About Us

We're happy to meet you!

australian shepherd dog playing in a park

Full Service Premier Pet Resort for Dogs, Dog Boarding, Daycare, Grooming, & Training

Paws & Pals Pet Resort is an all-suite, full-service pet resort located in Prior Lake, Minnesota, and convenient to guests in Savage, Lakeville, Shakopee, and the surrounding south Twin Cities metro areas. Our caring, certified and professionally trained staff treats your pet with love and attention, from supervising playgroups to tucking in your dog at night in his or her own spacious private suite. Your dog will have lots of fun and feel safe and comfortable in our premier resort environment.

Paws & Pals Pet Resort has been providing the highest quality dog boarding, dog daycare, dog grooming, and dog training since 2005. Paws & Pals Pet Resort has had more than 5,000 dogs stay, play, get groomed or trained with us. Above all, we provide owners with peace-of-mind knowing that their beloved pet will receive the industry-leading care at a reasonable price.

Based on direct feedback, existing customers are loyal to Paws & Pals Pet Resort because we have excellent staff, take extra special care of our “guests”, and have a very clean facility. Customers trust us and know that their pet is in “good hands”. In our most recent annual survey, 93% of our customers said they would recommend us to a friend or family member. They love to watch their dog on our web cams while they’re at work, on vacation or anywhere in the world! We encourage you to take a tour of our modern and roomy indoor/outdoor resort and see the beautiful surroundings your pet will enjoy.

Our Staff

Holly Yahnke

CPDT-KA/Trainer and Owner/Certified Family Dog Mediator

Holly is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer as well as a Certified Family Dog Mediator. Her compassion for animals and desire to assist the humans on the other end of the leash are evident. She very much enjoys and continues to pursue education in the science of dog training by attending classes and seminars, and looks forward to passing that knowledge on to her clients. Holly loves watching the relationship between dogs and their owners grow as she introduces the positive training techniques Unleashed has to offer. She finds it incredibly fulfilling when both the owners and their dogs have fun training and learn how to effectively communicate with each other.

Holly has two dogs of her own named Benny and Izzy. Her favorite ways to spend time with them, besides cuddling and playing, is taking them on long line sniffaris. "I couldn't imagine a life without the companionship of dogs. They bring me so much joy." -Holly

Holly provides great training services out of Paws and Pals! With 3 different classes she provides and will do wonders with your pup!

Holly Yahnke
Kasey with dog

Kasey

General Manager

Kasey started at Paws & Pals in the fall of 2019. Kasey was born and raised just up the street in Burnsville. She spent a few years playing college hockey at St. Catherine University. She loves spending time outdoors around nature and wildlife. She is in her happy place when she does anything with animals! She has worked in a dog boarding facility setting for totaling over 6 years now and counting. At the end of the day Kasey comes home to her own little fur child, a 6-year-old Border Collie/Australian Cattle Dog mix named Bella! Kasey has learned countless things while being at Paws & Pals. She says, “The knowledge from all my coworkers is endless and I continue to learn something new every day. The pleasure of knowing people trust me with their animals is an amazing feeling. I do my best to bond with each dog that comes through the door and the feeling when they come running up to you when they arrive is the best feeling I could have.

Maddy

Pet Care Team Leader

Maddy joined Paws & Pals Pet Resort as a part-time Pet Care Specialist in September 2017 and has advanced to Pet Care Team Leader. She has completed extensive training for understanding canine body language, pack behavior and group play (Knowing Dogs 101 & 201) from the nationally recognized Dog Gurus. She now works full-time and has advanced to being Pet Care Team Leader. Maddy says her favorite things about working at Paws & Pals Pet Resort are that she gets to experience something new every day, caring for all different types of dogs, and learning their personalities. Maddy and her family have many animals on their hobby farm. She has three dogs, Zoey, Zip and Marley. They also have two pigs, a bunch of chickens, some ducks and three cats.

Maddy with dogs
Lauren with dog

Lauren

Groomer

Bio for Lauren: Lauren has loved dogs her whole life. She grew up with family pups including Rosie, an English Springer Spaniel, and Odie, an English Lab. She is a huge animal lover and plans to have multiple dogs in her family in the future. Lauren has been grooming dogs since she graduated high school in 2022. For her professional training, Lauren attended Rio Pet Grooming School and Salon in Hastings, MN (ranked in the top 10 grooming schools in the US) and graduated with honors in November 2022.

Lauren is gifted at making “personal connections” with all dogs she works with. Before she begins the grooming process, she takes time to get to know each dog and their individual personality and temperament. This allows her to customize the grooming experience and make it the most positive possible. Lauren also makes a big effort to communicate with owners about their expectations, concerns and desires so that the end result is one that everyone is pleased with!

Kelsey

Groomer

Kelsey has been a professional dog groomer since October 2011.

She graduated from the JKL Grooming Academy in November 2013 to become accredited and has been sharing her passion at Paws & Pals since March of 2022. Her passion for dogs extends far beyond grooming as she has three dogs of her own at home! "Arwen" a Pekingese mix, "Bug" the sweetest American Staffordshire you'll ever meet and "Emerson" a very energetic Standard Poodle. Also can't forget about her cats "Mr. Bean" and "Purrito" as well, a Himalayan and a Persian! Kelsey graduated from New Prague High School in 2011 and bought a house in the area where she lives with her husband and kids.

Kelsey strives to make the grooming experience as stress free as possible. She has a great deal of patience and trust as well as the ability to read the dogs body language. She takes great pride in her work and is very much a quality over quantity type of groomer. She keeps up to date with trends by attending trade shows and seminars. Kelsey believes a big part of being a excellent groomer is knowing what products can get the client the look and feel they want for their pets. She also believes there is always something more to learn in the grooming industry and strives to learn new ways to keep your dog happy and healthy!

Kelsey with dogs
Dog and cat cuddling together.

Dog Boarding, Daycare, Grooming, and Training in Prior Lake

For dog boarding, daycare, grooming, and training in Prior Lake, Savage, Lakeville, and throughout the south Twin Cities metro areas, look no further than Paws & Pals Pet Resort. We will love your dog like a member of our own family and do everything we can to make their time with us stress-free, safe, and enjoyable! Contact us today to learn more or to book your canine’s companion services. We can’t wait to meet you!