Today we’d like to introduce you to Dorothy and Michael Turcotte.
Dorothy and Michael, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Today I lost my best friend and angel, of almost 14 years, happy dog. I am absolutely devastated that I will not be able to see her again. I would like to share our story…. please don’t judge me, for the person I use to be or the person I am now. I suffered from an awful 20+ year addiction that I was able to hide for a large part of this time. I was able to hold a job and was good at my job. Then my addiction got so bad, I was not able to function in society any more. The last few months of my addiction, before hitting rock bottom, I was spending 20-30k per month. This is when my angel Happy, came into my life. I had tried counseling, rehab and nothing helped. So I made a promise to Happy and my wife that I would never hurt her or make her cry again. So I threw away my cell phone, broke ties with all the people I thought were my friends, and made sure I had no credit cards, cash or even keys to a vehicle, then locked myself at home for over 2 years with my girl happy dog. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Especially when I also decided to quit a 4 pack a day cigarette habit, as I thought they were combined. I went thru severe depression and suicidal thoughts but happy helped me make it thru each day. The first few months were the worst and was not able to sleep. So happy and I would take many walks at 2 or 3 in the morning. My daytime was spent reading books, listening to audible books and taking online courses on anything dog training related, while training with happy. Happy turned into the most amazing upland and waterfowl dog I have ever known. She got me back into hunting again, after not having an interest since I was younger, prior to my addiction. Her and I had the most amazing bond and knew what the other one was thinking in the field. She showed me what I was capable of accomplishing. Before you know it I was being asked by other hunters in the field to help them with their dogs. After my other business failed my wife and I decided to pursue our dream. I am absolutely happy and content with my life now and the work I do. They always say “when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life”! I cannot believe what The Happy Retriever has become and it is all due to Happy. I put my all into this business from the way our facilities look, the items carried in our retail shop and the training program structure. I am blessed that almost 500 new dogs will come thru our programs this year, we have tripled our size and increased our amazing staff. I have reached every goal I have set. Then there is Dixi. Dixi came home to us almost 5 years ago and happy did an amazing job helping us raise a well-rounded pup. There is nothing better than training a green pup with an experienced older dog. Dixi is going to take me on my next goal. I started imprinting her with odors when she came home at 8 weeks and she is an amazing drug detection dog. My goal is to rescue and train 2 drug detection dogs a year to be donated to local police departments. The drug epidemic is this country is out of control and pretty sad when towns cannot afford a dog. We have dogs sitting in shelters, that with the right training can do this job and I have the equipment. I have not broken my promise to my wife or happy, relapsed or had a cigarette to this day. I have never told this story and was always afraid to. If there is anyone out there going thru an addiction and need to talk, please know I am here to listen. Thank you happy dog for helping me thru the good and the bad, along with your unconditional love.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No it has not been a smooth road. The biggest struggle is hiring and staffing. We are now at a place where we have an amazing team and look forward to adding more staff to our family.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Happy Retriever – what should we know?
We are a dog training facility that specializes in creating a custom training package that is suited for each individual client. There is no cookie cutter method for training and each dog has their own needs and learning abilities.
I am most proud of our amazing team!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1564 Washington Street
Holliston,MA 01746
Moving August 1, 2018 to a larger facility
200 Summer Street
Holliston, MA 01746 - Website: www.thehappyretriever.com
- Phone: 7742330640
- Email: training@thehappyretriever.com
- Facebook: The Happy Retriever
- Twitter: @AHappyRetriever
- Yelp: The Happy Retriever
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Diana
June 10, 2018 at 12:36 am
Thank you for sharing your story Michael. I’ve been following your FB post and have see the absolutely amazing things you have done with some dogs that I’m sure their owners were feeling hopeless with their fur child. You turned it all around with your remarkable training and now their dog and the owners have great pride in your accomplishments. Puppy classes look amazing. I can’t get over the attention in the pups eyes to the trainer. They get a special bond as they learn to have confidence and structure to become a great family pet. I’m am humbled at your thought of training drug dector dogs. Congratulations on all your accomplishments.