Members of The Band

Executive Band Director Courtney Owens grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts. She met her first furry best friend Nikki, a Cocker Spaniel, when she was just a baby. Ever since she was a child, Courtney has dreamed of owning a dog of her very own, and has been infatuated with every dog she sees. She pursued her dream of becoming a hair stylist in 2011, but nothing could replace her love of dogs. Courtney traded in her shears and blow dryer for leashes and dog bones in 2014, and has never looked back. She worked as a kennel manager for a German Shepherd breeder, hand raising and training puppies from birth and caring for their mommas! Currently Courtney has two rescue kitties; a polydactyl tabby named Denna and a Savannah named Brahms. She saves all her dog lovins for BnR’s band members!

She is too excited to be a part of Bark n’ Roll!

**Rockin Fun Fact: Courtney is a life long fan of Elvis Presley and has visited his home Graceland for Elvis Week in Memphis, Tennessee SIX times!**

Client Care & Facility Manager Lynne Verney is a thirty year resident of North Reading. She grew up in a household surrounded by animals from dogs and cats to bearded dragons, iguanas, hamsters, bunnies and birds. Her house was a revolving door of animals; you never knew what you were walking into at any given time! She and her daughter now share their home with two puppies named Roman and Roscoe along with four cats, Annabelle, Riley, Rosie and Luna. She spent 15 years as a florist in a local shop along with a history of business management until she decided to follow her passion for animals. She loves to take spontaneous road trips with her teenage daughter and drive until they end up somewhere new for the day.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Lynne enjoys organizing and redecorating homes in her spare time.**

BnR’s Training Program Director & Certified Trainer Felicia Scouten, ABCDT, is a Massachusetts native. She has always had a passion for animals and always had multiple pets growing up. She is a Certified Trainer with Animal Behavior College, and completed a rigorous one year plus program including mentoring several of the newest trainers on the BnR team. She works with some of our most challenging behavioral clients including reactivity, anxiety and aggression. She also has previously lead our daycare training and enrichment program for over a year before having her son. She has many interests, but her first passion is working with dogs. She is the proud momma of one human baby her two fur babies Sunnie, a rescue Boxer mix and Macie, a Frenchie Mix. She has now taken over the position of Training Program Director and so looking forward to guiding and to be rocking out with all your pups!

 

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Felicia is also a special F/X makeup artist in the film industry.**

Daycare Training Program Manager/Walker & Sitter/Trainer/Tour Bus Driver Sarah Kennedy known affectionately on our team as Kennedy to avoid confusion, has been in love with animals her whole life. Growing up on her grandparent’s farm and having family in the racing industry, she naturally gravitated toward animal husbandry, 4-H, and equine training. After seeing first hand the behind the scenes horrors of the racing industry, she began working in rescue and rehab, retraining horses for new loving homes, and advocating for animal rights, public education, and stronger laws. She put herself through college, getting her bachelors degree, and started her own business in adult health education. This has allowed her more time to return to working with animals. Sarah will happily walk or jog with your pup and sing them a song along the way. She’s looks forward to rockin’ out with the BnR Band Members daily!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Sarah takes care of a family of disabled kittens.**

Certified Trainer & BnR Training Program Consultant Theresa Kolpakova, M.Ed., ABCDT, is an ABC Certified Professional Dog Trainer.  She loves all animals wild and wild at heart, and graduated in 2012 from Animal Behavior College. She has taught classes in the Northeast and Southwest on dog behavior and bite prevention for rescue shelter Staff and Volunteers of diverse age and ability, as well as group classes and clinics addressing reactive dog behaviors. As BnR’s Training Program Consultant, she mentors an incredible team of certified trainers. A humane educator with experience working in animal shelters, wildlife rehabilitation, and animal conservation and welfare organizations in North and South America since 2001, Theresa has loved bringing humane education (and dogs!) into elementary classrooms, as well as animal-assisted therapy to youth group homes and children with disabilities. She co-created a shelter program designed specifically for children and adults experiencing fear of dogs due to phobia or past trauma, and enjoys learning something new every day from the dogs and people she interacts with in training. As a force-free trainer, Theresa’s passion is providing Positive Reinforcement Training for Dogs and Their People, including behavior consultations to address reactive, aggressive, and anxious behaviors. She is a member of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) as well as a supporting member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC).  Theresa is also honored to be a Board Member of BnR’s Rock n’ Rescue, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization coordinating with rescuers in Puerto Rico and the southeastern United States as well as working within the community to place adoptable dogs in permanent loving homes as well as providing free positive reinforcement training during each dog’s transition into a forever home. 

