Ms. Whynott was born with a special gift with animals and is most passionate about all animals and their welfare. In her life, she has rescued numerous animals - however only a few major rescues are featured here. Let me introduce you to, Dorinne Whynott.

Here is her story:

Ms. Whynott was born a surviving twin and grew up in Saugus, Massachusetts. She has always shown a deep connection with animals and at a very early age, all animals seemed to be drawn to her. Growing up she had many pets, a few pets are Mitzy, Husky and Spot. See pictures at right.

Ms. Whynott started pet sitting as a child (from 7 - 15 years old) caring for her neighbor's horse, Black Jack (a black and white Quarter Horse who was a retired champion barrel racer). Her payment was being able to go horseback riding. She was taught to ride (at 5 years old!!) by Kathy Wheeler (Black Jack‘s owner), a wonderful woman who was proud of her black foot Indian descent. Kathy was instrumental in helping to develop the special skills Dorinne had with animals.

Ms. Whynott experienced her first big loss, when her grandmother passed away and soon there after, her family decided to move to Nashua, New Hampshire, where she attended Nashua High School.

Ms. Whynott’s first dog after she left home was Duke. Duke came into Dorinne’s life when she answered an ad in the newspaper, featuring $5 puppies (the money would be going to spay the mom). Duke was a Labrador/shepherd/husky mix. He was the most obedient all around dog that Dorinne has ever encountered to date. He was certified for obedience and pet therapy. He was used in many educational seminars, in schools, demonstrations and used next to other dogs in training sessions. Ms. Whynott found training dogs was faster when used next to a dog that was already trained.

Ms. Whynott considers herself an animal advocate and is very dedicated to animal welfare. She was thrilled to read about a job opening at the Nashua Humane Society (also known as the Humane Society of Southern Hillsborough County and now known as the Humane Society of Greater Nashua). There she excelled under Nancy Soule, who was the Director and Darcy Langdon the Manager. Ms. Langdon stated on Dorinne’s first day of work, “ As a humane society, we are here to put ourselves out of business. For if we did our job correctly, there would be no need for a shelter”. This was an ideal statement, however, it was one that Ms. Whynott lives her life by and thus her life long passion of education in animals and animal welfare was born.

At the shelter, all employees were taught various veterinary technician and shelter duties. Dorinne learned how to do physicals on dogs and cats, proper animal handling, drawing blood, heartworm checks, fecal examinations, parasite control, administering vaccinations, euthanasia, wound management, along with numerous other important medical, shelter and kennel duties. She was also responsible for animal statistics gathering, office management, daily record keeping, deposits, minor book keeping, grief counseling, interviewing, behavior modification, public education, and much more.

Ms. Whynott considers working at the Humane Society one of the best jobs that she has ever had. Of course she loves her present company, however, working at the shelter fulfilled her passion of helping animals so completely that other jobs only filled partially.

What made this job so amazing first was the great group of people that worked there. It was a family unit, everyone cared for everyone and worked well together, learned together and always put the animals first. In the time that Ms. Whynott worked at the Nashua Humane Society, this facility had many functions. Ms. Whynott met many long time friends there, two were Norma Lavigne and Pat Konecny (who is the current office manager of Hudson Animal Hospital).

Dorinne stated “Every day was different. We could be going out to rescue a Heron shot by someone with an arrow, or help a group of ducklings whose mother was hit by a car, or help a family who did not know what was wrong with their dog (frozen in his doghouse was the problem). Then we could be going to various organizations to visit with some shelters animals, to educational talks at the local schools and children’s organizations, to television, radio or newspaper interviews and so much more. We were an animal shelter, that meant that we were there for ALL animals, domestic, wild, feral, exotic. One thing that was paramount, was that NO animal was ever turned away, EVER. Whether it was a baby squirrel, injured seagull, unwanted pet, all were taken in with no waiting, everyday. It was taught to us that if someone brought in an animal for whatever reason, they made this decision and needed to let the animal go now. If these people were turned away or talked into waiting, the risk may be that they would drop the animal off on the side of the road or something much worse. The risk to the animal was unacceptable. Of course, we would try to educate the owner and alleviate any problems that may have been the reason a pet was being relinquished, but on many occasions, the reasons given were just an excuse for not wanting the pet anymore“.

