Who I Am

[Lauri & The Gang]

In light of a couple things that have come up recently I thought it might be useful to have people post a little canine-related bio of themselves. Granted, pepole can lie through their teeth (it's the internet, after all) but it's a start!

I would say this should be info about what YOU have done that is canine-related - not things like "My parents were big-time breeders when I was growing up" (unless you personally handled the dogs) or "I worked for the top GSD kennel in the US" (unless it was doing something other than ckeaning kennels).

So, I'll start. Here's my canine bio:

Vast experience:

• Owned dogs for 30+ years
• Owned GSDs (mostly American show lines) 15 years
• Own/Owned Sky Terrier, Cocker Spaniels, Chinese Cresteds, mixed breeds
• Fostered (guestimate) 50+ dogs and puppies over the years
• Lived with mutiple dogs (3 or more) for 14 years
• Whelped 8 litters (some mine, some fosters)
• Taught basic obedience classes and one-on-one training for 3 years
• Raw feeding for 10+ years
• Weaned 2 litters to raw, switched many adults and puppies to raw
• Running Lure Coursing for 8 years
• Dealing with possessiveness issues (food and object guarding)

Somewhat knowledgeable:

• Have trained and trialed 1 dog in competitive obedience (quit after 1 leg of her CD due to me not being able to take the stress)
• Trained many dogs in agility but never competed
• Trained 1 dog in tracking but never competed
• Dealing with dog-to-dog aggression
• Dealing with helping dogs overcome fears

Little - NO experience:

• Human aggression (I've never had to deal with this)
• Competitive agility
• Schutzhund (dabbled but only enough to know the commands)

So ... who wants to go next?

[Wolfiesmom]

I'll be next..
I am a pet owner. I have owned GSD's all my life, but they have only been pets.

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by Wolfiesmom

I'll be next..
I am a pet owner. I have owned GSD's all my life, but they have only been pets.

Ok, how about a little more detail. What would you feel comfortable giving advice about (based on your experiences)?

And never say your dogs have 'only been pets'! ALL dogs should be pets FIRST and FOREMOST!!

[Jax08]

Hi My name is Michelle and I'm a dog addict...

That wasn't how we were supposed to start, was it?

Anywho...

Jax is the first dog I've trained and did everything wrong so now retraining her. I feed a RAW diet to both her and our senior Boxer who had cancer and now has growths that we suspect are a return of the cancer.

Comfortable giving advice on:

How NOT to train!!!
Basic obedience that I'm currently relearning in new and better ways.
Resource guarding (EVERYTHING belongs to Jax)
Some aspects of dog reactiveness but that is still a work in progress.
Basics of RAW diet.
Some nutritional supplements mainly due to research for Banshee's "cancer"

Anything else, I'm probably just blowing smoke and hoping I'm being logical. I try to only give advice on things that I have personally experienced and what has worked for me. But like I've said many times, there is not a single bit of advice I've gotten that I haven't altered to fit Jax in some way.

[Castlemaid]

LOL Laurie, your VAST experience puts me to shame!

For me it goes something like this:

- starting at the age of 3, obssessively clung to a stuffed floppy-eared dog, named "Toutou" after a children's TV show (I've moved on to other obssessions since then).
- spent most of my life no even liking dogs - they were stupid, clingy, needy, smelly, and drooly (unless they were stuffed).
- Got my first dog in my mid-twenties, a Spaniel/Retriever/Afghan hound mix: William. To say that he changed me is an understatement. Had fun hiking, swiming, exploring climbing everything together. Lived to be 15 before I sent him off to the bridge. (so, that is 14 years of VAST experience with an easy, fun, non-aggressive, friendly dog. )
Never yet set foot in an obedience class; I figured if I could do this well with William without an ounce of training, classes are for dunces. (ya think there was maybe just a tad of arrogance in my attitude then?)
- got Keeta. Yup, Keeta is only my second dog EVER. To my dismay, she was no William! Was COMPLETELY overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted trying to deal with all her behavioural issues. With great reluctance I admited defeat (take BIG gulp and swallow pride!) and signed us up for obedience classes.
- Woohoo! What fun that was! Wish I had known about classes AGES ago! We did awesome! It was like someone reached into her brain and threw a switch, suddenly instead of constantly fighting me, Keeta WANTED to work for me. The power of positive reinforcement and weiner treats - who would have thunk!

