WHO ARE THESE CATS THAT TAKE OUT MY DOG?!
Jason Durishin
Founder/CEO/Boss Applesauce
Hey! Hey! Thank your for taking some time to read a bit about us here. I grew up in Westport Ct, and we were indeed a “dog family”. Those poodles are Brandy, Beau and their mother Pepper. Funny, while I look a tad different today, I hope :-), this is basically where our “meet and greets” take place: me on the floor with your pup. I’ve always had a rather exquisite sensitivity toward animals. I can remember being about five when my mother and I were at the fish market, and I was mesmerized by the lobsters in their tank. When I asked what was to become of them, my mother’s answer evoked quite a tantrum of tears and protests. Our dogs passed away before my teens, and my mother didn't get another dog till I was in my early 20’s, a lhasa ahpso she named Brat. I had already moved to NYC to pursue a career as a singer and an actor, but I maintained a steady and close relationship with Brat, and that bond kept my love of dogs vibrant and inspired. In NYC, I received my B.A in Liberal Arts from The New School , so of course, with that it was either grad school, or start a dog walking business...
​
I also studied acting for two years at The William Esper Studio all the while doing different gigs in music and in theater. At one point I landed this gig as the lead singer for this kitschy, disco cover band called The Boogie Knights, and I was obsessed with the seventies. Coincidentally, the movie Boogie Nights came out around that time, and I wanted to get two french bulldogs and name them Dirk and Brock :-)... I lived in the East Village and would visit the Thompkin’s Square Dog Run often, just ogling all the pups there. While I never did get two french bulldogs, some years later my ex girlfriend and I did get a dog, a Carlin Pinscher, who I did in fact name Dirk, Dirk “Doggler”. The seed was planted for GoDoG. I currently live in South Slope with my dogs Dirk and Scarlett. I’m recording original music these days and have a Yacht Rock Tribute band called Marina Del Macho. Ya can check us out on Facebook. I’m so grateful to have spent the last decade with your pups. They light me up, they wake me up, they make me a better man. Cheers!
The Team
I'm very proud of my squad. They train for a few weeks with myself and other senior walkers so as to meet as many different dogs as possible. They are all insured and bonded. They are a lot of fun :-) Without further adieu may I present...
Xavier
Hello! I'm Xavier, and I've been GoDogging it with Jason and the crew since the summer of 2015. Animals (dogs especially) have always been a major part of my life. I was born and raised in Cleveland, OH. After my first pet (a turtle named Andy) experienced an all-too-soon trip to the other side (don't cry), my family rescued a German Shepherd puppy. We named him Elvis, and he grew up to be a big, beautiful gentledog that offered brotherly love and companionship for 13 years. Elvis sparked my passion for working with puppies down the road. In high school, after a couple summers working sales in the Cleveland baseball team's merch shop, I wanted a change, and found the perfect summer-job fit at Cleveland MetroBark, the city's largest doggie daycare.
In my couple years at the Bark, I'd spend my days with anywhere between 50-120 dogs, I was able to work with all sorts of breeds, and tune into each one's characteristics and quirks. When I moved to NYC to study Acting at Pace University, I quickly started applying around to dog walking companies. It was only a matter of weeks until I was spending my time outside of class trekking around lower Manhattan with Shih-tzus, Pits, English Bullies, Ridgebacks and everything in between. I've been walking doggies all throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan for the past five years, wow, time flies. Gotta love the dog-walking daily, though! I get to build some incredible camaraderie with all my pups, watching our relationships grow over time provides no better feeling. Even my friends will tell you that it's like my soul softens up when I start talking about my dogs. In addition to the sentimental connections, I love the chance to adventure all over Brooklyn with some of the best travel companions. When not on route with the canines, I'm (still) acting and making other occasional creative moves as a songwriter and teaching artist (website: XavierReminick.weebly.com). I'm also a relatively-hardcore fan & follower of sports, with a deep passion for Cleveland's teams. Anyway, that's me! Hope to get to know you and your pup soon! ​
Siena
Aloha y'all! Siena here, although most of you lovely doggie parents know me as Si :) I've been fortunate enough to be part of the GoDoG family for about a year & change now & I've loved every single second of it! Animals have always played an important role in my life, from preschool class pets (tarantula, some fish) to my Aunt's incredible pug, Captain Pippers. My first animal companion of my own was my ever-patient partner in crime, George our tabby cat. Having been an only child for a while before the birth of my siblings, I spent most of my time at home palling around with George. Playing dress up, taking him for a spin around the house all wrapped up in my baby blanket, reading him all of my picture books, playing outside in the dirt with him- he was the ultimate outdoor cat. I was born in California & in Santa Monica is where my mother, George & I lived.
