Patrick and Samanntha Stout

Owners

Patrick and Samanntha have always had an affinity for animals. Having five dogs of their own with three of them being rescues, along with a donkey named George, cats, cattle, chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, and guinea fowl. The Stout’s love ALL animals. Their journey started in the pet industry with grooming dogs shortly after Patrick’s retirement of 20 years of proud service in the U.S. Army in 2014. Personal Paws Mobile Grooming was created and continues to grow where it now services over 13,000 animals each year. During this time, customers of Personal Paws had concerns regarding the local facilities that provide daycare, boarding or training. Their concerns, just like the Stout’s were similar regarding wanting a facility that was clean and safe while allowing the dogs to be dogs and not just sitting in a cage while pet parents are away from home. Patrick and Samanntha decided to create something different that didn’t exist in the tri-city area and exceed the needs of customers in the tri-city area. Columbus Boarding and Training was built with your dog in mind, giving you peace of mind while you are away.

Elizabeth-Catherine (IZZY) Belton

Operations Manager

Izzy graduated from Smiths Station High School in Phenix City, AL. As an upcoming senior in high school she began working at Maringo Creek Farms, not only a farm but a dog boarding and training facility, through the co-op program. This sparked her interest and began her passion of caring for the over-wellbeing of dogs. She quickly became a manager and apprenticed under the owner Stewart Harvard, a world-renowned dog trainer with 45+ years in police canine training and family obedience training, for 2 years. While working alongside her mentor, she also became a Lead Dog Trainer for 3 years. She has trained a wide variety of breeds of different ages with different backgrounds and circumstances for on-leash and off-leash obedience training. After her time at Maringo Creek Farms, Izzy joined Personal Paws Mobile Grooming for a year to gain a deeper knowledge of the health and well-being of dogs. She is a Certified Professional Groomer (CPG) through International Pet Groomers (IPG) and has her K9 CPR certification. She also has an associate degree in general sciences from Snead State Community College. She is currently working to obtain her Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT) credentials through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers endorsed by AKC and Canine Good Citizen Evaluator Certification (CGC) as well as her bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Kimberly (Kim) Patterson

Assistant Manager

Kim was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia with 3 siblings and constant dog companions. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Astrophysics in 2020 from Agnes Scott College. However, in 2022 Kim realized that her passion truly lies with caring for and training dogs after she got her own dog, an Australian Shepherd named Jasper.

After teaching Jasper how to do chores around the house and overcome his own fears she found that there was nothing more fulfilling than working alongside a canine companion and joined the Columbus Boarding and Training team in 2024.

In her freetime, Kim can be found hiking with her pup, curling up with a good book, or trying to hit a new personal record at the gym. In the future, Kim plans to become a certified dog trainer and help owners everywhere develop stronger relationships with their canine companions.

Dorothy (Dorie) Smith

Kennel Technician

Born in Hagerstown Maryland, Dorie moved to Columbus, Georgia in 1989 with her military family. She attained her GED then enrolled into Columbus Technical College to become a Radiology Technician. After one semester, she learned that her passion for animals is what she wanted to do with her life. She worked for River Road Animal Clinic in which she loved every part of being a vet tech except for animals that had to be put down. This was extremely difficult, and she decided to leave. In 2024, Dorie joined the team at Columbus Boarding and training and loves coming to work each day. When she isn’t working, she enjoys chilling with her 3 pit-bull rescues named Ebbie, Ellie, and Tootsie-Roll and mixed breed Stitch.

Josh

Originally born in Columbus, Josh mostly grew up living in Augusta, GA. His passion for dogs is a life long one, as he’s always had at least two of them since the age of 3. After attending Augusta Technical College for Videography and Communications, he spent several years in the restaurant and hospitality industry before he decided to turn his focus to pet care, working at at boarding kennel for a year and a half until the Covid pandemic slowed things down in 2020. He then spent 4 years working as both kennel attendant and adoption counselor for Animal Ark Rescue in Columbus, where he gained a more hands-on understanding of the various needs and situations that can arise in the caretaking of abandoned and neglected dogs, cats, and other varieties of pets. The thing he loves most about boarding and training is that it helps dog owners to keep their pets easier to manage and ultimately helps keep them in homes.

Outside of work, you can usually find Josh in a hammock with a good book, wandering around in nature somewhere taking in the scenery, or curled up on the couch with his two black lab Rottweiler mixes, Luna and Lucille.