Season 1, Ep 08

Who Let My Dogs Out

Ah dogs. There's probably gonna be a handful of episodes on dogs as it has been, is and always will be one of my biggest passions. Oh yeah. All the theatre, Musical performing, ballet, choreographing and teaching craze can probably definitely measure up JUST about to how passionate I am about dogs. 
Definitely deprived from them as a child, I grew up in an apartment, and my mother's answer to all my attempts to beg for one was 'and where am I gonna put it, on my head?'. It was a classic. 'On my head'. But in her defence I did always have a love for the bigger breeds and the ultimate dream breed for my taste was a German Shepherd. So FAIR ENOUGH, the woman had a point. 
The grown up version of me realises that having a dog means mum does all the work and I'm just there for the pats. I realise that now. So I settled for a canary. Coolest canary ever by the way. But we'll get to that later. 
Now not to blow on my own trumpet here TOO MUCH, but not only have I always been a dog lover, but I must admit I always had a way with them too. Kinda like a mini-Dr Doolittle type or shall I say, Dr DoGlittle *flaring eyebrows*.
...Anyhoo, 24 years later after all that dreaming of having my own dog, or being around dogs or something, here I am living in London, and I move into a fancy pansy neighbourhood on the same road as a dog 'day care' centre. Oh yeah, it's a thing. A huge thing. You see, the rich and powerful of London own a dog for a whole different reason. To be considered rich in London you must have the house, the car, the maid, the dog and the dog walker. Dog gets treated like a kid, gets picked up and dropped off at day care, gets groomed, fed, trained etc etc. But hey, those who run those businesses end up being richer. Just saying. 
SO, here I am, struggling with auditions etc etc and it felt like a sign. Like a big sign. Dogs? Work? Hell yeah. Life is short. I knocked on the door and next week I started as a part time dog walker. I was in heaven. Walking dogs and getting paid for it? WHAT. Part time became full time and I swear if I hadn't moved away from London it probably would have been a career.
I learn best and I am at my best when I learn on the job. Clearly I never did a course or earned a qualification but here I am 3 years later, able to do behavioural training, basic health checks and in the meantime lets just say at least one of my clients whose dogs I took care of are total crème de la crème. Hashtag celebrity. But still no dog of my own. Let's just say working in London WITH dogs, made realise it is no place to have your own dog if you work unless you can afford your own dog walker. Hashtag irony. 
I have a million stories to tell you about my time at the dog day care centre before I had to quit and move on to a different super amazing agency where I got to work with my own clients, but I realise I rambled on again today so I'll give you a break, you know, leave you wanting more, and fill ya in on all the stories and the experience I have taken away from that job that I will definitely be telling my grand-kids about.That chapter of my life has probably been one of the most significant chapters so far. But I am super professional, no names shall be mentioned during storytelling. For now I'll leave you with the ultimate breed for me, the Lion King of all dog breeds, my Alsatian.