Dorinne even had someone give up a dog because it did not match the furniture!

Ms. Whynott learned to become very efficient in rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected animals. She was especially good with aggressive animals (and showed the scars for it - being bit by just about every species, from dogs, cats, squirrels, various wildlife to even a seagull!!). She became licensed (along with many shelter employees) in the state of New Hampshire to rehabilitate wildlife. She was in the public eye for the humane society quite a lot, you could find her in the newspaper showing off her many foster animals looking for homes, or doing public seminars in animal education or visiting many facilities including Greenbriar Nursing Home and the Plus Company for Pet Facilitated Therapy (PFT).

Ms. Whynott took many classes and training in Animal Behavior and Obedience. Working at the animal shelter gave her extensive on the job experience in a wide variety of animal behavior. She became a Dog Obedience Trainer (later to be part of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers). She worked with adoptive owners who adopted animals with behavioral problems to help ensure that animal and new owner had a long and happy life together. To this day, her passion is helping owners with pet problems.

Ms. Whynott was instrumental in implementing many new ideas at the shelter which helped the shelter to run more efficiently. One idea she started was the protocol for lost pets and for people looking to adopt certain pets. She also developed and implemented the out of cage cat room, where cats who were healthy could roam freely. Her protocol was instrumental in keeping disease down. Allowing cats to roam freely helped to house more cats and alleviate depression that occurred when felines are caged for long periods of time. She also helped work on the policy and procedures for the shelter along with by-laws.

She became the interim Shelter Manager until she left to move north and a new manager was hired.

During this time period, Dorinne acquired a few animals:

During this time, Ms. Whynott was also the vice president of the NH Veterinary Technicians Association.

In 1985, Ms. Whynott moved to Thornton, NH and rented a home that used to be the Robin’s Nest Restaurant and Motel. There she shared her home with 2 dogs (Duke, Armouk), 4 cats (Kiki, Pandora, Angel, Appollo) and 2 horses (Trinity, Quincy).

Ms. Whynott worked as a Veterinary Technician for Plymouth Animal Hospital. Since this was a small animal hospital, all duties (other than veterinary) were her responsibility, including the duties she performed at the Humane Society but also assisting in surgery, x-rays, lab work, and much more. Animals cared for ranged from domestic pets to livestock to horses. Patients were seen in hospital as well as in there own home environment.

Squam Lake Science Center located in Holderness, NH was also a fascinating working experience once held by Ms. Whynott. Her title as an Animal Care Technician included caring for bears, coyote, foxes, bob tail, owls, osprey and other birds of prey along with raccoons, and other native wildlife found in New Hampshire.

Ms. Whynott rescued two abused and neglected horses, Trinity and Quincy. She designed and built a large barn for them. Shortly, thereafter, the Pemigewasset River flooded the paddock and barn - the river swelled to 20 feet over the natural level of previous years. Her home and some contents were slightly damaged. The horses and barn were okay, but the barn needed a good cleaning, since the water rose 4 feet into the barn.

Dorinne Whynott had her first and only child, Rachelle in August.

Ms. Whynott saw that there was a need for an animal feed and supply store in that area. She strategized and in December, she opened RR Tack and Feed (named after her daughter - Rachelle Rose, thus RR). Being young and anxious, she wanted to open the week before to get a bit of the Christmas rush. A big mistake was opening the business before the insurance kicked in after the first of the year. Unfortunately, the fire was caused by a crack in a heating duct. Everything burned to the ground 2 days before Christmas. No person or animal was harmed, but the building and all contents (personal and business) were destroyed. She was forced to place her horses, and for the next 6 months, a gracious family allowed her to live in one 6x8 room with her newborn, 2 dogs and 4 cats. She cooked on a small hot plate and slept on a mattress on the floor. As a new mom, with no real home, no job and suffering the loss of everything, she was completely traumatized and devastated but somehow prevailed.

