The Ruff Team

CJ Tomlinson and Crystal Jacobson are sisters who have a mutual love for animals, especially dogs. They have owned numerous breeds and sizes throughout their lives, treating each of them as family members.  They brought years of business and customer service experience to House of Ruff to get it going.  Crystal is now retired and CJ is the sole owner.

Our Ruff team members have all taken Pet CPR/First Aid training

CJ is the creator and General Manager of House of Ruff. She previously owned and operated Fetch in the City, a pet care business, started in 2007.  CJ has spent hundreds of hours year-round at local dog parks, experiencing unpredictable weather and cleaning a ton of dirty dogs afterwards. She felt it was time for an improved environmental choice for exercising our dogs, with less mud and cold being a must!   CJ has 20+ years of diverse experience from warehouse and inventory management, bartender at a night club, to serving as general manager for a start-up business.  CJ's true passion is being surrounded by dogs!  

Kyra, our Night Supervisor, moved to Seattle and joined the House of Ruff team shortly after graduating from New York University where she studied environmental science and biology.  After interning at a marine biology organization, she realized working with animals was her real passion.  She has always had a special connection with dogs and is thrilled to be working beside them every day!  On her days off, Kyra enjoys running, watching football, reading fiction, and spending time with her friends and family. 



Molly, our Daycare Supervisor moved to Seattle from New York where she worked as a book editor. She still inhales as many books as she can but has realized she’s more passionate about caring for animals. When Molly’s not wrangling pups at House of Ruff, she regularly pet sits and volunteers with cats at PAWS Cat City. She grew up caring for cats and dogs and appreciates each dog's needs and quirks, and favorite blankets. She also relishes trekking along on bakery crawls, discovering new cat and dog memes, and adventuring across the Pacific Northwest.

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Alli has lived in the Seattle area most of their life. Before coming to House of Ruff, they worked in the music industry as an event photographer. After doing a few pet portrait sessions, they realized that nothing makes them as happy as working with animals and sought out such a job. They love every dog breed, but their favorite is the Newfoundland. Dance music has remained Alli's main interest outside of work. In their free time, they still frequent shows all over the city, as well as help run the longest running Drum and Bass weekly in the world. 


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Taj is a huge lover of dogs. She grew up with dogs, mainly Pitbulls. Taj has lived in the Seattle area all her life. Currently, she is in school studying to be a psychiatrist. Outside of dogs she likes to cook, travel and watch movies. 







​Sierra is a former barista turned dog wrangler because of her love of canines. She enjoys her job because she gets to interact with many breeds and learn more about dog behavior.  She loves hanging out and rough-housing with her doggy friends here at House of Ruff.  Sierra is also proud owner of a rambunctious and sassy Shiba Inu named Intoku who comes to work with her everyday. 
Sierra is currently enrolled in Grooming school.  She is also a groom tech.


Eli was born in Seattle.  He has always loved dogs and really enjoys working with them at House of Ruff. 
He is currently a student and works part time.








Ashley was born in Seattle and has lived in Federal Way all of her life. She is currently attending UW Seattle and plans to major in sociology. Growing up, she has always loved animals, so coming to House of Ruff has been an exciting experience. Outside of work and school, she enjoys hanging out with her own dogs around the house. 



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