About Us
Smilin Dogs was founded in 2000, at first offering only our Dog Ranch visits. In 2009 we added our current facility in San Carlos which offers daycare and group style boarding.
Susana – Manager
Susana was born in El Salvador and came to the states when she was 3 and has been in the Bay Area ever since. She has worked for Smilin Dogs since 2016 as a daycare handler, team leader, hiker and front office person, before becoming a Manager. She graduated from Vet Tech school in 2020 while working full time at Smilin Dogs. A few fun facts about Susana are that she has an unhealthy obsession with Malamutes and enjoys visiting her beach house in El Salvador.
Kassy – Manager
Kassy, was born and raised in Stockton, California and has been living in the Bay Area since 2019. Before joining the Smilin Dogs family in 2021, Kassy studied in the field of esthetics. She worked as an esthetician for two years before gladly making her transition into the pet care world. Kassy enjoys nature and spends her free time hiking and doing yoga. Her current focus is being the best dog mom to her two-year-old german shepherd mix rescue dog, Tula. In her time at Smilin Dogs she has served in our front office, daycare and as a team leader before becoming a manager.
Dusty – Manager
Dusty’s experience working with dogs began in her early 20s when she started working with neighbors and family friends, bringing their dogs out for off-leash adventures at Ft. Funston or taking them on neighborhood pack walks. Her background is in Human Resources and Education, but she has found her passion lies with dogs. She further developed her dog handling and training skills through self-study- reading books, watching videos, training her dogs, and working as a Smilin Dogs rancher, daycare handler, trainer and manager.
In addition to her on-the-job education, she also took coursework through the Karen Pryor Academy. She currently works alongside one of the lead behaviorists at the Peninsula Humane Society, volunteering her time primarily with reactive dogs. She is working towards her certification through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers.
Konrad – Owner
Since 2000 Konrad Thaler together with Diana Ungersma have built Smilin Dogs.
As an eternal optimist he sees the good in everybody and as an entrepreneur he sees opportunity for growth everywhere. Coming from a small Bavarian village with strong traditions and family values, he is extremely passionate about everything farming, dog and bee related. He has two children and is very involved in their education at Peninsula School and Design Tech high school. He is a visionary and leader but also feels comfortable being taught by others with more experience and wisdom.
Diana- Owner
Prior to founding Smilin Dogs, Diana spent 12 years working in product management and marketing in Silicon Valley startups. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the California Polytechnic State University. She is the parent of two children. In her spare time, she is Vice President on the Board of Directors for Athena Academy. She enjoys tango, yoga and trying to make a round pot on the pottery wheel.
Our happy dog parents say it best.
“… I see him park himself near the front door on Mondays, in anticipation of his Smilin Dogs outing. He comes home tired, an all-too-rare event in my exuberant Vizsla’s life.”
– Jonathan, Casey’s dad