My life's going to the dogs...

On April Fool's day this year, I received a letter notifying me that I was likely to be made redundant.  Unfortunately, this wasn't an ill-conceived April Fool's joke and 13 days later I was officially out of work.

Now, you may think that's enough of a reason to describe my life as "going to the dogs" but you'd be wrong. On the day I received my letter (great timing - not - as it was before the Easter bank holiday weekend), and once I'd recovered from the shock, I hit Twitter.

"Redundancy for all" by Brian CK/Digital Leica on Flickr

I didn't really want to tweet all my woes (honest), but I remembered seeing a tweet about a job at the Kennel Club and wanted to find out more...

...The application deadline was the following day, and after speaking to my husband, parents and the Kennel Club, I decided to apply. The post was for 3 months, covering sabbatical leave, and was based in London - hence the conversation with hubby, who'd be on hound duty whilst I was away, and my parents, whose house and creature comforts I'd be taking advantage of if I was lucky enough to get the job.

To spare you the to-ings and fro-ings, I did get the job and once I'd finalised my termination date from my old employer, I started on 16 April.  However, whilst I was in doggy heaven I did need to find work for when my time was up and I returned home.

I live in a lovely part of the UK -  rural Lincolnshire really is very beautiful - but it is a part of the UK that isn't exactly flush with Senior Marketing Communications jobs.

"Yellow is the New Green" by Lincolnian (Brian) on Flickr

I need a job that allows me to work flexibly so I can start my University studies in Canine Behaviour and Training this September. I also need a job that will help pay for my University studies and help keep me, hubby and the hounds in the manner to which we'd like to become accustomed!

So, I've done several things...Firstly, I've set up my own Marketing Communications business - SJM Marketing - essentially, 'rent a Marketing Director'. The SJM element happens to be my initials, but in a happy coincidence is also the initials of the hounds - Stevie, Jasper and Mina.

The aim of the business is to provide marketing and PR advice and support to small companies which may not be able to afford a permanent, full time Marketing Manager/Director. Hopefully, I'll be able to work with companies within the pet care sector and I'm already in discussion with one such company.

Running SJM Marketing also means I can work from home with the hounds taking over regular 'office guarding' duties and keeping me company. I'm working on the website, but if you're reading this and would like to email me about marketing/PR, you can contact me on: susan@sjmmarketing dot co dot uk

Stevie taking his 'office guarding' duties very seriously!

Secondly, I've just been accepted to be trained as a tutor for National Puppy School, which is very exciting. I'm a firm believer in the importance of socializing puppies and can't wait to start the training, which begins in September.

I'm hoping that the Puppy School and University studies will complement each other.

I should be able to start running Puppy School classes in 2011 and complete the foundation part of my degree by 2013. I'll then need to study a further 2 years to obtain a full Bachelor of Science degree in Canine Behaviour and Training.

So there you have it -  whichever way you look at it -  my career is definitely going to the dogs, but thankfully for all the right reasons.

Dr Ian Dunbar and a hot Saturday

Yesterday I was extremely fortunate to attend a seminar on 'bomb-proof off leash control' led by Dr Ian Dunbar.

I was really excited to be attending and Ian certainly didn't disappoint. His lecture and insights really do show the power of positive training (and by the way... he did mention that he has also helped a certain Mr César Millan with the training of his new dog - Junior).  I especially loved his "DogCon" (think DefCon style instructions) for dogs and was intrigued by the use of a neutral tone when asking a dog to 'sit,' 'stay,' 'down' and 'come.' I certainly can't wait to try out the techniques on my three hounds when I get back to Lincolnshire.

The only thing that did disappoint me on the day was the small number of attendees, many of whom were professional dog trainers and/or behaviourists, who insisted on bringing their dogs and then leaving them in their cars.

Words pretty much fail me at this point. Yesterday was extremely hot, probably in the late 20's/early 30's ° C, yet the lecture was interrupted due to one dog being found wandering in the car park (the dog belonged to a delegate). This poor dog was obviously distressed and in need of cooling down and water.


 (pictured: Stevie & Mina)

When the seminar ended and I was leaving the car park, I saw another car with towels draped all over its windows & the boot open (no -owner in sight) with a dog in a crate in the back. 

How many warnings and times do we need to be told about dogs dying in hot cars? There's never any excuse to leave an animal unattended in a hot car.