Amy Sondergard – Operations Manager. Growing up in Kansas and Eastern NC, Amy always knew animals would be a huge part of her life. Raised in a home that had multiple dogs, ferrets, rabbits, cats and reptiles exposed her to a little of everything. Graduating from Saint Mary’s College in Raleigh and receiving a Bachelor’s in Communication from ASU prepared her for an unknown career path! After graduation she worked as an Operations Manager for 9 years with Fonville Morisey. During that time she volunteered with a local rescue organization in all of her spare time. She personally fostered and placed 100+ rescues in their forever homes, served as a foster home coordinator and served two consecutive terms as a Board Member for Second Chance Pet Adoptions.

Amy worked with Camp Canine to place several rescues and became fascinated at the behavioral side of socializing dogs. Although she enjoyed her career with Fonville Morisey and working part time with Camp, the opportunity presented itself to join the Camp Canine family full time in early 2007. Her volunteer work gave her the experience of working with just about every breed and behavioral issue imaginable preparing her for a rewarding career with Camp Canine. Amy brought with her a vast experience in working with dogs and people and continues to enhance her knowledge daily. She is a firm believer no one will ever know all there is to know about behavior and therefore enjoys learning through readings, classes, seminars and what the dogs have to teach her every day.

As the Operations Manager at Camp Canine, Amy oversees the operational side as well as manages the employees and their training programs. She enjoys the family atmosphere and that everyone at camp is here as a career choice and not a job. The mixed interaction with customers, suppliers, and most of all the campers when she gets the great opportunity to work a shift is what Amy enjoys most. Amy is also a Certified Instructor for Animal First Aid and CPR. She co-founded TECA First Aid and teaches classes to pet owners as well as pet care professionals.

She currently shares her home with her 7 kids all which have 4 legs! Outside of Camp she can be found in the mountains of NC with Josie, Tuco, Coleman, Jeffrey, Manning, Marion, & Ernest Nathanial.

Nathan Fox – Day Camp Manager. Originally from VA but a Cary native since high school we consider him to be a local. Nathan worked with Austin foods for 8 years leaving to start a limousine and courier service. Suzanne, owner of Camp Canine, and Nathan have been friends for 30+ years. She always brought him along to help with rescues or anything animal related, introducing him to the wonderful world of canines. Nathan helped Suzanne with projects around Camp Canine from the day the doors opened in 1996. Nathan began driving all the airport shuttles for Camp Canine customers and quickly realized his career path was meant to be with the dogs. Once observing Nathan with a group of campers, there was no doubt his calling was to be the leader of the pack!

In 2000, Nathan became our Day Camp Manager and is known to all as the “real” Dog Whisperer. It is amazing to watch him with his group and how he and the campers interact. They follow him everywhere and the respect and affection the campers have for him is beyond words and truly amazing to watch. Nathan is a big part of our continual behavioral training we require of all employees. Each counselor has spent countless hours with Nathan in group observing behavior and learning from his vast experience and expertise of socializing canines.

Nathan continues to learn from his friends daily in play group as well as from seminars, readings and online courses. Nathan was part of ARRT, rescue group founded by Suzanne, who went to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief. Countless animals in the ninth ward were rescued thanks to the ARRF volunteers! Nathan’s experience in the field brought back animals that others could not lay hands on.

Kelly McFerren – Office Manager. Kelly joined the Camp Canine Family in early 2007. Having a wealth of experience in the corporate world and customer relations, she was the perfect choice for our Office Manager position. She received a B.A. in Math from Franklin & Marshall College and after several years in the workforce, she continued her education at George Mason University receiving an MBA. After working as a software consultant in VA, Kelly accepted a job with IBM as a software engineer and relocated to the Triangle in 2000.

Kelly adopted her first puppy Abby and quickly enrolled Abby for Day Camp to keep her socialized. Every day she dropped Abby off at Camp, she wished she could stay and play instead of heading off to work! After many years of long hours and lots of traveling, she decided to make a career change when a position became available with Camp. Although she loves working with the human customers and keeping the front desk running smoothly, she was jealous of the counselors who got to work with the campers all day and came up with a way to have best of both worlds. You will primarily see Kelly at the front desk, but she got lucky enough to get trained so she can enjoy a few shifts with the campers out in playgroups each week! She loves the variety Camp has to offer from helping the customers to caring for the babies.

Kelly's babies are Abby, 7 year old chocolate lab and her newest addition Jordan, 2 year old Australian Shepherd who keeps Kelly on the move. Jordan was a rescue that came to Camp and one night of fostering was all it took. Abby prefers to cuddle up on the couch while Jordan keeps Kelly busy with her love for agility. Both of Kelly's kids come to Day Camp daily and love it!

Chelsea Hughes – Facility Assistant Manager. Originally from Alabama, Chelsea made NC her new home when she moved to attend college. She graduated with a degree in Art and Communications from St. Andrews College. Upon graduating, Chelsea worked jobs in her field and found something missing…..the animals. She found the Camp Canine Family in 2007 and has been a wonderful addition to Camp that we can’t imagine without her.

Chelsea longed for a rewarding career and found the Camp family. She knew working with the campers all day would make her happy and fulfill her needs. She holds true that you can’t have a bad day with all these furry faces around. Chelsea quickly moved through many training levels at camp and continues to broaden her knowledge and move forward. She has attended training to enhance her knowledge in behavior and continues to learn everyday through readings, online courses, and in house training available.

Through hard work and devotion to all her customers (the fur babies) she was promoted to Assistant Manager in 2008. Chelsea is responsible for the training of all new staff. She ensures that the mountain of paperwork is maintained precisely and Camp procedures and policies are followed at all times. Chelsea can been seen working the front desk, working with the overnight quests as well as our Day Care customers and is a pro at all. She is the creative mind behind our Day Care “Camper of the Week” board and works closely with all staff to highlight each Camper to the fullest.

In her spare time, she spends her time with Camp’s rescues preparing them for their forever homes. Rescue Samantha is her favorite! She added a new (2-legged) son to her family pack in 2008 which has taken no time away from the time she spends with the rescues so they are forever grateful!