Canine team
For the team at Jolly Dogs, loving dogs is a full-time gig. Unlike other daycares we don’t rely on a bunch of casual staff to make up the numbers; our pack of permanent, passionate team members are the same faces you’ll see week in and week out, from the owner down. You can be confident that we and your furry friend will all be on a first-name basis right from the start.
Sarah Parsons – Pack Leader (Owner)
As a life-long dog lover and prolific dog-sitter, Sarah was thrilled to trade in her career in business administration to become Jolly Dogs’ working owner in 2025. Having gotten a huge amount of joy from the relationships she established with the dogs she cared for over the years (as well as their humans!), at some point any job that didn’t involve dogs full-time just no longer measured up.
You’ll typically find her front of house at Jolly Dogs greeting the pups who enthusiastically drag their owners through the front door, although she’ll often indulge herself with some time in the bays if she has a chance. Outside of work hours she’s regularly involved with her local dog training club, with scent work being a particular favourite for her black lab Remi who’s also a Jolly Dogs regular!
Izzy – Pack Manager
Izzy is our other passionate and enthusiastic Manager who oversees front of house alongside Sarah to ensure a smooth operation. She also loves her time playing with, training and challenging our daycare doggos!
Izzy joined our team as a previous veterinary practice manager and loves her hands on role especially seeing all our wonderful clients and hanging out with the dogs! She also heads up our social media and marketing!
Since joining Jolly Dogs Izzy has furthered her skills completing a dog psychology and training course. Outside of Jolly Dogs she loves heading to the beach or forest with her big doggo Buddy (who you often see being a great reception dog)! Plus - little life update, Izzy now has a baby girl, Indie! She sometimes pops along to hang out at Jolly Dogs too - start them young right?!
Kalyn – Professional Groomer
Kalyn is a highly experienced dog groomer and has been grooming for over 8 years! She started her journey in her home town of Texas, USA where she groomed in salons and as a mobile groomer. Kalyn has now joined us after fulfilling her dream of travelling post covid. She lived in South Korea for 6 months where she has been practicing her Korean and experiencing the culture, before joining us!
Kalyn is so excited to be in New Zealand with some of her family, to see the beautiful country and to continue her grooming journey with us at Jolly Dogs! Her favourite part to grooming is seeing how happy and proud the dogs are after their groom and she loves watching them show off to their owners!
Daneka - Assistant Pack Manager
Daneka is our fantastic Assistant Pack Manager, who handles all things dog related and knows your dog like the back of her hand! You’ll often see her here bright and early. She came to Jolly Dogs after having done a Veterinary Assistant course and she hopes study to become a vet later down the line!
Daneka loves working with dogs and really enjoys teaching them new tricks and getting all the cuddles of course! She loves getting to know the dogs individual personalities and learning what makes every dog happy. She takes lots of the awesome photos of your doggos and loves getting them at their silliest angles! Her gorgeous Labrador, Parker, keeps everyone at Jolly Dogs entertained with his silly antics and licks.
Daneka helps run the social media too and creates lots of the fun instagram and facebook stories and posts!
Olivia - Canine Carer
Olivia started at Jolly Dogs as a volunteer working around school and quickly showed her initiative and passion for working with dogs! She then joined us full time after finishing school and is our longest standing team member! Go Liv!
Olivia’s favourite thing about working at Jolly Dogs is becoming best friends with all the lovely dogs and learning about each of their personalities. She loves seeing the puppies growing into dogs and to see how happy they are at the end of the day when they see their owners! She has the gentlest nature with the dogs, and you’ll often find her on the floor with a few in her lap!
Liv spends her time outside of Jolly Dogs painting, singing, doing outdoor sports & being with animals!
Hunter - Canine Carer
Hunter is another of our amazing canine handlers. Her love of dogs stemmed from her sisters gorgeous staffy, Koda! She also has a grumpy cat, Jargo. Hunter has always loved dogs but has never had her own, so she really enjoys working at Jolly Dogs as she gets her daily dog dose! She finds working with dogs so rewarding especially when having a bad day, as a doggy cuddle will fix anything!
Hunter did a Veterinary Assistant course prior to joining us and is now studying creative writing, journalism and advertising at AUT!
Maja - Canine Carer
Another one of our wonderful canine carers is Maja who absolutely loves all things dogs and treasures spending time with your furry friends! Maja recently rescued her dog, Bonnie, who spends the day hooning around at Jolly Dogs with her!
When not at Jolly Dogs, you’ll find Maja at the beach, at gigs or as a budding photographer, taking incredible photos!
