Today we’d like to introduce you to Penny Miller.
Hi Penny, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have been a dog behaviorist for almost 20 years and run a boutique boarding facility, Desperate Dogs, where dogs have freedom to roam, are cage free and eat home made fresh food with fresh meat, veggies and fruit every day. In my spare time, I used to volunteer my time at shelters and different rescues but always noted two very fundamental issues.
One, that the older dogs almost always got overlooked when it came to adoptions. People were simply not interested in any dog that was slower, maybe had creaky joints, wanted to sleep a little more…..they always presumed that an older dog meant myriad health issues and thus, expense. This meant that the shelters were full of old dogs who had once been vital and vibrant contributing family members, turfed out of their homes in their most needy time of life and because no-one wanted them, they were forced to die there. It broke my heart. I saw so much more than their age; I saw wisdom, kindness, a slower, more gentle companion that would actually be more suitable for most homes than some rip-roaring pup with more energy than sense…and I vowed that one day I would create a loving group home for as many of these old dogs as I could.
The second thing was that my experience as a behaviorist, helping to heal hundreds upon hundreds of dogs so that they could function well within their family homes, led me to realize that, as with people, dogs are what they eat.
Food impacts behavior and emotions far more than most people realize and can ease stress, fix chronic health issues and make dogs generally happier. And yet, at all the rescues and shelters I went to, they were feeding low quality kibble. I did, and still do, understand that this was out of financial necessity, but I also knew that almost every dog could become calmer, happier and better behaved if they were fed the right thing for their bodies, and knew this would greatly impact upon either their ability to be adopted or the expenses of managing health issues.
Together with my husband, Peter, and a couple of very good friends, Penny and Krystle Andrews, we set about finding a site where we could set up a place where we could run our boarding facility, and also set up a sanctuary where old, end of life, dogs would have a forever home and not see out their final days in a cold, harsh shelter environment. I knew that we could not right away possibly convince the masses to adopt senior dogs, and so we decided to build a luxury forever home for these old dogs, where they could live out their final chapters in comfort and peace without ever having to go through the stress of adoption days, home visits and trial placements. This was their home, and they would only leave it to pass over the ‘Rainbow Bridge’.
Our business at that time was in Braselton, but we identified a site in Winder, Georgia, that had almost 12 acres, more than doubling our land, and enough to give us 8 acres for the boarding dogs to run and play in, with woods and streams plus just over 3 acres for the sanctuary with their own woods and grassy yards for the seniors to enjoy.
Pete and I funded this endeavour with a mix of our own personal funds and the remainder raised by folks eager to see us do this. One year to the day after we moved to Winder, we took in our first sanctuary resident, a 14 year old Weimaraner/ lab mix called Kim into our little log cabin in the woods. Ten years later we have 3 luxury log cabins complete with HVAC, a kitchen, whirlpool bath for pups with achy joints, beautiful woodland trails, individual yards and 30 resident dogs. They are all living their best life, eating fresh, home-made food every day, enjoying the best veterinary care they could receive, complemented by holistic treatments and supplements. All dogs have such an amazing life at the cabins, that they have a tendency to live a lot longer than expected! We treat chronic illnesses such as cancer, kidney disease, arthritis and so on, using tailored fresh diets along with Chinese herbs, holistic treatments, and of course, pharmaceutical care. It’s kind of functional medicine for dogs. And it works! We have had dogs with late stage cancer live, in fact thrive, with us for 3 years, happy til their very last day. Every dog is seen as an individual, every day is treated as if it might be their last…love abounds in every inch of the cabins. We have 40 volunteers who come in very regularly to help us care for these pups; they love on them, sing to them and give them all of the love that they never received from their families in their former homes. Their mission is to right the wrongs of before, and they do it admirably. They are the backbone of our mission. We have 10 staff, some full, some part time, who clean the cabins, administer medications and treatments, feed the dogs, cook the food and ensure that the place runs like the hospice facility that it is.
In 2023, I became very concerned at the amount of dogs in the community that were being turned into the local shelters due to the financial hardship of the owners. It felt like such a fundamental thing to me that if we solved that problem, then the shelters would not be so full, and that would mean less dogs being euthanized because of over-crowding at the shelters. So, with the help of one of our staff, Jennifer Calderhead, we set up a pet food pantry that could go out into the community and give free pet food to those who need it. We have a mobile trailer filled to the brim with pet food and we take it to Athens, where there is a large homeless population and also to Commerce, where there are many rural folks struggling to feed their human families, let alone their pets. Our pet food pantry is called ‘Helping Hands, Healing Paws’ and feeds around 1000 dogs and cats every month. We also help homeless pet owners with fresh new socks, sleeping bags, bedrolls, blankets, soap…we try to fill needs where we can.
