Hello everyone!
This is my first English blog about my “Japan support”🗾
This month, I am taking care of four high school students from New Zealand.🥝
They are learning a lot about Japanese culture and visiting many places.
It has been a very busy and exciting two weeks.
Today, I took one student to a special field trip.
We visited a school called a “Senmon Gakko (専門学校)” in Japanese.
It is a kind of polytechnic school or college, and this one is specialized in animal care 🐕🐾
The school we visited is Japan Animal 21.(専門学校 日本動物21)
Actually, I am a part-time instructor at this school.
Although this school is famous for animal care,
I teach hotel skills and hospitality to students in the hotel and hospitality course.
The school has more than 10 dogs that live there.
They take very good care of the dogs from puppy age until around 6 years old.
Some of the dogs come from pet shops or breeders.
These dogs were not sold because they were weak or sick.
The school accepts them and raises them with love.
The goal is to take good care of the dog until we confirm it is healthy, and teach students about life and responsibility.
When the dogs become around 6 years old, they “graduate.”
At that time, there are two options.
One is that a student or teacher adopts the dog as a family member forever.
The other is that the dog returns to the original place.
However, in most cases, the dogs are adopted and live happily with their new families.
During our visit, we watched several classes:
animal nursing, grooming, and dog training.
In the nursing class, we learned how to take blood from a very small arm and how to do medical care for tiny bodies.
there were many animal-shaped stuffed dolls.
They look cute, but they are not for cuddling.
These are used for training.
Students learn which positions are the most comfortable and safe for dogs and cats.
This helps them understand how animals feel during medical care.
I found one interested special stuffy-dolls for practice.
Water is inside the dolls to show how to take blood.
Students can practice safely before working with real animals.
All the lessons are taught by real veterinarians.
The school is almost like a vet clinic, so sometimes neighbors bring their dogs for emergencies.
This gives students real-life experience.
There were some medical words I could not explain in English, like Neuter (去勢手術).
So I told my student, “It is an operation so the dog is no longer a boy.”
I hope she understood 🤞✨
Next, we moved to the grooming room.
There were so many cute dogs!
New first-year students were practicing shampooing and trimming the dogs.
I wondered where these dogs came from.
The director explained that nearby breeders send dogs for free trimming so new students can practice.
For senior students, neighbors’ dogs and teachers’ dogs can get full grooming for free.
In Tokyo, grooming one dog usually costs about ¥6,000–¥12,000, depending on the size.
That is more expensive than my dad’s haircut 🤫
I explained to my student,
“Imagine you are a dog breeder. How much money do you need every month?”
She was very surprised.
This system is a win-win for the school, the breeders, and of course, the dogs 🐶💕
Lastly, we visited the agility room.
Two residential dogs were waiting for us 🐕🦺🦮
My student tried giving commands like “suwatte (sit)” in Japanese.
She also walked the dog and petted it.
It was such a sweet and heartwarming moment 🥹
Through this field trip, we could see how Japanese polytechnic schools work in real life.
We also learned how important it is to care for small and precious lives.
This time, I shared a small part of studying in Japan.
Please feel free to contact me anytime if you are interested or have questions 😊
