About & Reviews

Suppose I should introduce myself. I’m Rini, the owner here at Kolorful K9. Feel free to read a little or a lot about me below! I’ve got several years of pet care under my belt and plan to have many, many more. The basics about the Kolorful K9’s is that I specialize in Geriatric and Special Needs care for canines. Each pet is an individual and I follow YOUR specialized schedule for them. With both myself and my husband available at all times through the day, feedings/medications/potty breaks are available 24 hours a day!

The short read is: I’m a Wisconsin girl who has loved animals all my life, owning and working with them since I was 10 years old and working with them professionally since the day I turned 18. I moved to Columbia in 2015 and managed an animal care facility in the area. I have my IACP Certification, am the only Certified Professional Animal Care Provider in Columbia SC, have training and certifications through the IBPSA, Do More With Your Dog (Canine Conditioning Fitness Coach) and PackPro, and am working on a few other Canine Certifications, such as a Canine Nutritionist Certification to be the best I can be for you and your pet. I’m a nerd at heart who plays video games and owns a ‘small’ pack of my own dogs, a gaggle of cats, and a flock of chickens and ducks!

Here is the long read: I am a professional Pet Care Provider. I am registered with the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP), am a Certified Professional Animal Care Provider (CPACP), and am a Certified Canine Conditioning Fitness Coach(CCFT) through Do More With Your Dog. I have worked in boarding facilities since 2015 as a kennel tech, head kennel tech, operations manager, trainer, and even as a groomer. You can typically find me out at Tractor Supply & Pet Stores getting treats and toys for both my dogs and the dogs who stay at the facilities, or with one of the pups I have in my fitness programs! I usually have a crazy color or three in my hair.

I started my professional pet care journey in 2010 when I was hired at a pet store as a sales associate. Later, in 2012, I was hired at a large chain store as a dog bather and soon became one of their professional dog groomers. In 2013 I worked toward opening my own grooming salon, but city laws at the time prohibited it in my home. I spent a year working in retail, saving up money and trying to find what I really wanted to do as a career. During that time, I worked with horses and with my own personal dogs in getting them trained for day-to-day life. In early 2015, I was hired on as a “Kennel Tech” at a large dog daycare/boarding facility in IL, and loved it. I felt that I had found my calling and knew this was what I wanted to do in life.

Due to some unfortunate events, the job ended up not being exactly as I had hoped; however, someone who had followed my journey online reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to move 900 miles away to South Carolina and manage her newly purchased Boarding Facility. I jumped at the chance! It was my dream job. So in October of 2015, I moved to Columbia, SC, to start a new chapter in my life. I then spent the next 5 years building that facility up and dedicating myself to its growth. Since opening in 2015, we had raised the bar on pet care in our area. At the end of 2020, the facility owner realized she no longer wanted to own this facility. While I don’t know her exact reasons, and never will, I was excited at the chance of owning the business myself. She had always mentioned that she wanted to sell it to me when the time was right. My husband (at the time fiancé) put in an offer on the business, which we thought was fair for a facility that was slightly in disarray. We knew we’d have to do over $100,000 in renovations before we would see a rise in profits. I’d already had a custom logo made and a 5-year business plan made. Unfortunately, our offer was not accepted.

In 2021, a few short months later, a new owner took over and made amazing updates to the facility, which easily doubled our program. I have been honored to work alongside an amazing boss and grow the facility to where I knew it could go. I look forward to continuing to raise the bar in pet care and hope that our facility will one day become one of the best-known and highly-rated kennels in the Columbia area! In 2022 I became certified with the IACP. In 2023, I took my exam and was able to become certified with the Professional Animal Care Certification Council as the first Certified Professional Animal Care Provider (CPACP) in Columbia, SC. Then, in 2025, I was able to finish my Canine Conditioning Fitness Coach Certification as well!

Non-business related: In late 2020, my Fiancé and I purchased 11 acres of land for our, at the time, 8 pups. Yep, you read that right! I owned a Chihuahua mix, Rottie Mix, Boxer, a German Shepherd, and 2 German Shepherd mixes, a Standard Poodle, and my Fiancé brought in an American Eskimo into our ‘little’ family. We also had 4 cats between the two of us! When we bought the home, we also acquired a duck whom we named Finnegan! Since then, we’ve added tons of new chickens and ducks. In my limited free time, I enjoy playing Video Games on my PC and PlayStation 5 as well as watching shows like Good Witch, Grey’s Anatomy, and the tried and true background show of Gilmore Girls. I don’t include Personal Dog training or events into my ‘free’ time because while it’s not work, it’s dog time! Which is way more fun than ‘free time’ in my opinion. I also dedicate my home to 1 geriatric foster pup at a time, letting them live out their remaining days in a home filled with unconditional love and understanding. Our most recent was a LabxShar-Pei mix we named Mochii. She was the sweetest old girl who was terrified of thunderstorms and being left alone in a room. She had the worst farts I’d ever smelled, no matter what food we had her on, and she knew exactly how to make you smile.

What People Say

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