How did you get started in dogs? - Page 2

Since I was very little (as far back as I can remember) I've always had an obsession and love for dogs, especially the German Shepherd, Collie and  Border Collie- I honestly think I was born that way :)  . Our neighbors had dogs and I would go over to see them all the time- couldn't get enough of being around dogs. I walked the neighbors' dogs for free, just because I loved it.

My parents were NOT animal people and I was not allowed to have a dog until I got straight A's, saved the money to buy it  and could care for the 100% myself, so I didn't get my first German Shepherd puppy until I was 10 years. Sadly, the pup wasn't properly taken care of by the breeder and died two days later from worm infestation at the vet's office. They gave me a second pup and we took it right to the vet and it died the next day- infestation with worms. I was absolutely devastated. I didn't get my money back, so I started saving again. The next year one of our neighbors, who had a lovely female German Shepherd named Schatzie, was moving overseas and they offered Schatzie to me. I was so in love with this dog and it was a dream come true for me.  What a wonderful dog and best friend she was. I trained her to do all kinds of stuff- she was brilliant.  I've loved and had GSDs ever since.

This is a great thread.

Like everyone else, had dogs growing up. Parents raised Austrailian Shepherds. Then mom divorced dad and we moved away. Had one small dog after that. My love really was horses but since i couldnt afford to keep a horse, I got back into dogs when I dropped out of vet school.

Had Aussies for several years. Got into other breeds when I was working for a show groomer. Took home my first shepherd in 1989 as a lease to own. She didnt work out.

I then got married in 91 and my ex wanted to have shepherds. Had them ever since. My love is split between shepherds and mastiffs. There is nothing better to hug than a 150 lb mastiff. Now thats a hug. A Neo can most times outthink most humans and although they are harder to train than shepherds once you have succeeded in getting them to do what YOU want MOST of the time, that is a true accomplishment!

I was saying the other day that I cant imagine my life without having a dog in it. What a lonely place it would be!

i tortured my fathers retired Pohranicni Straze Male... we liked each other a lot. I learned how to walk holding on to him. I was yelling "zadrz" in my sleep and i tried to practice some commands on our barn cat. I guess I started early!

grandmother bred pomeranians when my mother was a kid and my grandfather had pits.  both were still breeding these breeds when my mom was grown and had me and my sister.  Parents had a wolf hybrid, a choc rednose (someone ran her down,  went thru our mail box ect to hit her) and an old collie when I was born.
We moved to my current location when I was 4,  while moving stuff between houses someone tried to break in and steal our electronics,  we were without a dog at the time and my parents bought our first chow chow from a breeder up the road from us,  I was 4.5 yrs old at the time and he died right before my 18th birthday,  so I was pretty much raised by chows, lol.  cousin bred/imported rotts, so have had a few of them over the years until I was old enough to convince my parents to buy a gsd ( they always thought they were a distrustful, snakey breed).  I did research on the breed from the time I was 10, bought my first home at 16,  and never looked back,  I'll be hitting the big 3 0 in the next few months, lol.  was always sick in and out of school, so I spent my days inside reading old breed books, and finding any old pedigree I could.

still have my health issue's, so not much has been done in the way of titles or shows,  and most people would say I don't deserve to have these dogs since I can't title at the moment.  but there have been times when the dogs were all that kept me going and gave me the will to keep dealing with my pain and to get up out of bed in the mornings.

 

double post

probably shouldn't call my grandfather's dogs pitts,  they were actually old style plantation type bulldogs.  he always had BIG pigs and cows around and the dogs kept them in line.

my first dog was a pomeranian, gift from my grandmother.  meanest little snot you would ever see!  he was 5 lbs, might as well of been 100lbs.

Like most everyone else, I always had at least 1 dog at home growing up, usually 2-3. My mom was a softy and would let me keep whatever followed me home. I just loved animals in general and kept frogs, tadpolls, turtles, mice, rats, rabbits, various birds and whatever else mom would let me keep around.

