We ARE the pet people....

Having been without a dog for a couple of years, after the wonderful Liam, the not very good ex guide dog golden retriever, passed away, Ewan felt it was time to have a bit more dog in his life.  Ewan and his lovely wife April adore having a happy hound to stay with them and the dogs adore it in return.  As as writers and directors, it fits in with their lives beautifully. Any dog staying there will have a fabulous time.  

She acts, she writes and she LOVES animals. Lynn hails from Scotland and after coming down to London for University she now has the best of both worlds, creating her own theatre pieces and spending time with animals, including her own dog Jack-Jack, who adores having dogs to stay. He's chuffed to bits to have new playmates. As are Lynn and her partner Aaron. 

Vienna has been looking after pets professionally for nearly 7 years. After working in secondary schools she fancied a change in who she spent all day with! A true animal lover and believer in good vibes for uneasy animals, joining Happy Hounds was a no-brainer. She is also a singer/songwriter and loves coming home to write after a day of laughs with her animal friends.

Retail was Christine’s thing for many years, but her lifelong (she’s owned dogs her whole life and when she was younger worked in a stables) love of animals eventually got the better of her, and she decided to put her brief spell as an assistant in a veterinary clinic to good use by taking on some dog boarding and dog walking. Having dipped her toe in the water and finding she loved it, she joined the Happy Hounds & Cooler Cats team to add Doggy Daycare to her repertoire and her own pooch loves having new buddies over each day, so everyone’s happy!

Nicola LOVES running doggy daycare from her home and the dogs love it too! She’s been with us providing boarding and walking services since early 2019 but she already had so much experience dealing with animals, having been a pet owner for most of her life and also regularly boarding family & friends’ dogs. She topped up her experience by volunteering as an assistant at a kennels, where she fed & watered, exercised and groomed the dogs, so is a very confident handler – or as we like to call her firm but fair! All the pooches have a great time playing and hanging out and boarding and snoozing. It really is a fantastic home from home.

• How long have you been working with the HH team?
  Since April 2019. And it's been the best time!
• What services do you provide within HH?
  Dog walking, dog boarding, bathing dogs and generally loving dogs
• Tell us an interesting fact about yourself?
  I travelled and lived all over the world for 5 years
• What is your favourite animal?
  Dogs!
• What is your favourite dog breed and why?
  English springer spaniel - their energy, love, loyalty and enthusiasm is incredible
• What are the 3x best things about working with HH?
  We are a team of loving and quirky humans who all share a passion for animals
  I spend my days with dogs who are actually the very best of friends
  You get to play and spend time with lots of dogs with different personalities who all LOVE spending time with you
• What is the funniest thing that's happened to you whilst working with HH and animals?
  A very big heavy Labrador on my walk jumped into the lake and it wasn’t long until he realised he couldn’t get out. I then fell in while trying to help him out, my entire pack of dogs then all jumped into the lake, all trying to help. I then had to lift 6 dogs out of the lake and be rescued by my wonderful HH team. Brilliant memory
• What is the worst job you have ever had/done?
  Picking and sorting through avocados in Australia. Huntsman spiders love avocados too!
• If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
  I would be a whale shark. Ginormous, curious, gentle creatures who swim leisurely and eat all day.
  When I swam with a whale shark I felt such a strong connection
• If you could have any super power, what would it be?
  To fly like a bird
• What 3x things are you most thankful for?
  Family and friends
  Good health
  Making an income from a job I love doing
• What do you do outside of your HH job role?
  I’m a Massage therapist but spend a majority of my spare time up-cycling furniture and painting
• Do you have any of your own pets? (names & species)
  Quincey aka Choccy. He is a rescue Sprocker (Springer & Cocker spaniel)
  He has brought nothing but happiness and love to me and my family
• If our pets/animals in our care could speak to us, would this be a good or bad thing?
  Yass it would be amazing!
• What is your best guess at how many dog breeds there are in the world?
  360? (close: there are over 300 dog breeds)

Happy Hounds has been a fixture in my life for almost six years. I was inspired to become a part of the team because of my very own hound who enjoys engaging with the local hounds and houndettes on his walks. In fact he's become a bit of a local celeb, his bark is well-known around the neighbourhood!

So as a dog enthusiast with lots of compassion, there's nothing better than spending time with them and they love the routine I create for them which includes lovely walks, play and lots of cuddles whether they're here for boarding or doggy daycare.

