Caitlin Dechelle stands with her pup Dash. Brenda Manthey has been watching the Dechelle family's dogs since before Caitlin Dechelle moved out to California for her job as a stuntwoman.Brenda Manthey has picked up some high-profile clients over the years without even meaning to.
Through her Hixson-based business, Goddess Pet Care, Manthey has worked with the Dechelle family of Hixson for nearly 10 years, pet sitting for their dogs Boo Boo and Dash. When she started working for the family in 2007, their daughter Caitlin Dechelle was just a teenage girl who was into martial arts. Now, though, Manthey gets to say she pet sits for Wonder Woman, since the now-world champion martial artist's most recent work on the silver screen was as the stunt double for actress Gal Gadot in the recent box office hit "Wonder Woman."
"At the time, of course, she wasn't doing that," Manthey laughed. "I was just there to take care of her dogs."
While Caitlin Dechelle's Hollywood career means she now lives in California, her parents have been U.S. Postal Service employees in Chattanooga for years. Over Manthey's decade of service to the family, she said she's become a sort of family friend in addition to pet caretaker.
The Dechelles aren't the only high-profile clients she has, though. Fans of the Animal Planet channel may have seen other clients of hers: three Black Russian Terriers named Ricky, Lucy and Stella, owned by Sarah Gaunt of Signal Mountain.
Ricky and Lucy were featured on an Animal Planet segment highlighting the Black Russian Terrier breed on the show "Dogs 101," Manthey said. Lucy even competed in the Westminster Dog Show in 2011, she added.
Manthey had no idea of the pups' star status when she first went to pet sit for them, and at first, the dogs proved to be a bit of a handful.
"Black Russian Terriers are a very protective breed, and they'd had some other pet sitters come up to try and take care of them," Manthey said. "Ricky can be a bit intimidating, but I've gotten close enough to the dogs so there's no issue."
Manthey said bonding with the animals she sits for is a bit of a specialty of hers. A certified traveling vet tech, according to her website, she'll cater to everything from birds to farm animals. She even has a private, enclosed, six-stall barn on the 3 acres of property surrounding her home.
Manthey said she does pet sitting for up to a week at a time, and can do overnight stays.
She got her start in pet sitting after working since the 1980s in animal hospitals, working last at the Brainerd Hills Veterinary Hospital before seeing the need for knowledgeable pet sitting services in Chattanooga and opening her business in 2001, she said.
For more information, visit goddesspetcare.webs.com.