About A Pack Above
My Story
Hi, I'm Matt Winkler, but my friends often call me Wink. I sleep through the night in my own bed and get along great with other humans (with slow introductions). My favorite food is definitely ice cream! Oops, I'm so used to writing adoption bios for my foster dogs that sometimes I can't turn it off. :)
​
I am the owner and sole proprietor of A Pack Above, LLC. Before starting my dog walking business, I obtained my master's degree in civil engineering and worked as a consulting engineer for over 10 years. I specialized in process engineering for municipal wastewater treatment. We used to joke that we were #1 in the #2 business, so trying to become #1 in your dog's #2 business just felt like a natural career progression!
​
My dogs have taught me to live in the moment, which is why I decided to start my own dog walking business and leave a promising professional career. During the pandemic, I realized that my favorite parts of the day were when I was walking my pack in the mornings and evenings, and I decided that I did not want to spend my entire day sitting in front of the computer.
​
I'm looking forward to meeting you and getting to spend my days adventuring with your dogs! Read on below to learn more about my pack, foster dogs, and dog transport van.
My Pack
Photo (L to R): Brophy, Lupin, and Ilona
​
I have owned dogs nearly all my life, starting with an Australian Shepherd puppy that my parents got for me when I was seven years old. After moving to Seattle with my wife in 2011, we adopted a Golden Retriever named Lucky from Saving Great Animals. Lucky was our only dog until 2016, when we adopted our second Golden Retriever (Ilona) to give Lucky a companion. Unfortunately, Lucky passed away from cancer in 2019.
​
Less than two weeks after Lucky crossed the rainbow bridge, we adopted Brophy from Great Pyrenees Rescue Society, and six months later we adopted Lupin from the same rescue. We then started fostering for Great Pyrenees Rescue Society in June 2020.
My Fosters
Just before the pandemic started ramping up in March 2020, we submitted an application to start fostering for Great Pyrenees Rescue Society (GPRS). Our first foster, Jake, arrived in June 2020 after GPRS was allowed to resume transport of dogs from Texas to the PNW. Since then, we have been fostering continuously for GPRS to try to help do our part to save as many dogs as possible.
​
Fostering dogs has taught me so much about dog behavior and how to bring new dogs into an existing pack, especially the importance of becoming the pack leader that is needed to maintain balance. We have fostered dogs with all kinds of "issues", including fear of people, aggression toward other dogs, aggression toward people, resource guarding from dogs and people, and separation anxiety. In nearly all cases, my resident pack is the key to rehabilitating our foster dogs to get them ready for their furever homes. I believe that with the right human leadership, all dogs can benefit from living and walking in a regular pack. Walking my resident and foster dogs together as a pack provides great exercise and bonding, helping new fosters to be accepted more quickly.
​
You can learn more about our foster dogs, including seeing their Gotcha Day pics and entertaining videos, on the Rescue Stories page.
My Dog Transport Van
With our resident pack and nearly always having at least one foster, it became apparent that we needed a larger vehicle dedicated to transport of our floofs. We bought a small cargo van to use for dog transport so that we could more easily (and safely) get to better and more exciting walking areas.
I added a partition barrier between the passenger seats and the "dog cave" area to improve safety. I also installed a gate that can be used to separate the front cargo area (space in front of the side doors) from the rear cargo area, allowing dogs to be separated during transport as needed - this may be used during initial transports with new pack members or to separate small and big dogs.
Dogs can enter/exit through either of the side doors or the rear doors. Dogs are required to enter and exit the van one at a time, only after they are calm and invited in/out. This structured approach helps ensure that dogs are calm during transport and at the beginning of each walk.
retrieve_my_pyr_
To learn more about my resident pack and bring a smile to your face, check out the Instagram account for my pack and foster dogs.
Insured and Bonded by:
Licensed in Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Woodinville, Bothell, and Kenmore.
Pet First Aid Training at Seattle Humane, June 2022:
