Locally owned and loving little rascals since 2001
OUR GOLDEN STANDARD
Committed to caring
Vicki’s original Rascal, Henry the golden retriever (2004-2015), is the foundation for how we treat other Little Rascals. He is our Golden Standard for professionalism, accountability, and commitment to be the best — Vicki treats every dog as if they were her own Henry. When you’re at the Ranch, you’re part of the family.
Safety First
Rascal Ranch is built for safety and designed for fun. We treat our Rascals with care and compassion, and place their welfare above all else.
Built on a Dream
Vicki always dreamed of a dog utopia. The dogs at Rascal Ranch are handpicked to spend the day in an outdoor, natural play environment.
Passionate About Pups
We count ourselves lucky to have such a cool job — loving your Rascal! We’re in it for the endless games of fetch and happy tail wags.
MEET VICKI
A passion for pups
Vicki’s Little Rascals was born out of a passion to create a meaningful small business for four-legged family members. Since its onset in 2001, Vicki, the owner, founder and creator has proudly built and overseen Vicki's Little Rascals into a five-star doggy daycare.
A Belmont native, Ralston Middle School Ram, Notre Dame High School Tiger, and Chico State Wildcat, Vicki built her business to serve the community she grew up in. She’s always loved dogs, helping others, and of course, the Peninsula.
From 2001 to 2015, Vicki offered dog walking and dog sitting services, ensuring Rascals got the exercise and care they needed. After 15 years of working with dogs, hiking off-leash, and spending hours in dog parks, Vicki expanded her business by creating an exclusive private play land — Rascal Ranch. Transforming seven acres of pasture land into a dog’s dream come true, she built a doggy daycare utopia. Watch the video >
Her years of experience have crafted a safe and engaging environment at Rascal Ranch, fostering trust and socialization. From custom fencing to meticulous lawn maintenance and innovative play structures, every aspect is built for safety and designed for fun.
After 25 years in business, Vicki is more excited than ever to continue the mission of giving every dog their best day, every day. She loves working alongside her team and continually evolving to improve the client and, of course, Rascal experience. There is always something to learn and improve in small business, and she loves the challenge.
Her two pups, Tahoe and Wahoo continue to inspire her to strive for the best experience she can create. Her obsession with them keeps her clear and purposeful in the mission to do the best for the Rascals.
Now in business for almost THREE decades, Vicki’s doggy utopia proudly offers the Greater San Mateo area the most unique doggy daycare experience on the Peninsula!
25
Years of experience
1,952
Rascals loved since 2001
9
Rascal Wranglers
OUR SMALL BUT MIGHTY TEAM
Meet the Rascal Wranglers
All of our Rascal Wranglers are certified in Pet CPR/First Aid and complete extensive dog behavior/handling training as well as certifications through Pet Sitters International, the world’s leading educational organization for pet professionals. They also must pass a comprehensive background check through Acutraq before working with us. We take professionalism and trustworthiness seriously — we wouldn’t expect any less if it was our Rascal.
Beau
Manager & Customer Success
Joined VLR in 2021
Beau started as a Wrangler but moved up to Team Manager (also known as Team Super Glue). A logistics master, Beau ensures that every day goes off without a hitch. She oversees the operations at the ranch, mentors all of the Wranglers, and assesses new Rascals’ readiness to join the pack, creating perfectly balanced playgroups. She guides the team to make sure every Rascal has their best day, every day.
A Bay Area native, Beau loves the great outdoors and hanging with great dogs! Nothing beats watching the joy of Rascals running around the Ranch while enjoying the sunshine. When she's not at the Ranch, she enjoys hiking or beach time with her Sheepadoodle, Mo.
Emily
Team Lead
Emily came to the ranch after nine years in indoor dog daycares — a year as Kennel Lead, then eight at Dogtopia, most of them running the place. The thing she's proudest of there wasn't operational: she built a monthly fundraiser photoshoot that raised over $100,000 for service dogs for veterans with PTSD. Dogs taught her patience, she says, which is what thirty of them in one room will do. She grew up in the Santa Cruz mountains, reads constantly, and named her two cats and her hamster after Hunger Games characters.
Jason
Rascal Wrangler
Sydney
Senior Wrangler
Joined VLR in 2024
Before the ranch, Sydney was a behavior therapist working with children on the autism spectrum — which is where she learned to read body language and use positive reinforcement, both of which she uses here every day. She started her own dog-walking business at eleven, and spent years volunteering as a transporter, driving rescue dogs across the Bay Area for spay and neuter. She grew up in Pacifica and has two rescues, Chance and Bliss. Her family calls her the dog whisperer; she was always the one at the sleepover sitting with the family dog.
