Jill Timmins talks to animals.
She lets out a few loud, high-pitched barks and her squat Daschund, Scooter, comes running after her.
“That was me telling Scoot, ‘Let’s get out of here,’” Timmins said before turning and heading down the gravel path that cuts through her untamed farmland.
Timmins leases and runs 18 acres of Florida countryside off of Newberry Road on the outskirts of Gainesville. Her gravel drive leads from the kennel at the front of the property through horse pasture to two rustic, but quaint houses. The property is the realization of her dream to run a nonprofit organization.
Dogs, cats, horses and one parrot all live on the farm. Timmins takes in animals in need, rehabilitates them and then tries to find them a loving home. The care of the animals is supported by her doggie daycare business Dogs Rule and other services, like boarding, grooming and obedience training.
Soon, Timmins hopes to take in foster children. She wants to give children the opportunity to live peacefully on a farm surrounded by animals. The initiative is called Animals Helping Humans and Humans Helping Animals or AHHHHA, Inc.
“Animals bring out the best in people,” Timmins said, pointing out that she knows this from personal experience.
Timmins, with Scooter still tottering a length behind, passes her fenced-in horse pasture and whinnies “hello” to a black-speckled, grey pony. Shawnee is a mild mannered and sweet animal, she said, which makes him great for pony rides. Timmins plans to start offering rides for children’s birthday parties and celebrations as another way to fund her nonprofit organization.
Farther out in the field, a retired thoroughbred racehorse named Percy grazes with a couple of other horses. Because of his chronic nose bleed, no one – before Timmins – wanted to adopt him. But now, after having surgery for the four tumors in his nose, he can live out his life comfortably in greener pastures.
Next to the pasture, Timmins points to a plot of grass that has been sectioned off. It has been freshly tilled with horse manure to start an organic garden. She pictures children using the space in the near future to learn about gardening and growing organic food.
As she reaches the head of the gravel drive, barking chimes from the kennel.
The daycare she runs can keep 66 dogs at a time. Each pet gets its own room, and is given special care by Timmins and her staff.
Timmins named Dogs Rule when she was only 13, and it has stuck ever since. When she was a child, she was not allowed to have a dog of her own, so when she was 7 she made it her business to walk all of the dogs in the neighborhood. She was a 60-pound girl walking 70-pound dogs, and she loved it.
“They would be there for me unconditionally,” she said.
They grew up with her, and Timmins took her compassion for living things to the University of Florida, where she studied Family, Youth and Community Sciences.
After graduation, she worked at veterinary clinics, doggie daycares, and then went into retail as a manager for pet stores. Yet, nothing reminded her of how she felt as a young entrepreneur, running Dogs Rule in her neighborhood.
Working long hours every day in retail, away from her own dogs, was not a sustainable lifestyle for Timmins. Five years ago, she decided to build the dream job she first envisioned as a child, and started up Dogs Rule Inn in downtown Gainesville.
Finally, Timmins was able to be her own boss, but it was not until 11 months ago, when she picked up her business and moved it 12 miles out from the hustle and bustle of Gainesville, that she truly felt at peace.
Now, Dogs Rule Inn is just a part of Timmins larger mission, AHHHHA, Inc.
Of course, dogs still rule for Timmins. She gets up at 6:30 every morning to pick them up for daycare with what looks like a retired airport shuttle bus that she calls “Bessey.”
She stops at each house along her route, as the parents come out with their “babies” and watch them safely board the short bus.
The dogs are buckled securely to their seats, as they are guided through congested Gainesville traffic and out into the open country, where they can finally break free.
Though Timmins, clearly the alpha dog of the pack, sets the rules, the dogs are allowed to “just be dogs” at the farm. While other daycares may be afraid to let their animals near a little dust, Timmins said, Dogs Rule lets the dogs out five times a day, for 25- to 45-minute recesses, to run, scuffle and play and dig in the earth.
Pomeranians, terriers, Labradors and pit bulls bound around together happily. They jump through the open windows of the playhouse; they chase the hose’s stream of water with their mouths; they dig a pit in the middle of the toppled monster truck tire; they splash in the shallow kiddie pool. The farm is what a dog may dream about during a post-food coma, laying bored on its owner’s kitchen floor.
Timmins said she is effective because she communicates with the dogs in their own language. Natural dog training is a form of discipline that does not force human behavior onto dogs.
“I can give commands, but I do not want to,” Timmins said. Instead, of shouting at Scooter to sit, she lets him sit on his own, and then she praises him for the action. Instead of yelling at him to come, she barks in his own tongue. Timmins does not believe in smacking or other harsh methods to punish a dog for being what it is.
“Dogs want to be smelly and have fun, and people are like ‘Oh, I can’t let them do that.’”
By the end of a day at Timmins’ daycare, the dogs are worn out like children after a long day of school. They line up outside of the bus’ sliding doors, and Timmins directs them up the steps and into their seats.
Again, they make the trip winding through Gainesville’s streets, and one by one, the dogs are let off at their stops for another good night’s rest before it’s back to the farm tomorrow.