14/07/2024
🐾 About Us 🐾
I feel like for clients to feel comfortable with people staying in their homes and looking after members of their own family, they ought to know their sitters on a bit more of a personal level!
So firstly, Hi! I'm Luci! I'm 20 years old, and I'm the person who decided to start up Heads and Tails Pet Services. I have loved animals since I was very little, and knew from that point that I always wanted to work with them. I was home educated from year 10 onwards, due to severe bullying and lack of support from the education system, but that hasn't stopped me! I went on to pass my maths and achieve a grade 7 in my English language exam, which I had learned the content for entirely on my own!
I then went on to study my Animal Care level 2 Diploma, which I passed with a Merit. I then continued on to study my Animal Management Level 3 Diploma (a two year course), and passed with Distinction! I put a lot into my education, despite my previous struggles, and I achieved great things because I refused to be defined by my past and the issues it had caused for me.
What a lot of people don't realise about me, is I'm actually also a disabled individual! I have suffered with chronic joint pain for the past 9 or so years, as well as POTS (a autonomic nervous system disorder that causes fainting when standing stationary, among other symptoms), a still-undiagnosed abdominal pain issue, and PTSD caused by the issues I went through in school. However, these conditions are all well-managed 90% of the time now with medication, mobility aids and my assistance dog Astrid (who I will be introducing next)! I couldn't find a job within the animal field that was able to fully accommodate my needs, so I decided to create my own! I am still very much able to work with animals like I have always wanted to, even though it doesn't look quite the same as how I had imagined it when I was younger!
Onto introducing Astrid! She is an almost 4 year old Golden Retriever, who I have had since she was 8 weeks old, and has been entirely owner trained as an assistance dog! I did receive online support with her training while she was younger, but everything she knows has been taught and shaped by me. She is trained in Medical Alert and Response tasks, as well as Psychiatric Alert and Response tasks. She supports me in a lot of ways, a few examples being: She can alert to on-coming fainting episodes so that I can get on the ground to avoid injury, she can also then raise my legs to help me recover more quickly from these episodes, she can alert and respond to panic/PTSD episodes, she provides deep pressure therapy to help with pain and panic episodes, and can even interrupt harmful behaviours such as skin picking!
She has genuinely changed my life for the better, and I owe the fact that I even attended college all to her! She has helped me pick myself up and get on with life, even when it hasn't gone quite the way I had planned, and is a big part of the reason I am who I am today. She is my lifeline. She comes everywhere with me (with a few exceptions that I have made based on my own judgements), so is naturally very well desensitised to practically everything. She is what most people would call a "bomb-proof dog". She doesn't bat an eyelid to fireworks, construction, other dogs barking and lunging at her, people trying to distract her when working, other animals bigger or smaller than herself (she especially adores cats), odd surfaces, and the list just goes on. There really isn't much that phases this dog at all, and even when things do catch her off guard, she recovers so quickly and gets right back to being her confident self!
She typically isn't very interested in other dogs unless she is off-duty, and sometimes it takes her a minute to let her hair down so to speak, but she is very good at getting along with virtually everyone once she's had a bit of time to get to know them! It may come off as her being shy, but she will actually just be observing your dog and learning their temperaments and play-styles! She's a calming presence for other dogs, especially anxious ones, and a good teacher for the more boisterous and unruly ones too! She's a very good communicator, so will always tell a dog when they have overstepped, but then show them how to handle the situation appropriately!
Finally, there is my partner, Adam! He is a very integral part of Heads and Tails Pet Services, and I definitely wouldn't have started the business if it wasn't for him! He helps me in so many ways, and sort of acts like my PA when it comes to the business. He keeps me organised and helps me out if I do end up having health flare ups by taking care of any house related work, so that I can focus my attention on providing the highest quality of animal care for the animals I am responsible for! He prefers to work behind the scenes, so it's unlikely you will ever see more than his legs in a picture or video!
He usually isn't massively hands-on with the animals' care, but does offer endless affection and playtime to any of the animals we look after. Any care he does provide is always under my instruction, as he is only qualified up to Animal Care level 2 (although living around me, he might as well be at the same level as me, with my tendency to ramble!).
He usually does his best to attend meets with me so that the client gets to meet him as well, but isn't always available as he does attend college on some weekdays and works another job part time over the weekends!
There you have it! An introduction to all two and half members of Heads and Tails Pet Services. If you ever have any further questions about any of us, please don't hesitate to reach out!
