just wondering...... - Page 1

Ive been noticing lots of new names on here....still no one from south-east louisiana? near washington / st.tammany parish?

I'm fairly new and from the Southeast Just more Southeast than Louisiana. I'm from Panama City, FL in the NW Panhandle area. Basically I'm halfway between Tallahassee and Pensacola FL on the coast. I guess I'll go ahead and fully intro myself even if it's a little long. I'm 48 yo, female, married, no kids and have 2 German Shepherds. A 9 1/2 yo white German Shepherd Rescued dog and a 4 yo B&T Female from German Showlines. I got involved with GSD's because of my White boy. He was an out of control 1 yo brat that I had no idea of how to deal with. I started researching the internet for solutions and found the AOL GSD board. Thanks to those folks, I got a real education in the breed and was able to make a real turn around for my boy. Since that time, I've become involved in a wide range of dog activities (obedience, Rally Obedience, Rescue, Pet Therapy, Agility, Conformation) and I've been fortune to meet some really special dog people. That board was also responsible for my involvement in GSD rescue. I became involved with my local AKC licensed All-Breed Club about 8 years ago and took over as their club President 5 years ago. I'm not sure what they thought they were doing when they asked an obedience person to step up and run a club that had a primary interest in Conformation but it's worked well and I'm happy to say we've increased the club's size substantially and expanded their interests in ways no one ever expected (including a national award for community achievements). I do teach Basic Obedience and the Canine Good Citizen (I'm an evaluator)classes for the club and with the help of a couple of other ladies, I serve as the training director (that doesn't mean I know a lot about training just that I'm willing to find good trainers to teach our classes). When I joined this club, I was the only GSD owner. We now have several more GSD owners as well as quite a few other herding dog owners (Shelties, Collies, Aussies, Kelpies, Briard, Corgis, etc.). Most of our training classes have 2 to 3 GSD's in them and even better they are generally either rescues or from responsible breeders with titled dogs. I did own a border collie for 3 years. Unfortunately, she had serious genetic based aggression issues (dog to dog and dog to human). While trying to solve her behaviorally issues, I had the opportunity to learn a great deal about aggression and dog behavior. It was a trial by fire learning situation but it's paid off in the long run and I would not have missed owning my BC for the world. I do want to add more GSD's to my family in the future but I've got to convince my non-dog person dh that it's a good idea! Melissa

ilmygsd : Start yourself a club in your area for GSD and drum up some owners and get them interested.......just for fun.....who knows....where it can lead...like above poster.....all roads lead somewhere??????