What Do You Do In The Dog World?

[Marion 01]

Nothing special here, just lots of experience, much more understanding of multiple dog behaviour, and never ending grooming.

Also make doggie related address labels, etc

I have always loved animals, and have always had multiple dogs. OH and I started showing back in 1995 with our first Tibetan Terrier, we loved them so much we thought we would get another one ( he didn't like showing) so he became a non showing family member, over the next few years we ended up with 11 TTs and only 2 liked showing. We still had our Bichons at the time and as they all got on in age, one bedroom was the geriatric ward at night time. Our medicine cabinet looked like mother hubbards cupboard compared to the dogs medicine cabinet, we only have 8 dogs left now, ranging in age from 15 years, down to 8 years. We had a bad year last year when we said goodbye to our last Bichon 15.1/2 yrs old, and 7 of our TTs (all age related) and our one and only Chinese Crested Powder Puff. Miss them dreadfully. I have done up a "Kids at Rainbow Bridge" glossy poster with them all on it and laminated it, which helps.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Marion 01

[Leelaa17]

your current job sounds extremely interesting!!! what does that entail? Like what do you do? Is it completely research based?

I work in lab when needed processing cells for dogs with osteoarthritis, did a lot of lab work at Uni. Work with our trial vet a fair bit and mainly manage the vets around Sydney who use us. Its amazing some of the things I see at work, it gives me goosebumps. We still have so much to learn about biology. In the next few months some of the diseases we are going to be able to treat will excite every dog owner. It's tough though breaking through the skepticism but the results will start doing the talking

that is incredible! I love to hear about the behind-the-scenes things people are doing to treat diseases in dogs. It's the same with humans actually, I don't think people get enough credit for the amount of work they put in to find a simple treatment, let alone a cure for something!!

Pet owner

Dog photographer [for money and for rescue orgs]

Leather dog collar and leash business owner

Occasional rescuer and/or foster carer

Serial obedience club joiner [i think I've been a member of five. I started to train as an instructor at one but decided I didn't have time.]

We've done some dog sports like agility, lure coursing, schutzhund and dock diving, but never to a level like some others on here.

I regularly get stopped and asked if I'm a dog walker, but I'm not My main business isn't dog related, but I work from home, so I'm entertained by our crazy lot all day. 99% of my friends are dog people and that's the way I like it

Have you ever photographed for the RSPCA? I used to volunteer at the Yagoona shelter and chatted to a photographer for quite some time! I would love it if you could photograph my dogs! I would love some awesome pictures of them but it's difficult because they never sit still! lol

Essentially I'm a crazy dog lady. I'm a web designer/developer by qualification.

In the dog world I:

Show a Finnish Lapphund

Obedience train two dogs

Agility train a Siberian Husky

Work on a dog parks website that will probably always be a work in progress

Have just started herding with my lappie, will be going to our next training day on the 28th

Have just started sledding with my Husky, next training day is the 15th.

why will the dog parks website always be a work in progress? And you do a lot with your dogs! What do you do as part of 'sledding' with your husky?

[Leelaa17]

Nothing special here, just lots of experience, much more understanding of multiple dog behaviour, and never ending grooming.

I have always loved animals, and have always had multiple dogs. OH and I started showing back in 1995 with our first Tibetan Terrier, we loved them so much we thought we would get another one ( he didn't like showing) so he became a non showing family member, over the next few years we ended up with 11 TTs and only 2 liked showing. We still had our Bichons at the time and as they all got on in age, one bedroom was the geriatric ward at night time. Our medicine cabinet looked like mother hubbards cupboard compared to the dogs medicine cabinet, we only have 8 dogs left now, ranging in age from 15 years, down to 8 years. We had a bad year last year when we said goodbye to our last Bichon 15.1/2 yrs old, and 7 of our TTs (all age related) and our one and only Chinese Crested Powder Puff. Miss them dreadfully. I have done up a "Kids at Rainbow Bridge" glossy poster with them all on it and laminated it, which helps.

Oh what a bad year!!! But I am sure they are all happily running around with each other wherever they are!!!!

I cannot believe you have 11 TT's at one time! That's extraordinary!! I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like! lol I try to do my best with two large, and very energetic, gsd... i just couldn't imagine! hahah

I had two dogs growing up, they were cav x chinese crested powder puffs... only one left, he's 16 and going quite strong, although he has dementia . The other passed last year at 15 years of age. ccpp are beautiful dogs though! I love them!

[Inevitablue]

I'm doing a PhD in dog behaviour. I have a zoology degree. Technically all the time I spend with my dogs is work.

