What is Pooch?
- A doggy daycare, home-style boarding, and training space for dogs.
- A foster-home for rescued doggies looking for loving homes (chat to us if you’re looking to adopt).
- A socially responsible family business, we support local animal rescue shelters.
- A community you can join for dog-friendly adventures
- Your dog’s favourite place
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Our Story
Pooch was born from a fundraising initiative we began in 2013 while living in South Korea and working in the animal rescue community. We rescued 35 neglected and abused dogs while overseas and the cost of fostering and rehoming them was often beyond what we could afford, with some dogs requiring extensive medical treatments, or surgeries. Our solution? We sold baked goods, and the community supporting us knew that 100% of the profit from their purchases would go toward saving animals lives. We called called this little fundraising factory “The Sweet Life”.
While abroad completed some training courses to help enrich the dogs in shelters we visited, and to help our foster fuzzes find homes faster. We took care of doggies for all our friends while they went on holiday, and gained a lot of experience flying dogs around the world due to international adoptions, and emigrating dog-boarding clients. All of these experiences are what lead us to where we are today.
Fast forward to 2020, after moving back to beautiful Cape Town, we are now living our dream of running a doggy business. With a slightly different modus operandi (and of course a cute new name to avoid five new orders of Caramel Cranberry Fudge in our inbox every day) POOCH offers a variety of pet services and products, we aim to continuously support various shelters, sterilization campaigns, and animal rescue operations in South Africa. We’re firm believers in community and kindness and hope to make the world a kinder place for all those living in it (little lives included!).
Meet the Team
Our team of gentle, caring staff make Pooch a truly enriching experience for your dog, full of fun while also maintaining safe and healthy routines and boundaries.
Jarryd
We started Pooch South Africa because of our sincere soft-spot for animals (doggies in particular), and we’re absolutely loving the process of building the Pooch Family.
Life is so much better with dogs – so much so that while we have our own pooch, we choose to gladly welcome your doggies into our home whenever you’re away.
Thank you for trusting us with your pooches – we appreciate you sharing their awesomeness with us.
~ Jarryd & Nadine
Nadine
Macdonald
Hello / Mhoro,
My name is Macdonald, but you will probably get to know me as “MacD” at Pooch. I joined the Pooch team in April 2021 as a doggy daycare handler and have since grown to know and love each and every dog we welcome to the family. I have previously worked with rescues of all shapes and sizes at DARG, and enjoy caring for dogs and learning each of their unique characters. My goal is to provide a safe and fun environment for your pets in which they are mentally stimulated, well exercised, and can safely socialize with other pooches. I look forward to meeting you.
Erich
Hi there,
I’m Erich and I LOVE all animals. I was formerly the Assistant Animal Care Manager at Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary (which had around 230 animals) and I have been pet sitting part time since August 2021. I have always been around dogs as I grew up with them and I have my own dog who is about a year and a half old now. She is full of energy, is very sweet, and the most spoilt dog ever! I believe that people have a responsibility to save, protect and care for animals and would like to help them live the happiest life possible. Looking forward to befriending your animal family members!
Caitlin
Hello,
I’m Cait, and I’ve been mad about animals for as long as I can remember, my experience includes several years in animal welfare working with dogs and cats, helping rescue animals in critical care. I have also raised Vervet Monkey’s and at Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary I looked after over 200 rescued farm animals. I have my own doggie, Ratty, who your dog will no-doubt meet and play with at Pooch. Ratty and I both look forward to meeting and having fun with your Pooch.
