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HOME > About Us meet THE crew: Owners Groomers daycare DOG Walkers/cat PET sitters PHOTO & VIDEO GALLERY Take a tour the 'bud & lou' story At the Bark Bark Club, our mission is to provide pets and their people a place where they feel positive energy and our commitment towards a healthy, happy pet/owner relationship. We provide expert grooming services for dogs and cats, sell healthy food, treats, pet apparel and toys. Meet The Crew
GROOMERS
Sasha Hank- Groomer
DAYCARE/BOARDING
Caleb Manci - Daycare Pen Pal
Lucas Wright- Walker
Our main gallery pages are still under construction. For now, you can visit our MySpace page to see the latest and greatest photos from BBC events. Go to: Click on the videos below to take a guided tour of the Bark Bark Club! As many already know, Bud and Lou are both permanent fixtures and mascots of the Bark Bark Club. In some of our promotional materials, you may notice that Lou is always pictured with a missing leg... here is their story as told by Club owner Patti:
"I didn’t have dogs for a very long time and then in 1998 my husband Matt and I went to Let’s Pet Puppies on Ashland “just to look” and purchased Buddy, a border collie mix. He immediately became the love of my doggy life. My husband and I now have two dogs; Buddy and Lou - both border collie mixes, who inspire me every day. Lou came to us in 2000. I was driving home from work (working at PetSmart then) and I saw a dog was hit on Broadway in front of Walgreens and left on the road. Everyone there was crying but afraid to go near him for fear of being bitten. The police were there too and said that if they took him he'd be put down, so I decided to get him to a vet. Before I left two little girls handed me $10. A woman and little boy gave me $20. She said, "I know this is going to cost you money." It was like a scene out of a movie. The policemen escorted me with their sirens, stopped traffic and ran in to get a stretcher. It was unbelievable. The dog's left shoulder had nerve damage, and he couldn't walk on the leg. They wanted to amputate but I just couldn't do it right then and there, so I decided to give it three months. We tried massage therapy, chiropractic and acupuncture. But the leg was useless, so we had it removed. Lou is now the happiest dog alive and the fastest one at the beach. That's the great thing about dogs. They don't have emotional baggage. He's my roving goodwill ambassador. My husband and I would be lost without our Buddy and Lou – they make our life whole, as all of you understand having your own personal pet hero’s." |
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Patti spent most of her working career in the corporate world. Over the years she honed her people skills working as an administrative assistant, talent agent, supervisor and assistant to the CEO and VP of Sales for a human resource consulting firm. After her feline companion of 20 years passed away, she and her husband Matt adopted a Border Collie mix named Buddy. Buddy changed her life! Wanting to leave the corporate world but not knowing which direction to go…..Buddy gave her the guidance she needed. Patti was also blessed with a stray that came into her life by "accident" – Lou. Inspired by Buddy, Lou and all of the dogs she met throughout the neighborhood she researched the dog grooming industry. After spending a couple of years working with PetSmart and Petco she decided it was time for the Edgewater community to have its very own pet salon where dogs and their people can socialize with fellow pet owners in the neighborhood. Bark Bark Club has developed a reputation as "the place for cool dogs and cats to hang out"!
Brian has had a life-long love of animals. At five years old, while other children wanted to be firemen, Brian wanted to be Jacque Cousteau or Marlon Perkins. His first pets were Cookie, Little Kitty, Big Cat and Puppy. What he lacked in naming acumen at the age of six, Brian made up for in an undying loyalty and love of these animals. Petroshka and Buttercup, a husky-lab mix and pit bull terrier, were the next big dog loves of Brian’s life. They were his beach running, mountain climbing travel companions until their passing in 1997. For the past five years Brian and his wife Kate have lived with Oscar T. Cat, Ella and Jordan, three felines that make their house a home. Brian has ten years of experience in the home healthcare field, including hospice work, working with the developmentally disabled and live-in care. He moved to Chicago from the San Francisco Bay area eleven years ago to attend the Theatre School at De Paul University and spent several years on the stage. He is certified in animal CPR. 
Kim was raised in a small town in Minnesota and was constantly bringing home animals she would nurse back to health. She came to Chicago to attend North park College and graduated with a degree in biology. Kim has lived in Switzerland and Hawaii. She made Chicago her home in 2003 and has dedicated herself to the care of animals. Kim lives with her two cats - Justice and Kitty.
Toney's love of animals started in her home country of Russia. Her family had a farm with pigs, goats and chickens. Numerous stray dogs, cats and birds were constantly finding their way to Toney's house. In 1996 Toney graduated from Oregon State with a BA degree in Political Science and a minor in French. Chicago became her new home in 2002. She soon went to the Chicago pound and adopted a shepherd mix named Panther, a cat from PAWS named Ash and Harvey the bunny who was left at the Bark Bark Club. Along with her natural talent for pet grooming, Toney teaches Russian as a second language. 
