Juliana McLaughlin &
Alexander Velazquez
Meet Juliana and Alex the founders of Dirt Road Dogs!
We have spent over 10 years traveling the country with our three dogs Sadie, Willow and Raven, working in the rescue field as Foster Coordinators for the Lawton Humane Society and generally living our life wholly centered on making amazing memories with our dogs.
After graduating from West Point Military Academy, Alex went on to work in the US Army, rising to level of Captain before medically retiring. Today if Alex isn’t busy building custom campervans and tiny homes at our sister company Dirt Road Campers he is managing the property for the dogs, maintaining the facility and coming up with creative dog friendly improvements to bring to camp.
If Alex is the brain of the business, Juliana is the heart.
Juliana graduated from Seton Hall University with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. She worked as an Oncology nurse before transitioning into travel nursing. After working as a travel nurse for years she like so many healthcare workers became burned out during the pandemic. She knew it was time for a change. Ready to swap out her stethoscope for a leash she voiced her vision for a nature driven boarding and daycare facility to Alex in the Spring of 2022. Needless to say, in true Alex fashion he was immediately on board.
After years of working with professional trainers, boarding dogs on the side, attending workshops and seminars on dog behavior her passion for dogs hadn’t dimmed. Her dream of bringing a multi-acre boarding facility that allowed dogs to play, run, dig and swim like their canine instincts crave has finally become a reality!
Casey Harrison
Meet Dirt Road Dogs’ manager!
Casey graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. She did lab work and designed a preliminary medical device while attending OU. However, during the last 1.5 years of her program, the COVID pandemic impacted her studies and previous job. She finished her degree, but realized she wasn’t interested in spending hours and hours in a lab. She too started down several career paths that never felt quite right before coming to Dirt Road Dogs.
After adopting her youngest dog, she sought a dog daycare that would help her fearful puppy feel safe and find confidence. Casey stumbled upon Dirt Road Dogs and loved sending her puppy and, later, all three dogs: Bailee, Cleo, and MJ to daycare. After becoming more interested in dog behavior, training and sociability, she became interested in joining DRD and in May of 2024 she came on full time as both Camp Manager and our 24-7 on-premise staff member. She loves seeing dogs grow, gain confidence, and have fun here at camp!
