Hi. My name is Lori Coffman. I am the owner of Ruffin’ Around Resort & Day Spa. I started my business in 2005 as the area’s first doggy daycare facility. Since then, we have added training, in home pet sitting, and, most recently, luxury cat and dog boarding to our offered services.
I have always had a bleeding heart for animals. As a little girl, I remember riding in my grandfather’s truck one day when a bird flew into the front of his truck. When we arrived at my house, I was shocked to find the bird alive stuck in the grill of the truck. After carefully removing the bird from the grill, with tears streaming down my face, I put it in a towel lined box wanting to somehow care for the poor little thing. I asked if we could take it to a veterinarian, but it died shortly thereafter.
Knowing that I wanted to someday work with animals, my lifelong animal career path began with a college degree in biology. After college, I worked at the Pittsburgh Zoo for a year with animals, like white tailed deer, kangaroos, and sea lions. I left the zoo for my dream job as an Animal Trainer at SeaWorld of Ohio. There, I worked with killer whales, dolphins, sea lions, walruses, otters, and penguins. After several years, I left SeaWorld to move back home to marry my husband, David. At that point, I was unsure of what I was going to do next since there were no dolphins or killer whales in the vicinity. I decided I would like to follow my bleeding heart saving dogs and cats. So, I got a job at a local veterinarian’s office working as a tech for the 5 years prior to starting my own pet care business.
I decided to become a pet First Aid & CPR instructor because I believe it is the responsibility of pet care professionals to do everything they can to protect the pets entrusted to them. I chose to become a PetTech Instructor because they offer the most comprehensive pet First Aid & CPR program available. Not only will I be training all of my employees in Pet CPR, First Aid, and Care, but I also plan to offer this knowledge to my clients, friends & family, and my community. Additionally, I have 6 other reasons I decided to become a Pet Tech instructor...
1. Jake, my 12 year old yellow lab.
2. Matilda, a.k.a. Tilly, my 6 year old St. Bernard.
3. Simi, my 7 year old cat who is capable of chasing my St. Bernard from one end of the house to the other!
4. & 5. Journey and Tumbleweed, Ruffin’ Around’s resident kitties that found us last summer.
And the sixth reason is that little bird...even though I know birds are not part of the curriculum. 🙂