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: For years as a pre-teen Theresa and her cousins had an all out air guitar and lip sync band dedicated to Kiss, and religiously met every weekend to “play concert” and perform in their family room. She always had the Detroit Rock City guitar solo, her fave. Bonus Fact: Theresa crushed on Ace as well as Vince Neil. Great taste!**

Daycare & Boarding Program Co-Manager Alex Sullivan has had dogs all his life and loves them more than anything! He started working professionally with them 3 years ago as a dog walker after moving to the Boston area from Cape Cod. Working with dogs is Alex’s dream come true and he’s so excited to be a part of the BnR team!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Alex is secretly a rockstar! He enjoys writing and performing music.**

Daycare & Boarding Senior Band Leader Lindsay Vollmar has lived in Reading all her life and has always been the resident “nature girl.” Back in high school AP biology class, whenever one of her classmates found some sort of interesting critter, they’d actually come get HER instead of the teacher.  She has had a variety of pets including mice, hamsters, lizards, hermit crabs, fish and newts.  She also begged her parents to get a cat, but they ended up getting a dog first.  Ginger was with her family for 17 years!  She did go on to adopt a cat named Misty and currently has two dogs, Tika and Lily.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Lindsay collects moths and butterflies and currently has over 500 of them in her collection.**

Daycare & Boarding Band Leader Lauren Flynn grew up in Western MA with her 2 cats and a Norwegian Elkhound. She has always had a passion for animals even as child. She would beg her mother to take her down the road to visit the horses and she would care for injured birds that flew into the window. She always knew she wanted to make a career out of caring for animals, which lead her to Becker College where she received an associates in veterinary animal science. In college, she primarily worked with retired greyhounds off the track and instantly fell in love with the breed. A week before she graduated she rescued a 2 year old greyhound mix named Tucker. She now shares her home with 4 dogs, 4 cats, chickens, ducks and geese. She hopes to one day own a farm where she can have even more animals.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: In high school Lauren placed top 30 in women’s downhill ski racing.**

Daycare Attendant & Training Assistant Briana Brancato grew up with dogs her whole life. As a young girl, she knew that her future would consist of working with animals. After finishing college and receiving her degree in animal science, she decided to begin working professionally with them. She also rescued a pup from BnR’s Rock n’ Rescue (Buck) and he is THRIVING at home with his big brother (Renzo) her first rescue! Having Renzo be her pride and joy for nearly 4 years, Bri knew bringing a new pup into the house wouldn’t be an easy task. Day in and day out, working with her two boys on training, they are totally inseparable and are the two biggest love bugs in the entire world. They love to go on walks, work for some yummy treats and snuggle! She is totally excited to be apart of the Bark n’ Roll team and is super excited to come to work everyday to see what she loves to her call her “work babies”.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Briana LOVES cows!!  **

Daycare & Boarding Program Attendant Mia Smith has lived in Bedford MA for most of her life. She has always loved animals. Growing up, her family would call her “the animal whisperer” as the excitement and respect between Mia and any pet she met became apparent immediately. She has worked with animals since high school holding various pet caring positions such as dog bather, a pet sitter, and dog walker. Mia has been working with BnR since October of 2022. She is currently attending North Shore Community College perusing a degree in Animal Sciences.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Mia’s two current pets are named after rap legends Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.**

Puppy Program Attendant Madison Cote, IAABC Supporting Member, grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. She started riding horses at the age of 6 and knew from that point on she wanted to work with animals as a job one day. Madison didn’t know what she wanted to do in the animal world, she thought about being a veterinarian and shadowed her local vet for a day. After watching two surgeries, she realized it was not for her. She was obsessed with watching shows about rescuing animals, so she worked and volunteered at shelters and animals rescues for a few years which opened her up to the world of dog training and dog daycare. Madison found her passion for dog training and realized the importance of having a positive relationship with dogs. She is working towards getting her CPDT certification with the hope to help dogs and owners have a better life together.

