They say never to work with children or animals, but for Nikki Gammans, trapping and training volunteer for Strays of Abu Dhabi, her extended family – and her livelihood – is about all creatures great and small.
If first impressions are anything to go by, then it’s easy to tell that Nikki is passionate about animals. The tanned, outdoorsy American was raised around the likes of dogs, cats, racoons, horses, cows and more on her family’s farm back home; by 14 she was working for a Great Dane breeder before she worked at, and later ran, a kennel for eight years.
So it comes as no surprise that today she finds herself helping run Strays of Abu Dhabi, a non-profit organisation launched in April 2006 dedicated to rescuing and re-homing stray dogs. She has always had “a place in her heart for dogs”, so when she’s not rounding up the capital’s dogs, she’s also busy working with The Pleasurable Pooch – her etiquette and behavioural business for canines.
As Nikki herself says, “there’s no typical day when working with animals”: Abu Dhabi Week caught up with the friendly animal lover to find out what volunteering for SAD can entail.
6am: “I’m up and out with my two dogs to grab some exercise and take them for a walk. When I first moved to the UAE in 2007, following my husband for his job after living in Korea, we lived in Fujairah for a short while and that’s when I came across my dog Fia. She was a stray and we couldn’t find her a home; I felt so sorry for her that we took her in. I adopted my second dog, Safiyah, from SAD earlier this year. I wouldn’t be without either of them. They’re great company – even my two cats love them!”
8.30am: Ready for a long day, Nikki spends most of her morning looking after and meeting with clients as well as teaching classes for her company, The Pleasurable Pooch.
“My job is to help people communicate better with their dog, as well as teach them how to train their animal. It’s really interesting sometimes to see the way people interact with animals. It’s all about reading signs – it’s one of the reasons I think I prefer animals to people actually; animals are easy to read; if they don’t like you, they’ll make it clear. They’re much more honest!” she laughs.
12pm: Nikki tries to fit in time to catch up on emails and grab a quick snack. During this time she’ll phone back volunteers who may have questions or need help with dogs currently in SAD’s care. She also answers and returns calls for non-emergency and emergency situations. Over the years, the demand for SAD has grown considerably, so there’s always someone for Nikki to see or a dog to rescue.
“In 2007 alone we re-homed 20 dogs; this year we’ve re-homed 80, thanks to our homing coordinator Sue Stuart, so we’re always busy,” she says.
“We make sure that we train the dogs to a level where they’re ready to go to a family,” explains Nikki – and this is what she spends most of her afternoon doing.
“I focus on behaviour in animals; this is really important as a lot of families adopt dogs from SAD.”
“I see how dogs react to being handled, loud noises, and other dogs as well as cats. The dogs we take in are usually genuinely lovely, kind natured dogs, so training is easy with a little know-how. Training dogs is really like training children,” she says.
“If a dog pulls on the leash, your natural reaction is to pull back. If you stand still when they pull at the leash however, they’ll soon realise that they won’t get anywhere; dogs are fast learners.”
Nikki’s average day also involves making trips out to areas such as Khalifa A and B – which she describes as the “Wild West” for accounts of wild goats and ducks chasing people, and Mussafah where she regularly heads to the kennels to check on all the dogs under SAD’s care. Any dogs caught by SAD are taken to the American Veterinary Clinic where Nikki will also look over any stray dogs being brought in.
“Dogs brought in are only in for the 48-hour holding period – after that we have to step in where possible otherwise the dogs will be put to sleep.”
10pm: Nikki’s day is over and she is more than ready to rest. “It can be mentally and physically exhausting sometimes; we can deal with some very sad scenarios and it can be very hard not to get emotionally involved,” she admits.
“Luckily there is generally a very good community in Abu Dhabi and people are willing to help which is great – SAD needs all the help we can get.”
Final thoughts: “It’s been a hectic year for SAD,” she explains. Summer is a particularly difficult time for the organisation, and this year has been no exception. On average we take in 12 dogs over a month but this summer we took in 20; that’s five dogs a week. So I’m ready for a rest now!”
Charlie Kennedy
Make a SAD dog – and the team – happy
Strays of Abu Dhabi is a non-profit organisation – and they’re always grateful for any help and support. If you would be like to get involved with SAD by adopting a dog, fostering, donating toys, collars, leads or even money, SAD would love to hear from you. Contact 050 130 7392 or visit their website at www.straysofabudhabi.com
The Pleasurable Pooch
Got a misbehaving mongrel? With private lessons, group classes and consultations, Nikki offers advice and teaching tips to help transform your dog into a perfectly well behaved dog with The Pleasurable Pooch. Information: 050 811 8335 | www.ppooch.com
