Welcome to Happy Hound Daycare

A Tired Hound Is A Happy Hound

Happy Hound Daycare is not your traditional dog daycare. We are a structured, Cage/Kennel FREE, Enrichment & Training base dog daycare. All staff professionally trained & CPR and First Aid Certified.

Meet The Team

Laura Higgins, CDT/Owner

Laura started Northwest Hills K9 Rescue, Inc in 2010 after adopting and volunteering through another rescue. She has made it her mission in life to save animals and educate humans. Through NHKR she has gained many friend with the same passion. She graduated in 2012 with her Associates Degree in Occupational Therapy. She is a certified in Dog Training, AKC Evaluator, Dog CPR/First Aid Certified and Canine Nutrition. Laura has also been an equestrian for 40 plus years and a dog lover her entire life. Although Laura loved working as a therapist her passion for animals is greater therefore she has followed her passion and opened Happy Hound Daycare, LLC March 2, 2020 and survived through COVID with the support of some good friends who volunteered their time.
Laura has lived in Torrington, CT for 35 plus years with her family and married to Michael Higgins since 2008 who has been her biggest supporter.

Bekah Smith, Lead Dog Handler

Bekah Smith graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2022 with a Bachelor’s in Animal Science. At UConn, she gained hands-on experience and furthered her knowledge in animal genetics, physiology, nutrition, health, and behavior. She has a special interest in animal behavior and the training of companion animals. She has been with HHDC since June 2022, where she has been gaining hands-on experience daily in dog behaviors in a daycare setting. Also working under Laura and gaining experience with training with the Life Skills Program. In her free time, she loves working with her own dog, Willow, a 2-year-old Shepherd mix. Dog CPR/First Aid Certified

Marisol Rodriguez-Social Media

Mari is 24 years old and has worked at HHDC since April 2023. She is a mother to a two year old son and two pups (Arlo and Tickle). She has always loved dogs throughout her life. Mari is a U.S. Army veteran, speaks Spanish, and is currently a student at Northwestern Connecticut Community College. She takes pictures of the dogs and helps manage HHDC’s social medias. Mari enjoys hiking, camping, painting, and tattooing her friends. Dog CPR/First Aid Certified

Hailey Gillotti

Hailey Gillotti has been a dog lover since she was a young girl. She has been showing in training dogs for almost her entire life. She mainly show English Springer Spaniels, but started with Alaskan Malamutes at six years old. Hailey has competed all over the Northeast most every weekend with her own dogs, as well as training other show dogs and puppies. She currently goes to Torrington High School where she is involved in academics in the orchestra program and playing the violin. Happy Hound Daycare is Hailey's first job and started after turning 16 in August 2022. She loves working with us and has brought a lot of knowledge and experience to the team. Dog CPR/First Aid Certified

Allyssa Telusma,
CDT

Alyssa is 30 years old, married since 2021 and a mother of an amazing 1 year old son! She has two fur-babies, a Dog named Bear and a Cat named Autumn. Alyssa has been working with dogs since 2013, between Volunteering at shelter's, Dog Walking, and Pet Sitting. She realized she wanted to some way work with dogs as a career! She investigated Dog Training and was instantly hooked! She made the decision to become a Dog Trainer through Animal Behavioral College and Graduated with her certificate in 2015. Since then, Alyssa has used her knowledge from her training at college and past employment at Doggie Daycares and in 2021, started her own In-home Personal Dog Training Program. Alyssa specializes in Behaviors in dogs especially anxiety, reactivity, building confidence and Basic Obedience. She runs all Happy Hound Daycare Group and Personal Trainings. In her spare time, she enjoys going to the park and watching movies with her family!

Bella Ramos

Isabella Ramos is 23 years old and has three fur babies, a cat nugget, and two dogs, Chester and Daisy. As of November 2023, she has been a member of the HHDC team and has enjoyed gaining more experience with dogs. As a teen, she volunteered at the Fidelco Gudie dog training course and got to see how puppies and dogs are trained so they are ready to provide assistance and love to there parent. While growing up, she also rescued and fostered animals until they could find a permanent home. Currently, her career goal is to become a personal dog trainer and to become familiar with all of the ways that dogs can be helped. In her spare time, she likes to take walks with her dogs, photography, painting, and enjoying the outdoors.