Finally she got back on her feet and her best friend, Norma Lavigne, offered her a wonderful basement apartment and the move back to Nashua was in order.

Ms. Whynott found work with Hudson Animal Hospital. Ms. Whynott speaks very highly of Dr. Allen Conti, whom she considers a great boss and a superior surgeon. This animal hospital has now and has had in the past many great Veterinarians. She worked with Dr. Michael Dutton (now in his own practice, Weare Animal Hospital) and Dr. Lisa Anderson (now working at the Milford Animal Hospital) , both great veterinarians, mentors and teachers. Pat Konecny is the current office manage , whom Dorinne met working at the Nashua Humane Society and is a long time friend. During this time, Benson’s Animal Farm was still open and Hudson Animal Hospital helped to care for elephants, tigers, etc. What a sight to see an elephant in the parking lot!! Ms. Whynott was responsible for boarding schedules, veterinary appointment schedules, intake and return of boarding pets and patients, medical record accuracy, counseling and solving animal problems for clients over the phone, grief counseling for clients, dispensing medications prescribed by the veterinarians, retail sales and invoicing, daily receipts, deposits, and reception duties. On very rare occasion she helped fill in for veterinary technician duties, however, she loved and preferred to be out front helping clients with problems they were experiencing with their pets.

She started pet sitting in 1990 when she obtained her first client, Samantha, a longhaired black and white cat. Many clients at the hospital started to ask if there was such a service who would visit their home and care for their pets while they were away on vacation. This led to the establishment of Whynott Professional Pet Sitting, later to be known as Professional Pet Sitting Etc (PPSE). Ms. Whynott comes to this field with unmatched superior credentials in business and animal experience. Ms. Whynott takes the professional in PPSE very seriously and as a result, she registered the business in the state of New Hampshire, became bonded, and acquired liability insurance. She is responsible for every aspect of the business. She created each piece of PPSE advertising, literature, brochure, and presentation book. Ms. Whynott is responsible for the advertising in all newspapers in southern New Hampshire, on WMUR TV, and the Yellow Pages.

While working at the Hudson Animal Hospital, a wonderful client came in, with a dog she had just rescued. This client wanted to place him but he had many problems. The dog she was referring to was Dorinne’s favorite breed, the Siberian Husky! To read more about “Fudge”, check his story out by going to Case Studies. Since Dorinne had an extensive background in dealing with abused animals, she decided to adopt him. With her training, Fudge earned his obedience certificate and also was certified as a Pet Therapy Dog in 1996.

Along with working a full time job, being a mother and starting her pet sitting business, Ms. Whynott decided to go back to school and earn a degree. She went to Springfield College earning her Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Animal Science and Psychology with a GPA of 3.97! Ms. Whynott has also received credit from Mount Ida College for Veterinary Science Clinical Methods. Her educational courses include: business and marketing, business development and management, highly effective business management tools, numerous psychology courses, case management, counseling and interviewing skills, veterinary sciences, computer skills, preventive holistic health, substance use and abuse: prevention to treatment. She interned at Brookside Hospital in Nashua, working with dual diagnosed patients (patients who had an addiction and a disorder - for example - alcohol addiction with multiple personality disorder). Ms. Whynott was the only student working on her Associate’s degree allowed in this internship, which was for Master’s level students only. Dorinne’s supervisor, Ms. Jan Bruce stated, “This students works with masters level students and consistently participates at their level”.