And what do you study when studying zoology? I have always wanted to ask someone that... does it mean you have knowledge in ALL animals? Or do you pick one to study? Or.... something? lol

Corvus got it quite spot on, we also got to study spider behaviour (yay.....feeding spiders with tweezers) and learning how to catch and wrangle kangaroos. My all time fav (insert sarcastic smilie) assignment was to do ethology maps for the dingos at the zoo for a day...in the rain. 9am sleep, 9:10am sleep.....3:40pm sleep. Oooohhh yay 3:50 pee

[poodlefan]

Corvus got it quite spot on, we also got to study spider behaviour (yay.....feeding spiders with tweezers) and learning how to catch and wrangle kangaroos. My all time fav (insert sarcastic smilie) assignment was to do ethology maps for the dingos at the zoo for a day...in the rain. 9am sleep, 9:10am sleep.....3:40pm sleep. Oooohhh yay 3:50 pee

I can't see them doing a show like Meercat Manor on those dingos if that's all they do

[whiskedaway]

Essentially I'm a crazy dog lady. I'm a web designer/developer by qualification.

In the dog world I:

Show a Finnish Lapphund

Obedience train two dogs

Agility train a Siberian Husky

Work on a dog parks website that will probably always be a work in progress

Have just started herding with my lappie, will be going to our next training day on the 28th

Have just started sledding with my Husky, next training day is the 15th.

why will the dog parks website always be a work in progress? And you do a lot with your dogs! What do you do as part of 'sledding' with your husky?

Because councils are notoriously unhelpful and it's a massive job visiting all of the ones I know about to get photos and check out their facilities. It will be a search engine when it's done and will allow people to search for a fenced park with a barbeque in a certain council. I've been working on it for a good six months now and it's nowhere near done! And I've only done dog parks in Adelaide so far, haven't even thought about interstate yet!

And sledding is run by the SA Sled Dog Club and is basically racing where your dog pulls a "sled" - actually a scooter, because we have no snow here. Any medium sized breed can join in, but Huskies and Malamutes are the most common ones there. It's run in the winter months.

[Jetty]

I am just a dog owner.

I did do a few obedience classes with my dog but stopped last year and have continued to do it at home instead. I plan to get a second dog in the hopefully near future. We will probably rescue a puppy.

[ruthless]

Have you ever photographed for the RSPCA? I used to volunteer at the Yagoona shelter and chatted to a photographer for quite some time! I would love it if you could photograph my dogs! I would love some awesome pictures of them but it's difficult because they never sit still! lol

Nope, never done any RSPCAs.

What do you do as part of 'sledding' with your husky?

Forgot to add that we did sledding with our Husky too!

[ruthless]

Because councils are notoriously unhelpful and it's a massive job visiting all of the ones I know about to get photos and check out their facilities. It will be a search engine when it's done and will allow people to search for a fenced park with a barbeque in a certain council. I've been working on it for a good six months now and it's nowhere near done! And I've only done dog parks in Adelaide so far, haven't even thought about interstate yet!

Sounds like a great resource Have you heard of Off Leash? Not sure if it's the same thing or just NSW.

[Leelaa17]

Essentially I'm a crazy dog lady. I'm a web designer/developer by qualification.

In the dog world I:

Show a Finnish Lapphund

Obedience train two dogs

Agility train a Siberian Husky

Work on a dog parks website that will probably always be a work in progress

Have just started herding with my lappie, will be going to our next training day on the 28th

Have just started sledding with my Husky, next training day is the 15th.

why will the dog parks website always be a work in progress? And you do a lot with your dogs! What do you do as part of 'sledding' with your husky?

Because councils are notoriously unhelpful and it's a massive job visiting all of the ones I know about to get photos and check out their facilities. It will be a search engine when it's done and will allow people to search for a fenced park with a barbeque in a certain council. I've been working on it for a good six months now and it's nowhere near done! And I've only done dog parks in Adelaide so far, haven't even thought about interstate yet!

And sledding is run by the SA Sled Dog Club and is basically racing where your dog pulls a "sled" - actually a scooter, because we have no snow here. Any medium sized breed can join in, but Huskies and Malamutes are the most common ones there. It's run in the winter months.

Oh very cool! That would be great fun I would think! And I am your baby would absolutely love it!

I am just a dog owner.

I did do a few obedience classes with my dog but stopped last year and have continued to do it at home instead. I plan to get a second dog in the hopefully near future. We will probably rescue a puppy.

Oh! What are you thinking of getting? Is there any particular breed you will be looking for or will you go to a rescue place and just pick one that you fall for?

[Guest Panzer Attack!]