Eventually, the time came for us to make our big move over to New York City & it was one of the hardest, yet most valuable lessons I've learned when my mother explained to me that George would have to stay behind & become part of my Aunt & Cousins (& Cap'n Pippers of course) home over in San Diego. I was devastated, but learned then & there about the needs of the animals in my life coming before my own selfish ones. George spent so much time running around outside that the thought of him having to move to a place where he could never safely do that again was heartbreaking. With a heavy heart we left George with our family & ventured across the country to start a new chapter of our lives & he spent the remainder of his years nipping the rodent problem at Aunt Bethany's gated community totally in the bud. Neighborhood hero cat!
When we had gotten settled into our new digs over in Manhattan came time for the next furry family member to make his way into our lives. I had just finished up the first night of my 3rd grade play & my parents were unable to make it to the show, but my Aunt Bethany had been there & insisted that we go & do something special for the occasion. Well, I happened to notice flyers around the hallways with a litter of kittens for sale & this was that something special we winded up doing that night. When we had arrived at the owners apartment there was one cat in particular that pulled at my heart strings, the runt, of course! The child in the family was so poorly handling him, grabbing the poor kitten by his tail & scaring the daylights out of him, meanwhile the parents didn't do anything about it & it was this that made both my Aunt & I decide he had to come home with us. Having learned that this cat's mother became pregnant with her litter in Bulgaria, where those folks were originally from, we'd decided to name him Boris after one of the Bulgarian villains in Rocky & Bullwinkle. He had been very traumatized by the treatment from his previous owners so I really learned about patience & caring through our getting him comfortable being part of our lives. It took time but eventually he stopped spending most of the day cowering underneath the couch which was so wonderful to be able to watch. After a while he started sleeping with me every night. We went from carrying him around in a baby sling & hand feeding him, to him getting quite comfortable with begging at our feet anytime food was around heh. Moving to New York from California at 7 was a bit overwhelming & it took me a lot of time to make new friends..but Boris was the very first friend I'd made & has always been one of the best friends I've yet to make in my lifetime. Animals & their neverending unconditional love have made such an impact on me & I'm grateful for every single one that I know!
Fast forward to my current life, I am a very proud doggo Mama of my beautiful babes, Lola my 5 year old minpin chihuahua mix & Ozzy my 2 year old American Bulldog/Pitbull mix. Both of them have been through incredibly rough & painful lives before we found each other & it's been such an amazing journey being able to provide happy lives for them. Lola came to lived all over New Jersey with me once I was out on my own in the world & I don't know what I could have done without her love & affection through my journey during those years. She is one of the most important living things in my life & has been from the beginning. Ozzy too. Even outside of my own pets, all animals on this planet mean the world to me. I am beyond passionate about them all, each & every one of them & having been able to work with all of the magnificent dogs through GoDoG has made this the most personally rewarding job I've ever worked. I greatly look forward too all of the furry friends my future has in store for me!
Clarissa
Hey y'all, Clarissa here. I've been working with Jason and the GoDoG team since March of 2016 and I'm having a blast! I have loved animals for as long as I can remember and some of my earliest and fondest memories involve me pretending to be Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, my idol, Australian accent and all. My first ever pet was a hamster named Hercules, a consolation after Santa did not bring me a puppy. Taking care of Hercules was extremely fulfilling to 5 year old me, but that didn't keep me from asking my mom for a dog at every possible opportunity. In June of 2001 my family moved from South Padre Island, Texas to Summit County, Colorado. While there I continued to ask for a dog and I developed my love for the outdoors. If I wasn't watching a nature documentary or catching crickets, I was hiking, biking, skiing and snowboarding.
​
In the 3rd I started volunteering at the local animal shelter and by the time I was in the 5th grade I was allowed to walk dogs by myself, typically 16 was the cutoff age. I became so obsessed with dogs and dog breeds that I watched every dog show that was on TV and I would research dog breeds and associated behaviors, trying to find the perfect match for my family. I continued volunteering at the animal shelter all of the way through high school and that was where I met Chico, the most adorable dachshund/chihuahua mix. With a little help from my mom he was adopted the very next day. Poor Chico was extremely skittish, but all of those hours of watching animal planet and researching dog behavior paid off. With a little help from a training class and my pool of knowledge, Chico went from being a fear biter to being an outgoing goofball.
​
While in high school I developed a passion for technical theatre and decided to move to NYC to pursue an education in Theatre Design, Technology and Management. I do miss Colorado sometimes, but I love living in Brooklyn. When I graduated from Wagner College I tried out a few jobs, but dog walking is by far the most rewarding day job I've had. I desperately want a dog, but right now I live in a too small apartment with my fiancé and our two cats, but we are planing on adopting a pup when we have a little more space. Until then, the GoDoG pups are all my pseudo furry children and I love the bejeezus out of all of them!