Kim grew up surrounded by cats, dogs, ducks, horses, chickens, rabbits and lots of pet rodents – no wonder her childhood hero was Steve Irwin!  She’s worked in hospitality, sales and retail, so providing quality customer service is high on her list of skills. After moving to London into a shared ‘no pets allowed’ house, she really missed having animals in her life but luckily found us when she searched for a dog walking job. Before joining HH&CC she was putting her acting skills (she is a drama school graduate) to work in schools, teaching 14-17 year olds about driving safety through drama, so she’s clearly never heard the old adage “never work with children or animals”. 

After ten years running fundraising campaigns for charities, Victoria decided to travel the World for a year. Having befriended stray dogs and cats in every place she visited, she returned to London and has been working as a pet carer and voiceover artist ever since. However, she’s also ferociously efficient, so we’ve dragged her into the office to put those skills to good use. She still does house sitting and some cat visits too, and your pets and your home could not be in safer hands.

Maeve is the youngest member of our team, at 18 years old but don't be fooled by her youth! She has had animals all her life, from guinea pigs to chickens to snakes, although she currently has 3 cats and 2 dogs and her experience shows with all the happy hounds & cooler cats. Your pets are in excellent hands with her. 

Neil - Tommo to his friends - is bloomin’ fantastic with animals. A long time dog owner himself, always a rescue from Battersea, he’s a big fan of site hounds. So give him a whippet or a lurcher or something pointy and quick and he’s in heaven! Neil looks after our dog's who need a little more care and attention, on Solo walks and Puppy Sits- he's attentive and has the patience of a saint! He’s also a professional photographer, with bands and gigs his speciality.  We do have a lovely creative bunch.

Richard joined the team after taking early retirement (but he looks so young!) from a long career in banking client services.  He was looking for a complete change of direction away from the office, but was keen to retain a client focused role.  As a lifelong animal lover he feels that he has found the perfect answer: thoroughly enjoying his new career out in the fresh air looking after our lovely furry clients every day!

Nicola is another we won't let go. She's been travelling for the last year after working with us for two, and we're delighted we've managed to lure her back to Happy Hounds.  After graduation she moved to London and was ecstatic to find a job working with animals.  Growing up with dogs her whole life, she understands the love and importance of dogs as part of the family. Quickly becoming a key member of the team, she studied dog training as well as managing daycare and it's great to have her back with the us so she can develop along with us.

Since joining the amazing Happy Hounds team, things have changed - being a freelancer script supervisor in television and combining a love of music, I’m now also able to indulge another passion - a massive love of animals. Yes ... Life has changed, my shopping habits are now unrecognisable as I search the net for scented biodegradable poo bags and scan the aisles for special deals on favoured dog treats, I also find myself rescuing snails from exuberant puppies, and now have a full appreciation of the diverse world of the dog harness. But the best change of all is spending time with all the wonderful dogs and cats residing in the area, who luckily for me, have chosen Happy Hounds to look after them.

Who wouldn't want to spend their day covered in dribble!? Working with Happy Hounds has been the best decision I've ever made. I finally traded in sitting in an office for getting lost in the forest! I love the freedom and flexibility and my dogs are amazing (when they behave) I cant resist a big pooch, although I'm sure my bruises would say otherwise...

Joe came to us after many years in an office-based role and was ready for a change of scenery – he’s been around dogs all his life and so the appeal of working with them and spending time outdoors was just what he wanted.  He hasn’t looked back – absolutely loves walking groups and solos alike and often has so much fun that he often returns as muddy as the dogs.  He also has a background in physical theatre and is uncannily good at doing impressions of the dogs.

Reinaldo originally hails from Venezuala where he dog groomed for several years. He upped his British dog grooming training by getting further qualifcations at Groomarts and is a great new addition to the happyhounds.co.uk team. Providing beautiful cuts and care for a lovely range of clients: from puppies first groom, to giant Newfoundlands, they've all had a lovely unstressful time and come home looking (and smelling!) FABULOUS.

Brhea studied animal welfare at school and loved her work experience as a Veterinary Nurse Assistant. After this she knew she wanted to work with animals, so after a stint in a restaurant in Epping, she spent a year as an Animal Care Assistant in a pet shop, before joining the HH&CC’s team in March 2019.