Our Company
Welcome to Creature Comfort!
Creature Comfort provides superior professional pet care custom-tailored to your pet and your schedule. We don't believe in one-size-fits-all pet care, since you and your pet are unique individuals with changing care needs!
Work long hours and need someone to feed and walk your dog at noon and again before you come home?
Can't take time off from work to take your pet to the vet or groomer?
Concerned your elderly or infirm pet needs regular medication, insulin, or subcutaneous fluids while you're away?
Afraid your pet will be lonely and depressed or destructive while left alone?
Our experienced and dedicated team will care for your pet's individual needs so you can be away from home confident and secure in the knowledge you'll return to find a healthy, happy animal and a full written report of how your pet and sitter spent their time together!
While our first love is caring for the animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, fish, small rodents, snakes, and turtles, our excellent organizational skills also allow us to provide additional concierge/errand services for you--all with one phone call or e-mail!
And don't worry; we are licensed, insured, and bonded and will be happy to send you proof of coverage on request.
Key Personnel
Kim Sheard, Co-founder, Owner
Kim is a graduate of James Madison University with a chemistry major and music minor. She left a corporate technical writing job in 2008 to work on her personal writing career and to become a dog walker and pet sitter. Now she mainly writes on your pets' report cards, as pet care has become her passion!
A born animal lover who dreamed of a menagerie including rabbits, cats, and horses, she helped groom and train the family poodles as a child, even reaching the state finals in 4-H dog obedience. Soon after graduating from college, she adopted and raised her first puppy, also a poodle. While working as a part-time veterinary technician for a vaccine clinic in the mid-90s, she brought home another puppy, Katie the sheltie-poo, and discovered the joy of owning a mixed breed.
With Freckles the German Shorthaired Pointer she studied obedience, agility, and flyball. After learning the pet care business by working for another pet sitting company for several years, she founded Creature Comfort with Anna Goiser in the fall of 2010. Her clinical experience makes her particularly well-suited to care for elderly and infirm animals and to provide light grooming services.
She and husband Henry are now the proud parents of Scout, another pointer. When she's not pet sitting or administrating pet sitting, she sings and plays flute and handbells. She is also learning to play the violin.
Leila Elpern-Waxman, Administrative Support
Leila is one of the rare locals in the area, born in D.C. and raised in Fairfax. During her childhood, she had 3 large dogs, 2 cats, a hamster, and plenty of fish. Growing up, she (and everyone else) thought she would become a veterinarian. Then it was a marine biologist--Thanks, Sea World Camp!
After attending Christopher Newport University and graduating with a degree in social work, her love for travel took her to live in Madrid, Spain for a little over a year. Since returning, she has earned her Master's of Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and gone on to work in hospice, and now mental health with Fairfax County Community Services Board.
Leila joined Creature Comfort's pet sitting crew in 2015 and now also provides administrative support through e-mail and the phone. She found that working with our clients and their pets was the perfect form of pet therapy for her - those dog walks help her balance life with her stressful career. Now, she has a pit bull mix, named Kramer, of her own, but she still enjoys loving on other people's pets as well!
Anna Goiser, Co-founder
When her mother plopped her first human child, baby Anna, into the wicker bassinet with her prize litter of fox terriers, a lifelong bond with animals was formed. Living all over the world with her military family as a stranger in a strange land, animals were her most constant friends and companions.
After graduating university with a degree in comparative literature, Anna pursued a career as a freelance artist and writer, holding down a wide array of gigs to make ends meet, including mortuary cosmetician; grocery store checker; motocross racer; stable groom; G-string fabricator; construction painter; bricklayer; music producer; and journalist. Among her professional credits are music critic and book critic for national publications; costumer for a number of professional dance and theatre companies here and in New York City; writer for Smithsonian exhibitions; newspaper, periodical, and book designer; textile and embroidery designer.
Throughout her life of exploring beauty, there has been a long continuum of wonderful creatures to keep her company--dogs, cats, birds, fish--if it breathed, she gave it a home.
In between gigs, Anna tried pet sitting in 2006 and, to her great surprise, fell completely in love. Kim Sheard came to work for the same company and the germ of the idea of their own firm took hold. They created Creature Comfort in 2010 to enable them to provide the kind of pet care service they would want for their own animals, built on trust, confidence, and genuine caring.
Her terrier mix Ziggy was adopted from a client. In addition to sitting for all types of critters, Anna also performs the company's initial consultation interviews, initiating new clients into the Creature Comfort family.
Judy Hamel, Administrative Support
Judy Hamel seems shy when you first meet her, but you'd never know it from watching her interact with pets! Judy has a special rapport with the animals, who immediately sense her warm and caring demeanor. Judy had a first career as a claims representative with the Social Security Administration, and after a brief retirement decided to try something fun. Coming onboard with Creature Comfort in 2016 was the perfect solution! As a long-time client, Judy was able to jump in with both feet since she was already familiar with how the company works. What better job is there than to spend quality time with her many new and special friends?
Growing up in Rhode Island, Judy always had a special love for animals, and this goes double for her current pets, two charming Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Albert and Teddy, who are understandably a bit jealous to share Mommy with so many other pets!
Although they hate to leave Bertie and Teddy behind, Judy and her husband Greg enjoy visiting historic sites and attending baseball games at different parks throughout the country. Ask Judy about the Boston Red Sox if you have a few hours to spare! Judy also likes to visit Vienna, Austria, not just for the sights but to spend time with two adorable grandchildren and their golden retriever, Olympia (Ollie).
Judy is a big fan of American music standards and Broadway musicals, and you might catch her sometimes speaking in lyrics. Her big thrill was getting to meet her idol, Julie Andrews, a few years ago, and yes, she has seen The Sound of Music dozens of times, enough to memorize the entire script, or so Greg tells us.
Judy loves spending time with her immediate and extended family and, whether family or friend, folks who meet her instantly feel comfortable and they know they can rely on her. We think you will sense this, too, as you and your pets get to know Judy.
Pam Lucas, Administrative Support
Among the first clients of Creature Comfort, Pam Lucas for years relied on the company to care for her Golden Retriever, Jeb: to walk him, love him up, and--toward the end of Jeb's life--a strong bond formed between Creature Comfort's sitters and Jebbie, Pam, and husband Gary. Together they cared for this sweet, gentle Golden.
Brodie soon followed, their fourth Golden Retriever, and with this pup also came a new member of the Creature Comfort team: Pam decided to come on board.
Pam is one of the company's most prolific dog walkers, as well as a behind-the-scenes administrative staffer. You may have received an e-mailed response from her, or she might have contacted you for a photo of your pet or a contribution to Creature Comfort's quarterly newsletter, which is her baby.
Pam's background was working with 501.C3 non-profit organizations, managing logistics and meeting planning, as well as marketing. After years working the Washington D.C. fast track, she gave it up, returned to college, and began a second career of teaching gifted and talented elementary school students. Pet sitting is her third career.
Pam is an animal lover (obviously!) and enjoys traveling, gardening, and harvesting endangered Monarch butterflies.