Penny, McMuffin And Tina - Why I Make Happy Doggo Videos

If you are reading this I’m sure you’ve watched at least one of the videos I make which feature dogs. Hopefully it put a big smile on your face and left you feeling like a positive difference was being made in the world.

I wanted to explain the massive importance of these videos…

Taking Old Dogs To The Beach

This week we did the “Old Dogs Beach Day Out”. It featured the OAP dogs who have been battling serious health issues lately and has close to a million views across different sites.

• McMuffin - Cancer survivor and had to have an eye removed this week

• Derek - Very old abandoned dog who was close to death on arrival

• Lady - Senior girl with 2 broken hips who was dying on the streets

• Snoop - My own rescue who has numerous tumours and a fused spine

It was about as joyous a day out as you can imagine. You could see the dogs enjoying every single second as they swam, sunbathed and ate treats.

But what is the point of this? Wouldn’t I be better spending the couple of hours it took doing something else like taking dogs to the vet or feeding even more out on the streets? Good question…

The Videos Help Me Do The “Boring” Stuff For The Dogs

These are some of the things that I do in a typical month…

• Funding the sterilising of over 100 dogs

• Feeding 20,000 meals for street dogs

• Pay for between 20-40 vet visits for sick dogs

• Purchasing preventative medicines for street dogs

• Paying for travel to re-home 7-10 dogs in Thailand

Although these things are super important and change lives for the better they aren’t always super interesting. I’ve tried making videos about sterilising or vet visits but most people are not interested after they’ve seen it once.

I understand that because I would be the exact same personally watching content on social media. I’d have very limited interest in opening Instagram and seeing dogs getting medical procedures or being abused. Most people simply unfollow or mute that sort of content. People know there is suffering but “out of sight, out of mind” is the attitude on social media.

But Don’t Dog Suffering Videos Get Donations?

Yes. You’ll probably notice that most content around the world from all types of animal charities can be quite gruesome or sad. This is the same with human tragedies. People are much more likely to donate if they see suffering. The need is more immediate and urgent.

I wanted to try something completely different and not share gruesome content. Instead of showing content like Sterilisations (Tina below) or horrific injuries (McMuffin below is already operated on and healing) I wanted to share happy content. I wanted to create content that was so happy and upbeat that people would actually want to share it with others. To tell their friends about the plight of the street dogs and maybe even get excited about changing it too.

Penny Is The Perfect Example

Penny is a tiny little dog that came into my possession recently. The simple facts of her story are horrific…

• Kept locked up in a tiny box under a house

• Tortured by a human

• Broken leg so bad it needed large scale surgery

I have videos on my phone of her before the rescue that would leave you sick to your stomach. I couldn’t sleep the night I saw them. I don’t want people to see all that though and instead focus on the positives…

• She is safe and alive

• She was able to go on a huge journey to a wonderful foundation called Soi Dog who worked on saving her leg.

• She is so cute that I’ve had over 100 people message me about giving her a forever home

It costs a lot of money, time and effort to change Penny’s life. I’d say about 20 people have been involved. I try to keep the content around her positive and uplifting and focus on her turnaround and the people helping to change her life. Subtly I can educate around where she came from and the need to change that but people don’t want to see a video of her getting tortured. Ultimately like many of the dogs she is a story of hope and the innate goodness in the people who helped change her life.

The Subtle Benefits Of Feeling Good

When I started the videos I remember looking at social media and it was so depressing. Every post was about war in Ukraine, people arguing about politics, the cost of living crisis or Covid (2022). I suffer from depression and anxiety and I found that social media was just making it worse for me. I thought “Maybe there is room in there for something super positive about dogs”. Thats what I am trying to create.

It is also worth remembering some huge added bonuses about the videos…

1. They make the dogs feel good

2. They make people watching feel good

3. They make people around the world aware of street dogs

4. They make myself and others feel good in person doing something practical on the ground as our days can be pretty tough at times.

I’d imagine Jumbo forgot about his painful legs when we took him to 7-11 this week and Lady couldn’t believe her luck after such a horrific recent past on the streets.

There are probably faster ways to save more dogs. Probably more efficient ways to use my time. I think about that all the time. I’m just trying to fix the problem of dog suffering globally and come at it from a whole new angle. Maybe I’m right and maybe I’m wrong but there is no perfect simple solution to this.

I want to share the individual dog stories as every life maters. I want to highlight amazing organisations like Soi Dog and individuals like Sybille who need as much coverage as possible. I want people to look at their phones around the world and think “that makes me feel so happy and wholesome and real change is possible”. I want people who are down and suffering themselves to think “maybe there is some hope for me”.

McMuffin, Penny and Tina are just a couple of dogs we all know and love but they will also help thousands of future dogs indirectly. They are the little dogs who will help the other voiceless ones.

Have a lovely weekend everybody wherever you are

Big Love

Niall

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