Our Staff

Reef
Chief Product Tester

Reef, Maggie, Felix and Enzo.

Reef is a much-loved black labrador who enjoys non-stop play with her friends Enzo, Felix and Maggie. She is the resident dog at Barkz (Kirkland) and tests all the products for durability and enjoyment. Join me on Facebook, my email address is reef@barkz.com.

Joey Iversen
Professional Dog Trainer, CPDT

With over 15 years experience training and showing both dogs and horses, Joey has worked with all breeds of dogs and their owners. Her calm, patient manner makes it easy for people and dogs to understand and learn from her. Joey received her Certified Pet Dog Trainer title from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers and is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She has reinforced her knowledge by attending hundreds of seminars, training sessions, and workshops given by internationally renowned experts.

“Happy, well trained dogs don’t just happen. I believe the key to effective training is understanding canine learning and communication. I teach owners to communicate with their puppies and dogs without force, by leading, luring, shaping, bonding, and reinforcement of proper behavior. I really enjoy coaching people and their canine companion.”

Joey joins Barkz from Iowa where she developed and co-owned a successful training, daycare, agility center and boarding facility. There, Joey developed and taught all levels of dog and puppy obedience classes, agility, CGC, Rally-O, private lessons, and behavior counseling. She coached competitors in all canine sports and personally holds titles in Obedience, Rally-O, and agility.

Joey has a passion for youth and teenagers. She and her dog Pirate are a registered Pet Partner team with Delta Society and participate in Animal Assisted Therapy, the Reading Education Assistance Dog program, and numerous other animal-assisted activities to better the lives of children and families. She received a Certificate in Animal-Assisted Therapy from the University of Denver.

joey@barkz.com

Erin Brimm
Sales Associate

Originally from Arizona, Erin has now been in the northwest for 3 years. She has one dog, a 12 year old Shetland Sheepdog named Melby. Erin is currently a student at BCC, where she is studying a variety of subjects. Although her major is still undecided, she knows that a career that would allow her to work with people and/or animals would be the most fulfilling.

erin@barkz.com

Aaron Weber
Sales Associate

Aaron Weber is 24 years old and an avid dog lover. He is new to the Kirkland area. He recently moved here to attend school at Northwest University, where he is majoring in Business Marketing. Most of his experience with dogs is with retrievers. His family’s favorite pastime is hunting, so he has been going hunting with his dogs since he was a boy. He also experience in Field Trails and hunt tests. He has two Labradors who are Senior and Master Hunter Certified.

Aaron says: "I love working at Barkz because I am able to combine my love with dogs and my love for work."

aaron@barkz.com

Paula Heddle
CEO

As a dog-loving entrepreneur, Paula started Barkz to provide dogs and their owners with novel retail products that offer unparalleled durability and aesthetics. In Barkz, she has created a space where dog and owner can relax after a walk or run in urban areas where off-leash areas are distant, hard to find and occasionally unsafe. Barkz is founded on the principle that sometimes dogs need to just be dogs.

Before Barkz, Paula started Talents Within, a not-for-profit day camp for inner-city children. She brought unused city resources, children in foster care and low-income housing, and university students together to create a successful summertime program. Paula also started an organization for special needs children to work with resources that were not designed for such persons.

Throughout her years as a teacher and CEO of these organizations, Paula trained her dog to work with everyone involved. After moving to Seattle, Paula saw a need to provide dogs and their owners with additional resources and support. As schedules become tighter, there is less time to exercise our dogs to the fullest, or just let them play with other dogs. Barkz is an oasis of fun for dogs in the city.