
CALL OR TEXT: 814-321-5977

ABOUT
State Licensed, Insured, Bonded, Professional Certification
The Owner
Joanna Taylor
Owner and Certified Professional Pet Sitter
Thank you for your interest in learning more about me and Mountain Pets. When you 'contact us', you are communicating directly with me as the business owner and your professional pet sitter.
Pet Sitting Beginnings
The short story of how I started Mountain Pets began following a rewarding 30-year career with a federal wildlife conservation agency. It had become time to formalize what I loved to do most...care for and work with animals and build trusting relationships with their owners. It is indeed a part-time labor of love for me. I began dog boarding in 2017 as a side job and established a full-service pet sitting business two years later to include farm and sitting in the State College area in Pennsylvania. Mountain Pets is the culmination of the breadth of my 30 plus years of experience, knowledge, training and love I have for a variety of animals. While my intent is to "keep it small", I am fully engaged in continued learning and building a professional pet sitting option for farm and pet owners throughout Centre County.
Horse Experience
Horse back riding lessons began for me when I was seven years old followed by volunteering at an Appaloosa specific forty-stall horse farm. There, I continued my riding lessons, but also spent every weekend on the care crew, feeding, turning out and bringing in horses, mucking stalls and even assisting with horse breeding by handling the mares. I became a horse owner at age 13 and acquired my second horse at age 27. I owned both horses for their entire lives and moved them around with me across the country. At times I a worked for reduced board to make it work and other times I kept them with me at my home and managed their daily care. Besides the breadth of experience I received at that Appaloosa farm as a child, I probably learned the most about horses as the health of my own two began to fail due to old age. My first horse, I was unable to bring back from unexplainable rear foundering, With my second horse, I spent the last five years of his life treating and rehabilitating him from a broken leg. One of the most exhilarating experiences of my life was cantering on the horse I brought back from a broken leg. My horse ownership chapter closed in 2019 and I am now focused on leveraging my knowledge, skills and abilities in caring for other people's horses.
Dog Experience
My grandmother bred cocker spaniels and my mom had a poodle and her eight puppies when she was twenty years old. Both my parents instilled in me that life without a dog in the house is not an option. As a young adult, I researched dog breeds and decided that I had a strong interest in Australian Shepherds and I got my first puppy at age 24, raised three litters of puppies with her and am on my forth Aussie now. Since I began boarding dogs in 2017, I've had the fortune of getting to know the unique characteristics of many dog breeds and have boarded more than 200 individual dogs, with a lot of them repeat customers.
Bird Experience
A pair of parakeets and lovebirds shared my childhood bedroom with me. My first eight years working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, first as an animal caretaker and then a biological technician, was all about birds. My work entailed hands-on care with captive flocks of endangered whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, bald eagles, Andean condors, vultures, masked bobwhite quail and chickens. I handled a variety of birds on a daily basis, providing general daily care, assisting with veterinary health checks and performing artificial insemination. I managed a Cochin chicken flock for surrogate incubation of endangered crane eggs and managed the breeding flock of endangered masked bobwhite quail, producing approximately 3000 chicks per year for release back into the wild.
Qualifications
Below are a few more details about my qualifications. I am happy to provide personal and/or client references on request. Thank you for your time.
Pet Sitting Certifications and Continued Training
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Professional Pet Sitter Certification
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Pet First Aid & CPR
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Bird First Aid & Care
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Rabbit and Rodent First Aid & Care
Professional Memberships
Other Relevant Course Work and O-T-J Training
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Basic Wildlife Rehabilitation
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Parlor milker, private dairy farm
Personal Experience
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40 years of horse ownership and horse farm management
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30 years of owning and breeding Australian Shepherds
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30 years of cat ownership
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10 years of freshwater aquariums, pet birds and rabbits







Mountain Pets



Mountain Pets physical location is our home and is located on 200-acres within the beautiful Bald Eagle Valley in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania. We serve clients in the State College area and throughout Centre County.
A pet sitting business that prides itself in offering a private, kennel-free dog boarding experience as well as conscientious and professional farm and pet sitting care at your own farm and home. A combination of services not commonly found. Services include hobby farm animal care at your farm, dog boarding, small animal boarding, bird boarding and pet sitting in your home. We serve dogs, cats, all hoof stock including horses, cows and goats, chickens, caged small mammals, birds and reptiles, and aquariums.
The amenities on our 200 acre property really make this a dog paradise and offers your dog a pet vacation while you are on vacation or away on a trip. We board no more than 2-3 dog clients at a time and do not have any kennels/cages on the property. Boarded dogs are integrated into our home and routine and are treated just like our own house dogs. In addition to a 1-1/2-mile lane, we maintain hiking paths throughout the property for dog walks and have a pond and small creeks running through for swimming or cooling off on those hot summer days.
Mountain Pets is licensed with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement as a boarding kennel, License # 17360, K Class BK1. Kennel licenses are required by anyone who boards at least 26 dogs per calendar year for compensation. As a licensed boarding kennel (their term), the Bureau performs 3 unannounced inspections per year.
Mountain Pets holds general liability insurance by a pet sitting insurance company and includes care, custody and control coverage. Care, Custody or Control (CCC) Coverage is the key ingredient to insuring a pet sitter. This provides coverage for the client's pets and personal property in the pet sitters care, custody or control - which includes pets while in transport in a vehicle, pet taxi and other means. We are also bonded to provide you with peace of mind while you are granting me home and farm access. Proof of clear criminal background checks with the FBI and state of Pennsylvania are maintained and available on request.
Mountain Pets was founded as an LLC in April 2019 and moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania in November 2019. The physical location for the business is our residence, so we are not open to the public except by appointment for dog boarding clients. Joanna Taylor is the owner and operates the business as a solo professional pet sitter with no additional staff.
Our Dogs
If your dog comes to Mountain Pets for overnight boarding, daycare or a play date, he or she will be engaging with and probably become good buds with our two Australian Shepherds. I couldn't do what I do without their help!
GABBY
TEAM LEAD
Hi. I get along super well with other dogs, assume the role of silent leader with guest dogs. I am well socialized but have healthy boundaries and don't like drama queens. I'm great friends with Toby. We play hard together but I am reserved with guest dogs until I get to know them better. On walks, I'm either trying to keep up with Toby or walking beside my mom.
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Australian Shepherd
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Spayed female
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11 years old
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50 pounds.

TOBY
ASSISTANT TEAM LEAD
Hey there. I was adopted through Australian Shepherds Furever and I couldn't have landed at a better place. I am great buds with Gabby and get along well with other dogs too. On the trails, I'm out there leading the way! I'm quite the outdoors fella and love exploring the woods.
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Mini Australian Shepherd
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Neutered male
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6 years old
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20 pounds
