People

Dog Oasis

Alexa Holloway’s Your Good Dog is every canine’s second home where dogs can play outside, breathe fresh air, enjoy the butterfly garden next door, snuggle on the indoor and outdoor sofas, watch movies or cuddle with staff.Words // Sandy Lindsey Photos // c/o Your Good Dog
Words // Sandy Lindsey | Photos // c/o Your Good Dog | February 23, 2022 | People

Though she was born in Yorkshire, England, Alexa Holloway has been a Key Biscayner since a very young age. She got her Master’s in Marine Mammals & Oceanography from Nova Southeastern University. “While in graduate school, I started working at the Miami Seaquarium,” she says. “I worked with the seals and sea lions for my first year. These amazing animals hear on our frequency so I was able to communicate with them with words — very similar to dogs,” she says. “I fell in love with one particular harbor seal we all called Andrew. He was a rescue and had some battle wounds, but I made it my mission to ensure he had an amazing life. He was the reason I fell in love with positive reinforcement training. Being able to have animal trust you and you them is not something everyone gets to experience.” In 2012, she took a huge risk and started her own positive training program for dogs on Key Biscayne, something no other trainer was doing at the time. It was a huge success, so much so that when clients asked if she could watch their dogs while they were away, she decided to open South Florida’s only small breed luxury dog hotel & daycare aplty named Your Good Dog. “My latest project involves my 4-year-old daughter,” she says. “She’s my junior apprentice dog trainer!”; YourGoodDog.com.