Thanks for coming to this page to find out who we are and why we do what we do – enjoy!
We are Jerry & Latecia Wheeler. As kids, each of us grew up on a dairy farm, milking cows, helping with chores, baling hay, and all those fun things! I guess the love of animals never left either of us and that’s why we enjoy very much what we have here at Thunder Valley.
We both graduated from Stark State Technical College in Canton, OH in healthcare related professions. Jerry has always worked and continues to do so in a hospital setting as a biomed/communications manager. After work, about 2 nights a week, he teaches the dog obedience classes because it is something he enjoys doing. Latecia worked in a surgeon’s office with billing/insurance duties, eventually started working at home with medical transcription, and now has the best job ever of managing and working at her kennel.
Soon after we moved to our farm in 1994, Jerry started teaching group obedience classes for all breeds of dogs and their owners. He often says there is rarely a dog that he doesn’t learn something from whether it’s a new way to teach the dog a command or understanding dog behaviors and personalities better. We have had a lot of “word of mouth” referrals and encouraging words from others, and it’s really cool when someone who has already been through class comes back with a new little puppy!
Well, over the years, folks had always asked us if we could recommend a good place to keep their dog when they were away so we sensed a great need for this in our Minerva area. We had thought about a kennel back when we first started training, but really felt that people needed to know our reputation and trust our knowledge of how to handle many different breeds of dogs.
The
years passed until the summer of 2002 and Latecia can remember the day
when she said to herself, “I’m ready to take a leap of faith
and build a wonderful kennel.” In December 2002, our kennel began
construction and it was open for business in May 2003. I’m so happy
to say that it has been nonstop ever since! I will admit I had a lot of
sleepless nights praying and thinking about all the big and little details
that go along with a kennel and its care of the dogs and cats.
With the kennel
being open for almost 3 years now, we’ve had had an overwhelming
response from the dog and cat owners in our area. Folks have told us that
they finally feel comfortable and not sad, leaving their pets to enjoy
a vacation for themselves – hearing that, I know I’m doing
something special! I thoroughly enjoy what I do and thank God every day
for the opportunity to serve others in this way.
Also
in the last 5 years, we added two precious little girls to our lives,
Shelby, age 5, and Abigail, age 2. Our extended family beyond children
include 2 belgian malinois, Arrow and Isabelle; and our big shepherd,
Simba. Isabelle is in the house with us along with 2 cats, Putty and Lil’
Kitty. Our little girls enjoy seeing the dogs and cats in the kennel and
I’m looking forward to them helping me some day.