Street Dogs

On this episode of "Canine Connections," Teena talks about taking her team to Guatemala to expose them to street dogs. Teena Patel is a renowned canine enrichment expert who offers training and consulting to dog daycare operators across the globe.

When I started many, many years ago, before Doglando, taking trips was my way of staying connected to something I had lost by moving from Kenya to here. It helped me stay connected to a developing country, to poverty, to freedom, to wild, wilderness, nature, space — everything that I felt was hugely revoked from me in this move. And so in the beginning years of us transitioning to our new home here, three times a year, I would go and document street dogs. At the time, it wasn’t even a thought of a possible career for me. It was, again, just a way for me to stay connected to something that was so grounding for me and I felt like I was losing a grip on so fast. On one hand, it fueled me. On another hand, it grounded me. On another, it kept me real and kept me connected to something that I thought I was being taken away from. Little did I know that it was actually none of that; it was really paving the future for what was going to be my career. But in that moment in time, it was serving me differently to how it serves me now.

So fast forward to the Doglando years. When I started Doglando, I had already been documenting street dogs, village dogs, and free-roaming dogs for possibly seven years or so. Now that this was my profession, my work, my interest, my way of impact as a human on this Earth, I felt that nothing I was doing by means of inquiring information, education, learning, accreditation, certifications — all of that was providing me the insights I was gaining via these trips that I was continuing to have. And I thought, what a lack of our comprehensive understanding of what a dog is and what their needs are. The place from which we form all insights for our endeavor comes from our very little understanding of this being. I think that I am very aware that I have to be in this position. It was absolutely not going to happen without me continuing to do this work. For me, it was an obligation to go on these trips. 

Teena Patel is the founder of the canine enrichment campus, University of Doglando, for restricted canine companions. The University of Doglando is a place where dogs can be dogs and live a fruitful and purposeful lifestyle. To learn more about Teena Patel and the University of Doglando, please contact us online or call us at (407) 574-3160.