PAWSITIVE TEAMS, INC.
- A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization in San Diego, California USA
- Federal Identification Number (EIN): 33-0851474
- [email protected]
- 858-558-7297 Office
- 858-558-7298 Fax
- 7031 Carroll Road, San Diego, CA 92121
Read the Pawsitive Teams trifold brochure online here.
Since its humble beginnings, Pawsitive Teams has been volunteer-inspired and volunteer-run. With the exception of a few part-time staff members, that is still true today. We have an exceptional Board of Directors and over 100 talented and compassionate volunteers working in a myriad of roles to keep our service dog, therapy dog, and facility dog programs in full force.
OUR FOUNDERS
Carol Davis
Co-Founder
Former Director of Training
Carol developed a passion for training service dogs to assist people with disabilities when she volunteered as a puppy raiser for another service dog organization more than 20 years ago. Her passion was fed by the inspiration she found with the many individuals partnered with service dogs who recognized the value of specially-trained canines to help them regain their independence. The icing on the cake was the creation of Pawsitive Teams that could accomplish this mission with volunteer trainers, many with full-time jobs, who could fulfill their passion through training and placing these special dogs. A win-win for everyone.
Charli King
Co-Founder
Director of Special Projects
Although Charli spent many years training her own personal dogs, it was a chance visit to a booth at the San Diego County Fair in the 1990s that sparked a new direction for her—a local service dog training organization was promoting their upcoming puppy raising orientation. Charli attended that orientation and thus became a Puppy Raiser. After being a Puppy Raiser with that first organization and then with one other, she sought to participate in what happens AFTER puppy raising. Thus, Charli and Co-Founder Carol Davis formed Pawsitive Teams in 1997.
The nature of Pawsitive Teams’ service dog training program is well suited for Charli. Her outgoing, people-oriented personality extends to how she trains our service dogs. During each pup’s first two years of training, she adds to their high-level service dog skills development by volunteering as a certified therapy team so the pup has rich social interactions and experiences to add to his or her resume. Charli always goes that extra mile.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Eileen Heveron
Executive Director
After a career of over 40 years in higher education, Eileen retired in January 2018. She had worked for several colleges in administration, academics, student affairs, fundraising, and information technology. All along, Eileen had also been involved with dogs, including obedience, freestyle, and training and particularly loved her therapy dog volunteer work. She joined Pawsitive Teams almost a decade ago as an instructor in the Therapy Dog Prep School; her husband Hank joined in as a therapy dog program volunteer for several years as well with their standard poodles. In 2019, Eileen and her diabetic alert service dog, Dexter, literally jumped at the chance to take a more active role at Pawsitive Teams as Executive Director.
Art Brauner
Former Executive Director
Art was the part-time Executive Director of Pawsitive Teams from 2007 until he retired at the end of 2019. Art and his wife Brenda (a volunteer with Pawsitive Teams) first came to PT with their Golden Retriever “Rachel” who became certified as a therapy dog with us. Art and Brenda currently have an English Lab named “Beckett” who is also a PT-certified therapy dog.
Art received Bachelors and Masters degrees in Science from the University of Michigan and was subsequently a Research Associate and Assistant Professor at West Virginia University. He then served as CEO of the Forest Products Society, a large international nonprofit association headquartered in Wisconsin, for 30 years until his retirement in 2006. Art also has nonprofit experience with various ski patrol organizations and Freedom Dogs, Inc.
Carolyn Peters
Service Dog Program Manager
Carolyn joined Pawsitive Teams in the Fall of 2002 when she and her dog Goliath enrolled in PT's Therapy Dog Prep School in a Rancho Bernardo assisted living facility. She had rescued Goliath off the streets of San Diego—he was so very exceptional and named after the dog that saved her dad’s life during a house fire. Under the expert guidance of Prep School instructors Carol, Charli, and Barbara, Carolyn quickly fell in love with Pawsitive Teams and its mission. Carol recruited Carolyn from Prep School to volunteer in the Service Dog/Facility Dog Program where she worked closely with Kiwi, Carol's service dog in training at the time. Kiwi was lucky enough to frequently join Carolyn at San Diego State University where she worked; they were even featured together in a televised Aztec Report. After ten months of watching, reading, learning, and training in the Service Dog/Facility Program, the Training Team asked if Carolyn was ready for her first dog as the Primary Trainer. She definitely was, and "Annie" was our first and only Goldendoodle and first facility dog; Annie worked for many wonderful years with her partner at New Dawn School in the Clairemont neighborhood. When she passed away, the kids dedicated a garden to Annie fully stocked with tennis balls that Annie loved so much. Carolyn has placed five PT dogs since Annie and is currently training her 7th dog, a fun chocolate lab pup named Wilson. In September 2022, PT was fortunate that Carolyn joined our staff as the Service Dog Program Manager. She facilitates training and education opportunities for our service dog training teams, manages applicants and placements, and heads up many other responsibilities to support Pawsitive Teams.
Barbara McKown
Therapy Dog Program Manager
Involvement in community service has always played an important role in Barbara's life. Her mother was very involved in the community and shared many lessons about giving back in positive and meaningful ways.
