ABOUT MIKE
From a young age I have always wanted to work with animals. I was bought up on a farm in rural Oxfordshire. Mainly dairy and beef cows and arable farming. As a child my main task was to look after all our pets and to feed and walk the dogs.
As a small child I had many pets including chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, hamster - the list goes on.
I remember from a very young age all the dogs that we had - the first dog being my Border Collie Tyke. Tyke was a very loyal dog. At the age of three and half I had an accident that involved me being on fire… Tyke saved my life and got an RSPCA award for bravery.
After this accident I grew very fond of dogs and knew that I wanted to be a vet or work with animals when I grew older.
Over the years we had many other dogs… Golden Labrador, Pointer, Pekingese, Yorkshire Terrier cross Jack Russell. My current dog is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (the pictured above).
After school my career headed in a different direction and I became a florist and horticulturist. Despite developing a passion for plants I still knew I had an affinity for animals. When a close friend recently became ill and enthusiasticly agreed to help walk and care for her dog. This rekindled my passion for animals, especially dogs.
Television programmes like 'It's me or the dog', 'Dog Borstal' and the 'Dog Whisperer' helped develop my interest in dogs. I found I was paricularly interested in the psychology and behaviour of dogs. Two years ago I was given a seven week old puppy - Luna my Staffy.
I decided to take up a "canine studies" course with the Institute for animal care education. I am doing well and hope to qualify very soon.
I joined the RSPCA south east London branch as a volunteer, this has been very valuable to me… meeting new people and making friends, also the opportunity to learn how to do micro chipping. Now i'm now a qualified Micro chipper.
I spend a lot of time studying dogs, I look after friends dogs when they are away, I have re homed several Staffordshire bull terriers, Also helped out friends and people I have met with problems they have with there dogs behaviour.
I am still learning…every day I learn some thing new. I hope to build up a good and reliable dog Business. To teach people how to read dogs body language, and to understand the needs of there dog.
