April Nugent
Owner / Dog Groomer
April got her start in the animal world at the age of 13, where she worked around horses and farm animals at a private barn and public riding facility. She gave guided trail rides to inexperienced riders, groomed and clipped horses, as well as the maintenance of the dreaded stalls. And by 15 she began showing her own horse in Dressage, competitive horse training. After years of working with horses in both the riding, training, and grooming side she acquired the position of, "Director of Equestrian and Farm Animals" for Broward County, Florida for Fort Lauderdale. Her duties were to see to the day to day health and well being of 35 horses and 25 farm animals. She was also responsible for the training and leadership of 15 employees in a publicly accessible park. This rewarding position prepared her for a facility of her own. As owner of The Hound Playground and 6 dogs of her own, she is once again seeing to the promotion of a healthy owner/ pet relationship.
John Nugent II
Owner / Dog Trainer
John spent the first part of his life pursuing a career in "Hospitality Management". With a degree in Communications and Business he set out to take on the world. After years of working for large International Companies, with such titles as National Director Of Field Hospitality and National Logistics he found his affinity for dogs to be overwhelming. During this time John had acquired several dogs and quickly found that a future working with dogs was imperative. John with wife April rescued a couple of pit bulls while living in Florida and a bloodhound and mastiff in Ohio. It was seeing the problems that rescued animals often have that he began honing his training skills and working with other clients pets. John and April have 6 dogs including, 4 Bloodhounds, and 2 Pit Bulls. They sleep on the same bed, eat out of the same bowl and travel everywhere together.
Abby Nickels
Daycare Attendant / Dog Groomer
Abigail has had a life-long love of animals which stems from her childhood. She has grown up around dogs, horses, rabbits, and even pigs. She currently has 4 rescue dogs; A Pitbull, Pomeranian, A Terrier mix, & a Collie mix. Abby’s love for dogs has come from helping her grandpa train dogs. It made her realize she wants to work with dogs for a life time. She strives to make the bathing / grooming experience as stress free as possible. She believes it is a must to have a great deal of patience, trust, and the ability to read dog body language. Clients have told her that she has a special knack for working with dogs that other groomers would turn away. She take great pride in her work, and is very much a quality over quantity type of groomer.