Thai immigrant entered the field of animal grooming because of visiting a night market in Taiwan

In cooperation with the National Education Radio, a series of exciting stories about new immigrants in Taiwan is launched. This episode invites Yang Rong Rong (楊蓉蓉), who grew up in Northern Thailand, to share her story of becoming an animal grooming instructor in Taiwan with the host Chen Ya Yu (陳亞鈺) and Chen Yu Shui (陳玉水).

Yang was serving in the hair & beauty industry at first. There was a time she happened to see many pet styling shops in a Taiwan night market, and therefore entered this field by accident. “I was thinking it would be nice if I can apply my hairdressing skills to do pet styling.”

【Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network】presents this episode in 5 languages including Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian, enabling more readers to explore immigrants’ life in Taiwan.

There was a time she happened to see many pet styling shops in a Taiwan night market, and therefore entered this field by accident. (Photo / Provided by the National Education Radio)

“Don't be tricked by the dachshund's short legs, he runs very fast and you can't catch it at all.” Yang Rong Rong is engaged on pet grooming and has seen many types of dogs. “Poodles, Maltese, Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu, Pug, Golden Retriever, Alaskan Malamute, and Dachshund.”

While Yang was enumerating different types of dogs like a pet master, the hosts could not help but utter a wow. They felt even more surprised when Yang described their personalities. “Each breed of dog has a different personality, for Chihuahua, he is sly, and I don’t know when he would suddenly bite me or go crazy.”

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Yang, who has been residing in Taiwan for many years, decided to enroll in a pet grooming course after seeing pet styling shops in a night market in Taiwan. After obtaining the national certificate, she not only worked as a pet stylist but also assisted students in getting national and association certificates, as well as setting up a business.

When it comes to pet grooming, it is inevitable that one would be bitten by pets, it is especially true for newbies. “Dogs have emotions too, so we must get to know their personality via owners first,” Yang said. “We must ask under what situations would pets’ mood swing so that we can minimize the risk of injury.”

 The host Chen Ya Yu (1^st from left) and Chen Yu Shui (1^st from right). (Photo / Provided by the National Education Radio)

The hosts were curious about the course duration. Yang frankly said, “It depends on each student’s ability as some could master it within two months, but others just couldn’t get it.” Besides, what matters the most is practice makes perfect.

The host also wanted to know more about if she would bring the smell of the pets back to her home. Yang replied that if the environment is clean and well-ventilated, there would be no such problem as we wear aprons or work suits.  

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“The pet market is getting bigger,” Yang said. “It’s important to be more loving and patient and treat your pets like your family members.” She appealed to the public to never abandon pets and have holistic preparations before deciding to keep a pet.

 Yang hopes to bring grooming techniques back to her hometown in the future. (Photo / Provided by the National Education Radio)

“I am planning to teach students in Thailand too.” Yang hopes to bring grooming techniques back to her hometown in the future. Moreover, she misses Thailand so much and mentioned, “The first thing to do once I go back home is definitely eating a lot of food such as Thai papaya salad and Thai seafood soup.”