It’s a dogs life

So this is me, Emma! in Ho Chi Minh City, training with the shelter dogs at ARC Vietnam, getting them ready for home placements. 

I am lucky enough to first, own a gorgeous retired greyhound and secondly have had the opportunity to leave my 9-5 office job and begin training in Canine Psychology and Behaviour to follow my dreams of working with dogs full time. 

At 30 something, after a 2 month road trip down the east coast of Australia with rather lovely boyfriend, it was decided that the world was out there waiting to be explored. As soon as we arrived back to the UK we started putting in motion plans that would allow us to work and travel. One year later, I had left my IT job, cleared out my wardrobe and said goodbye to my family and friends to move to Vietnam. 

I am also the very proud owner of a greyhound called Tipps. He was retired from racing in 2015 at the age of 5 and we soon became his new family. Adopting a greyhound is very rewarding, as with all rescue dogs but it did not come without its challenges. Kitchen doors were ripped of their hinges and there was an unfortunate meeting with the neighbour’s cat which saw both parties comes off with minor injuries. However over time, Tipps has become a well adjusted gentle giant that loves nothing more than company and attention of others. 

It is Tipps that tipped (no pun intended 😉) the scales when it came my new career path decision. After going though the rehoming period with him, I wanted to help others that had been kind enough to take on a shelter dog to ensure that both settle into their new home environments happily and with ease. A little help and understanding goes a long way to a healthy, happy hound and in turn this reduces any necessity to return rescue dogs to their shelters. My time at shelters so far has taught me how resilient and loving dogs are and I want to help as many as i can find their forever homes.