As part of her degree with Springfield College, Ms. Whynott needed to complete a mandatory group study project. She chose the subject of Pet Facilitated Therapy (PFT) and studied the pros and cons on children in trouble. Ms. Whynott took an additional certification course for Pet Facilitated Therapy with Linda Hume (she runs a great PFT program at the Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital in Salem, NH ) . At this time, Fudge was also certified as a pet therapy dog. The most satisfying visits were at the Nashua Children’s Association in Nashua - working with children with abusive backgrounds. They seemed to identify with Fudge’s abusive background (see his story in our case studies section on this website). One child who had not spoken for a while suddenly just began talking, talking about Fudge!

She also received certification as a Pet Care Technician. The very last course, she completed for her degree was “Coping with Disease and Death” - little did she know that this course would be the most important tool she would need in just a few months time….starting in August 1996.

Ms. Whynott was asked to help Greyhound Pets of America with fostering greyhounds off the track, trained them and placed them in permanent homes. She fostered quite a few greyhounds over the next few years.

WMUR Channel 9 and WHDH Channel 7 had special interest in Ms. Whynott's involvement with the Salem Animal Rescue League (SARL) on the 16 abused Shepherds from Salem (read more about the Coh case). Ms. Whynott worked closely with all of the foster homes to help the abused Shepherds on their way to happy homes. She, herself, took in the two worst Shepherds (Schultz and Tyler) to work with them so they could be placed in great homes. After a few months of hard work, both dogs were placed in great homes. Schultz eventually was returned after a few months. He was diagnosed with advanced kidney disease due to the past neglect, starvation and poor diet. The new owners were unable to care for him medically. SARL entrusted Ms. Whynott to care for Schultz until he was too ill and needed to be euthanized.

Ms. Whynott created and wrote her own Obedience Training Manual and started to give in-home training as a new service.

Ms. Whynott started the NH Pet Sitters Association and helped to start the NH Pet Expo.

PPSE is now successful enough and has become a full time business.

Ms. Whynott helped to create a Christmas greeting on WMUR Channel 9 and the ad ran for a few years until WMUR no longer offered these great advertisements. Three wonderful commercials were also created at this time and ran a few times, however, due to the high cost of television advertising, it did not pay off. As a result of much advertising and recent media exposure, Ms. Whynott was sought out to do numerous articles and interviews about her background and business.

She was asked to be involved with a radio call in show on WZID for pet related problems and was interviewed for a local business show for Channel 50. Overall, she has conducted many animal education talks for schools, animal welfare groups and other organizations in past, present and future.

Penny was a new addition to the family. She was a free grey and white lop eared bunny given to Dori a friend. Penny did not enjoy to much handling and when she had enough, she would growl!!!

Devastation hit during August of 1996 to December of 1997, Ms. Whynott experienced the most traumatizing 14 months of her life. She literally lost 18 family, friends and pets in that time span, which included her best friend - Norma Lavigne, her mother - Eva Whynott, her father - Robert Whynott plus 4 cats - Pandora to kidney failure, Kiki to old age, Angel to a fatal injury and Nikki to heart failure.

During this time of loss, Ms. Whynott felt that her clients and pets in her care were not getting the service they should, and she decided to hire employees. She wrote a 40 page policy and procedure handbook, devised an extensive application, and required a police background check. All to ensure that clients, pets and PPSE were as safe as possible and that good quality care was given.

In spite of all of the losses, Ms. Whynott continued to fill her home with more furry loves. Tex was inherited when Dorinne’s mother passed away.

Danny and Nikki were adopted from SARL. Danny was a DSH, brown tabby, neutered male and Nikki was a flame point Siamese, neutered male (unfortunately, Nikki passed away from heart failure at 5 months old on December 10, 1997).

Pooh and Raji were adopted from the Nevins Farm MSPCA in Methuen, Mass. Susan T., a client who had become a friend, worked there. Pooh was a DSH, orange tabby with white, neutered male and Raji was a double pawed, DSH, black and white, neutered male.

Ms. Whynott and her, daughter, Rachelle Whynott were certified for Pet First Aid and CPR.

Nepheratiti was adopted. She was a grey and white lop eared bunny, who had no bottom teeth in the front..

