OUR STORY
Reilly Vallejos
Hi, I’m Reilly, the pup who inspired UrbanPawz™! My Mom and Dad adopted me when I was 4 months old. I still remember the first time I met them – I was wagging my tail so hard that my whole body was wiggling sideways! When we met, I was a bit of a sassy pants and would get pretty cranky at times, protecting my food {so no one would eat it!}, guarding my toys {so no one would take them!} and sometimes I even bit mom and dad {just to show some tough love, I swear!}.
I know, I know…I was quite the handful. Mom and Dad spent a lot of time working with me – they called in ‘training’ in human language. They were always reading and talking about me. They even had some doctor man visit the house to help them figure me out! Then, they started giving me a schedule and I loved it cause I always knew what to expect! What can I say, I’m a ‘type a’ kinda pup. Also, they started focusing more on giving me treats when I was doing well.
After all that, it seems I’ve become some sort of inspiration to them. Go figure. All I know is that they love me and I love them.
Reilly has instilled a passion in our life of the animal + human connection. After adopting and raising Reilly in Minneapolis for 4 years, we relocated to NYC. During our time in the Midwest, we established a Pet Care Services business, which thrived for its 3 year duration. When we moved to NYC, we wanted to continue working with animals and UrbanPawz™ was born.
Krysty Vallejos
My love for animals began family pets, Koko (the shih tzu) and Kookie (the calico cat). They were my siblings, albeit a bit furrier than friends’ siblings. I grew up with them in Miami, FL and left my home town to pursue Law School at Penn State.
Although I loved my law school experience, once I completed my degree I realized my heart was pointing me in a different direction. Being a parent to Reilly changed my life in more ways than one, and it reinforced the love of animals Koko and Kookie engendered in me.
I have been actively learning about animals my entire life by owning and caring for family pets, working in pet-related industries, fostering rescue dogs, and continuing my educations through books, publications, and classes. I am happy to say that I wake up everyday to do my favorite thing – work with animals and help strengthen the bond they have with their humans.
Alain Vallejos
I was born and raised in Miami, FL and as far as I can remember, I have been surrounded by some sort of pet. I lived with my grandmother growing up, and she always loved animals too, so throughout my life I’ve had birds, chickens, rabbits, turtles, and hamsters in our house.
I always loved dogs, so I grew up with Speky (the Maltese) and Rocky (the Rottweiler). After college, I left Miami to pursue my career with Johnson & Johnson with several relocations. This led me to Minneapolis, MN where Krysty and I spent 5 years and adopted Reilly.
He quickly became our 4-legged son. He became such an integral part of our life, that he inspired us to do more for the human-animal community. After fostering over 17 dogs in MN and helping them find homes, our hearts were set on helping humans live a better life with their FurBabies, like we have been able to do with our own. When I’m not working or spending time with my family, you’ll probably find me at the gym or researching info on fitness and nutrition – a huge passion of mine.
Hi, I’m Reilly, the pup who inspired UrbanPawz™! My Mom and Dad adopted me when I was 4 months old. I still remember the first time I met them – I was wagging my tail so hard that my whole body was wiggling sideways! When we met, I was a bit of a sassy pants and would get pretty cranky at times, protecting my food {so no one would eat it!}, guarding my toys {so no one would take them!} and sometimes I even bit mom and dad {just to show some tough love, I swear!}.
I know, I know…I was quite the handful. Mom and Dad spent a lot of time working with me – they called in ‘training’ in human language. They were always reading and talking about me. They even had some doctor man visit the house to help them figure me out! Then, they started giving me a schedule and I loved it cause I always knew what to expect! What can I say, I’m a ‘type a’ kinda pup. Also, they started focusing more on giving me treats when I was doing well.
After all that, it seems I’ve become some sort of inspiration to them. Go figure. All I know is that they love me and I love them.
Reilly has instilled a passion in our life of the animal + human connection. After adopting and raising Reilly in Minneapolis for 4 years, we relocated to NYC. During our time in the Midwest, we established a Pet Care Services business, which thrived for its 3 year duration. When we moved to NYC, we wanted to continue working with animals and UrbanPawz™ was born.
