Philippe, 48, has been part of our animal care team since February 2024, after almost 2 years as a volunteer in our Brussels shelter.

His passion is dogs. A passion so strong that he decided to resign from a comfortable job in real estate to devote himself full-time to them.

Alongside his work as a groomer, Philippe is also a canine behaviorist: “Dog to me”, that’s him.

Its aim? To improve the relationship between humans and their dogs, to teach them to understand each other better, to help them evolve together, to listen to each other and take into account each other’s emotions and needs – in short, to turn them into true partners.

“I quit my job to devote 100% of my time to the dogs and contribute in my own small way to their well-being. It was a difficult decision financially, but working here gives meaning and coherence to what I do. And that, in the end, is the most important thing for me.

Every day at the shelter, Phil looks after Kapili, Zoé, Léo, Zira, Oz, Kenji, Dax, Patton, Zarko and all the other dogs he’s used to looking after at home. He concentrates especially on the big dogs, who have more needs overall, both in terms of physical and mental expenditure. Like all dogs, they need a benevolent approach, but you also have to be more cautious with them, and take into account their past experiences, as well as their sometimes boundless energy.

As this field job demands, a large part of the day is devoted to cleaning the kennels and eating, but it is above all the time spent with the animals that is most precious to our carers.

Whenever he can, Phil devotes quality time to them, in our parks or even on walks. These privileged moments are used to improve the dogs’ well-being through games, exercises (especially sniffing), brushing sessions and, of course, lots of cuddles.

To be able to make a living from his passion, Phil has taken several training courses. “I first trained as a Canine Behaviorist Educator in 2020, for a year and a half. I then continued with other training courses, notably in canine behavior coaching with Joël Dehasse as well as several Clicker Training courses with Centre Animalin in France, for education, prevention of behavioral problems and behavioral rehabilitation.”

Phil, a true enthusiast, is also a volunteer with Humanima, an association that takes in animals in distress via foster families before offering them for adoption. His role at Humanima is to carry out a behavioral assessment of each dog, so that it can be placed in the most suitable foster home, and to better define the needs that its forever family will have to meet.

And because he always wants to go further, Phil has just completed a training course at the AAK9 dog training center to become a “leisure detection dog trainer” himself, and is starting a “search & detection dog handler” specialization there, with the aim of being able to train and operationalize his own dog in bedbug detection.

“All these activities have a purpose, which is to help people and contribute to the well-being of dogs. It’s all a constant learning process and forms a whole: working in a shelter, loving nature, loving animals and people. I want to learn more and more about dog behavior, so that I can be of the best possible help to dog owners who are experiencing problems with their training and are looking for solutions.”

With “Dog to Me”, Phil offers assessment and support through in-home behavioral sessions, always with a caring approach to the animal, but also taking into account the needs and lifestyle of their owners. “I go to people’s homes to see their environment and assess what can be done to address the problem. Every situation is different, so I offer personalized support. Some cases can be resolved in a single session, or may require further support that we adjust together.”

The little extra? Phil is trilingual in French, Dutch and English, and travels to Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders!

If you’re looking for a behaviorist who takes into account both your dog’s well-being and your own, contact him at infodogtome@gmail.com.

More info? Click on https://dogtome.be/

The Veeweyde team