberley Vaughn, CPACO – Winston Salem, NC

Next PACC Exams

Are you ready to join the PACCC?

The final round of PACCC exams in 2019 is taking place November 9 – 23, 2019. Registration for this testing window closes on October 11, 2019.

Are you headed to the IBPSA Conference in Palm Springs? PACCC will be there and can help you through the registration process. All you need to do is bring along your completed attestation forms and we will get you registered to sit for the November Exam. Need a copy of the attestation form? No problem, just click the link below.

Click Here to Download an Attestation Form for your Exam

Don’t forget that if your organization uses Gingr as your facility management software OR if your facility belongs to The Dog Gurus Profit Network, your staff qualify for a discounted exam registration fee.

Are you “on the fence” and aren’t sure how to prepare for the exam? PACCC doesn’t want you to miss out on being an industry leader and will put you in touch with existing PACCC certified professionals via Study Group Facebook Groups. These groups discuss best practices and resources that were found to be beneficial. They also provide a platform to ask questions throughout the exam preparation process. Take a moment to join a Study Group right now!

Click Here to Join a PACCC Study Group

In addition to the creation of the PACCC Study Groups, PACCC has reached out to many of our already certified professionals to ask them which resources they found most valuable when preparing to take the exam. We have compiled the results, sought out the best prices, and now have many of those recommended resources available to order directly on the PACCC website. With a single click, you can order these resources AND a portion of the proceeds will be donated to PACCC to further our message of the importance of certification in our industry.

Click Here for Recommended Resource Materials

Exams: November 9-23, 2019 | Registration Deadline: October 11, 2019

 

Continuing Education Deadlines

Reminder for approved CEU programs

Don’t delay in tracking CEUs and submitting them for re-certification! Those CPACPs who became certified in 2016 need to renew their certification with approved CEUs by the end of December 2019. This will extend their current CPACP certification for three years. The Recertification Handbook and the CEU Tracking Form cam be downloaded here: https://paccert.org/recertification/

There are several new educational programs recently approved as PACCC CEUs and a listing of all eligible courses and webinars can be found at https://paccert.org/ceu-approved/

 

Upcoming Events

We excited to have several PACCC Board Members scheduled to attend The Dog Gurus Business Breakthrough Workshop in Colorado Springs, CO September 11 – 12, 2019. On October 1 – 3, we will be live at the PACCC Booth at the IBPSA Conference in Palm Springs, CA. Be sure to visit us at these two wonderful events to have your questions answered and/or register for the next exam period. If you are already certified, we would love to put some faces to names and provide you with a PACCC Certified ribbon to attach to your name badge.

 

PACCC Hosted Webinars

Unfortunately, our last webinar had some significant technical issues that prevented us from going live at the scheduled time however, we are pleased to say that Annette Uda with Pet Airapy will soon be recording the webinar for PACCC to share with our followers. Stay tuned for more details about our upcoming webinar with PetTech’s, Thom Somes.

All of the PACCC hosted webinars are available at no cost on the PACCC website for you to view and share and all are approved for PACCC CEUs.

If you are planning to attend a local pet expo of pet related event, we would love to hear about it! Maybe you would benefit from some PACCC information or handouts to tell the pet parents in your community all out PACCC!

PACCC Supporter Profile

Meet The Dog Gurus

As a not-for-profit organization, we rely heavily on the support of individuals and organizations to assist in spreading the word about the importance of obtaining independent certification in the pet care industry. As such, we would like to share with you some information about these generous organizations who support PACCC’s mission and vision.

Since the creation of PACCC, The Dog Gurus (TDG) have shared our vision of independent third-party certification, making it “Safer in a PACCC”. Offering a wide variety of training programs and consulting services, they’ve made a commitment to helping pet care professionals create and maintain a healthier and safer environment for their furry clients. They are truly the industry experts in safe off-leash play!

Social Media Updates

Share your pictures, memes, questions and advice!

The PACCC Social Media sites have taken off in the past few months thanks to our loyal supporters and ever-growing list of certified industry professionals. We are now boasting more than 644 Instagram followers and 1,743 Fans on Facebook. We would love to see your pictures, memes, questions and advice – so visit one of these sites today and say hi.

 

Geared specifically for pet care providers, PACCC encourages credible pet care provides to not only tell their clients that they provide exceptional care but prove it by taking a PACCC exam. If you missed it, check it out here.

As a pet parent, you can share this link with your local pet care provider.

 

Where Are You?

Over the past few months, PACCC Board Members have been reaching out to our certified professionals to gain insight about how PACCC can better assist with marketing initiatives and ask for exam preparation recommendations. We’ve had some wonderful discussions with our CPACPs, CPACMs and CPACOs but there are some that we were not able to reach due to a change in contact information. Please take a few moments to make sure PACCC has your most up to date information. With a quick click, you can keep your information up to date.

Click Here to Update Your Information with PACCC

 

Have Something to Say?

Share your knowledge!

PACCC is always open to blogs devoted to making pets safe. If you’re a writer who would like to donate an educational blog, contact us with your idea!