Written by: E. George
Published September 24, 2023 @ 6:30 PM ET
GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. – A 31-year-old woman was arrested on August 10, 2023, for viciously beating and harming a multitude of dogs under her care. Jordan Nicole Studstill, owner of Elite Dog Dynasty, a dog training program she ran out of her home, also worked as a daycare attendant and dog trainer at St. Simons Puppy Paradise.
The owner of St. Simons Puppy Paradise contacted law enforcement to report Studstill’s severe animal abuse. She told a Glynn County Police officer she had security footage of Studstill “kicking and hitting a dog with a metal stick.”
She explained that she received several complaints from her employees who witnessed the abuse. When she confronted Studstill, she told her it “was the way she trained dogs.”
The complainant described the “heeling stick” Studstill used as a “metal type rod” that she took with her when her employment was terminated on December 20, 2022. She said she fired her “because she was stealing money from her business.”
The officer reviewed the security video and observed Studstill “kicking a dog named Sosha multiple times and striking Sosha many times with her heeling stick across her head, mouth, and body.” The officer saw her kick Sosha repeatedly in the face, head, and body.
In another video, Studstill entered the room carrying a dog in her left arm. When she used her right arm to begin hitting Sosha with the heeling stick on her head and body, she held the dog in her left hand only by one of its legs.
As she beat Sosha, she dropped the dog dangling from her left hand, picked it up, and tossed “it over an approximate four foot six and one half inch-high fence and onto a concrete floor.” The officer counted Studstill striking Sosha “21 times on the face, head, and body with the heeling stick,” and at one point, she used both hands to hit her on the head with the stick.
She then slid a slip leash over Sosha’s neck, and as the terrified dog tried frantically to escape, she struck her face, head, and body with the heeling stick while holding her in place with the leash.
The officer interviewed multiple St. Simons Puppy Paradise employees regarding Studstill’s abuse. One employee described a “disturbing” instance when Studstill placed a slip leash on a medium-sized dog and held him off the ground until he passed out.
He said, “The dog was essentially hanging itself while it was freaking out for about 30 seconds.” After the dog fainted, she “just let him drop on the ground.”
He added, “Mrs. Studstill made comments like, ‘Yeah, I had to beat that dog’s ass’ and ‘I just kicked that dog’s ass!’” He said his coworkers told him she would “cross the line” and “hit” the dogs.
Afraid for his own safety, he said, “Jordan was crazy,” and he “was concerned if she found out what he told me.” He explained, “Studstill was his superior and was in charge of everyone.”
Another employee stated that when she transported a dog to Studstill’s home, she noticed “a Belgian Malinois on a leash and a choke collar.” She saw Studstill “choke him out and beat him with a heel stick.”
On another occasion, she witnessed Studstill savagely beat a small dog. “Studstill grabbed a large industrial mop handle and beat the small dog with the mop head until it started bleeding out of its mouth.”
She then took the small dog outside and returned with the canine “soaking wet.” She said, “Studstill’s words were that she ‘water-boarded’ the dog.”
When the employee returned to work the next morning, she noticed blood in the kennel with the small dog. She then realized the dog had been vomiting blood.
Another incident occurred on September 30, 2022, when Studstill choked a dog named Trauma by placing the slip leash on her neck too tightly until she vomited.
On a separate occasion, while Studstill was boarding a pregnant poodle at her home, she “put a slip leash on the dog, took it outside, and proceeded to kick it in the ribs.” She then sprayed the dog with a water hose.
Another time, while they were grooming huskies, one of the dogs she had “on the table became very vocal, and Mrs. Studstill didn’t want to hear it.” Studstill punched the dog in the face with a closed fist, hit him in the face with clippers, “let him dangle off of the table, and grabbed his snout and bit the end of his nose.”
She said Studstill had bitten her own (the employee’s) dog’s nose as well. “Studstill says she is a certified trainer, and that’s how you get a dog’s attention.”
When the officer asked her to describe how Studstill “chokes a dog out,” she explained, “Studstill takes the slip leash completely off the ground, and the dog would be off the ground, dangling.”
The officer asked for more details about the dog, Trauma. She said, “Studstill choked Trauma until the point Trauma puked, and her tongue was turning purple, and she was just kind of relaxing, and once she hit that relaxing point, I guess she let her go so she could regain her air.”
She stated she “was not sure how much longer Mrs. Studstill could have choked Trauma until she passed out.”
She described the heeling stick as a thick plastic pipe “similar to a red hot water heater line or for washer machines.” Studstill and her husband had made the stick and wrapped electrical tape around one end to serve as a handle.
The employee “popped her own leg one time with the heel stick, and it hurt.” She said it “would cause a welt.”
She detailed multiple other instances of Studstill kicking dogs in the ribs, “snatching them up by the slip leash, or something totally uncalled for.”
A third employee said she witnessed “a lot of instances” of abuse, one when Studstill climbed into a kennel and continued to beat a dog with the heeling stick “to the point that it was yelling and screeching.”
In August 2022, Studstill picked up a tiny, scared dog “in the air, with a slip lead, until none of its feet were touching the ground and choked him almost completely out.” She tried to step in because she thought the dog was going “to quit breathing,” but Studstill stopped her and replied, “No, this motherf*cker can choke itself out.”
She then beat the dog as she held it dangling in the air from the leash.
Another employee witnessed Studstill drag a rescue dog named Chico out of a kennel, throw a one-gallon bottle of bleach cleaner at the dog, and hit him repeatedly. She told the officer she “wouldn’t want anyone treating her dog that way.”
She said Studstill told her if the owner “would just let her bring this dog home, she would just shoot him in the damn head. It’s a waste of space; she shouldn’t even have this dog in here.”
She also saw Studstill “beat Chico with a big wooden mop stick while he was in the kennel.” She then dragged him out and threw him outside to use the bathroom, saying, “If it were up to her, she would put a bullet in that dog’s head.”
Studstill also said the owner “should have never tried to save that dog’s life; it was just a waste of space.”
Another incident involved a tiny chihuahua that “was nervous and scared because it had never been there before.” Studstill “put a slip leash on the dog and held it up in the air while choking the piss out of it.”
She thought she “was going to strangle the dog to death. It was crying and choking.”
Studstill was charged with aggravated animal cruelty. This case is pending in court.