John
Hi there! John here. I've been on the GoDoG team since September 2016, but I've been surrounded by two and four legged creatures since I was a kid growing up in Seattle, WA. We started with two chickadees Tarzan and Flutter, the latter which escaped from her cage (strangely Tarzan remained in his cage). Later on, we had two rabbits Trouble and Christopher, and a black lab/australian shepherd mix, Flotsam. We didn't know until after that we named him after floating ship wreckage, but it turned out Flotsam loved to swim anyways - it was literally impossible to get him out of the water! Flotsam lived all the way to 15 and was a great companion throughout my childhood. Later on my parents brought home a black lab/pug mix named Ruby and a chihuahua named Sandy who are both still back in Seattle - great pups to come home to around the holidays! I moved from Seattle to Boston back in 2007 to study jazz saxophone at the New England Conservatory, and without any pups currently in my nest, I've found dog walking to be a great way to get my fill of four legged fun. I love meeting and getting to know the different pups, all shapes, sizes, and unique personalities. I am and always will be a dog lover. There's nothing like a pooch greeting you at the door with that tail wagging! With no other pet do you get to build such a strong connection. For me walking dogs is just a way to make new pup friends and catch some sunshine (I don't mind the rain either). Dog walker by day, saxophonist and composer by night, you can catch a listen at soundcloud.com/cheads.
Sam
Greetings! Sam here! I've been walking with GoDoG since 2015 after I first moved to NYC from Atlanta Georgia. Things sure are a lot faster paced here and there was a lot to adjust to, but one thing you can always count on is the good hearted lovable nature of dogs no matter where you are!
I've always been a huge animal lover and often found them to be a lot easier to connect with than my own species. I grew up in one of the more rural areas of Georgia next to a cow farm so there were no shortage of kindred critters to connect with. Aside from our neighborly cows we also had a beagle named Daisy, two ducks, a turtle, and my best friend of all time, Belle, who was a black cat we rescued. I could always count on her to welcome me everyday when I came home from school and that she would be there to cuddle up with me at night.
​
I would have many pets and crittery friends come in and out of my life as I grew up including tarantulas, hissing cockroaches, a retired racing greyhound, and even became the unexpected caretaker of an abandoned baby squirrel for a short spell. But none of them could ever compare to the bond that I shared with my childhood cat until a little scruffy terrier mix named laddie followed me home one day in the spring before I moved to NYC. It was love at first sight, and he made it exceedingly clear that I was his human and no one else. He was the perfect travel companion and we have been together ever since. He loves coming along on the occasional walk with some of the dogs on our route that live close by, and has made so many friends during weekend sits around the city.
I have met so many incredible pups working with GoDoG and each and every one holds such a special and unique place in my heart. My empathic and patient nature has helped me to learn how to engage a wide range of dogs and situations wether it's a shy and timid terrier that I need to build up trust to take outside, or a overly excited and energetic pit bull that needs a stern hand to help them focus on our walk. When I'm not walking dogs I'm at home working on leatherwork while Laddie is curled up by my side (website www.samdrakedesign.com) or traveling to festivals to sell my wares. I also love the outdoors and try to escape upstate as often as I can to go hiking or camping.
Looking foreword to meeting you and your four legged friend soon!
Logan
Hello out there, you souls who require dog-walking—I’m that guy who comes in plays with your dog, walks him/her, and gets paid for it! Mwah hah hah…love it. My name, you ask? Logan. I’m from Seattle, originally…more of a cat-person to start, if truth be told, although my uncle was basically a dog-whisperer and had (and has) some legendary pups. Anyway, I started dog-walking in Boston in 2013, and I’ve been with Jason and GoDoG since around 2014…I’ve worked full-time, but now do days here and there. My main passion/career is music—I’m a saxophonist and composer—but I keep returning to dog-walking because I love the pups. Nothing beats listening to Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto with canine companionship. Always had a way with animals…understanding their personalities, you just get where they’re coming from and adapting to that is a very intuitive, rewarding process for me. You have to meet them where they are, not where you are. You get used to using the word “energy” as in “flow of energy” with dogs, and just go with it—in a way, dog walking is very zen. I’m often short on words when I meet owners unexpectedly, because it requires me bringing my mind back to human conduct! Don’t worry! I’m not disengaged, I’m just in there…with them. And of course, unlike in music, your product—as a dog walker—is always and eternally in demand from the dogs themselves, the high point of their day, no less. Sure beats working for humans (don’t tell Jason! ;-). In conclusion, you can always count on our team because every single day, rain or shine, tired or not, we are looking forward to seeing your dog…it’s our priority to nail it because we wouldn’t be happy if we didn’t.