**Rockin’ fun fact: Madison has owned a few types of animals throughout her life such as a hedgehog, a Guinea pig, a hamster, a bearded dragon, a beta fish, ducks, chickens, goats, a mud turtle, cats and dogs!**

Daycare and Boarding Attendant Mary Castracane is a graduate of Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical High School in Danvers MA. Mary was in the Companion Animal program where she has had fun learning how to groom and train all breeds of dogs. Mary has a 4 year old yellow English Lab named Bentley who is big, goofy and the love of her life! Mary also loves exotic cars, listening to country music and hanging out with her friends. When Mary is not out walking Bentley at the beach or in the woods, she is tending to her six chickens. She is very excited to be a part of the Bark N’ Roll Team.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: After wanting a dog her whole life, Mary finally convinced her parents to get Bentley by putting together a very detailed power point presentation of the pros and cons of different dog breeds and their ownership. Nice work Mary! **

Daycare Attendant and Assistant Trainer Ginger Castrios is a graduate of Plymouth State University with a B.S. in athletic training, physical education and exercise science. Ginger was born and raised in Lowell, MA where she currently lives with her parents and stray rescued street cat Señor Bones. Ginger has grown up with rescue dogs most of her life. Her last beloved pug Bailey had lived to the golden age of 16 before cross the rainbow bridge. Dogs have always been Ginger’s favorite kind of people and they have taught her the true meaning of patience, kindness and unconditional love. Ginger is currently working on applying to the Karen Pryor
Academy to become a certified dog training professional and future schooling to become
an animal behaviorist as her long-term goal.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Ginger enjoys cooking, baking and BBQing all types of cuisines while she rocks out to P!nk, Lady Gaga, Beatles and Freddy Mercury!**

Daycare & Boarding Attendant Sara Curran has lived in North Reading since she was 5. She learned about Bark n’ Roll when we helped her place a dog into a sanctuary to live his best life! She could never be more thankful! Sara rescued her current dog Brody through BnR’s Rock n’ Rescue, who loves attending daycare with all his furry friends. Sara has been an animal lover her whole life, she has two identical gerbil brothers named Cheech and Chong, and when she was 13 she hid a spotted salamander she found in a raked up leaf pile in her closet with a homemade terrarium (he was released for hibernation!). Her passion for dogs has only grown from being here, and she will fight you blue in the face for Pitbull rights, she believes every dog deserves a chance and love

**Rockin Fun Fact: Sara has gotten herself back into college to study dog behavior and hopefully one day become a certified trainer. Way to go Sara!!**

Daycare Attendant Monica Juliano has lived in Reading her whole life and has had a love for animals from a young age. She grew up watching Animal Planet with her dad and was always so eager to learn. When she was just 6 years old, she would set up obstacle courses in the living room and train her puppy to do it! She’s always had a passion for animals and loves to foster those in need whenever she can. She adores all of her pets, which include 3 guinea pigs, 2 geckos, 2 dogs, and a frog, with room for fosters always! She plans on pursuing the path of becoming a certified dog trainer.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: She has always wanted to own a Capuchin monkey, and if it were ethical, she absolutely would! **

Daycare and Boarding Attendant Delaya Lopez Reyna is a student from Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical High School in the Companion Animal Program. She was able to learn the basics of training and grooming for many different breeds of dogs and is deepening her education on training since working in Bark n’ Roll! Fascinated by dogs from an early age, her lifelong ambition materialized when her family welcomed an adorable beagle into their home. Encouraged by this, Delaya successfully advocated for a second furry addition, a delightful labrador hound mix who has completed the family! Bark n’ Roll has helped  her continue this ambition by giving her an opportunity to work hands on with the remarkable array of canine companions.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Delaya first went to Essex Tech for the Veterinary program but fell more for the idea of training dogs when finding out about the Companion Animal program.**

 

Daycare and Boarding Attendant Ramy Elbach grew up in Massachusetts in Essex County. Ever since he was a kid he has been fascinated by animals and grew up watching shows on Animal Planet and National Geographic, learning as much as he could. He also had many small pets growing up such as lizards, fish, and even a chicken named BeBe. He now has an adorable cat named Sesame and a leopard gecko named Snowy. Ramy graduated from Salem State University with a BS in Environmental Science and expects to graduate with an Associate’s degree from North Shore Community College as an Animal Care Specialist in 2024. His love of animals and nature extend to his love of gardening and walking around nature reserves.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Ramy always is up for jamming to Queen and David Bowie and his long term goal is to one day work at an animal sanctuary.**

Walker/Runner Karen Douglas grew up in Connecticut, but has made the Boston area her home since graduating college. As a child, Karen always had one or two dogs in her family and now she is the proud Momma Bear to two teenage daughters and two black lab rescues, Derby and Memphis. Karen was an elementary teacher for 30 years but always had her eye on walking dogs, so within days of her retirement she contacted Bark n’ Roll for a dog walking position!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Karen has run 46 marathons. Her goal is to run one in every state by the time she is 90. Unfortunately she has a long way to go as so far she has done only 16 states! Go, Karen, GO!**

