My Story

I was born and raised in Kenya, East Africa. My family and I moved to England when I was 14 and a year later we packed up to move to Florida, USA, where my home has been since.

As a child, I was very drawn to animals. All creatures.  As I grew older, my love for birds, dogs and elephants became my focus. I can recall many a day sitting up on our rooftop with my favorite book, the “Field Guide to Birds of East Africa,” watching the migratory birds fly over while I quickly searched through the pages to mark the ones I saw that particular season.

My favorite family vacations were the safaris we took; this is really where my love, respect and appreciation for animals stems from.  During these outings I took wildlife observation etiquette very seriously… to this day it has allowed me the opportunity to some of the most profound experiences in documenting the relationship between humans and street dogs around the world.

My childhood dream was to help prevent the extinction of elephants.  Moving away from Kenya was one of the most difficult segments of my life in more ways than one, but especially in realizing that I would not get the opportunity in the US to do that work. I managed to adapt to a new reality, and have spent days, months and years drawing from the precious experiences I was so lucky to have, to build a future that’s just a little different than my childhood dream.

I feel very strongly about wild animals that have the need for space and need to roam being restricted to captivity.  In my presentation “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” I talk in depth about the evolution of an animal raised in the wild, the challenges of being brought into captivity, and the animals future ability to reproduce offspring that can live out tomorrow.”  I discuss how dogs have evolved (or not) and I share stories from my travels to many developing countries where animals still roam freely.

Through my research and fieldwork, the animals I have encountered have taught me a lot about what I know, teach and apply as a dog trainer today.  I have followed only two species (Homo Sapiens and Canines) through many forms of existence documenting their relationships as collaborative and cooperative in an attempt to better understand the abnormal non-collaborative and non-cooperative forms of existence.

I find dogs to be very fascinating.  Their need for co-dependency has allowed them to be one of the only creatures that possess the ability, desire and values (intrinsic and extrinsic) to endure the pressure mankind imposes to coexist and cohabitate.

There is so much we can learn from the natural environments that animals choose to live in, and the conditions they seek to make them the strongest in survival.  I look forward to the opportunity to share with others the lessons I have taken with me to be able to create Doglando, an enrichment campus for restricted canine companions; a place where dogs can be dogs and live a fruitful and purposeful lifestyle.