Julie Grounds
Julie has been involved in the pet care industry for over 10 years. Owning Central Pet is her dream come true. Julie spent several years working at a pet resort in San Antonio, learning the business and broadening her knowledge in all areas of pet care. She designed and built Central Pet from the ground up, using her knowledge and experience in pet care to build the best pet friendly facility possible. Julie’s willingness to work with the community and provide the best care possible for their pets is second to none. Her strong work ethic and leadership skills are what make Central Pet what it is today, and what will take it into the future. Julie has been an influential member of the Green Valley and Tubac communities by supporting several non-profit organizations such as the Green Valley Assistance Services, The Animal League of Green Valley, and the Santa Cruz Humane Society. She resides in Tubac with her partner, two twin boys Wesley and Dylan, 7 dogs, Tipper, Chloe, Otis, Star, Tater, Remi and Roo.
Richard Pugner
Richard comes from Connecticut and joined the Central Pet family back in 2010. After working at our Amado location, he assisted in the opening of the Tucson location before leaving us to pursue a degree at Pima Community College. Richard went on to graduate and become a Veterinary Technician and rejoined the Central Pet family in 2017. He is the proud pet parent of a St. Bernard named Fiona, a French mastiff mix, a southern African mastiff mix, and two cats. In his spare time, Richard enjoys skateboarding, building cars and travelling with his car club to car shows.
Ashley R.
ASHLEY RICHARDSON
Patty G.
PATRICIA GUTIERREZ
Angela C.
ANGELA COCKBURN
Crystal Blaker
Central Pet is Excited to Join Forces with the Ruff House to Expand our Expertise & Continue to Offer the Very Best in Dog Training and Behavior Modification!
Crystal, a Tucson native, has been passionate about animals since childhood. Her work with dogs began during high school while employed at a boarding and daycare facility in the east valley area of Phoenix. She relocated back to Tucson for college and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from the University of Arizona in 2007. Crystal’s experience working with animals includes time at veterinary hospitals, boarding and daycare facilities, animal shelters and Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo. Most recently she served as the Animal Enrichment and Behavior Coordinator for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. In addition to her natural behavior assessment abilities and years of dog-training experience, she continues to sharpen her skills through formal education and applied activities such as dog sports and therapy work. Her husband, Michael, works alongside her, managing the company operations and marketing efforts to provide the very best in dog training to their clients! Her training options include Lodge and Learns, Private Lessons, Puppy Kindergarten, Basic Obedience, Agility and Service Dog training.
Jill Cruz
Jill joined the Central Pet family in mid 2009 and brings us her experience as a professional dog trainer, doggie daycare manager and animal assisted therapy tester.
She is an AKC CGC evaluator and Alliance of Therapy Dogs Tester. After rescuing and adopting a Mastiff in 2007, she became a big supporter of shelter, rescue and less fortunate animals. While Central Pet is not a shelter, we end up with a few dogs we foster and adopt out; Jill oversees all adoptions.
She and her husband reside in Sonoita with Bubba, an Anatolian Shepherd, Ripley, a Rottweiler and Bruce, a Heinz 57 from TALGV.org and their two crazy rescued cats, Bates and Oliver.