Living on an island like Hawaii. Its pretty fabulous!

This time last year, I was working on the movie Godzilla on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.  I spent the whole summer on the island and had a magnificent time.  In the past I had visited and worked in Hawaii many times, each time the wheels would turn in my head and I would ask my self how I could manage to live here.  It never occurred to me that I could do my regular job here (training animals for movies and television) even though Hawaii does get its fair share of films.

Here I am, on the set of Godzilla.

The pigs were in a very small part, but unfortunately cut out of the movie.

Some work acquaintances (now, very good friends) who worked on Godzilla suggested I move here and start my own company. At first I kind of just chuckled to myself and walked away at that suggestion – but it kept nagging at me.  I gave it a lot of thought and decided that I needed a bit of a change in my life, so I did it!  A year later here I am living in Oahu.

I was very lucky to get another movie to work on right when I moved here, so that was a huge bonus.  I continue to go back and forth to Los Angeles, I am still very involved with my pet line here at The City Farm.  And I still love doing all their photography for the website.  So its a win/win for me.  I love it here, I feel like its my home and my dog was just shipped out so it feels especially like home now.

My local beach is a 7 minute walk and the best part is you are allowed to take dogs on the beach!  I cannot tell you how amazing that is! Its just wonderful.  I go nearly every morning and walk Jesse (I am taking care of him while his parents are out of town) and my dog Dennis Hopper.  I feel very fortunate.

Jesse and Dennis Hopper on the beach in Oahu

 Not only am I still doing studio training here in Hawaii, I am also branching out to offer some local pet services, like dog sitting and also helping people get their pets here to the islands from the mainland.  I will be writing a post about that shortly – it seems like a very daunting process, but with planning your dog never has to set foot in quarantine in order to live on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific!!