In October of 2009, we decided that Kirby needed a sister to play with. We started looking through the postings at our local animal shelter. We knew we wanted another big dog so she could keep up with him. We stumbled upon a Malamute named Tina. Her owner had passed away and a neighbor brought her to the shelter. When we started learning more about Tina, we learned that her original owner had kept her tied up in the back yard for her whole life. She was two years old at the time. Therefore, she was extremely afraid of people. We decided she was the one we wanted to rescue. We renamed her Magdalena, or Lena for short.
Lena ended up changing my life. In order to help her overcome her fears, I started reading more and more about dog training. I couldn't get enough! That was when I decided to become a dog trainer so I could help other families. I even took a certification test in 2013 to prove that I know what I'm talking about. :) Here's me teaching a walking on leash class. Lena is on the right. She is wearing a halti for safety reasons. If something startles her, she sometimes pulls out of her collar and then it's hard to get her back!
In 2010, I started fostering dogs for our local shelter. I wanted to make a positive impact on their lives before they found their forever homes. I fostered a Pomeranian puppy named Odin, a Chihuahua puppy named Cosmo, and finally a cattle dog mix named Bandit.
Oh, Bandit!
It was love at first lick. ;) He was the sweetest, funnies, little guys I'd ever met! So we adopted him. I think that was July 2012. Here's a picture of Bandit being his silly self.
In September of 2013, I sat for and passed the Certified Pet Dog Trainer's exam.
And that's just a little bit about me!
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