 Meet Carol Wexler,
Owner/ Operator of Animal Care Unlimited
Growing Up
My family and I are not at all alike where animal
are concerned.
When I was growing up they were
interested in pretty
clothes, nice furniture and new
cars. I wanted a dog and
would have preferred
spending my time in a barn with
horses. Unfortunately,
I was outnumbered. The rule in our
house was “No pets
allowed”. My mother did break the rule once or twice
because of my persistence. She finally let me have
guppies and later she even allowed a parakeet. Not
being a pet lover she didn't understand that a parakeet just
wasn't a good substitute
for the big dog, the kitty or the horse that I dreamed about.
Moving Away from the Family Home
I finally got my first dog when I moved into my own home. Her name was Sweet pea.
A fluffy little black dog that I loved more than life it’s self. I was never without a dog
after that. Usually it was more than one dog, several cats, rabbits, a horse, even squirrels
and a great horned owl. Plus the never ending foster dogs and cats.
Before Animal Care Unlimited
During the day I had a job in an office. To learn more about horses I took a job in the
evenings and weekends working for a horse breeder and trainer for several years.
Through this job I met
Barbara Collier O’Conner, another horse lover.
Dog Training Apprenticeship
Barbara is also a dog trainer and dog behaviorist. She is well known in Northern California
and
Oregon for her work with dogs with special issues as well as aggression problems.
Barbara,
always busy with these dogs, would occasionally ask me for help. She began
teaching me to train the dogs because she felt that I had a “special way” with them.
I was thrilled when she allowed me to begin an apprentice program with her which lasted
for several years.
My First Horse
Prior to starting the dog training program I bought my first horse. He was a lovely” flea
bitten
gray” whose name was Shannon. I was lucky enough to find a home with a place
to keep my new
horse. There was room enough to keep other horses so I began boarding
horses.
Animal Care Unlimited-The Beginning
By this time I had a successful career with Hewlett Packard managing the U.S. Export
Licensing area
in the International Division. It was a wonderful position that I worked
hard to obtain. After 10
years I needed to make a decision about the direction of my
life. Was I going to continue with HP or with animals? There just wasn’t enough time
for both. My first love was always dogs, horses
cats, any critter really. I resigned from
HP and started my own dog training/pet sitting business.
This was over 23 years ago
and I never looked back.
Special Horse Facilities
Two special places I worked at as a contractor were:
The Folger Barn http://www.parksupport.org/index.php/programs-a-projects/folger-stable
The Woodside Horse Park http://horsepark.org/index.php
Volunteer Work
I feel that it is important to give back whenever possible. There have been so many that
have helped me along the way. Here are a few of the organizations that I have been lucky
enough to do volunteer work for:
- NCEFT-National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy http://www.nceft.org
NCEFT improves the lives of children and adults with disabilities by providing equine-assisted
therapy and equine assisted activities. I was able to help the center by feeding, watering and
preparing horses for the riders. I also acted as a side walker while the children and adults rode the
horses.
- Woodside Library, Woodside, CA http://www.smcl.org/
This library is part of the San Mateo County library system. I was on the board of directors.
- Wild Life Associates http://www.wildlifeassociates.org
WLA cares for non-releasable, abused, abandoned and injured wildlife. With these animals, WLA’s
educational programs teach hundreds of thousands of students in the bay area compassion and
empathy towards animals. I was able to help the WLA by preparing the meals for the animal and
assist, at times, in feeding the animal.
- Half Moon Bay Dog Park http://dogpark.tripod.com/index.html
The HMB Dog Park is a wonderful place to take dogs to exercise and play with other dogs off
leash. It is maintained and
supported financially entirely by private citizens. I was on the board of
directors for 5 years helping with maintenance, fund raising and other activities.
Awards
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