Meet Our Team
Meet our Team who cares passionately about your Canine Sidekick every day!
Stephanie Garza, CDPT-KA, CBCC-KA, CPCN
Company Owner & Certified Dog Trainer, Canine Behaviorist, and Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist
I’ve always had a passion for animals and began my career in 2007 working as a receptionist and vet tech for an animal hospital in San Antonio. Thinking my calling was in the veterinary field. I began attending Texas A&M University only to find my passion in behavior. I interned training hunting dogs, worked in boarding and daycare facilities in College Station and San Antonio, and soon found myself moving to Houston where the real magic happened.
In September 2012. I began working for a training and daycare facility called Peace Love & Dogs. My days consisted of playing and observing the daycare dogs during the day and observing various training classes in the evenings. By July 2013, I was teaching my own puppy group classes focusing on basic obedience and socialization. I then became a certified trainer through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers in 2015.
Even though I loved my job and clients at PLD, home was calling. In January 2016 I moved back to San Antonio where I began operating Pup Pup & Away! Since then, I have grown a team of other passionate individuals who love dogs and feel fulfilled giving our doggy clients stimulation in fun but intentionally structured ways. In 2022, I became a certified canine behaviorist qualified to deal with problem behaviors and implementing behavior modifcation techniques. In 2023, I also became a certified canine nutritionist as I saw a direct coorelation between diet/ gut health and behavior/anxiety.
When I am not training or loving on someone’s furbaby, you can find me cuddling with my schnauzers, Sully & Reishi. I also enjoy learning more about canine cognition and nutrition, caring for my plants or enjoying time with friends, family and my fiance, Anthony (soon to be my husband Nov 2023).
Maggie
Facility Manager & Administrative Assistant
My lifelong love of dogs brought me into the boarding and daycare industry in high school when I started working at a kennel in Katy, Texas. After graduating, I decided to try going into a more business-y career and received my Accounting degree from UTSA in December 2020. I met Stephanie while in college and started working at Pup Pup & Away in January 2020, when she opened the daycare and boarding facility. I decided to stick with Steph and the dogs and have worked my way through the company, up to office manager. I have 2 pups of my own- Corky and Quinn, who can regularly be spotted in my office, helping with management duties. I love being a part of this team and my favorite part of the job is meeting and bonding with all the canine sidekicks
Maria, CPDT-KA
Training Manager and Certified Dog Trainer
My name is Maria and I have always had a passion for working with animals. I probably drove my grandma crazy bringing home stray cats and making our extra bedroom a cat shelter. To be fair I was about four years old, and I thought that I could save them all without anyone knowing.
I am a mother to three extremely rambunctious, smart, and bright little guys. I have two senior cats plus two adorable independent pups, who live for belly rubs.
After many years and sometime in the military I am finally realizing my dream to work with animals. It all started when I worked at a board and training facility in Washington. While there I took a dog obedience course through Ashworth College. Plus, a puppy socialization course through the Karen Pryor Academy. With help from my mentor, Ursula, it was not long before I was training our bootcamp dogs as well as training their humans on how to continue the training. I became an official certified dog trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers in 2022.
I have been working here in this amazing establishment since 2021, where I not only have had the privilege to work with your fur kids, but help our clients establish a stronger bond with their sidekicks through group class and private lessons. I am so excited to be a part of the Pup Pup and Away family and get the chance to hang out and train your babies!
Jess
Kennel Tech Manager, Trainer, and Group Class Assistant
Hello! My name is Jessica and I have always had a huge passion for animals. There is nothing I love more than caring for animals especially my fur baby, Roxy. It makes my heart so happy being able to be her dog momma. I was overwhelmed with happiness when I adopted her from this amazing company that I work for Pup Pup and Away.
Growing up I always knew that caring and working with dogs is something that I genuinely love to do. I have always been the person to want to welcome every dog that I see to my family. I have a huge heart for dogs and would love to continue this journey of working with dogs throughout my life.
Cassidy
Daycare Manager & Group Class Assistant
Monica P
Client Care Specialist
Monica joined the PPA family in June 2021, filling a brand new position of client communication specialist. Monica has always been a dog lover, and currently has a family Husky named Booker who gets all the love in the world. Family means the world to Monica, and in her free time she can be found spending time with her kids and extended family. Monica is thankful to be able to meet so many wonderful people and their fur babies; she loves seeing how excited they get when they walk through the door!
Ahtziri aka Chiri
Trainer, Trainer Lead, & Group Class Assistant
Dazie
Daycare/Kennel Technician, Kennel Tech Lead
Narali
Daycare/Kennel Technician, Beta Manager
Narali joined the PPA family in May 2022 as a member of the DEK staff. Narali has a German Shepherd/Doberman mix named Riley. Narali is going to school to advance her career to become a vet tech and eventually a veterinarian! Narali enjoys spending time with her family and going to the gym in her free time, can never pass up a new holiday Buc-ee’s shirt, and keeps her baby and dog entertained with little art activities. Narali can be found running daycare groups, caring for boarders, or providing enrichment almost every morning here at the facility.
Jacob
Daycare/Kennel Technician, Beta Lead, Trainer
Jesse
Daycare Lead, Trainer
Jesse joined the PPA family in January 2022 as a member of the DEK staff. Jesse has 2 cats: Daisy, the big ol’ fluffball in the picture, and Florence, a smaller, shyer, gray and white kitty. Jesse takes great joy from coming to work and spending time with all the client dogs, particularly because she’s not able to have any dogs of her own at the moment. In her free time, Jesse enjoys reading, writing, playing video games, working on online projects, and of course spending time with her fur babies. Jesse can be found working at the facility all week, taking excellent care of your sidekicks.
Veronica
Daycare/Kennel Technician, Jr. Trainer
Veronica joined the PPA family in March 2022 as a member of the DEK staff. Veronica has 8 dogs (Hennessy, Bear Bear, Little Bit, Havana, Charlie, Zero, Roscoe, and Allie), 3 cats (Anime, Kinkyboots, and Delilah), and a duck named Billie Eilish. Veronica enjoys playing PS4 and spending time with her fiancé in her free time. She also worked as a Sargent with the county and is a current college student as a vet tech to become a veterinarian! Veronica can be found running daycare groups, caring for boarders, or providing enrichment almost every morning here at the facility.
Katie
DaycareTechnician, Jr. Trainer
Katie joined the PPA family in March 2022 as a member of the DEK staff. Katie has 2 dogs, Hazel and Ella who are Chihuahua/Rat Terriers, she also has turtles and 3 kitties! Katie enjoys shopping at malls, going on hikes, and heading to the movies in her free time. Katie is also an artist and enjoys drawing, listening to music, and reading a good book. Katie can be found running daycare groups, providing enrichment, or entertaining Beta dogs almost every afternoon here at the facility.
Josh
Daycare Technician, Jr. Trainer
Alyssa
Daycare Tech, Jr. Trainer, Trainer
Cyan
Daycare/Kennel Technician
Estella
Daycare Technician
Ariana
Weekend Daycare/Kennel Technician