Karen
Rascal Wrangler
Karen spent more than twenty years in cybersecurity, building training centers around the world. When she retired she went looking for work with animals rather than a quieter version of the same thing, and arrived here by way of dog enrichment volunteering at the Peninsula Humane Society. What surprised her most was the strategy — the planning behind who plays with whom, and when. A third-generation Bay Area native, she grew up in San Mateo and lives in Redwood City. She played her way to a sports scholarship at Texas A&M.
Ask Cesar what he brought to this job and he'll say patience — specifically, being able to regulate his own reaction and then choose the right one, which is close to the most useful skill available around a pack of very excited dogs. He found the ranch himself and reached out, looking for work that felt fulfilling rather than draining. Alongside this he's a personal trainer at a gym in Pacifica. Born and raised in Half Moon Bay, he's genuinely attached to the small-town side of it. Off the clock he collects vinyl.
Katelyn
Senior Wrangler
Joined VLR in 2024
Always smiling and warm, Pacifica local Katelyn thrives on bonding with our Rascals and Wranglers. She cherishes the supportive team environment and playful pups at the Ranch, where the dogs’ love brightens every day. Katelyn brings incredible photography skills, a passion for pups, and dedication to her role. In her downtime, she enjoys rock climbing at Stinson Beach and capturing photos of her travels—she has visited 11 national parks! Her go-to pump-up song is "Revival" by Zach Bryan.
Molly
Team Lead
Joined VLR in 2023
Bay Area native Molly brings invaluable expertise to the Rascals team, thanks to her years at the San Francisco Zoo and as a dog groomer. She loves forming bonds with the pups and connecting with their owners over a mutual love of dogs. Molly rescued her 7-year-old husky, Gyda, from a San Jose shelter in 2017, and they've been inseparable since. Off the clock, she enjoys fantasy books, hiking, camping, or archery with her niece and nephews. Catch her belting out "Bohemian Rhapsody" during her car karaoke sessions.
Interested in joining our team? Apply to become a Rascal Wrangler! >
Renee
Rascal Wrangler
Renee spent thirty years working with children — nearly twenty of them driving a school bus in San Mateo County, then a preschool, then nannying — and she'll tell you the work is remarkably similar. Each dog, like each child, has their own personality and their own pace, and expecting them all to behave the same way is where people go wrong. She has enormous patience and volunteers for the challenging ones. At home she's always mid-project: crochet, jewelry, painting, and fairy houses that light up.
Ashleigh
Rascal Wrangler
Ashleigh has been pet sitting since high school and still does it for friends who need a weekend away. Before the ranch she spent four years at an animal shelter, first volunteering and then as a kennel attendant — which she'll tell you is one of the more stressful jobs going, and one that teaches you a great deal about patience. Photography is the part of this job she loves most: happy dogs, and then showing their people what kind of day they had. She eats at Kirk's Steakburgers roughly once a week, for the tater tots.
Jason quit bartending to spend two months touring the country with his band, Treasvre, and arrived here wanting a change of scenery. He's a professional musician and a published photographer — one of his pictures is in Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Body — and before that he ran art galleries at the Academy of Art University. He's been walking dogs for years. He grew up in Redwood City in a household of thirteen, so looking after a crowd is familiar. His friends compare him to a golden retriever, and he agrees.
Cesar
Rascal Wrangler
OUR VALUES
We care — plain & simple
Safety
The care and welfare of our Rascals will always be our #1 priority.
Unique & Fun
We strive to offer a different experience that creates smiles all around.
Flexible
Life happens — we get it! We are willing to adapt quickly to help you.
Team-oriented
Our staff is kind, supportive, dependable, and eager to help in any way possible.
Compassionate
We treat your Rascal like our own — it’s our Golden Standard.
Trustworthy
Count on us to show up and do the job right — every time.
Goal-setters
We seek to constantly learn and improve our service. Training is always ongoing.
Professional
We treat your home, privacy, and pet with the utmost respect — just like we would want.
Ted the Labradoodle
Rascal since 2020
“After contacting Vicki, she called back very promptly and we had a long conversation. She asked me lots of questions about my dog and was very forthcoming about how she ran the Ranch. I was immediately comfortable and scheduled a time with her to go through the sign up process. I have already increased Ted’s Ranch visits from three days to four days a week. My dog is so excited when he gets picked up. It makes me so happy (and relieved) to see how much he benefits from his time away from home. When I send him to Vicki's Little Rascals, I feel like I'm sending him to spend the day with an extended family.”
— Ted’s mom
Cooper the Red Lab
Rascal since 2015
“Vicki and her team are the most dedicated, professional and hardworking dog lovers you'll ever meet. During my several years as a client, not a day has gone by that I didn't feel that my dog was treated like one of their very own pets. My dog comes home tired and happy from the ranch every single time. Vicki and team have done an outstanding and unmatched job at creating a beautiful, stimulating, fun and unique outdoor ranch for the dogs to enjoy. I offer the highest recommendation for Vicki's Little Rascals, and cannot thank them enough for caring for and loving all the dogs wholeheartedly.”
— Cooper’s mom