Meet Our Team

Jimmy Kennard

Jimmy was born in Heidelberg, Germany. He was destined to be obsessed with animals. Hailing from 5 generations of a South Dakota ranching and mining family, the love of animals was in his genes. First came his love for all things dogs and then at the age of 3 he became obsessed with horses. It only snowballed after that. Growing up in Georgia on an old and beautiful racehorse farm, everything revolved around his love for horses. His first horse, Freckles, a grandson of the great Doc Bar, taught him many skills and only increased his desire to make owning and raising horses his focus in life. Jimmy spent many summers at his family’s ranches in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the rolling hills of the prairies. Jimmy studied with top trainers in multiple disciplines from Show Jumping to Saddleseat. Jimmy met Tim in 2004 by chance, through of course, horses. Jimmy’s life has been very, very active since then. In 2006, Jimmy and Tim opened a second business location, and in 2009 decided to consolidate both locations into a mobile grooming business. After operating the mobile business for 10 years, and relocating to the Mount Vernon area in 2013, Jimmy and Tim decided to close the mobile business so Jimmy could be home more. During the early years, Jimmy and Tim showed multiple breeds of dogs together, and helped the Miniature Australian Shepherd become accepted into AKC, where it is now known as the Miniature North American Shepherd. Around 2005, Jimmy started raising and showing Poodles, enjoying the showing and grooming aspects which in turn enhanced his grooming skills. Jimmy and Tim fostered their first child Hailey, and that sparked a bug in both to eventually foster and adopt 9 children. In 2021, after seeing the great need for a safe and secure dog facility in the Mount Vernon area, Jimmy and Tim opened Poodles To Hounds, LLC on July 26th, 2021. In April of 2022, Poodles To Hounds doubled in size, and in the fall of 2022, a full size competition agility course was added, in addition to new training space to enhance the training services offered by Poodles To Hounds. In addition to grooming/training, and everything in between at Poodles To Hounds, Jimmy continues to add features to better serve customers. It is the goal of Jimmy and Tim to create an ultimate destination for area dog owners to meet all of their needs for Professional Pet Grooming, Full Service Boarding, Doggie Daycare, and a Full Scale Training operation. Poodles To Hounds is locally owned and operated by highly experienced professionals for the ultimate benefit of our customers. 

Tim Kennard

Tim’s love for animals began at a very early age. Tim’s parents raised German Shepherds while he was very young. Tim was raised in Centralia, IL and attended St. Mary’s. His father worked for the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in Centralia for 25 years. At 13, Tim’s family relocated to Bloomington-Normal where his extended family resided. Tim got a job at 13 working for the leading vet, Gordon Kruger, helping take care of his extensive operation of Swans, Geese, Turkeys, multiple different breeds of Pigeons, and numerous breeds of exotics, including Fallow Deer and Elk. Tim automatically gravitated towards all things animals, which then led him to pursue a career as a vet tech and groomer. He worked for numerous vets over the years as both a pet groomer and as a vet tech for the leading veterinarians in the Twin Cities. In 1994, Tim decided to start showing Dalmatians. In 1995 Tim got Joey, an Afghan Hound, who he began showing in conformation. In 1998 Tim worked with one of the world’s top Standard Poodle kennels, Safari Poodles and also started an apprenticeship with Webb Cocker Spaniels, and Jersey Hill Cocker Spaniels. Tim mentored with Mike Kinsler, a top dog handler, who taught Tim proper ring procedure, and how to handle dogs in conformation. Tim belonged to multiple dog clubs including the Land of Lincoln Afghan Hound Club, the CornBelt Kennel Club, the Great Lakes Poodle Club of Chicago. By 2002, when Tim decided to scale back showing Cocker Spaniels, his dogs had won more Specialty wins in Cocker Spaniel history than any other breeder at that time, and his dogs being exported all over the world. In 2002, after having worked for numerous vet clinics, Premium Pets, Petco, Canine Expectations, Tim made the choice to open his own facility, Canine Design. In 2003 Tim was offered to teach show grooming in Japan, but due to family commitments he recommended the opportunity to another show groomer. Tim’s dog Sam was on the cover of Wahl Clippers after being in the top 10 Cocker Spaniels in the United States. Tim and Jimmy began showing Mini Aussies in 2004, and worked very hard getting them accepted into AKC, where they are now known as the Miniature North American Shepherd. In 2006, Tim and Jimmy opened Canine Design 2 in Pontiac, IL. In 2009 Tim and Jimmy made the decision to stream line both locations and open a mobile grooming service in the Central IL area which they operated for 10 years. In 2013 Tim, Jimmy and family relocated to the Mount Vernon area because they felt it was a better fit to raise a family. Tim and Jimmy began fostering and adopting children and in 2022 they completed their 9th adoption. Between family life, horses, and a son with cancer, there simply was not the time for opening a local business in the Mount Vernon area. In 2020, the pandemic hit, Gabriel passed away, and in order for Tim to stay sane he went back to work, this time grooming at a local dog facility. It was at this time that Tim realized there was a very large void when it came to dog facilities in the area. Pet owners in the Mount Vernon area were in great need of a safe and secure facility to take their pets. So on July 26th, 2021 Tim and Jimmy opened Poodles To Hounds, LLC in Mount Vernon. The business has grown by leaps and bounds and in April 2022 the business doubled in size, and in the fall of 2022, a full size competition agility course was added, along with added training space to enhance our full scale training operations. Tim, Jimmy, and Family look forward to seeing where the future takes us!

Ken Fritz

Ken has a lifetime of dog related skills. He was born and raised in Southern Illinois. He grew up raising and training German Shepherds with his parents. Later in life, as an adult Ken raised and showed Italian Greyhounds, and Chinese Crested dogs on the West Coast. For the past 20 years Ken has been training dogs professionally, full time. Ken started a program at the Vandalia Correctional Facility working to teach prisoners how to train and rehabilitate dogs. Several of the prisoners that he worked with in Vandalia have gone on to work training dogs full time. Ken has worked with military dogs in addition to personal protection dogs. Ken has made a lasting impact in the pet volunteer program in the area hospitals throughout Southern Illinois. Ken has trained several dozen therapy dogs that have gone on to volunteer in area hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. Ken has been working with Canine Companions for Indepence dogs and Leader Dogs for the Blind candidates since 2009. In 2015, Ken left the St. Louis Metro area to take a job at a Mount Vernon, Illinois facility training full time, in hopes to help them run a successful business. After developing a training clientele locally, and lending the facility credibility with his credentials and skillset, Ken decided that with the revolving door of staff, constant change of management, and absent ownership, that it was time to hang his hat elsewhere. Ken wanted to work with other dog career professionals and he found that here at Poodles To Hounds. Ken continues to teach basic to advanced Obedience, both private and group classes, and is excited about the addition of the new training space where he will be working closely with clients, without interruptions. Ken has a massive amount of experience which is extremely valued here at Poodles To Hounds.