- After we graduated from the first class, my instructor asked me if I had ever worked with a professional dog trainer - errrr, no . . . this was my first experience training a dog!

- On to advanced obedience, and on to Schutzhund, and on to trialing and earning the Schutzhund 1 level obedience and tracking titles. First time trialing a dog and earning titles. This is getting addictive!
- Looking forward to getting Gryff ready for a WHOLE ENTIRE real-life Schutzhund title, the whole shebang (not just bits and pieces like Keeta got).

-Oh, and crate-trained one of my cats since she has peeing-on-the rug problems. Crating her with her litter box solved it. Does saying: Mitzi, get in your crate, and having her run to her crate count as training experience? (of course, being a cat, she won't do it unless I'm standing by the crate with a hand-ful of cat food ready to throw in. )

[Wolfiesmom]

Originally Posted by Lauri & The Gang

Ok, how about a little more detail. What would you feel comfortable giving advice about (based on your experiences)?

And never say your dogs have 'only been pets'! ALL dogs should be pets FIRST and FOREMOST!!

I would be comfortable giving advise on feeding issues, crate training, potty training, teaching general obedience, and basic eveyday issues. I have had both high and low drive GSD's so I can comment on those issues. I also raised GSD's with infants, older children, and other pets. I can comment on those issues as well.

[LaRen616]

I'm Lauren and I am also a dog addict

To be completely 100% honest, I do not have the best track record when it comes to keeping dogs. 2 were siblings that left my care when I was 19 years old due to personal issues and are happily living with a family member (and I see them all the time), 1 was rehomed due to aggression/psychological issues but he should have been pts and 1 was an adult dog that I got off of craigslist and rehomed because he had issues the previous owner failed to mention, issues that I couldn't handle and I miss him and regret giving him away everyday.

I know it makes me look like a bad person, but I have a huge heart and I love animals. I regret my past decisions, I cant change what happened, but I can learn from my mistakes, I can grow as a person and I can do better. I have learned alot from this forum and I feel that I can handle things alot better now. I have also learned alot from my GSD Sinister. I am prepared to do everything it takes to succeed with my next puppy.

Things I am comfortable giving advice on

Potty Training
Physical Exercise
Mental Stimulation
Crate Training
Recommending Puppy Food (based on experience from what I have tried)
Grain Free Dog Treats (based on experience from what I have tried)
Dogs Riding In Cars
Hand Signals To Go With Vocal Commands
Games You Can Play With Your Dog
Socialization

Things I am NOT comfortable giving advice on

Feeding RAW
Dog Sports
Bloodlines/Pedigrees
Aggression Issues
Advanced Training

[cshepherd9]

Dogs I have owned:
Kinsey - Shar Pei mix; Adopted when I was about 23. She was an apartment dog with no formal training. Awesome dog though
Dallas - ACD mix; Adopted when I was about 30. Basic obedience class
Willow - GSD; Adopted when I was 37. Many obedience classes and passed the CGC test
Axle and Tennessee; 2 Foster Greyhounds that came in after Kinsey passed and before I got Willow

I will chime in only occassionally because I don't feel qualified to give much advice outside of the normal "how to potty/crate train" or something simple like that. Some of the posters here have some serious issues which I have never dealt with. If I have never experienced it then I don't respond.

[selzer]

Let's see,

I fell in love with GSDs when I was ten years old, and knew that I would be a trainer and breeder of GSDs. My parents refused to let me have a GSD so I had to wait until I moved out. In the mean time I read everything I could get my hands on about GSDs -- not much that the library could offer, and dogs in general -- a bit more. Since I have moved out, I have continued to read everything and anything I could find, and sport a better GSD library than any book store or library in the area.

Experience:

I have owned the breed for 15 years. My first dog was a total disaster, but I also learned the most from him. He was working line/pet line, high energy, high drive, hard, people aggressive.

