Hope: How three dogs taught me the meaning of life

As nearly half a million followers keep their fingers crossed or pray for little Alba on X (formerly Twitter), Niall Harbison’s list of followers keeps growing on all platforms. On a mission to save 10,000 dogs a month, Niall has been on social media for a long time. However, the last four years have been life-changing for him and several neglected dogs in Thailand, inspiring thousands of people.

An emaciated, sick white dog found on a one-meter chain, little Alba is one of the many dogs Neil took in after they suffered severe neglect, abuse, or abandonment. We are talking about street dogs, throwaways, dogs no one wanted or cared about for a long time, dogs in poor shape, physically and mentally, that often gave up all hope to live. Just as Niall was four years ago when he made the life-changing decision to turn his life around. His story would make a great pick for bibliotherapy-inspired book clubs.

Niall’s story

Harbison’s book, Hope: How three dogs taught me the meaning of life is a profound story of a person in recovery, who turned his life around by helping the helpless, the less fortunate, and the vulnerable, in this case, the street dogs of Thailand. Niall found himself by helping rescue dogs, who in turn taught him important life lessons throughout the years – with hope being the most important one of all.

Spending his early years as a typical child growing up in Ireland and Western Europe, he started to experiment with alcohol and drugs early, followed by gambling. As a successful chef (a profession of his choice), he found himself in more danger with easy access to alcohol and drugs. Even though he realized the connection between his deteriorating mental health and substance abuse, in the 1990s, young men never talked about depression or anxiety. Neither did Niall, and he didn’t really know how to approach it for the win. Instead, he did what he thought was the best for him: self-medicating, indulging in more drinking, which, of course, deepened his anxiety and addiction.

On and off the wagon

Dream jobs, such as working as a chef on Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen’s mega yacht, brought crazy times with endless access to a well-stocked bar, blurring each day into a haze of blackouts and morning-after paranoia. Though Niall genuinely wanted to quit drinking, he fell into the classic trap of “just one drink” in the perpetual presence of alcohol.

Off the booze for a while and feeling in better shape both physically and mentally, he started to experiment with a digital camera just for fun. First, his videos covered topics such as how to cook the perfect steak. Editing and uploading them to YouTube in its early years of existence, he saw the opportunity to launch his business offering accessible and simple how-to videos, which is what TikTok is doing now. With a booming advertising gig, he quickly became the prototype of a successful young entrepreneur, still under 30. When his company was bought out for €2 million, he still had the hope to have meaningful relationships and have a normal life.

The first dog

Instead, he acquired his first dog Snoop, a rescue dog. In the book, he calls this decision the best that he had made in his life to that point. Snoop helped improve his mental health tremendously, and along with that, his life started to improve too. However, his alcohol and drug abuse had gone too far by that time, as he continued to self-medicate with more alcohol and drugs. While his media business was growing, so were his anxiety and binges. He would sober up for a time (as long as six months), alternated with periods of drinking. He took comfort in spending as much time with his rescue as possible, but sometimes taking care of the dog was all he was able to do all day. Snoop stayed with him loyally as dogs do to comfort him.

Rock bottom

He couldn’t stand the weather in Ireland or Manchester. One day, walking over some icy puddles, hating his life, the weather, and his business, he just wanted out of his life. He wanted to live somewhere hot with his dog, and that’s precisely what he did. He moved to Thailand. But the change didn’t happen until December 2020 when he finally hit rock bottom. His entire life was in shambles. But he realized the cause – putting alcohol and drugs ahead of everything. The usual sad start to all recovery stories. It took him over a year of slow recovery to break away from alcohol for good.

How it started

Dog — *Bandit, the neighborhood dog on my walking route in New Jersey, often craving attention more than food*

His project, Happy Doggo, started with feeding a couple of stray dogs that would follow Niall on his walks, wagging their tails eagerly and staring at him with bright eyes. He noticed that, although the dogs immediately gobbled down all the food, they were even more hungry for attention or affection. Some dogs craved it more than others, looking forward to strokes before eating (like Bandit, the junkyard dog I feed everyday). The first Thai dog Naill befriended was just like that. He called her Lucky because he felt they were lucky to meet each other. Bonding with this dog and admitting that he would not be able to feed and take in every single dog that needed attention, he knew he needed a bigger, better, and more practical solution.

The rest is history. He soon realized that a lot more must be done than just feeding street dogs. During “puppy season,” it became quite obvious that only neutering as many dogs as possible could stop the issue of overpopulation on the island. Adding that to his plan, he started to catch dogs, teaming up with vets in the country. But there were also the sick dogs, the ones tied up with a short chain, the ones that got hit by a car and left roadside to die, the ones with infection, and so on. It was the right decision for him to move to Thailand; being in recovery and taking more interest in dogs eventually let him find his purpose in life.

Check out Niall’s website, Happy Doggo
Read stories of individual dogs

Four years later

In his New Year’s post on X: “4 Years Sober—How Dogs Saved My Life,” he shared some amazing numbers of how many dogs he saved, fed, sterilized, and so on. However, the individual dogs keep him going, whether providing them with food, medication, safety, or the dignity of end-of-life care. Translating it into responsibility, i.e., he literally has to show up for his dogs, we understand how gaining purpose in one’s life can save the individual even if they hit rock bottom or relapse. In exchange, the dogs (or whoever constitutes your purpose) will give back to you, too.

Four years later, he admits that staying sober is still a work in progress. As he recalls how he felt while trying to find any glimpse of hope to find a way out, he thinks that in his current position, it is his duty to talk as openly as he can and share his journey for those looking for hope. This is what he does in the book and on social media.

It’s not always hunky-dory for Niall. He admits that for all the support he receives, he still has bad days, struggling with anxiety and depression. Helping these helpless dogs is what motivates him to continue understanding the parallels between their lives and human lives: abuse, neglect, poor health, accidents, hopelessness, and more. By now, he is confident that no matter what life throws at him, he can get through. This is what he tries to instill in his followers.

You can get through. You are resilient, you just have to be reminded of it.

The power of helping others

A powerful story of mutual salvation, Harbison’s book reminds us that sometimes the healing occurs when we reach beyond ourselves to help others, even if those others happen to have four legs. Addiction narratives have an incredible power for those in recovery. In a world often focused on negativity, if only we could see more stories like Niall Harbison’s on social media.