Let me introduce myself, My name is Rachel Heelan and I am the owner of "Rachel's Pooch Parlour". I have always been very passion about animals, dogs in particular.
From Donegal Town originally,I went to California for 4 years where I got to explore my love of dogs by becoming a professional dog walker.
Dogs are my passion and working with them fulfills my souls purpose. To do this for a living is a dream come true. I have always been passionate for animals and my father is a vet, so I guess it's in the genes.
While living in California, I adopted my little boy Tucker, a Cairn Terrier/chihuahua mix who is the love of my life. The process for taking him home from the US wasn't easy but he worth every cent and vet visit :-)
When I was working as a professional dog walker, Tucker would accompany me on my walks every day. He travelled in a baby pack for dogs while I drove my aero 50 Honda scooter.
Initially he was confused by his mod of transport but once he got used to it, he would hop in the pack when he saw me grab my helmet. :-)
I managed to get him back to Ireland with me so he will be the greeter at "Rachel's Pooch Parlour". I can ensure you will receive the highest standard of care for your dog at Rachel's Pooch Parlour.
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During my time in California, I completed a 12 week training course at the Marin Humane Society called the "Canine Behaviour Academy". This gave me a massive insight into dog behaviour and dog body language. This helped me to foresee a problem before it happened and gave me more confidence in the job that I was doing.
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I completed an 8 month internship for dog grooming in Ireland where not only did I learn the art of dog grooming but also learned about health and safety and handling nervous or anxious dogs. I also learned how to run a daycare where I was looking after up to 25 dogs at one time.This was invaluable experience for me.
Canine First Responder
While training to be a dog groomer, my mentor felt it would be important for me to do a safety course as this is extremely important. I performed the 'Canine First Responder' course in Pawsitively dog training in Stillorgan Co Dublin.
All this experience has prepared me for incidences where life just happens and have had situations where I've had to use it since and I am very grateful I received that information.
Tucker had an untimely passing when someone knocked him down on 02/05/2017 just feet away from me. It was absolutely traumatizing and the way I looked at the world after that completely changed. I no longer allow or keep negative energy in my life.
After losing Tucker, it was the most awful time in my life. The silence was absolutely deafening in the house and I was living alone at that time. The loneliness was indescribable. About 11 weeks later, I saw a picture come up on my Facebook feed, there appeared a dog that looked the image of Tucker. I must have stared at the photo in shock for about 5 minutes. He was so similiar to Tucker. My friends mom had picked up a dog she saw running near the motorway. We believed he was dumped. What people do to animals really does disgust me. Once I commented on the photo, the replies came in fast. I was encouraged to meet him and although it was only 11 weeks since Tucker passed, I felt like this guy deserved a chance. After all I was still grieving so both of us were suffering. I do believe we helped eachother heal. He was in a bad way when we first met and so was I.
I named him Bubba and hes been in my life since July 2017. I do like to think Tucker came back to me as they look and act so similarly.
Ive been working in Dublin for nearly 3 years and although its been great, Its time to expand and put down some roots and expand into the retail market as well as grooming .
The area of Roundwood is absolutely stunning and brings the peace and positivity that Rachels pooch parlour carries with it.