This year will be our 11th year of operation and we are very proud of what we have achieved, but we would like to be able to do so much more. We have always tried to prioritize help for veterans and victims of domestic violence with emergency accommodation for them and their pets; we would like to be able to do more for them.
We are funded by kind donations from the public, by grants and by the proceeds of an annual fund-raiser book that I write every year. Each year, we tailor our activities and growth to our budget as we are driven by fiscal responsibility and the need to be good stewards of other peoples’ money. Our hope for this year of 2026 is that we would be able to add one more city to our pet food pantry outreach, Gainesville. In order to do this we would need more volunteers, people who don’t mind getting up at the crack of dawn, and of course, more financial help. Whatever happens, we are committed to taking care of all the dogs at Frankie and Andy’s Place until they pass, and to providing food for the pets in Athens and Commerce.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been anything but smooth. In the early days, we could not afford staff at Frankie and Andy’s Place, and so we were running our own business 15 hours a day from 6.30am til late at night, and every spare hour we were working to take care of the sanctuary residents. Once we got established and had staff, then it seemed like the situation for homeless dogs became more and more critical every month, and so we expanded, probably before we should have, in all honesty. This is a mission that is run and ruled by the heart…everywhere you look, you see animals in need and then you look at your land and think ‘we could take care of so many more if we had another building’. I’m ashamed to say that my family life took a backseat for many years and we cannot get those years back, of course, although we try now.
The other problem, is the inundation of requests from owners for us to take old dogs. We are deluged with requests every minute of every day from people who see the pictures of what we are doing, and decide that they can’t be bothered to look after their old dog any more so ‘will we take it?’ We made a decision many years ago to only accept dogs from licensed shelters and rescues, so as to shield us all from having to deal with heartless people who won’t honor their commitment to the dog who was the backbone of their family when he was younger but now that he or she requires a little more care, has become a nuisance. However, still the requests come pouring in and of course, we try to answer every person. We set up an advice line in answer to this problem, “Senior Solutions at Frankie and Andy’s Place”, where we take their queries and try to point them towards resources that can help, but more importantly to try and help them work through their senior dog’s issues, like incontinence or arthritis, and stop them for giving the dog up. It can be thankless as many people are rude and entitled, but we also get people who say “Okay, Im going to change my life in such and such a way to accommodate my dogs’ needs. Thanks for your help”. Those are red letter days, for sure.
Setting up Frankie and Andy’s has without doubt been the hardest thing Pete and I have ever done, and it has cost us so much more than we planned, emotionally, financially and physically, but we sleep well at night knowing we are part of the solution, and how many people get to say that? Plus, how many people do you know who get to spend their day with fantastic old dogs who think you’re the best thing since sliced bread? It just doesn’t get any better!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a dog behaviorist, I was always able to see beyond the outward displays of anger, aggression, sadness, shyness, whatever emotion the dog was displaying, and really ‘see’ them, understand how they were truly feeling, what motivated them and what upset them. I have always said that being a dog behaviorist is more like being an investigator than a dog trainer, and that if you take time to make a relationship with dogs, shut up and let them do the talking so to speak, then you’d always find the answer to success. It has been the way with the dogs I have worked with as a behaviorist, with our boarding dogs, and absolutely with our senior dogs, who feel ‘seen and heard’ from the moment that they enter our beautiful cabins. We identify so many more needs through prolonged observation and empathy than others can dream to be possible. Having a huge pack of dogs co-existing beautifully in open spaces is what we are known for, and that can only have been achieved with this approach. We wish that every dog owner would take the time to really understand their dog, instead of shouting, screaming, locking them up, stabbing them with vile pinch collars or shocking them to within an inch of their lives. The answer has never been ‘force’, and thank God, we have encouraged many owners, and other dog professionals to turn away from that.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I believe 100% that you make your own luck. A client once said to me “Look at everything you’ve got here, you’re so lucky!”
I told him that luck is a lottery win, but a good business or charity is the result of hard work, sleepless nights, deprivation, financial hardship, risk and very few days off. That’s how we built this life, but I have to say, we would not change a single thing because we have learned so many valuable lessons and met so many fantastic people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.frankieandandysplace.org
- Facebook: Frankie and Andy’s Place
