Manville’s Lorraine Zdeb plans "Pet Care University"
By:Mary Ellen Zangara
After 16 years in the pet-sitting business, Manville resident Lorraine Zdeb has plenty of experience with animals. When it comes to animal and pet care, she’s a graduate of the school of "hard walks."
Come September, Ms. Zdeb, owner of Love Your Pet LLC pet-sitting service in Manville and Hillsborough, intends to share her knowledge by holding "Pet Care University" classes.
"I started PCU because after 16 years in the business we see a lot of things we shouldn’t see," she said. "People are always asking ‘How do I do this?’ or ‘Should I do this?’ ‘Why are we doing this?’ so we decided that education is the key to cutting down on animal abuse. The more educated the pet owners are, the better off the animals will be."
PCU, which will be held a various locations in Somerset, Middlesex and Hunterdon counties, will offer classes on a wide variety of topics for pet owners, taught by area experts as well as Ms. Zdeb.
"There aren’t any universities that are put together to teach pet owners how to do that hands on and it is needed sorely," she said. "They will ask a veterinarian or they’ll ask someone else."
Some of the classes that will be offered include: "Stress Diffusion" and "Working with the Applications of Essential Oils for Animals," given by Teri Hyatt, of Princeton; and first aid basics and CPR for pets will be taught by Ellie Campolei of Plainfield, a vet technician for more than 15 years.
Gail Kulur of Hillsborough will hold classes on teaching your dog tricks, new dog or puppy seminars, understanding dog body language and understanding cat body language.
And Hillsborough resident Debbie Gorman will teach avian and small animal care to interested pet owners.
Ms. Zdeb herself will teach about the healing effects of the love energy connection between pets and people, and other related topics. She recently received her diploma from Stone Bridge College in England for therapy work with animals.
Ms. Zdeb said PCU courses will be held at different locations in Somerset County some in Hunterdon, and some in Middlesex.
There will be a fee for each class to cover the cost of the instructors and the average session will be a two-hour seminar course, although the fees haven’t been set at this time.
The courses will be open to anyone over 12 years of age, according to Ms. Zdeb. She plans to continue offering education visits to area schools to teach children about caring for pets.
"You want to teach them young especially about respect because as they get older, it works," Ms. Zdeb said. Ms. Zdeb will be speaking about pet care at Weston School next week.
In the future, she plans to develop courses for smaller children on different aspects of pet care.
"When I first started my pet-sitting service in 1989, pets were known as baggage or luggage," she said. "It’s not like that now, it’s gravitated. We have the Animal Planet, which we didn’t have and what wonderful things they are teaching that they are really part of your family.
"That’s the way it should be. That’s the importance of it and that’s where we’re going," she said.
Ms. Zdeb has many years of experience and accomplishments with the animals, including a congressional award given to her by former U.S. Rep. Bob Franks in 1996 for her educational efforts on behalf of animals. A monument she donated to the Somerset County Park Commission to promote pet care now stands in the dog park at Colonial Park in Somerset.
In 1999, the New Jersey General Assembly issued a resolution honoring her for her actions during the state of emergency caused by Hurricane Floyd. A certificate of appreciation was given to Ms. Zdeb from Mayor Angelo Corradino for successfully rescuing and saving animals in Somerset County during the flooding.
Even though the official kick off of PCU isn’t until September, Ms. Zdeb is lining up courses and registration now. The classes will be small with only about 12 to a class and each class will be a specific course.
"It’s a niche that needed to be filled and it is important if you do want an animal that you need to learn to take care of it," she said. "You know that is not just the physical aspect of the animal; it’s the body, mind and soul. It’s a living breathing creature," she said. She began her pet-sitting service in 1989 with an office based in Somerville with only 10 clients.
Today, her company serves over 800 clients in Somerset and Hunterdon counties. The Love Your Pet team of includes Christine Sherlock of Neshanic, Lois Birmingham and Linda Bouwmans of Hillsborough, Maureen Gandoufe from Bridgewater and Jenny Deery of Raritan.
She is the president of Love Your Pet-Pet Care University, a group leader for the Somerset County Animal Disaster team and has her degree in Animal Energy work dealing with cause and effect in dealing with holistic care and healing of animal and related ailments. Ms. Zdeb is a certified canine and feline specialist by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council located in Washington, D.C.
Visit Ms. Zdeb’s Web site at www.loveyourpetuniversity.com or call her at 575-7387 for more information about Pet Care University.

