Photo by Lauren Allen
From dogs and cats to horses and geese, Elyse Thogerson has kept and cared for animals her whole life. Somehow, she says, they have always found her. During the pandemic, a sheep wandered its way onto her property. When she lived in Hawaii, stray cats would yell out and come up to her. When she was a teenager, she would help out her mother at their horse ranch, grooming and training the horses. She currently has seven horses, four dogs and five outdoor barn cats.
“I was raised with animals my whole life,” Thogerson says. “I’ve always, always had an animal, no matter all my travels and everything that I’ve done.”
In January 2024, Thogerson decided to “bite the bullet” and convert this passion into a business. She noticed a need for pet care in the community. She also saw a myriad of people on social media preferring pet sitters to boarding facilities, so she created a Facebook page offering her pet services to the Lakewood area. When Thogerson texted her mom for ideas about the business, her mom recalled the many animals Thogerson had cared for over the years and immediately came up with the name, Paws Claws & All, and it has stuck ever since.
“Overnight, I just started getting busier and busier and busier,” Thogerson says. “So that’s when I was like okay, this is gonna be my forever career. It was one of those things where the stars aligned and it was perfect timing and I just went for it.”
Paws Claws & All is run solely by Thogerson. She provides a variety of services like dog walking, feeding, pet-sitting and even house-sitting duties like watering plants and checking the mail. She tailors her services to what the client needs when they are away from home, though the only things she does not offer are grooming and certified pet training.
Thogerson aims to create special connections with the pets. She enjoys getting to know each one’s unique personality.
“One of the pet parents told me that they get deliveries around three times a day. They have people coming over constantly, but their dog always thinks that it’s me at the door,” Thogerson says. “[The dog] is so excited that it just runs out and jumps up on the person.”
Thogerson also works two nighttime jobs at different restaurants. Her goal is to gain enough clients to only focus on Paws Claws & All and hire people she trusts to help take care of the pets.
“I’ve actually made my own business cards. I take the opportunity to give them out when I’m waiting on tables or bartending just because I’ve lived so much life I feel like I always have something in common with these people that I meet,” Thogerson says. “And as soon as we start talking, all of a sudden they’re just like, ‘Wow, you have a business card.’ Then they tell their neighbor and then their neighbor tells their neighbor. It’s just been networking and getting to know people.”
She dreams of expanding the business to food, with raw homemade food for dogs with unprocessed ingredients. Thogerson’s ultimate goal is to buy land and create a pet sanctuary. She imagines it having “little dog homes,” fields and a pond with a slide, a more luxurious alternative to a typical kennel.
Until this is achievable for her, Thogerson continues to help pet owners in the community and grow her love for animals through each one she meets.
“Animals are not just pets to me. They are definitely my family members,” Thogerson says. “Even if they are other people’s pets and I take care of them for a week, I am their family member for that whole week and hopefully in the future.”
