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5,548 Posts
Greetings everyone! I was referred by Patrick Murray a while back but Mike Schoonbrood finally kicked my butt into registering! I'll try to be around as much as I can, but it seems I've got at least half a dozen forums that I go to on a daily basis already and that darn masters thesis of mine still needs writing so pardon me if I'm not super active. 8) I am a behaviorist and I plan on probably becoming a veterinary behaviorist if I don't go into zoo vet medicine or surgery when I start vet school next year. I'm also very active in volunteering my time as a trainer and doing behavioral/personality profiles of the dogs I foster and work with at the local humane society.
I'm a novice in Schutzhund, but both me and my fiance are already enjoying it a lot! He hasn't been quite inspired to get his own dog to train (although I'm drooling over this Dutch/Mali/GSD mix on the Dutch Shepherd Rescue site) but he has started training as a helper, which our trainer/main helper is very excited about so it gives him a break as it gets hot with scratch pants on in Missouri even early on Saturday and Sunday mornings!
My Schutzhund dog is Zoso (triple brownie points if anyone knows the reference to his name). He is a Malinois in looks, though he might have a GSD as a grandparent or something as his ears look a wee bit too big for his head. Or he might just have big ears. Suffice it to say he's not going to win Westminster or Crufts. He is of unknown pedigree as he is one of those fairly rare shelter dogs that has the drive to do Schutzhund. To what level, I don't know and I don't really care as we're just having a lot of fun with it!! He's a fabulous dog. Absolutely loves people and most other dogs. His only fault is he's destructive if he's not mentally and physically exercised hard just about every day (go fig) and he's a crate breaker. He's 17 months old and still very much a puppy in the head, but he's getting more mature.
My other two dogs are Buck (the black and tan husky/Rott mix) and Strider (the reddish merle and black Aussie/husky/probably something else mix). I also have a ferret, two rats, two rabbits, and a jungle carpet python. Here's a rare (and pretty poor) profile shot of Zoso and a group shot of me, future hubby, and the dogs.
I'm a novice in Schutzhund, but both me and my fiance are already enjoying it a lot! He hasn't been quite inspired to get his own dog to train (although I'm drooling over this Dutch/Mali/GSD mix on the Dutch Shepherd Rescue site) but he has started training as a helper, which our trainer/main helper is very excited about so it gives him a break as it gets hot with scratch pants on in Missouri even early on Saturday and Sunday mornings!
My Schutzhund dog is Zoso (triple brownie points if anyone knows the reference to his name). He is a Malinois in looks, though he might have a GSD as a grandparent or something as his ears look a wee bit too big for his head. Or he might just have big ears. Suffice it to say he's not going to win Westminster or Crufts. He is of unknown pedigree as he is one of those fairly rare shelter dogs that has the drive to do Schutzhund. To what level, I don't know and I don't really care as we're just having a lot of fun with it!! He's a fabulous dog. Absolutely loves people and most other dogs. His only fault is he's destructive if he's not mentally and physically exercised hard just about every day (go fig) and he's a crate breaker. He's 17 months old and still very much a puppy in the head, but he's getting more mature.
My other two dogs are Buck (the black and tan husky/Rott mix) and Strider (the reddish merle and black Aussie/husky/probably something else mix). I also have a ferret, two rats, two rabbits, and a jungle carpet python. Here's a rare (and pretty poor) profile shot of Zoso and a group shot of me, future hubby, and the dogs.

