Just dogs with Sherri

I can hear it like it was just yesterday "you can have as many dogs as you want when you have your own house." It is a statement that was said to me everytime I asked for another dog growing up. And as a grown up I have three dogs and I am very happy about it; yes I would like more but that will come. I love dogs; I have loved dogs for as long as I can remember; why? I don't know that. I did not come from a big dog loving family; we had one toy poodle growing up that we begged for and that was it.

As soon as I was out on my own I got my dogs and have never looked back. My dogs have been mostly standard poodles but in the beginning it was a tough decision. You see I like just about all dogs; of course there are the ones I'm not fond of, mostly the ones that want to bite me that I'm not big on. But in general I love dogs; so when it came time to have my own dogs it was a process. At the age of 18 I acquired an airedale from my sister; her name was Mandy and she was my first heart dog. She was my constant shadow, we did everything together. I decided to add another dog to our family once I got married.

The dogs that I contemplated adding were; another Airedale, a doberman, giant schnauzer and standard poodle. I like big dogs; and yes I love small dogs too but I wanted a big one. As I have written about before I spent the first years of my life with dogs alongside Dobermans. I handled them in the conformation ring for 9 years before picking out my own dog. I was very intrigued with the standard poodle; I'd heard that they were smart, really smart and I wanted to get my hands on one. I called a breeder who had a litter so that I could just go and see what the adults were like. Did I really want a poodle?

Funny, the whole "poodle" issue that so many people have was not an issue for me. To me they were just another breed and held no foo foo stigma in my mind. After arriving at the home of the breeder and meeting the dogs I was sold. It was like a Doberman in a shedless body and so we soon added our first standard poodle to the family. Since that day we have had other poodles; I have a Jack Russell and there were lots of times when I have thought that I should get another type of dog but it is a tough decision. Sometimes I believe that it is just easier to stick with one than try to choose a new breed or mix in all the wonderful dogs that are out there.

I love spending time with other guardians who have other breeds, I love to hear their stories both about their breed and individual dogs. I simply love meeting new dogs and getting to know them so I would say my job training and shooting dogs is pretty much a match made in heaven. Everyone has a story or two about themselves and a dog who impacted their life; I want to hear them. I have decided to dedicate a page on my website for just this; so tell me, I'm listening.