After college, I moved to the western cape where I made a career in the media world and was blessed in 1995 with the SPCA award. This was for a 3 part tv series I produced with re-enactments of various heart rendering stores that had been submitted for the SPCA Bravery Awards. Then, around the time of my mid life crisesI, I was given a border collie puppy as a gift. This puppy turned out to be a really difficult case study and led me down a fascinating and winding road of studying animal behaviour and training. While on this journey, I was to adopt a terrified rescue dog, named Tiger. This was his story.
Tiger was rescued at 6 months of age. He was su ering of mange, secondary infection and a severely de cient immune system. 8 Months of medication eventually did the trick.
It took Tiger another 2 years before he was able to trust mankind again. To further build his confidence, we started doing agility & jumping when he was 5.
After a year of training, we started competing and Tiger, bless his heart, became the comedy act for 2 years. Although great in training, at shows he would baulk, pause, consider and reconsider the obstacles while I cajoled, taunted, crawled and rolled around desperately trying to egg him on. At one point my trainer advised that I should give up on him, yet we persevered.
Then one glorious morning, Tiger saw the light.
I was running very late that morning, and in the flurry of activity, I collected our competition numbers, and only just got Tiger to the start line in time. Still panting, I collected what little wits I still had, readying myself for the mental battle ahead, as the whistle sounded that we should start.
Before I realised, Tiger was 2 jumps ahead of me and running fast. I battled to catch up and only just managed to redirect him over the correct obstacle, before he was up and over and off again. It felt like the course went by in a flash, as indeed it did. I fell over the finish line, exhausted. I would have to get fit! Tiger took 1st place that day, the first of many to follow.
He went on to become a champion in dog jumping and agility. At age 11, Tiger was selected to represent his country and compete in the world championships in Belgium. We came home with a Silver medal in 2008.
I’m crying as I write this, because this little dog, with oodles of character, had a really big heart and a Never-Say-Die attitude. He had so much to overcome…..and overcome we did. With love.
My bussiness
After my studies, I opened Hot Dogs Animal Actors, offering private behavior sessions, group puppy sessions, private training and training various animals for the film industry. I am a Licensed animal wrangler which means I can work animals on film sets. I was fortunate to get an opportunity to do a regular weekly doggie slot on a TV breakfast show, covering tricks, training tips, and insights. I still do slots for them from time to time.
Two Dog rescue organizations use my services when rehoming particularly tricky dogs, where I try to educate and help the new owners with insights, and positive and pertinent training methods to help build a solid bond and overcome passed trauma.
My mission
Is to promote animal welfare by helping animal owners gain insights and empowering them with training techniques that result in a happy and well behaved pet. This mission extends to supporting the rehabilitation process of rescued animals non their new homes.
I look forward to new challenges...