Ms. Whynott and her, daughter, Rachelle Whynott attended Tufts Animal Expo (no longer being held) each year for continuing education courses in:

Dog Behavior - Dog Breed Characteristic Behaviors - Cat Genetics - Loss and Grief Counseling - Benefits of early neutering in cats and dogs - Shelter assessments of cats and dogs (A.D.O.P.T.) - Behavioral assessments - Business productivity - Business marketing - Prevention and management of cat diseases - Understanding cats: assessing, temperament, handling, and techniques - Enhancing a shelter environment for cats and dogs - The ins and outs of a better multi-cat household - Dogs that bite the hands that feed - Criteria for behaviorally healthy dogs - Promoting behavioral health through environmental enrichment - The basic nature of cats, who plays best with others - Intro to the Human-Animal bond and grief - Take me to your leader, understanding the dog’s need for leadership - How to run a safe doggy daycare - Behavior Knowledge - Positive reinforcement training - Loss and grief, a footprint for mourning - Cat clicker training - Clicker training to shape behavior - Humane education that makes a difference - AKC good citizen program - Animal cognition and its role in behavior - Overview of feline nutrition -

Sazar and Desilu were rescued from a barn in Mason, NH. A friend of Dori’s, called her about these kittens in fear of them being harmed. Miss Desilu had no fear and would walk up and rub on the horses’ legs at 5 weeks of age. People who worked at this barn feared that they would find the kittens crushed if one of the horses had a mis-step.

Dorinne learned of a new product that was installed on top of an existing fence, to discourage cats from getting out of a fenced in yard. She installed this cat fence to allow all the cats to play outside, yet keep them safe. This has been a wonderful product that has worked beautifully for many years.

In the very cold month of early April, Ms. Whynott was made aware of 30 cats and kittens in a cold trailer, with no heat, no water, no food and living in filth, urine and feces. She organized and carried out the rescue. To read more, go to case studies. This is where she obtained Ricky, Lulu and Spanky. Ricky being her sole kitty…..

Sazar had major surgery to remove a long piece of invisible nylon thread wrapped around his tongue and going through his entire system to somewhere in the intestines. Ms. Whynott’s previous employer, Dr. Conti performed the much needed surgery successfully. This is one very good reason, to always watch your pets, know how much they are eating at every feeding. This may mean that you need to stop free feeding (which most veterinarians advise) and feed once in the morning and once in the evening. The only way Dori knew that some thing was wrong is because he stopped eating and this is a cat that LOVES to eat. Please watch your cats. To this day, the source of the nylon thread is unknown, which is scary.

Ms. Whynott’s daughter, Rachelle graduated from Nashua High School with honors. Rachelle is responsible for the payroll of Professional Pet Sitting, Etc. Rachelle started college in the fall at Rivier College. She majored in Biology with the long term goal of Veterinary studies.

Ms. Whynott completed two courses, Strategic Thinking and Business Planning and Executive Leadership Action Plan with Strategic Directions, LLC and has written her Business Plan to help aid in the progress of the Animal Center and Professional Pet Sitting Etc. Ms. Whynott also completed courses in The doggie daycare business, How to own and operate a dog daycare and The boarding kennel business.

With the horrors of Hurricane Katrina in the past, Ms. Whynott was devastated by the lack of preparedness for animals (and people) in a disaster situation, she read as many books and articles she could find on the subject. She sought out and completed as many educational outlets on the subject as she could find. She then wrote her own article on Disaster planning for you and your pets, which you can view on this web site.

Ms. Whynott obtained certification in the following:

Animal Emergency Services Training by American Humane Association

Disaster Animal Response by Humane Society of the United States

Emergency Animal Sheltering by Humane Society of the United States

National Incident Management System by FEMA

Animals in Disaster, Awareness and Preparedness by FEMA

Animals in Disaster, Community Planning by FEMA

A Citizen’s Guide to Disaster Assistance by FEMA

Ms. Whynott was asked to be the team leader for the greater Nashua area for NH Disaster Animal Response Team.

