Introduction

I have decided that I can no longer torture my Facebook friends with my every thought on dog training.  I need a place to get it all out.  I don't even really care if anyone reads it, I just need to do it!  My mind swims with discoveries and thoughts at all times.  Living with at least 6 dogs at all times doesn't help my mind to slow.  They are fascinating to me, their every move, their play, their interactions with each other and with my husband and I.  I get lost in their complexities, I marvel at their language and I bask in the glow of their love.

My journey has been and will continue to be understanding how I can better communicate with my dogs. Can I learn to really understand what they are saying, what they need and what they want and then convert it all in my mind in a meaningful way.  That's the hard part, converting it in a meaningful way that honors them, meets them where they are today in this moment and still looks toward the future.  At times, I feel sorry for them. To be under the scrutiny of me trying to figure out their every move and invariably failing at times. Other times I rock at it, and hopefully those times are more often than not understanding.

My dogs range in age from 11 years to 2 years.  Living with so many dogs of varying ages allows me to see the changes that occur with age (both good and bad) and when my 2 year olds are driving me nuts, I can look at my older dogs and see hope for the future.  Five of the dogs are mine, White Shepherd or White Shepherd mixes and we are a motley crew. We also are foster parents for Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue.  It was never our plan to have this many dogs, it just kind of happened. We our currently on foster dog number 82 and they have taught me so much.

My own Wolfie, the love of my life and the other half of my soul started the interest in training.  We adopted him from our local shelter and he had been so badly abused that he wanted no human contact.  For weeks he just laid between my bed and the wall and hoped we would go away.  I would lasso him to take him out to go potty.  I would sit on the floor and talk to him, never touching just looking into his beautiful eyes and praying that I could help him.  My prayers were answered when I found Echo Dogs on the web.  I was desperate and figured they had to know more about him than I did.  So began our journey.  It is long and filled with tiny baby steps that led us to our goal of a lovely dog that loves life.  I love all of my dogs, but there is something special with Wolf, an unspoken force that binds our hearts to each other and has a language all of it's own.

You'll meet my other dogs in time, they are all unique and fabulous in their own way.  Each appreciated and loved for what they bring to our family to make it whole.  For today, it's just enough to have a place to share my thoughts, my ideas and my love for dogs.