Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Eckrich.
Hi Jon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a house full of dogs and have never really known life without them. Long before this was my business, animals were always my anchor whenever life got complicated.
For 15 years, my primary career was in corporate healthcare leadership. I managed teams across the Northeast, from DC up to Boston. While I loved supporting my teams, I spent a lot of hours sitting in airports and hotels wishing I was doing work connected to animals. During those corporate years, whenever I needed to recharge, I turned back to pets. I volunteered regularly at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ and even worked as a professional pet groomer during the pandemic.
In late 2024, corporate downsizing brought my healthcare career to an end. I could have applied for another management job, but I decided to take a different path instead. I realized I could take everything I learned about leadership and high operational standards over 15 years and apply it to an industry I truly cared about.
That was the start of //JON LOVES DOGS.
Over thousands of years, humans bred dogs to rely on us for everything. Not just for food and water, but for safety, routine, and companionship. I take that responsibility seriously. I wanted to build a pet care service in Essex County that treats the work with the professionalism it deserves. That means investing in Fear Free certifications, pet CPR, body language training, and continuous learning for our team.
Moving from corporate management to caring for local pets every day has been the best transition I could have made. Dogs give us so much loyalty, and our whole goal is simply to give that back to them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but the turns along the way led me to where I needed to be.
For years, I was constantly balancing two sides of my life. On one hand, I had a demanding corporate career as a senior HR and recruiting leader. On the other hand, my real passion was always working with animals. Balancing those high-pressure executive expectations while keeping up with animal welfare volunteering and grooming meant I was flirting with burnout for a long time.
When I was laid off in late 2024, my plan was simple: take a few months off to reset, do some pet sitting to stay busy, and then look for another corporate role. But once I got back into hands-on pet care full-time, I realized how much I had missed work that truly meant something to me. I didn’t want to go back to an office.
Choosing to build //JON LOVES DOGS brought its own huge learning curve, though. At first, I tried to do everything myself. I was doing around 25+ overnights a month, essentially living out of client homes, working non-stop, and rarely seeing my own house. I realized pretty quickly that I was burning the candle at both ends again, and that I had waited too long to ask for help.
The real turning point came when I looked at my situation through the lens of my background in corporate recruiting. I realized that if I wanted to help more animals in Essex County without lowering our standards, I couldn’t be a solo worker forever. I needed to build a team.
The challenge was figuring out how to scale without losing the personal, high-touch care our clients trusted us for. So, I applied my HR background to pet care. I built structured hiring processes, rigorous onboarding, and ongoing training in Fear Free handling, pet CPR, and expert knowledge in canine and feline body language.
Today, transitioning to a team-based model has allowed us to maintain that same level of exceptional care while creating a sustainable, professional environment for our team. It hasn’t always been easy, but every obstacle forced us to build a better, stronger service for the pets and families who rely on us.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At //JON LOVES DOGS, we provide premium in-home pet sitting and dog walking services throughout Essex County. But more than that, we offer absolute peace of mind.
We specialize in high-standard, science-based pet care. What sets us apart is our refusal to view pet care as a transactional gig or a low-cost commodity. We never compete on price because we refuse to compromise on quality, safety, or thorough communication.
Many of our clients come to us after frustrating experiences with app-based services (like Wag! or Rover). On those platforms, you often end up with unvetted, undertrained gig workers who are overworked and rarely offer consistent updates. Our clients are looking for a completely different tier of professionalism. They want to know exactly who is entering their home, that the person is thoroughly vetted, and that their pets are in expert hands.
Every single member of our team is trained in modern, science-based handling methods. We align our standards with global benchmarks from Pet Sitters International (PSI) and maintain a CPPS certification from them, we are Fear Free™ certified, and ensure every senior sitter on staff is certified in Pet CPR and First Aid. We pay attention to the subtle details—like recognizing early signs of anxiety through subtle body language—that make a massive difference in a pet’s physical and emotional well-being.
What I am most proud of brand-wise is our reputation for communication and effort. When a family hires us, they aren’t getting a casual walker who drops in for twenty minutes and leaves. They’re getting dedicated care professionals who send detailed updates, understand their pet’s unique personality, and treat their home with total respect.
At the end of the day, we aren’t just another service provider. We aim to be as close to family as a professional service can get—because we truly love our clients’ pets almost as much as they do.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Building this business has been a complete team effort, and there are so many people who deserve credit for where we are today.
First and foremost is my wife. Stepping away from a senior corporate career—and all the financial security that comes with it—to launch an independent pet care company was a massive leap. She saw how fulfilled and energized I was when working with animals, and she had the courage and vision to push me forward into doing this full-time. Taking that risk alongside me meant everything, and I couldn’t have done it without her support.
Operationally, our Field Leader, Alyssa Dugan, has been a total cornerstone of the business. One of our more senior team members, George McKenzie, is a rock and does consistently incredible work. Professionals like Alyssa, George and our entire team bring the exact same dedication and passion to our mission that I do every single day. Knowing our clients’ pets are in such capable, compassionate hands is what allows us to grow without ever losing our high standards.
We also rely heavily on a broader network of pet care professionals in our area. We know our scope, so when a client’s pet needs specialized behavioral support or dedicated training beyond what we offer, we collaborate closely with experts like Leah Bornstein from Born To Be Dog Training.
Beyond that, we maintain strong relationships with fellow pet care business owners, like Sarah Schloerb from Sit Stay NJ up in Bergen County, Doug “The Dog Guy” Keeling from Bad To The Bone Pet Care, Collin and Meghan Funkhouser from Funky Bunch Pet Care, and many more.
My steadfast belief is in community over competition. I don’t see other local pet sitters and dog walkers as rivals—I see them as colleagues united in a common goal to raise the standard of care for animals. Building those supportive, trusted relationships with other local business owners has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jonlovesdogs.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonlovesdogsllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571985793965
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jonlovesdogs/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/5QpkO85uNuM?si=3HdcmDrDLdcpdlPT
