»Vesele tačke« (meaning Happy paws) started to exsist as a dog behavioral councelling studio on the 1st of February 2007. But the idea was born years before, especially because of the allarming statistics about how many healthy young dogs end in shelters or get euthanised because of behavioral problems the owners can`t deal with any more. I wanted to channel my energies in helping them, firmly believing, that for at least some of them, something can be done.

My big passion for dogs was probably born with me. As far as I remember, when my parents wanted to take me along to a boring visit, they only had to mention, that the family had a dog and I was more than willing to go along. There is countless row of homeless dogs and cats that passed through our home, untill new owners were found. When I was finally old enough to have my own dog, we got an adult cocker spaniel named Dina, that remained homeless at the age of four, because her owners got a baby and didn`t want to have her anymore. Dina stayed with us only for a short time. Sadly she died in an accident, but she left a deep mark in our hearts and we decided, we would never ever be without a dog anymore. And then came Ledi, the miniature schnauzer, in my life and my heart….and stayed there for almost seventeen years. She was two months old when she came in my home and we learned together the basics of “good manners”. I probably did all the mistakes you can do in educating her.   In the years together then, we fixed them one by one. Ledi was a real partner, first we trained at home and in the backyard, afterwards in dog training classes and when I started with my veterinary studies, she too was accepted (and by that I mean that she was loved by all of the staff there, becoming almost a mascotte, attending the lectures sleeping under the desk, walking and sniffing around the library and the faculty hall) at the Veterinary faculty in Ljubljana.

During my studies I researched the borreliosis in horses, but I was looking for more and more opportunities to work with dogs. After graduation in June 2003 I started looking for a post graduate specialization program in behavioral problems in dogs. I was aiming at a program that would offer good basics for practical work and real solving of problems. First I looked for options in Slovenia, then anywhere from the USA, Britain, Italy and finally ended up in Spain. I applied for a one year program that consisted of theoretical lectures and then twice a month we had to solve 3 real cases – assess them, diagnose, write the work program in details and discuss the measurementes and therapy we were suggesting. The diagonse was and is of the utmost importance – acting without it, would be the same as if a doctor would give you some random pills without being sure what you actually have. However, the study in Spain was extremly demanding and actually based on the principle of a »schock study«. The answers to the cases were almost never in the lectures, lectures were only bascis for our toughts. We had to came up with our own ideas and solutions. But I owe it to this approach and to my professors that, that I now have the right basics, knowledge and the confidence to continue this work on my own.

My everyday life is now being enriched since march 2006 by a big dark brown eyed rhodesian ridgeback named Thandiwe ( Tana for friends). With her at my side I grasped the idea, how different the education of a large dog from  a small one is. There are a lot of things to watch out, that in a small breed are almost unimportant. Besides two cats, that go along with Tana very well, a new member came to live with us in January 2007. Sara, a 12 year old beagle is a former »experiment dog« that lived at our Veterinary faculty. When the finally banned the experiments on dogs, she was in search of a new home. Her last years at the faculty were not that bad as one might think: She was the only female in the group of beagles and especially because of her loving and affectionate nature, she won a lot of people and dogs over. But nevertheless, it was about time, that she goes out in the world and gets to know new places, since she is, despite her age, very curious and full of energy. And that is how she came to us…well, can you blame her? Who would refuse permanent holidays at the Mediterranian coast?

Besides the work and study at my office, individual work with dogs and their owners, I am constantly trying to broaden my horizons, attend courses, lectures, read literature, and collaborate with other experts in the field. I am now working on some new projects, that will hopefully soon be finished and will enrich the program that » Vesele tačke« have to offer.