Where it all began – I have always had a passion to work with animals and wanted to be a vet, but unfortunately I didn’t get the scores needed in high school so I went on to study civil engineering. 13 years later I finally got to embark on my true passion and I have been formally operating since 2009.
My desire to make a significant impact in the lives of misunderstood animals was renewed in late 2005. I rescued a puppy (Tarkyn) that I wasn't entirely prepared to handle. I took him in with the goal of finding him a loving and permanent home. I already had one rescue Khia (a 39 kg Bull Arab) who I adopted in 2001 at the age of 12 weeks old. She had taken a lot of time, patience and energy to train but she was a complete alpha girl and she refused to succumb to Tarkyns numerous unsociable behaviours he demonstrated shortly after joining us. Interestingly enough the fights only seemed to occur with me or other humans around. Whilst they were alone they were fine together. I hired a trainer who called himself a 'dog whisperer' to help me with Tarkyn and the very aggressive fighting that had started between Khia and him shortly after bringing him in. This was a waste of both time and money. "You will never be able to trust that dog," the trainer told me. This put me in a precarious position. I knew I couldn't give Tarkyn to another home as I'd planned because his behaviour was dangerous when triggered and needed to be properly understood in order to prevent it from happening again. The only thing I did know was that I wasn’t giving up.
Cesar Millan: The solution for Tarkyn came during an overseas trip, when I happened upon Cesar Millan, a true dog whisperer. Two pit bulls fighting in the same house was the subject of the episode. Cesar mentioned that the humans in the house were not the pack leaders, and that as a result, the dogs were competing for attention and position. This new knowledge was the single most important factor in Tarkyn's, my', and Khia's life from that point forwards. I didn't realize it at the time, but that was the start of a new life and profession for me. I was able to gather the knowledge I needed to fully rehabilitate Tarkyn by reading Cesar's books, watching his DVDs, and watching every single one of his television shows that I could find. Cesar's knowledge was vital in teaching me how to be the pack leader that my dogs craved. The fighting ceased once I understood how they thought and operated and learned how to communicate as their pack leader. I've had a special connection and affinity with animals since I was a child, but I didn't realize it until I met Cesar Millan that I loved them from a human psychological standpoint. This means that up until that moment, I had been loving and connecting with my animals by transferring my emotions and intelligence of what love meant to me as a human. Love is extremely different for an animal. For them, love involves having all of their wants met, feeling safe and comfortable, and knowing their place in the pack/family. When it comes to dogs, in particular, they require a calm, assertive, and stable leader to follow and this is what I am truly excited to share with you!
