Meet the Mindful Mutts Team! 

We strive to offer our entire team a company culture of Kindness, Honesty,  transparency and Respect. Each team member is important to us and we care about their safety, as well as mental and physical health as much as we do for your dog’s.

Breaks are always paid and self-regulated to ensure we are all mindful of the need to take care of our brains and our bodies. Imagine an 8 hour day full of barking, cleaning, and picking up poop around the clock! It ain’t all puppy snuggling 😉

Interested in joining our team? Check out our Career Opportunities and apply by emailing your resume to info@mindfulmutts.ca. ONLY candidates with relevant experience and education will be considered. 

***PLEASE DO NOT APPLY IN PERSON***

Stefania Butkovic - Owner/Operator - She/Her

About Stefania

Stefania has been studying in many different avenues to learn all about dogs. She is studying to become a certified science based dog trainer through The Academy for Dog Trainers. She regularly attends seminars and courses in an effort to stay up to date in her field of work and to continue her education in the science behind your fuzzbutts! Her husband Jon is known for being the local Dog Taxi Service and is Pet First Aid Certified through Walks 'N Wags. They share Cassie the 11 year old minpin/chi whom they adopted 10 years ago, and Bruna a 7 year old pug/sharpei that they added to their home 6 years ago.

Read More: Lack of Industry Standards

Stefania is a plant-powered advocate for animal welfare. Before diving into formal education as dog trainer, Stefania saw a need to speak up about the dangers lurking behind closed doors of dog daycares. After working in some gruesome conditions at dog daycares to gain hands-on experience, some things she has witnessed are:

    • Dogs with mouths muzzled shut all day for barking
    • Dogs being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and tossed angrily into kennels
    • Prong collars used behind owner’s backs
    • Even water boarding of animals when groomers got impatient was not uncommon

The lack of regulation is something that should  be taken very seriously. Stefania is working hard to make that message loud and clear to the public by educating her community on the physical and emotional damage that can be done to animals in these facilities. Conditions were terribly stressful and abusive mentally and physically for the dogs.

Educational info and seminar attendance:

Stefania continues to pursue her love of working with animals 5 years later.  She is a lover of community and entrepreneurship. After years of brain storming, she finally started “Mindful Mutts” combining all things dog in one place. She launched a pilot project of a Low-Stress Dog Daycare & Training facility in May of 2016 in an effort to boldly set new standards of care for the industry. In January of 2018, she opened the second location in the beautiful neighborhood of Downtown New West. <3

In Spring of 2020, Stefania started her journey in furthering her education in dog behaviour. She was accepted into The Academy for Dog Trainers and is currently working through the intensive 2 year program.

Stefania has been Pet First Aid certified through Walks ‘N’ Wags since 2014 and has been a Certified Pet First Aid Instructor for over 3 years. To date she has certified well over 200 people!  WNW is a national leader in Pet First Aid that is veterinary approved!

Stefania is a proud member of the Shock-Free Coalition, and as of July 2018 is volunteering as the Regional Coordinator for BC! Read the press release here.

Kiran Basra (She/Her/They/Them)
Managing Partner

Kiran became a member of the Mindful Mutts family when she brought her puppy Kayda in for training classes, and daycare two years ago. Kiran continues to expand her knowledge in dog behaviour so she can better understand and raise Kayda.

Kiran worked in the video game industry, until she was ready for a career change. That led her to becoming an even bigger part of Mindful Mutts as a partner, so she can  continue building and making Mindful Mutts a great community.

 

Completed 2021: Bravo Dog Knowledge Foundations

Jelena Ukalovic (She/Her)
Trainer Assistant & Client Care Manager

Jelena’s passion for dogs has led her to Mindful Mutts, and has continued to encourage her to expand her knowledge about dog behaviour by keeping up with science based dog behaviour courses. More certification and seminar attendance details can be found below!

Thankful for the guidance and knowledge Mindful Mutts has given her, she has raised her own pup Duke into the loving goofball he is. Jelena hopes to become a school teacher in the near future. <3

Kaeli Grotz (She/Her/They/Them)
Daycare Manager

Kaeli joined Mindful Mutts with a passion for dog behaviour and helping to enrich the lives of each and every dog she meets. She strongly believes that animals deserve to live joyful and enriched lives and that it takes adapting our human actions and environments to make them comfortable and happy.
 
Kaeli has continued to upgrade her education in dog behaviour, and using that knowledge when it comes to her two and a half year old sheltie Freya. When Kaeli isn’t working she can be found playing fetch, or going on an adventure with Freya or listening to whichever new podcast has caught her attention.
 

2021 Karen Pryor Dog Trainer Comprehensive Course
In Progress – As of Oct 2021 Karen Pryor Dog Training Professional

Martha Bull (She/Her)
Wrangler

Martha has found her way into the Mindful Mutts family, and found she really loves the hands on aspect of working with the dogs. Education is important to Martha when it comes to animal care, it’s also something she can always use when parenting her two kitties at home.

While she may not know what she wants to do when she grows up quite yet, she is happy taking care of and enriching the lives of each dog that comes in to Mindful Mutts. Martha has completed Dog Safe, Low Stress Canine & Feline handling and restraint, and more info on Wrangler studies can be found below:

Laura Savaschi (She/Her)
Wrangler

Laura has spent her life caring for each and every animal that had been dropped off on her doorstep, known as the towns baby healer in Romania, she nursed countless kittens and baby animals back to health. Growing up in Romania Laura grew up around a lot of stray animals, which sparked her interest in animal behaviour.

Laura believes that the mental well being is just as important as physical well being of a animal, and she puts that knowledge and understanding to use with her 18 year old Romanian stray dog, and her two cats everyday.

Jace (He/Him)
Wrangler

Jace joined the Mindful Mutts team with a profound respect for the effect that animals can have on our overall wellbeing and because he would like to expand his knowledge in dog behaviour and how to better animals’ lives through low stress and positive reinforcement methods.

Jace would like to become a veterinary technologist as well as rescue and foster animals in need of a safe environment. When Jace isn’t at work with the Mindful Mutts crew, at school, or flexing his artistic ability painting,  you can find him spending time with his dog Kismet, and cat Amber.

Completed 2021: Bravo Dog Knowledge Foundations