I found this forum when I was on my second and third dog, and was fostering my brother's dog. I had already bred my girl and boy, and was not really looking for advice, mostly just looking for people who loved the breed they way I did.

I had done some training but felt that competing would take the fun out of it. I was wrong. Competing almost became an secondary addiction -- ribbons!!!

That first year I put six dogs through Rally Novice and CGC. The next I got my CD and an RN on another dog. The third year I put two RNs in August, got there early and watched the RA and RE classes, and thought, I can do that. I got my first RA in December. I discovered matches along the way, and tried my dog on sheep and got a herding instinct certificate, and got a TDI on another dog. I even won back most of what I entered at one fun match, placing with both of my entered girls.

I trained a couple in agility but have not competed in it.

I have taken Babsy out of Rally due to an injury, but got her CD. I like Rally more, and am currently working on Heidi's RE, Joy's RA, Bear and Dolly's RN and CGCs.

I imported my first dog last year, and am real happy with her.

I have had a couple of litters, two out of Arwen and Jenna, one out of Babs, and the puppy out of Odessa. I am excited about Joy and Bear as my up and coming females, and am looking forward to a litter out of Odessa and being able to keep a pup out of her.

I am still learning, each dog teaches me something new, and some more than others. Even taking the same old classes over and over is not boring because the dogs keep it interesting. I have been a member of a dog club for the last couple of years, and have had different experiences there as well. I think when I stop feeling like a newbie on everything I will be ready to retire.

I really believe that we need younger people to take an interest in showing, competing, training, and breeding dogs. People willing to learn, and do it right, but have new energy and drive and ideas they will need to carry the breed into the future.

I think that the internet forums are good for this, but getting out there with real people and learning from those already there, well nothing compares to hands on.

[suzzyq01]

Hi my name is Suzanne and I am also a dog addict.

I've owned dogs on my own since I was 20. My first dog was a lab/rottie/pit mix who was a fantastic dog. I never did any formal training with him until I got my Siberian Husky puppy Onyx in 2005. After reading almost every book on Siberian Huskies out there I knew I needed to start training asap. I enrolled both dogs in basic obedience classes and never really stopped. My ex-huband (aka the devil) took our Lab mix with him in the divorce but Onyx was my dog so I got him. I never stopped training him and learning how to modify his behaviors. I have always wanted a Shepherd and got Sonar in May of last year. I had enough knowledge to start the basics with him and got into training classes for growth and clean up once he turned 9 months old. Now we are working towards competition obedience and tracking. I love to train them and they love to work for me. I also enjoy showing off how amazingly smart and obedient they both are!


Things I feel comfortable giving advice on:
Dog Food - I have read several books and also took a couple nutrition classes offered by some of the natural dog food brands.
Supplements - I can speak to several vitamin/mineral supplements that assist in resolving skin/coat/poo eating/hair loss/etc issues based on prior experience as well as several years as a vet tech.
Behavioral Issues - I can speak to behavioral problems such as fear/aggression towards dogs/people/etc. I have been through countless training classes with amazing trainers and have learned a lot, I have read tons of books, and do lots of behavior/psychological research on dogs. Not just one approach will work with all dogs. Each dog is different.
Mental/Physical Exercise - I am knowledgeable of many ways to mentally and physically exercise your dogs. I have experience in assisting friends and family redirect their dogs destructive/obnoxious behaviors with proper exercise and discipline.
E-Collar training/usage - I have successfully trained my Siberian Husky with an e-collar to be trusted off leash in almost any situation with 100% recall. This is something ALL the Husky books I read and owners I spoke to said was IMPOSSIBLE! I have taught several other people how to use the e-collar with positive only execution.


Things I do not feel comfortable giving advice on but may give opinions on:
Breeding
Lines
Schutzhund/PSA Sports
RAW feeding


I am sure I am forgetting stuff, but this is everything that I can think of right now. Basically I feel like I am very knowledgeable about many things but am very open to learning new techniques and others ideas. This forum has been fantastic for me and I really appreciate those people who have given such fantastic advice and opinions.