One of Dori’s best friends became aware of four 10 day old kittens needing help. Dori adopted and added two to the family, bringing the number of kitties in the house to 10! Felice (lilac point Tonkinese mix, spayed female) and Linus (DSH, brown tabby with white, neutered male) are the new additions.

This is also the time that Dorinne started to think about evacuating her own animals. How would she round up 10 cats, which includes 2 feral-like that run if they know you want them? Especially since a couple of them were not fond of carriers, in fact Danny would stress out so much in a carrier that in the 15 minutes it took to drive to the animal hospital, he would have his nose completely scraped up and bloody trying to get out….So, the first thing would be to get them used to carriers. A set up of 10 carriers, 3 across, 3 high with the 10^th one on the very top, 4 foot boards were placed in between the rows, to steady all the carriers. Each carrier was labeled with each cat’s name, description and date of birth (in case evacuation led to cat’s being housed away from owner). The easiest way to get any animal used to something generally is food. So, this would be used for all feeding. A special call (command) would be used, so that when it is pronounced, all the cats knew that food was coming. On the first few days, it was a bit chaotic, the cats did not know where to go or what to do. Each cat was methodically placed in the appropriate crate, then given food and the door closed. Very surprisingly, it only took a few days before most of the cats would quickly jump into their crate and be standing in it waiting to be fed. In feeding this way, it was found that each cat would get the appropriate measured amount of food, each cat could be fed a different food if needed (for any cat with medical conditions or food allergies), each cat could be monitored for food intake (thus a cat not feeling well would be noticed immediately), each cat was eating slower (no competing cat hurrying to eat neighbor’s food), no cat was vomiting up food (due to eating too fast before another cat barges in), AND they were all calm and happy in the crates. They were left in for about 15 minutes and then up to 30 minutes. When they finish eating, they just curl up and go to sleep. No more stressed cats in crates and they were all running for feeding time, jumping into the RIGHT crates. Feeding 10 cats used to be a frenzy and now it is simple, calm, fast, healthy and if evacuation was needed, all 10 cats could be crated in 3 minutes, even the 2 feral-like!!!

Dorinne Whynott and Rachelle Whynott completed a UNH course for certification of Animal Cruelty: NH Laws, Investigations and Prosecution to

become Animal Abuse Investigators.

Fudge passed away in October. He would have been 16 years old in January!

Another rescue of a cat (named Raina), who apparently was thrown from a car window just before exit 4, southbound on the Everett Turnpike, Nashua. (Read more in case studies).

Ms. Whynott’s daughter, Rachelle, turned 21 and is now officially a pet sitter, since all pet sitters must be 21 years old and older. Rachelle also is responsible for various office duties along with payroll, as mentioned earlier.

Ms. Whynott acquired a wonderful silent investor/grantor and animal lover, who was impressed with her business plan and wanted to assist with her spectacular vision to help all animals. She started her search for a unique property to expand Professional Pet Sitting Etc. to the Animal Care & Education Center of NH. Shortly there after, this angelic investor had a devastating family tragedy and had to back out.

Ms. Whynott was asked to be a consultant to the Humane Society of Greater Nashua.

Ms. Whynott’s daughter, Rachelle, graduated from Rivier College with her Bachelor’s degree of Science, majoring in Biology, minors in chemistry, psychology and women’s studies. Rachelle will be working full time at PPSE, learning all aspects of the business and adding new services. Her long term goal will be to finish her veterinary studies after a break. Rachelle comes to the business with life long experience growing up handling all kinds of animals, abuse cases, rescues, wildlife and obedience training.

Rachelle and Dorinne took a continuing education certificate course on “Mega Dog Daycare”. A great course teaching dog handling, daycare specifics, reading dog body language, etc.

Currently, Dorinne is taking courses in living green.

Dorinne Whynott