Since the young age of 13 I have been involved with dogs in some form or another. My show handling was mostly self taught through trial and error; but I did have the priviledge of receiving much knowledge from the renowned Marth Covington Thorne in Canada. I remember the day Martha said to me "young lady, never stop handling; the show world needs handlers like you," clearly as she handed me my huge trophy. I started out in the conformation ring as a Junior handler and moved up to handling breeds of all kinds. Some of the breeds that stand out isn my memory are Dobermans of course, which was the dog that started it all. Airedales, Irish Deerhounds, Irish Terriers, Mastiff, Bull Terriers, Great Pyreanese (sp), Shelties and of course Standard Poodles.
During my show years I was also active in obedience training. This was where I learned the conventional choke collar methods of training. I am not proud of training dogs like this but when I was 13, way back then; there was no other way. I never had fun training my dogs with this method and as soon as I learned of positive reinforcement training everything changed. I never looked back but I am happy that I have the conventional experiences. This gives me an insight into this type of training, the mind set and reason why I never use it.
After giving up the show ring shortly after the birth of my first daughter I put all my energy into being a Mom in a small town. As my children grew into their pre-teen years I became a well known baker. I attended a weekly farmers market where I was quickly dubbed the "cookie lady." I also supplied a local restaurant with an array of cheesecakes which I have won many prizes for.
From baking I went back to the dogs as a Pet sitter. I loved spending the time while my children were in school just chill'n with lots of dogs. It is very rewarding walking and playing with dogs who spend their long days alone because their guardians work all day. This was not a long gig as we were soon to move to California; so I gave up the dog walking and focused on the move.
Once here in California I met and worked with a trainer. Not long after I became a private in-home dog trainer and I loved it; for almost 10 years I have got to meet some amazing dogs and their guardians. Several years ago my husband changed the course of my life my giving me a pro camera for Christmas. Now for almost three years now I have been a professional photographer specializing in dogs of course and human sport photography.
Throughout my years of training I have written and had many articles published. At the moment I have one book almost complete and two on the back burner which I hope to get to and finish this winter.
Well, that's me in a nutshell.
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