How did you get started in dogs? - Page 1

I know everyone here does different kinds of things with their dogs, and I'm just curious how you all got started. 

I always wanted a GSD, from when I was little.  We adopted a male GSD from animal control in 2004 - he was picked up as a stray, but was a magnificent dog.  We then adopted our girl Georgia from her breeder as a rehome in 2007, and I ended up training with a schutzhund club.  The rest, as they say, is history.  After tons of work and retraining, we are actually going to try for a BH and AD this year.  There's no going back now - I love this breed, I love working with my dog, and I can see myself working with a dog until the day I keel over.

I'm interested to hear everyone's stories.


Opal

My parents were dog people, so we always had dogs.  All of the purebred dogs I grew up with were hunting dogs as my fater was an avid hunter.  Beagles, an Irish Setter, a Weimaraner and German Shorthair Pointers.  We also always had a mutt for a house dog.  We had a couple of neighbors that had GSDs but they weren't the best examples.  One was a LC, he killed my next door neighbor's beloved, sweet Chihuahua, so he went away.  Another neighbor from Hungary had a WL male who was never trained properly.  He got loose quite a bit and once got hit by a car and ended up with no tail. 

Anyway, I still loved the breed and got my first one when my youngest was a year old and we bought a house with a yard big enough for a GSD.  I was working at a kennel and got involved in training with another girl there.  We started a training group and met weekly in the county park.  She was very intelligent, eager to please, wonderful dog.  When she was 9 months old, she had bad diarrhea and I kept her outside so she wouldn't have an accident in the house.  My husband took her out to exercise her and threw a toy up on the hill across the street from our house (I always seemed to lose dogs when he was playing with them.  Maybe I should have dumped him years ago).  A neighbor, who was a notorious speed demon, came flying down the street.  My husband called to Clementine to stay but the hill was steep and as she tried to stop, rolled into the street and was killed instantly .   Here I am 30 years later...

I grew up with dogs and horses - always an animal lover!  I had grew up with English mastiffs, Pembroke Welsh Corgis, and mutts.  I showed in obedience, breed handling, and showmanship.  I first got into GSDs and other working breeds in the military.  I was a handler in the Army and when I got up I was even more interested in what the dog world had to offer civilian side. 

I started when i was a kid.I would take care of neighbors dogs and trained them for fun. I didn't know about SchH or competition.I just trained for the fun of it.Later on I worked at a training facility that trains for many things but didn't train specificly for SchH.So I searched that on my own and was lucky enough to learn from some top competitors. I have always had a natural gift of reading behavior in dogs and other animals. It is what I know and love.

My story is very close to the others. I grew up with dogs mostly hound mixes, chow mixes and the sort.  However, I was intrigued as I read every thing I could get my hands on about war dogs.  We lived only a few miles from a place called "The Fantastic Canine College" so whenever I could get away I would take my favorite hound mix "Rowdy" and ride there, those were the 60's so parents didn't worry if a boy was gone for a few hours. 

I would peek through the cracks in the privacy fence and some days my timing was such as to see them actually working the dogs.  WELL I GOT HOOKED.

We got an import blooded Boxer "Rebel" about 4 years later and he was my chance to put my studying and observing to work.  He was a quick study.  Wow, what a dog, he died of old age while I was off playing football in college. 

After college I got married had children, worked a corp job, bought a Dobie as they were the popular dog then.  Tried some training but was on the road too much. After that we had Labs for the yard and Min Poodles indoors.

Things changed, ans I was able to retire in my late 40's - know doing what I want to do.  Small GSD kennel, specializing my training, selectively breeding.  Life's good.

Long story, to a short ending.
TUFF

When I was young, and my neighbors had  German Shepherds, they just ran loose, I fell in love with them,  (tried to just borrow a few) but my  parents always made me take them back...) When I grew up always had a German Shepherd,  did not start breeding until 20 years ago,  Silver and Blacks, which back then were really good dogs,  Then I met some one with the German Lines, and fell in love with them...Long story short, My Father  had Alzheimer's, I took care of him  for 12 years,  and my dogs were the only thing that got me through that, along with God, of course,  My dogs are my best Friends.

I don't remember a time when there were no dogs.
There have always been dogs in the time I've been here, and many before I came.
I didn't start, I just carried on what was handed down to me.

BY both of my uncles. They used to own many dogs while in Pakistan & here before they were married and one of them even after he was married.

When i was young & firts moved here my family lived with them. Over there they had a labrador retriever. That i really got used to, and as i got older i started to study dogs, and gradually found the German Shepherd dog which appealed to me.

Even before then my uncle used to own many dogs in pakistan. A pointer, a staffordshire bull terrier & 3 Bully kutta's akong with 2 labrador/beagle crosses which had very high drives. These labrador/beagle crosses were also something that appealed to me.

So through this i started to find out more about dogs, and then got to the GSD which is what i am now learning more & more about.

My obsession started when I was about 4 or 5 yrs old. My grandmother was from Germany and would tell me about the police dogs. I'd run around the pool barking, jump in and doggie paddle around while she spoke to me in German. Of course I was a German Shepherd! I got my first dog for my 15th birthday, a heinz 57 named Bonnie ( we got her right after they named hurricane Bonnie) She is still up and kicking, almost 15 years old now. She's a chow, lab and pointer cross. I got my first German Shepherd when I went to a breeders to pick out a puppy but wound up taking her home. Syd was 14 months old and had no training and we competed at our first OB trial about 6 months later. We earned the first leg to our CD with a 3rd place score out of a class of 10. I started learning to train about the same time.

I apprenticed for over a year with a gentleman who had been training for 25yrs and also started learning how to train Accelerant detection K9s. Through him I learned more about the different lines of GSD and what I liked about individual dogs/lines. I bred my girl Syd to a nice Czech dog, a Faro Policia son and wound up with quite a few PPDs and K9s out of the litter. Through friends of friends I met up with another trainer and sold a few of the dogs I'd kept as green dogs into PDs. The
rest is history. I've been doing the same ever since.

Melissa

My Dad had gsd's growing up, when he went in the army he also had a gsd working dog in germany. 

We always had animals growing up, and when I was around 10, the neigborhood farmer was given one as a present. She didn't want him, and kept him in a chicken coop..I cried and cried until my Dad went and got him.  So Lobo was my first gsd tho he wasnt' the greatest rep of the breed, he was a great dog. 

After that we always had a gsd and when I moved out, have had them ever since