Joe
Hello! I'm Joe, and I've been walking pups with Jason and the GoDoG crew since last June! I've been a dog-lover since day one, and always had a family pup (all golden retrievers) in the house growing up. My parents got our first dog Crimson before my sister and I were born so she helped our parents deal with two babies; our second dog Libby was like a third child in the family; and our third and current dog Hobbes is the family baby we're all raising together. When I was nine I took my puppy love and started a pet-sitting service for my friends and neighbors, and I loved being there for my local pups, cats, and other cuties while their families were away. When I came to New York for college, I could hardly stand living without a dog, and spent the better part of my first two years of school lamenting how much I missed Hobbes back home. Now, the GoDoG pups give my the dog fix I need and I get to take them out for daily adventures! Talk about a dream job! I love getting to spend time with each different pup and getting to know their wacky, unique, adorable personalities. When I'm not dog-walking I'm a junior at Pace University studying Directing & Writing and I love comedy - improv, sketch writing, stand-up, I do it all! Thanks for reading, I hope I can get to know you and your dog(s) soon!
Clinton
Hi! I'm Clint, and I have been with Jason at GoDoG since spring 2016. Dog walking has been a lot of fun and has brought back many memories. Where I grew up in south Florida most families had dogs and mine was no exception. We had a standard poodle named Jasper who joined me on many adventures. He made camping in the back yard not only possible but exciting. My friends dogs also gave me great companionship something I considered to be a sacred relationship. I am one of those people who is always so happy to see your dog and always wanting to pet them. Moving to New York made me especially aware of how special that relationship is because it became much more rare. Not many of my friends had dogs but the ones that did found they always got a lot of special attention from me. I have recently become a new father to twins and was looking for a job that allowed me time to help my wife to raise our children. She knew Jason from an acting class and noticed his ad for dog walking in a coffee shop and suggested I reach out to him. I quickly realized it was a good fit because it allowed me to go from taking care of my children to taking care of dogs. It makes me a full time care giver which I love. I can stay in that nurturing mindset. Stay patient and loving. Many of the dogs actually remind me in funny ways of my own little ones. I am certainly never without a cute and funny story to tell. That is me for now. Can't wait to learn things about your pups.
Steven
Coming soon!
Jade
Hello hello, I'm Jade and I've been with Jason and the rest of the GoDoG pack since October of 2016! Living and interacting with animals is something I've been exposed to from the moment I popped into being. I was born in Casablanca, Morocco but my family quickly decided to leave the city-life to start a farm in Ourzezet. I grew up with chores, chores, n more chores. Chores in the garden picking squash and other legumes, chores on the fields sowing soil and such, but the task I was given that never felt too much like a chore to me was feeding and caring for animals. We had horses and sheep, among other things that liked to hang around like dwarf chameleons and jack-rabbits. On top of the horses and sheep, we had 3 big, athletic pups (1 sheepdog mutt mix, a Doberman, and a Rottweiler,) 2 cats, and a Golden-Crown Amazon Parrot who's way older than I am, and who's still alive today. So it's safe to say, being sensitive to how an animals feel and what they're trying to communicate, big or small, has been a big part of my life always.
Eventually, my family made the big decision to come to the States and leave our farm days behind us. Although we left the horses behind, we kept the tradition of caring for lots of pets. At one point, I was keeping a grey tree frog, Greg, in my bedroom, my brother was keeping an iguana, Ziggy, in his room, we had our puppy Chip, our parrot, Robert, our two turtles MJ and Neez, and a very resilient little baby Mayan Cichlid, who was honestly meant to be fishy food for MJ and Neez, but who somehow befriended them both and still lives in and dominates the tank today.
While caring for all the reptiles and amphibians is fascinating and rewarding, I feel like there is an emotional depth and understanding you can share with a dog that you can't find in many other species. My buddy Chip was my best friend and brother for so many reasons. Mostly because he just seems to intuitively know how I was feeling and whether I needed cuddles or just some good ol fashion play time. After high school, I moved out here to peruse my BFA in Acting from the Pace School of Performing Arts. While it was easy to fall back into the busy city-folk life, I always sensed that I was missing something, and I realized what I was missing was a little companion! It's hard enough to fit myself into an affordable apartment around here as a recent graduate, having a pup would be a little too much responsibility for me to handle right now, but thankfully GoDoG has provided me a platform to channel all of my lovin onto the pups of Brooklyn! My surrogate animal fam! I'm so happy to be doing what I do with the people I'm doing it with and, if I haven't already met them, I can't wait to meet and care for your pup too!