LOCKPORT – To paraphrase the old song, Jill was blue about a dog named Boo.

That’s why 16-year rescue volunteer Jill Paukstis of Lockport eased away from some of her other volunteer ventures to become the rescue coordinator for the newly formed Dog District in Darien.

“Boo had been dumped at Animal Control [in Chicago] for the second time,” Paukstis said. “He was just sitting in his cage, deteriorating. He was not let out very often. It was wearing on him.”

To the rescue came the Dog District, a combination doggie day care, boarding, training facility, nonprofit dog rescue and home of Mike Toland and Tasha Truong, dog enthusiasts, business partners and trainers, who founded the Dog District last fall.

Toland and Truong worked with Boo until he lost much of his fearfulness. Then Paukstis used her vast network to help find Boo a new owner, a “wonderful woman from Rockford.” A jubilant Paukstis even went the extra miles for this dog and his new owner.

“I drove him down to Rockford for her,” Paukstis said.

During this time, Paukstis became acquainted with Dog District philosophy and methods and Toland became impressed with Paukstis’ dedication to re-homing tough rescue cases, such as Boo.

“We trusted her to let come on board and help,” Toland said.

Paukstis, a Jill of all trades when it comes to animal rescue, got her start when she was a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago: she answered a Craig’s List ad about a shelter needing a dog walker.

“The shelter was across the street from Cabrini Green,” Paukstis said. “It was all pit bulls, bait dogs they were rescuing from fighting rings. So I went there.”

Since then, Paukstis, a product manager for Advanced Diamond Technologies in Romeoville and adjunct business communications teacher at Joliet Junior College, has lent her helping hands to various rescues and shelters, thus building up a wide network of like-minded volunteers, upon whom Paukstis can depend for support.

It was during one such request that Paukstis because acquainted with the Dog District. When she pleaded on Facebook for assistance, the Dog District replied, “We’ll help,” and Paukstis, owner of two pit bulls, was soon admiring the way Toland and Truong helped dogs work through issues to become adoptable.

“Boo might not be alive if it weren’t for Mike and Tasha,” Paukstis said. “I liked their platform and purpose and the way they trained animals. I think it’s unique and I wanted to be involved in it.”

Toland said he and Truong had worked at other dog day care facilities, “got sick of telling the other people how to do it” and decided to open their own, one with a philanthropy arm of taking in anxious, fearful and aggressive dogs and making them feel better, he said.

“Most day cares focus on getting nice dogs, the easier cases,” Toland said. “We want to provide for the dogs other people give up on.”

Toland and Truong designed the Dog District with canine safety and comfort in mind. Instead of cages, they use pens, kennels and large open areas, Toland said. A baby monitor at night alerts Toland and Truong to doggie distress, he added.

According to its website, www.dogdistrictdarien.com, services the Dog District offers include dog dispatch (picking up and dropping off), reiki (as a calming tool), training and obedience during day care, free puppy playtime (Saturdays only), free hour-long group walks to previously trained district dogs (Sundays only, weather permitting) and dog rescue. Dog District grand opening was in February.

In addition to Paukstis, the Dog District has six other volunteers, Toland said. Yet, despite the business aspect of the Dog District, Toland stresses that neither he nor Truong focus on the paycheck.

“We love dogs. We’re not into money,” Toland said. “And that will never change.”