I had a great dog from age 4-16. I tried to teach her a little of everything. I knew from her on, I always wanted a working or hunting breed of dog. A dog with a purpose. A neighbor had GSD's and a litter, we ended up with a pup. She turned out to be a mix, she had hound dog ears but she was a smart very easy dog to live with. My daughter grew up with this dog and I have had GSD's and a couple GSD mixes since.  

Great thread! We always had cats when I was a kid, but eventually my parents got a dog, a wired hair fox terrier, which almost turned me off dogs for life! Stupid dog! The only thing it was good at was running, & yapping! We called it Booby Bobby. As I recall, his life was short. As I grew, I had horses, learned dressage & jumping, & got another dog. My mom let Daisy, a sweet Irish setter mix out the morning before my 16th birthday, & she was hit by a car. I spent my birthday with her at the vets, as she slowly faded. She died later that night, after dis-emboweling our Hoover vacuum, her sudden violent insanity caused by a cerebral hemmorhage, I'm sure.
So when I moved out on my own, I had to give up my horse, which broke my heart, so I got Ziggy, another Irish Setter/Husky mix, a beautiful red dog with the typical husky eyeliner, but in red,  & 1 blue eye, hence the name, Ziggy Stardust...he was a really good dog. He was a quick learner, & accompanied me every where I went, my companion, my protector, my buddy. I could tell him to stay by my car in a bad neighborhood, & leave my car unlocked, no problem. No one messed with Ziggy, or my stuff. He lived a good life, but died after defending my van from one of my boyfriends other girlfriends...I think at the hands of my boyfriend. I had him arrested, but they never actually brought charges against him, the rat.
Fast forward to being married, having kids, coming home from nursing school one day to find our house had been burgled. I started to look for a dog, a big dog. I found a breeder in Frenchtown, NJ, who bred both German & Belgian Shepherds who had an oops litter of a German /Belgian cross, & I paid what I thought was an extraordinary amount of money, $50.00, for the last female in the litter. She was our Grendyll, & she was the best dog! She would herd my kids around, pull my little toddler son away from the woodstove or off the stairs by his diaper...allow my daughter to dress her up, & they would both fall asleep on her, & she would sigh happily & just lay there until they woke up. She was my kids guardian angel. I loved her so much....
So, fast forward again, when Carl was alone in the house after I accepted this 3-11:30 shift, one the girls at work was expecting a litter from her GSDs, I put in a reservation for another female pup. That was Kali, another super great dog. Now we have 4! And, between my job, & my health problems, I haven't done any titling or showing, either, but I still hope to! I plan on finding a club, & starting Schutzhund again...I've had a couple of dissappointments, hip issues, etc., but we're still hanging in there, & I couldn't imagine life with out our dogs! jackie harris

Here is the bully kutta:

My first dog was a crossbreed, a self wiled male that looked like a Disney character and lived til he was 18,  Like all the dogs in the docking town where I grew up, he came and went as he pleased, mostly went as he was an entire male and there were bitches aplenty in the early 1950's, he probably sired 90% of the pups born in the area, a career that came to an abrupt end when he got cought chasing sheep and had to be confined.  To keep him amused in his resented confinement, I taught him numerous tricks and that was the start of my interest in dog training.   I later discovered the miracle of dog training classes (there really were whole clubs full of people that shared my interest!)  and by the time I was 11, I was competing in Competition obedience.   The Obedience scene was dominated by GSD in the mid 1960's, it was just before the Collie Revolution and I longed for a GSD to train, but my father was afraid of them so no chance, I had to stick to my crossbreeds.

In the late 1960's, I got a weekend job at a security dog kennel and got into training the GSDs there, did a little handling at Breed shows in the days when handling a GSD in the ring was conducted in a controlled and demur fashion and eventually married and got my own GSD bitch, a Joll v Bemholt grandaughter.  I wanted a puppy to train so I bred her to a Working Trials qualified son of Ilk v d Eschbacher Klippen and kept a male, Siegfried, who I worked in Obedience and did a couple of Working Trials, he was at my side through thick and thin, my rock and my friend.  He was so precious, I wanted him to live forever and so he does, in several of the dogs I have today and when I look at his wise eyes looking out of their faces some 10 generations later, I know he will live forever in Nyrvana.

Margaret N-J