Oooh, thank you for posting this thread, OP! I'm looking at changing my career and it's so fascinating to read about all the different animal related jobs one can do!

At the moment I'm a groomer. I've been grooming for about 5 years, mostly self-taught. I'm not that great and my wrist is undergoing chiro treatment at the moment as it's a bit wrecked.

In the past I've worked at a kennel (hated it with a passion, the way the kennel was run made me really upset) and I've volunteered for a couple of shelters, doing walking and a little bit of lure training. I've also pet sat and I fostered a cat that ended up being a foster failure firstly for me, and then re-failed to one of my friends who lived with me for a while and took her along when she moved in with her partner!

I've recently purchased my first agility and show dog, and hope to sign up for obedience this weekend at Croydon I've also started designing some hand-made soft dog toys as I haven't been able to find many things for a Papilon puppy who loves carrying things around in his mouth - most toys are far too big! I'd love to eventually learn enough about sewing to make him and his friends jackets and costumes and maybe some collars and leads.

I'd love to know what any former groomers are doing now and how they transfered their skills into another industry (I only finished year 10 at school so uni isn't an option unless I do one of those transfer course thingies). I really really want to start the Delta training course but I can't until next year (but have already saved up the neccesary funds!)

E x

edit: oh, and I forgot my proudest moment! LOL. I was grooming for a well-known Vic rescue group for a while with my old job and absolutely loved it, highlight of my career for sure. I really miss doing it

Edited May 6, 2011 by Panzer Attack!

[Leelaa17]

I'm doing a PhD in dog behaviour. I have a zoology degree. Technically all the time I spend with my dogs is work.

And what do you study when studying zoology? I have always wanted to ask someone that... does it mean you have knowledge in ALL animals? Or do you pick one to study? Or.... something? lol

Corvus got it quite spot on, we also got to study spider behaviour (yay.....feeding spiders with tweezers) and learning how to catch and wrangle kangaroos. My all time fav (insert sarcastic smilie) assignment was to do ethology maps for the dingos at the zoo for a day...in the rain. 9am sleep, 9:10am sleep.....3:40pm sleep. Oooohhh yay 3:50 pee

LOL I love it.

That would've been cool to see spider behaviour. For uni I had to photograph someone whose job was 'weird'... I chose to photograph a 'spider milker'... I went and got VERY up close and personal with funnel webs... (before this I should note I wasn't a huge fan of spiders.. they still give me the heebiejeebies sometimes... especially when they run over the hood of your car and disappear under the bonnet... but that story is for another time lol)...

Anyway... it really did give me a new appreciation of spiders... It was absolutely fascinating and I found them quite beautiful TBH. I then went and looked at the other much larger spiders they had with quirky colours and spiders the size of your entire hand... they were also beautiful... and there went my slight aracnophobia...

It really does show that if you face your fear, theres a chance you will get over it!

[silentchild]

I am just a pet owner. All my previous work / animal related experience are more pertaining to the equine industry rather than the dog one.

But currently I am studying part-time canine anatomy, behaviour and & a canine body worker certification course. It's hard to fit in study when I also work full-time in an office but I just need to keep myself motivated if I keep dreaming of an animal career in the future!

I also hope to get an agility dog in the near future so I could dabble in agility and obedience.

[persephone]

a long time ago?

leeLa- a looong time ago

[whiskedaway]

Because councils are notoriously unhelpful and it's a massive job visiting all of the ones I know about to get photos and check out their facilities. It will be a search engine when it's done and will allow people to search for a fenced park with a barbeque in a certain council. I've been working on it for a good six months now and it's nowhere near done! And I've only done dog parks in Adelaide so far, haven't even thought about interstate yet!

Sounds like a great resource Have you heard of Off Leash? Not sure if it's the same thing or just NSW.

No I hadn't heard of it. Looking at it, they're obviously going to try and do the other states as well but at the moment they only have NSW. But it's very similar to what I'm trying to do, however mine can be searched for by facilities not just area.

[spyda62]

Another crazy dog lady here!

Have 3 dogs of my own.

Currently fostering a deaf 6 month old pup

NDTF Qualified

Work full time as an animal Attendent for AWLQLD

[Leelaa17]

Oooh, thank you for posting this thread, OP! I'm looking at changing my career and it's so fascinating to read about all the different animal related jobs one can do!

At the moment I'm a groomer. I've been grooming for about 5 years, mostly self-taught. I'm not that great and my wrist is undergoing chiro treatment at the moment as it's a bit wrecked.

