'It's a Dog's Life' was an end of year project during Derek's first year in The Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology and proved to be a turning point in his photography work and lead the way towards a more documentary style of work. Derek wanted to show the day to day running of a busy Dublin dog pound where abandoned and unwanted dogs were brought from all over Dublin. If the dogs were not claimed or a new home was not found for them after five days the animals were put down.