**Rockin Fun Fact: Alyssa is a real life Rockstar! She is currently is a dog walker by day and a keyboardist/vocalist by night! Playing in an original band, Leaving Eden and also a tribute band to Fleetwood Mac, Silver Springs.**

Walker & Sitter Hannah Cohen is originally from Medford, MA. She has had a passion for animals ever since she can remember! Once middle school hit, Hannah found her undying love of horses and horseback riding, and of course dogs! Hannah always jokes that her house is a zoo- with a dog, cat and some Guinea pigs. They are all such sweet fur babies!

*Rockin’ Fun Fact: Hannah really enjoys crime shows and even tries to solve the cases before the detectives do!**

Walker/Sitter Marie Birdsall-Chaffee was born and raised on a farm in New York state, where her parents not only raised dogs and cats, but also sheep and ducks, building a life-long love of all animals.  After college, Marie worked in book publishing in New York City before moving to Massachusetts and becoming an instructional designer and technical writer.  When Marie retired, she was thrilled to be able to pursue a long-time dream of becoming a dog walker. She and her husband are the proud parents of 8 dogs- Ralfie, Lil’ Duke, PB, Bean, Stan & Ollie, and Simone & Henri. Simone and Henri are Sato alums of our very own Rock n’ Rescue! Marie also has 4 cats Stu, Boots, Timmy and Simon, who keep them on their toes at all times!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact:  As a baby, Marie’s first word was “Mike” – the name of the family dog.**

Walker Kathy Quill is originally from Wisconsin and came to live in Massachusetts by way of the DC Metro area. She is an animal lover of all kinds, has had a dog almost all of her life and even her first cat as a young-adult loved to fetch and “howl” at doors! She now has 1 dog (Shamrock), 2 cats (Eddie and Mozzie) and 7 niece/nephew dogs and cats that she loves to visit as often as possible!  She also has 3 human children (almost all young adults) who can’t wait to get old enough to adopt pups of their own!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Kathy is always up for a road trip to explore national parks and other interesting areas and has a goal to visit all 50 states (40 so far)!**

Walker Jen Starr grew up on Cape Cod in Dennis and has lived in the Merrimack Valley area since 2021. She graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in journalism and environmental sciences and then earned her master’s degree in curriculum and Instructional technology. She loves and has worked with many different animals, including rabbits, mice, cats, dogs, snakes and more! Her passion for working with dogs grew when she adopted their dog, Lily, an Australian Cobberdog. Jen especially loves working with puppies and has been developing her dog training and grooming skills over the years, including KPA training. Her other passions include photography, writing, cooking, and gardening.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Jen has been an educator since 1996 and is now looking forward to working toward her goal of  becoming a professional dog trainer.**

Walker Sean Fleming grew up in Methuen, MA where he has been surrounded by dogs in the family his whole life. In 2020, Sean and his family had just lost their previous best friends during COVID-19 lock downs, and it was near impossible to find a new furry friend. Through a miracle, Sean was able to schedule an appointment and meet his new best friend Lucy and was the first to land an approved adoption application and they have been inseparable ever since! Sean and his girlfriend love to attend live music events, and conventions where they can meet celebrities and add to their many growing collections! When he’s not busy spending time with dogs, Sean spends most of his free time playing video games or adding to his Vinyl record/Steelbook movie/figurine/music memorabilia collections!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Sean’s also a huge Volkswagen Golf enthusiast and was one of the very first few people to recieve delivery of a Mk. 8 Golf R in the states!.**

Certified Trainer Scott Bacheller, ABCDT and Fear Free Certified Animal Trainer is a Massachusetts native, who was raised primarily on the West Coast. After moving back East, Scott earned his BA in History and Philosophy. Scott grew up surrounded by dogs, cats, and the occasional rabbit. While recovering from a traumatic brain injury, Scott met his rescue dog Buster and both their lives changed forever. Scott quickly transitioned from working in human resources, to becoming a professional animal lover. He has never looked back! Scott is a certified dog trainer through Animal Behavior College and enrolled in KPA. When offered a position with Bark n’ Roll, Scott was over the moon! Scott lives in Malden with his fiancé and Buster, a 9 year old rescue chihuahua and pekingese mix. 