In the past I've worked at a kennel (hated it with a passion, the way the kennel was run made me really upset) and I've volunteered for a couple of shelters, doing walking and a little bit of lure training. I've also pet sat and I fostered a cat that ended up being a foster failure firstly for me, and then re-failed to one of my friends who lived with me for a while and took her along when she moved in with her partner!

I've recently purchased my first agility and show dog, and hope to sign up for obedience this weekend at Croydon I've also started designing some hand-made soft dog toys as I haven't been able to find many things for a Papilon puppy who loves carrying things around in his mouth - most toys are far too big! I'd love to eventually learn enough about sewing to make him and his friends jackets and costumes and maybe some collars and leads.

I'd love to know what any former groomers are doing now and how they transfered their skills into another industry (I only finished year 10 at school so uni isn't an option unless I do one of those transfer course thingies). I really really want to start the Delta training course but I can't until next year (but have already saved up the neccesary funds!)

E x

You are very welcome. It is quite fascinating for me too - as you can see I have replied to every single person on here asking them questions!

I'm sad to hear that your wrist is screwed (for lack of a better word!!) but maybe this is your chance to find another passion!

Have you thought of going to TAFE? (I'm not sure what others think, are there courses in TAFE that would be suitable to get into the dog industry or are a lot of the employers focused on uni students?)

Also, uni isn't THAT bad And if you find something that you REALLY want to do then go for it. You are still young and have plenty of time to find your passion. Think about what you want to do and no matter what you have to go through to get to the end I say do it.

I wanted to be a journalist and I had to start from the VERY BOTTOM to get to where I am now, and it was worth every second

Let me know what you're interests are!

[Marion 01]

Oh what a bad year!!! But I am sure they are all happily running around with each other wherever they are!!!!

I cannot believe you have 11 TT's at one time! That's extraordinary!! I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like! lol I try to do my best with two large, and very energetic, gsd... i just couldn't imagine! hahah

I had two dogs growing up, they were cav x chinese crested powder puffs... only one left, he's 16 and going quite strong, although he has dementia . The other passed last year at 15 years of age. ccpp are beautiful dogs though! I love them!

It's funny Leelaa17, but you don't notice how many dogs are there after a while, they all got on pretty well together, all the boys were desexed after

their show days were over, and we all lived happily. Head count was done when we shut the house before we went to bed, as they were so good

even if they were shut out they would never let you know. It took more getting used to only having the 8 than living with all 17. 3 of mine had dementia which can be managed well, but it eventually takes it's toll on them. Would do it all over again if I was younger.

[Leelaa17]

I am just a pet owner. All my previous work / animal related experience are more pertaining to the equine industry rather than the dog one.

But currently I am studying part-time canine anatomy, behaviour and & a canine body worker certification course. It's hard to fit in study when I also work full-time in an office but I just need to keep myself motivated if I keep dreaming of an animal career in the future!

I also hope to get an agility dog in the near future so I could dabble in agility and obedience.

Wow! Very cool! Good for you for putting so much time and effort in! Last year I worked permanent part time, i was a full-time uni stduent, and I did two days of work experience a week. I know what it feels like, but again, so worth it!

a long time ago?

leeLa- a looong time ago

hahaha! oh good. I didn't want to offend you if you were talking about another life - some people believe that sort of stuff which I think it pretty cool but I didn't know how to phrase the question! hahahahah

Another crazy dog lady here!

Have 3 dogs of my own.

Currently fostering a deaf 6 month old pup

NDTF Qualified

Work full time as an animal Attendent for AWLQLD

Oh beautiful! What kind of pup is it??

[Leelaa17]

Oh what a bad year!!! But I am sure they are all happily running around with each other wherever they are!!!!

I cannot believe you have 11 TT's at one time! That's extraordinary!! I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like! lol I try to do my best with two large, and very energetic, gsd... i just couldn't imagine! hahah

I had two dogs growing up, they were cav x chinese crested powder puffs... only one left, he's 16 and going quite strong, although he has dementia . The other passed last year at 15 years of age. ccpp are beautiful dogs though! I love them!

It's funny Leelaa17, but you don't notice how many dogs are there after a while, they all got on pretty well together, all the boys were desexed after

their show days were over, and we all lived happily. Head count was done when we shut the house before we went to bed, as they were so good

even if they were shut out they would never let you know. It took more getting used to only having the 8 than living with all 17. 3 of mine had dementia which can be managed well, but it eventually takes it's toll on them. Would do it all over again if I was younger.

That's amazing. See, I would love to have that many dogs but OH would murder me. lol Plus I really don't think I could handle them all - not until I was older! maybe we should swap ages and see how we go! hahaha