Growing up Tamika was always that kid you could find around animals and it helped when you grow up around dogs, cows, horses and wildlife. You could say that Tamika loved animals before she could even comprehend what love was. She would tackle someone right before they were about to squash a spider or a cockroach and then quickly scoop it up and put it outside in the garden. Tamika didn’t have a choice of being born human and neither did that animal for being born into that species but she believed she did have a choice of how she could treat animals and influence others. Tamika made it her mission in life to help them, so that is just what she did and continues to do.

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When Tamika finished school she studied marketing, advertising and business. She was always the creative type so she thought that this direction would give her the inner satisfaction she was looking for. Once she finished studying she was offered a creative content job at an advertising agency but very quickly realised that it wasn’t all that it cracked up to be. The ridiculously long hours and glued to a desk, mentally exhausting work only left her feeling guilty each day for leaving her dogs at the time, Hope and Shep, and lorikeet, Honey, alone for long periods and then being too exhausted to do anything with them. 

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It is funny how life works though. Tamika can honestly say that she believe things happen for a reason, and for her, it was when she became very sick with a rare bladder disease. She spent a lot of time in hospital and then when she was at home feeling lousy, her animals were there to get her through it - they knew what they needed to do at just the right moment to make her day bearable and even enjoyable. When stuck at hospital each week for treatment you have a lot of time stuck in your head with your own thoughts. For Tamika, she was constantly asking herself “what am I really doing with my life?”. Yes she liked what she was doing and she was good at it, working in the advertising world, but she didn’t love it… she loves animals, particularly dogs. Being unwell really made Tamika appreciate the gift of life and not take any of it for granted. It really opened her eyes and see things for their true importance. For Tamika she always wanted to work with animals but never thought it would be a viable option (the cost of living in Sydney) but this was her chance and she wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity life was handing her. Her passion is dogs, so why couldn’t she turn my passion into her everyday "job". So she went back to study and became a qualified dog behaviourist. She is also currently undertaking studies to become one of the very small handful of Certified Nose Work Instructors in Australia.

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Tamika's animals gave her love, patience, acceptance, loyalty, respect, and so many more things when she needed it the most so now she feels it is her time to show her gratitude by helping dogs be better understood for the intelligent and sentient creatures they are and by helping people understand their dogs. It is not just about us teaching our dogs. Tamika is here to help educate you and show you how to open your eyes and hearts and let our dogs be our greatest teacher. Nothing makes her happier then watching a person and their dog’s relationship flourish and bloom into a positive and fulfilling friendship. So that is the story of how Goin’ Muttz was born and our mission moving forward.