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Scott volunteers doing temperament testing and behavioral intervention with rescue dogs. He also really likes to bake vegan desserts.**

Certified Trainer Brittany Venezia, ABCDT, is a resident of North Reading. She has loved animals every since she was little; Animal Planet has always been her favorite TV station. After high school, she studied Animal Science at UMass Amherst. Now she is working on her ABC dog training certification. She is excited to to start this new path in her animal care career. Previously, Brittany has worked with livestock at UMass and exotic animals at the Stone Zoo. She also has been working at a local veterinary clinic with cats, dogs, and some pocket pets. Brittany shares her home with a 12 year old Westie named Bella and a 2 year old rescue cat named Rue. She hopes to one day train service dogs and do agility training. She is looking forward to working with you and your furry friend!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Brittany helped train coatis, zebus, bears, otters, and snow leopards when she worked at the Stone Zoo!**

Certified Trainer Jessi Jaffe, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, rediscovered her love of animals when her Newfoundland Dog, Xander, came into her life.  He inspired the “trade in” of a life as a Certified Pharmacy Technician for one as a Certified Veterinary Technician.  She has a special interest in behavior and is working towards her Veterinary Technician Specialty.  She referred so many clients to Bark n’ Roll that when offered to join the team, she jumped at the chance.  She is a Fear Free Certified Professional ™, as well as a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Trainer.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Halloween is Jessi’s favorite day of the year.  In fact, she likes it so much, she made it her wedding anniversary!**

Certified Trainer Noelle Lisette from Bedford Massachusetts. From an early age, Noelle has known that she
wanted to work closely with animals (specifically dogs). This became obvious when her family brought home her childhood dog, Teddy, the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. Starting out in high school, Noelle walked dogs and worked as a doggy day care attendant. When she attended college majoring in animal science, Noelle quickly discovered that her true passion was for the behavioral aspect of animal care. Now, Noelle lives with her best friend, her two year old Alaskan Malamute named Indigo and has been working as a positive reinforcement based dog trainer for over two years. Noelle continues to work closely with CCPDT -LIMA mentors. She
has experience in facilitating class obedience sessions, private sessions, AKC tricks classes, socialization classes and is Pet First Aid and CPR certified. Noelle is experienced in working with reactive dogs and has also completed the CGC program. Noelle is excited to continue her education and plans to take her CCPDT examination in the near future!

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Noelle was a competitive gymnast for 10 years!**

 

Certified Trainer Mary Black, Supporting Member of the IAABC, KPA-CTP, grew up surrounded by animals, but only got a dog when she was a teenager. She never looked back. Mary completed her certification with the Karen Pryor Academy in 2021, where she learned how to use ethical and science-based methods to help people live happily with their dogs. She also has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is a supporting member of the IAABC. She loves going on hikes and other adventures with her husband and their poodle, Pepper. 

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Mary loves to play the banjo in her spare time! Rock ON Mary!**

Certified Trainer Tori Burgos, ABCDT, started volunteering as a teenager at the MSPCA and  soon knew that working with animals was what she wanted as not only a career, but also passion. Tori had been a part of the Bark n’ Roll team for a few years as a daycare attendant and training assistant, where she started to learn about training and behavior and it opened up a whole new world! Tori decided to go to college and got into an AVMA veterinary technology program. She graduated with an associates degree as an animal care specialist and veterinary technology degree. After graduating, she passed the VTNE becoming a certified veterinary technician. She also had opportunities to become certified in canine and feline first aid and CPR, fear free handling and positive reinforcement training, continued educational seminars in managing dog-to-dog interaction, understanding canine behavior, obedience training, understanding the human animal bond, and more. With a hunger for knowledge, she enrolled in Animal Behavior College, completed the certificate dog program and became an AKC CGC Evaluator!  Tori is in the process of achieving her veterinary technician specialty in canine behavior as well as working on taking the exam for my CPTD-KA. She’s so excited to have returned to Bark n’ Roll doing what she loves! Go Tori Go!

Assistant Trainer Delaney Kasle grew up in North Reading and has always loved working with animals. All her elementary school teachers believed she would own a farm when she was older. After getting her Bachelors in education and being a teacher for 4 years, she decided to pursue her love for animals and become a Veterinary Technician at a speciality ER/ICU hospital. Delaney has 3 of her own pets; 2 Bernese mountain dogs named Emmy and Teddy and a cat named Honeybee. Delaney is excited to put together her passion for teaching and dogs as a trainer at Bark n’ Roll.

**Rockin’ Fun Fact: Delaney started her own rescue organization in Maine and hopes to join local vets to help spay and neuter island dogs.**