Her association with Pawsitive Teams began in the late 1990s shortly after meeting our co-founders, Carol & Charli, at an information booth. At the time, her knowledge of service dogs was quite limited so she had no idea about the skills they learn and their importance in changing lives. Carol and Charli invited her to learn more about Pawsitive Teams and service dogs and then also gave her an introduction to the therapy dog world. A short time later, she and two of her kids signed up for our Therapy Dog Prep School with two of her dogs. It didn't take long to become certified with both her dogs. Doing therapy work with canine partners is so rewarding and satisfying—her world opened up in ways that she never expected!
Through the years, Barbara has worn many hats at Pawsitive Teams. She became a Prep School instructor and worked with so many other amazing and dedicated volunteers. Her role has grown and her responsibilities have been diverse and welcome. Her passion is to help people learn about their dog and provide skills and information that will assist in their quest to become a great dog therapy team. She has been the Volunteer Coordinator and part of the photography team. New opportunities arose that included being on the Therapy Dog Steering Committee, event planning committees, helping at those events, and assisting with therapy dog team evaluations. She is now the Therapy Dog Program Manager.
After 41 years of service, Barbara retired as a scheduling coordinator with Kaiser Permanente, an organization that also values community involvement. These shared values provided a natural transition to working with people and dogs through Pawsitive Teams. To her, dogs bring a world of joy and comfort to people and she is happy to share in that journey.
Mary Skrabucha
Facility Dog Program Manager
In 2013, Mary was running a Counseling Center at O’Farrell Charter School and thought it would be great to have a working dog on campus to help students who came into the guidance office. After applying to Pawsitive Teams, Mary was matched with Sejera, a two-year old Golden Retriever who was trained by Marcy Piasecki.
Sejera worked with Mary at O’Farrell for seven years. Be sure to read the
article, “What if schools hired dogs as therapists?” by Antonia Malchik, July 2015.
When Mary and Sejera retired in 2019, Sejera changed careers and began working as a Therapy Dog. They continue to work together in Pawsitive Teams' goal-directed Therapy Dog program at “Aces Academy" in Hillcrest.
Most recently, Mary joined the Pawsitive Teams staff as the Facility Dog Program Manager. In this position, she is matching trained Facility Dogs with professionals who work in a variety of settings such as schools, military settings, counseling centers, courts, and much more. Additionally, Pawsitive Teams will be launching a training program for professionals in helping jobs so they can train their (well-behaved?) pet dog to work as a Facility Dog. Mary is looking forward to seeing the impact that Pawsitive Teams Facility Dogs will have in San Diego.
Jean Dunn
Operations Coordinator
Jean’s love of dogs began at the age of two when she fell in love with her uncle’s hunting dog, a Brittany Spaniel named Acey. He was a gentle, sweet dog, allowing her and her sister to dress him up for tea parties. After years of suffering from allergies, she finally outgrew her allergy to dogs and was able to adopt her first dog in 1973 from the dog pound in Los Angeles.
Since the 90s Jean has enjoyed doing volunteer work for nonprofits providing desktop publishing for The Writing Center, being the team leader for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides walk, being a big sister with the Big Sister League of San Diego and serving on their event production and decorating committees for their annual gala, and providing chef services for the Ronald McDonald House at Rady Children’s Hospital and as a teacher’s assistant at the Braille Institute where they teach the blind to cook.
Jean received a BA in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University and, after almost 40 years of working in every level of administration for corporations big and small, Jean retired and operated a personal chef and catering business for another 5 years. During that time, Jean met Mary Skrabucha and her therapy dog Sejera at a local dog park, bonded over their dogs, and became friends. So, when Mary told her about the Operations Coordinator position, she jumped at the chance to work with such an extraordinary nonprofit for dogs and dog people.
“DOG is a very small word for something that takes up so much room in your heart.”
Unknown source
Margery Squier
Technology Manager
Margery first came across Pawsitive Teams in 2012 when a longtime dog trainer in San Diego said to her “You just HAVE to take your Collie to Therapy Dog Prep School at Pawsitive Teams!” —she signed up for the class, graduated with Misty, and became a huge fan of the organization. She took a second Collie, Austin, through the Prep School as well, and they were a very active, PT-certified team for many years. She now is certified and working therapy dog magic with her Golden Retriever, Frannie.
She very happily accepted the part-time position of Program Director in 2018 and in 2021 her role expanded to Director of Programs & Training. In 2023, she took the role of Technology Manager for Pawsitive Teams.
Margery spent many years in pharmaceutical research, bioinformatics, web development, database design, and project management with Johnson & Johnson and in her own company, The Squier Group. But all along, the dog lover in her rose to the top!
Jim Hodgdon
Educational Outreach Manager
Jim’s bio is coming soon.
Founded by Carol Davis and Charli King in 1997, Pawsitive Teams was officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in California in May of 1999 (EIN 33-0851474). Our initial programs included training and placing service dogs for San Diegans with limited mobility and teaching a six-week Therapy Dog Prep School for dog owners interested in volunteering in the community with their pet dog.
In 2006, we established the PAAT program (Pawsitive Animal Assisted Therapy) in which we partner with facilities in San Diego who serve a wide variety of populations that benefit from interactions with carefully selected therapy dogs. This has now become our Goal Directed Therapy Programs. Pawsitive Teams also graduated its first Facility Dog team in 2006. Facility dogs work with professionals in the work setting to accomplish client-related goals.
Ways To
DONATE
Our organization is volunteer-inspired and volunteer-run with a very limited part time paid staff. We will apply your donation to the fund you specify. Also, the Board of Directors will use the donations as directed to fulfill our mission.