Oscar grew up in Chile with a cocker spaniel named Mafalda. He and his family moved to the suburbs of Chicago when he was 16. After attending Triton College he worked in various professions always knowing his dream was to work with animals. His plan is to become a dog trainer and he will be attending training school in 2008 – Bark Bark Club will have its very own dog whisperer! Since working at the Bark Bark Club he has already adopted Lucas, a beautiful black lab, who was on his way to the animal shelter with his previous owner – when Oscar and Lucas met, they both knew they were old friends and were meant to be together again. Oscar now lives in the Edgewater area with Lucas and his cocker spaniel Mafalda #2.
Sasha has worked at the Bark Bark Club almost since it opened. Her love of pets shines through in her work. She is attending Loyola University for her degree in journalism and also studying photography. Sasha lives in the Edgewater area with her dog Benny, who was a stray that came to the Bark Bark Club three years ago. Now Benny comes with her to work and is one of the many dogs that get to “hang out at the club”.
April grew up in Southern California with many dogs and is excited to be part of the Bark Bark Club grooming team. With a background in cosmetology, she enhances your pet’s stylish beauty. Attention to detail and pure love of animals makes April an outstanding grooming assistant. In June of 2006 April adopted a beautiful German shepherd puppy named Betty. Betty’s fun loving attitude makes her the playmate of choice with all of our visiting Bark Bark Club doggy gang. April and Betty live happily in the Rogers Park area.
Elizabeth was born and raised in Chicago. She has had a life long love of all animals starting in childhood when she would rescue neighborhood dogs, cats, birds and frogs. She worked for 15 years as a manager/buyer for a small retail store before making a switch to pursue a career that included her passion, DOGS! She has volunteered with the dogs at the Evanston animal shelter, rain, shine and holidays, for the past five years. She and her husband of 11 years fancy the Basset hound and currently have 3. Cookie 10, Andy 9 and Mia the princessa 1 ½. They have attended the Basset Waddle in Dwight Illinois for the last ten years religiously. Elizabeth has been certified in pet CPR.
Ernesto’s love for animals started when he was a little boy. His first pets came from his lovely grandmother who gave him a pair of parakeets as a birthday present, which began a life long love of birds. His family started bringing home dogs and he fell in love with a black Great Dane puppy named Negro, who lived with Ernesto for the next 16 years. As a grown man, in Venezuela, his country of origin, he also had two female basset hounds, Tina and Matilda. Because of the restrictions of city living Ernesto can not have dogs in his building, so he has developed another way to be in contact with nature. He started researching saltwater aquariums and today he has a beautiful and well-balanced reef aquarium, a fresh water aquarium, and as always a blue parakeet in his kitchen. Along with all this, Ernesto has another passion that keeps him alive, photography.
Caleb D. Manci was bred, born and raised in Flagstaff, AZ. During his childhood, he helped raise a potbelly pig, two goats, four dogs, a handful of chickens, numerous cats and a plethora of rabbits. Rabbit whispering was actually his first look in to the world of the animal. Now he moves amongst them as if he were one of their own, a modern day Tarzan. Drawn by the siren song of the city, Caleb left the wilds of Arizona in 2003 and made the long journey upriver to Chicago. Here his animal nature has worked itself into a viable skill set as he howls and yelps at the Bark Bark Club by day & is an improvised actor by night.
Born and raised in Chicago, Jack has always had a sheepdog as his companion. Jack Jack was born and raised in Chicago, and after spending 6 years in Colorado attending college and working as a milkman, he is thrilled to be back in his hometown. Jack’s love of animals started at the age of 3 with the family dog, an Old English Sheepdog named Meggan. Since then he has never been without a sheepdog as his companion. Jack lives in the uptown neighborhood with his 5 year old sheepdog, Payton- The world’s most unlikely Frisbee dog!
Mike spent his childhood in Hawthorn Woods Illinois where he was never without a black lab at his side. He graduated from De Paul University and moved to Boston where he lived for nine years. He returned to Chicago to attend graduate school at Loyola University. He lives with the love of his life, Logan the black lab.
As a child growing up in Mongolia, Harley spent time caring for all types of animals on his Grandfather’s farm. After moving to the United States he decided to continue his work with animals and landed a job with the Bark Bark Club as a dog walker. He also works as an in-home hospice specialist. His loving care and patience makes him a true asset to the Bark Bark Club family.
Nick is a corn fed Iowa boy that grew up in Iowa City. As a child he
Max is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to Chicago in September of 2007 after completing his undergraduate studies in Theater Arts at UCLA. He soon after joined the ever-loving Bark Bark Club team and has been working as a walker/penpal while spending his nights tapping the Chicago theater scene. Growing up as an only child, Max spent more time hanging out with his dogs than other children and while his social skills have suffered because of this, he's quite popular among the canine crowd. He has seen it all when it comes to his history of pet pups, from Dash, the likes-to-use-a-bed-pillow-as-a-toilet Dachshund, to Reggie, the over-excitable Weimeraner that was often inclined to playfully bite the children running for their lives from him on the bottom. He has learned to tame the wild ones and all the while mastered the belly rub. He is very happy to be using these skills and spreading some love among all of our Bark Bark Clubbers.
Lucas hails from Oklahoma where he grew up working and living with animals. He always had dogs and spent time working on a cattle ranch as well. He attended college at the University of Central Oklahoma and then moved to Chicago. He now has three dogs Bella, Frieda and Heidi and spends his evenings working for Broadway in Chicago.