about_me

I became interested in the training of animals from a very early age. My family rescued a 1 year old female boxer

named

"lady" from a man that mistreated and abused her. Some of the mistreatment was being beaten and

thrown into the

basement for barking and messing in the house, she was aggressive to all strangers and all

other animals to the point

that when someone knocked on the door she would run and throw herself at the door

to get at the person ( many a

paper boy would not deliver to us). She had

bad

separation anxiety, anxiety to go to

the vets office and sensitivity to

thunder storms .

2 events that happened to shape my training career most

when I was the age of 6 my younger cousin and his

family

came to visit. He was walking passed "lady" carrying a cookie in his hand, she leaped at him and she

snapped

at his

face

, leaving a gash with her K-9 fang in the fold of his eye lid. She showed no warning signs

that

she was about to

explode.

As a child this is not something one so young should witness!

I was horrified and

terrified.

A few years later and many incidents of aggressively attacking the door when anyone approached to knock the

major incident was during sign up for A.K.C. Dog training classes, The fire chief of the town was standing in

front of

my Mom and "Lady" with his Dalmatian

( both dogs were on leash)

Lady jumped and attacked his

dog tearing off

it's ear. Again

Lady

was calm

not barking

not pulling just standing on the leash quietly and out of

no where she

attacked. I do not know why but Mom was still able to partake in classes and Lady graduated,

although they offered us

no advice in changing the behaviors of aggression or anxiety she displayed,

In the mean time taking what I had learned by watching class I would go into the lawn and started my hand

learning to train dogs by teaching her tricks such as crawling on her belly, sit up and beg and hold a treat on

her

nose

until I told her it was O.K to eat it I was young, about 10 years old by then, and at that time I also had

joined

the local

4-H club. I wanted to compete in obedience dog training but unfortunately lady by this time would never and could

never

be trusted So my parents bought me my first show rabbit. I asked questions and learned from anyone what

I could

about breeding for show and competition.

From rabbits I moved onto learning to train horses. As a young adult and out on my own, I took my first real job

working

in a pet store. This was a good addition to my experience as I was able to teach the larger parrots we

had for sale

during slow times at the store as well as hand tame and train baby ferrets and other small animals.

My life took a few different turns Unable to have horses included into my life style I w

nt back to

owning

dogs.

Shamrock

was my first boxer puppy living out on my own. My first "experiment" if you will. I made a

lot of mistakes

training

shamrock ( a big one was letting him chase geese) but he was a great dog to continue learning to train

with after lady

passed away. It was with shamrock that I first traveled to Germany with to visit my sister and her

husband

they were

members at a local

German

dog club that allowed me to partake in training classes for 8

weeks while I was visiting with

them

, I liked what I saw and what I was learning

my interest for working dog sports

was born

and started to grow

and

brought the obedience training knowledge

and experience

back with me

after

"my vacation"

and started to offer my

training services to people adopting puppies from the local animal shelter.

I also found a local dog training club to join

while living in New York

. Shortly after that I married and moved to

Texas for 3 years. While there I started work as a

basic dog obedience instructor

giving both group and private

instruction

and took a 6 month apprenticeship to learn

dog grooming.

The next scheduled move was to Germany, I worked a short time on the Military golf course and started to build a

small

grooming

business

in my spare time, as my grooming practice grew, I was contracted by the U.S.O to

operate basic

obedience dog training classes for privately owned pets and military families in the area we lived

in. My classes grew

and I expanded to advanced courses and

built an agility course for my students to practice

and learn on.

In 3 years it was time to move on once more. We moved to another area of Germany 2 hours away and at this

time I

decided to concentrate on my dog handling and training skills for

obedience and Schutzhund

competition

tests

as now I

had more of a proper dog to continue with. I was invited at this time

also

for 2 years in a row to

operate a dog training

advice

booth and to give demonstrations on dog obedience, teaching

an introduction to

dog

agility

course

and

offering

pre

temperament tests

hosted by an

AAFES ( Army air force exchange services)