About

Austin dog daycare owners

Who We Are

Sonya Wilson is a native Texan whose family taught her early on to love and respect animals, especially dogs. She holds a BS in Elementary Education from Texas A&M University (Class of ’89). Sonya has been involved in dog training since 1990.

Sonya shares her life and the Southpaws Playschool business with her husband, Tim Smith, who is also a native Texan. Tim handles many of the administrative and maintenance tasks at Southpaws. He’s easy to recognize by the love and respect that all of the dogs have for “Mr. Tim”.

Tim and Sonya soak up all of the dog information that they can, taking classes and attending seminars as often as possible. Tim and Sonya are certified in Emergency Pet First Aid and Disaster Response and have extensively studied animal communication, canine behavior and off-leash play group management.

positive dog training
dog at south austin daycare

Our Role in Your Dog’s Life

At Southpaws Playschool, we recognize the innate intelligence of dogs and the essential companionship and joy they offer their human caretakers. Our goal is to support you in meeting a good balance of the exercise, training and affection needs of your dog, regardless of his/her temperament or background.

?We are extremely proud of the many dogs that we have helped become outstanding community members and loving family members.

Southpaws Staff Members

All of the staff members at Southpaws Playschool have your dog’s best interest at heart.

All employees are certified in Emergency Pet First Aid and Disaster Response. Continuous study adds to their canine behavior knowledge.

Our Dogs

Rex

Concord

LeeLoo

Zena

Rest in peace, ZeZe
~2009-2021

Nessa