Helping you enjoy a lifetime of happiness with your dog!

What Is Gemini Dogs?

Established in 1991, Gemini Dogs is one of the most well-respected and well-known dog centers in New England and is the largest dog facility in Massachusetts. We provide outstanding dog training, doggie daycare, overnight boarding, and grooming for dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Effective Training through Education and Positive Reinforcement

At Gemini Dogs, we emphasize the fun and love in everything we do by teaching positive reinforcement through clicker training. Our training methods are based on proven scientific theory, not trendy training methods or punishment like e-collars. We truly believe that training and behavior modification should be safe, enjoyable, and successful for both you and your dog!

We believe in continued education for all of our trainers through programs such as educational conferences, seminars, videos, and the latest published information. Our staff members are also members of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), a national organization that believes that all dogs are effectively trained through dog-friendly techniques and therefore are lifelong companions in a relationship based on mutual trust and respect.

In addition, many of our instructors are Certified Pet Dog Trainers (CPDTs). This certification process was started by the APDT and is now a stand-alone operation. Tests are administered by a nationally recognized certification testing organization. Our in-house Assistant-In-Training program is another way in which we educate our team and develop the instructors of tomorrow.

24-hr Doggie Daycare and Overnight Boarding

Gemini Dogs offers doggie daycare and overnight boarding and can accommodate over 50 dogs in our climate-controlled daycare nap room. Our securely-fenced outdoor play area gives our guests plenty of room to stretch their legs, play, and make new friends during each visit.

Moms and Dads love us because there is always a staff member watching over their babies day and night, twenty-four hours a day. In fact, our overnight staff sleeps in the next room over -- not many other kennels can say that!

Grooming and Pet Suppiles

Gemini Dogs provides grooming by appointment, as well as retail items such as collars, leads, educational materials, toys, mats, and food. Our knowledgeable staff is always available to help, whether you have questions on how to put on that new harness or need to know the best way to stop your puppy from nipping.

Thank you for becoming part of the Gemini Dogs family! Woof!

About Us

Michelle and John Borelli acquired Gemini Dog Training & Daycare in July 2006 and changed the name to Gemini Dogs, Inc. Since Michelle already knew the ins and outs of the 15-year-old business after having been the Office Manager for six years, they jumped at the chance to make an already great place even better. That experience, plus having run their own home-based boarding kennel, the Dog Day Dream Inn, for over 5 years made the decision to buy Gemini an easy one.

While Michelle runs day-to-day affairs and can usually be found anywhere and everywhere, John works in the background handling the marketing side of things, the website, and the Bark Blog. He works just down the road in Westford at Juniper Networks.

Michelle's kids include Dancer (CGC) the Terrier-X and Tyler the Bolognese, while John's sole boy is Smokey the Golden-X. Feel free to email Michelle or email John with any questions or comments. We look forward to serving you and your pup!

Our Staff

We are proud to say that we have some of the finest instructors and staff members around! Keep checking back as we add more info and pictures of our staff and their animals.

Instructors

Carolyn Barney: Senior Instructor, CPDT
Founder of Gemini Dog Training, Carolyn has been training, competing, and titling dogs for over 20 years in obedience, conformation, tracking, and agility. She recently was a teaching assistant for a dog cognition course at the Harvard University Extension Program and often lectures on various dog behavior and learning theory topics. She has also bred Springer Spaniels and co-founded one of the first Springer rescues in the country. Buy her book!
Paul Emerson: Senior Instructor, CPDT
One of Gemini's first employees, Paul is the Director of our Pet Dog Training Program, is our Canine Training and Behavior Consultant, and is an AKC-certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator. Many of the Bernese Mountain Dogs you see around town are good friends of Paul!
Jean McCord: Senior Instructor, CPDT
Instructing since 2001, Jean is also an AKC-certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator.
Sally Garrod: Senior Instructor, CPDT
Sally has been with Gemini since Day 1 and has over 25 years experience training, competing, and breeding. Sally is also an AKC-certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator.
Jan Fulton: Senior Instructor, CPDT
Jan is our English Bulldog expert having bred, trained, and competed with them for many years. She is also involved with therapy dog volunteering and Bulldog rescue work.
Bridget Desroches: CPDT
A staff member since 2001, Bridget started instructing in 2005, is an AKC-certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator, and is a member of the APDT. She and her Border Collies train in competitive canine disc and are members of the Blue Dog Group, an exhibition group.
Denielle Stasa
Instructing since 2001, Denielle actively trains and competes with her German Shepherd Dogs in agility, herding, obedience, and tracking. In addition to earning a C-ATCH2, Denielle has earned a championship title in every CPE class with her 8-year-old German Shepherd Dog Ivy, has titled her dogs in agility in AKC, USDAA, and NADAC, and has earned several AKC herding titles.
Michelle DuBois
A staff member since 2007, Michelle has showed and titled several dogs in obedience, agility, rally, therapy, and Earthdog, including a championship from CPE. She is an AKC and USDAA agility judge, has worked as a vet Tech, and volunteers for local animal programs.

Assistants

Helping the instructors during each class is this group of dedicated assistants:

Lisa Bert
Linda Hammill
Linda has been an assistant since 1994 and currently has Jasiri, a female Rhodesian Ridgeback who she is training to be a therapy dog. She has trained her Rottweiler Molly (CD) and her Akita Kato (CGC). She just returned to Gemini after a two-year sabbatical that she spent raising her three boys and earning a Masters degree in mental health counseling and marriage and family therapy.
Christine and Sabrina Holley-Williams
Christine and Sabrina live with their Great Dane, Sadie (WYSIWYG's Sconset Grey Lady CGC RN), and recently brought home their first conformation show dog, Surf. They continue to train Sadie in rally and agility and hope to start training for competition obedience soon.
Kim Lewis
Kim has been with us since 2005. Having grown up on a horse farm, she has also worked as a vet assistant and as a animal shelter volunteer. She and her Yellow Lab, Maggie Mae (CGC, RL1, WC), compete in rally, agility, hunting, and obedience, and hope to give dock-diving a try too! Kim and her Australian Cattle Dog, Wyle E. Coyote (RL1), also compete in rally, and look forward to trying out agility next.
Denise Loiselle-Saroff
Denise helps out in the office occassionally, has an extensive background in canine behavior education, and has attended several seminars over the years. She's even rubbed elbows with Karen Pryor back in the day! Her black Lab Merriweather has a handful of titles and her CGC too.
Laurie Schultz
Laurie recently became an authorized wildlife rehabilitation expert! Some of her best friends are raccoons.