The absolute highlights of my early childhood memories are all connected with dogs. There was Grendi the wire haired Dachshund who lived with a friend of my mother. I adored him. There was Mikey the Airedale and Bibolette the elegant French Poodle who lived with my violin teacher. Sometimes I was even allowed to hold the leash or walk them a tiny bit in the park. It was thrilling to me.
We lived in an apartment in the center of Vienna and I never had a dog of my own until the day I moved out. The first thing I did was get a puppy. She was a Briard named Daphne and I have always had dogs ever since. In fact, multiple dogs of all sizes and shapes from an Irish Wolfhound to a Miniature Dachshund.
I met Stacy Alldredge at Who's Walking Who because of Salome, my Wolfhound. Sali would not walk in the street and kept me prisoner of my block for 3 weeks. I had never contemplated consulting a professional trainer up until then, even though I always took my dogs to obedience classes and they all knew basic obedience and a little more than that. When Stacy showed up I was really frustrated. Stacy suggested the use of the Halti and, miracle of miracles, Salome walked beautifully!
There were other fun episodes with Salome who developed a crate phobia during a hospital stay. I realized 10 days before a trip to Rome when I took out the flight crate to get her used to it. Again Stacy came to the rescue.
My now 2 1/2 year old Briard Cosi had an entirely different set of problems. I worked with Stacy taking an enormous amount of obedience classes and even a growl class.
I also got involved in fostering a few special dogs, one of whom is now happily living with a veterinarian who fell in love with the dog when I brought him in for medical care.
During the last couple of years it became more and more apparent to me that animals and dogs in particular were more important to me than ever -- more important than music which had been my ambition and my profession. I was ready to admit to myself that I wanted to spend my life doing what I loved most and that meant working professionally with dogs. I could hardly believe my luck that this opportunity was literally in front of my eyes by entering Stacy's apprentice program.
There is nothing more gratifying to me than helping a dog overcome fear, teaching a dog something new, even if it is something as silly as "lick your lips" or helping the human understand their dog's needs, physically and emotionally and enable them to live long, happy lives together.
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