Weirdly enough, I was actually scared of dogs until I was 7! I distinctly remember that my neighbor had a Saint Bernard and I was going over to their house and I cried when the dog came up to me because she was so big :lol-sign: my obsession probably started when we got an Aussie x BC mix from the shelter when I was around 8. That dog was definitely too much energy for our family, and my parents didn't really research how to train the dog, so, inevitably, my dad returned it to the shelter. After that I would check out dog training and encyclopedia books from the library and read for hours about dog breeds. I even got a dog breed encyclopedia for my 9th birthday, I believe, and a border collie stuffed animal. I was obsessed with Border Collies and German Shepherds in particular. BCs probably because my previous dog was a mix of it or because I saw agility on tv, but I'm not sure why exactly. I know I was obsessed with GSDs for two reasons; my dad always told me that German Shepherds and Huskies were his most favorite dog breeds, and I guess I just liked GSDs better, and my neighbor had had two German Shepherds (one elderly and one a puppy) and I would always go play with them and she would tell me about them. They were very well trained dogs.
Finally, when I was 10, we got another family dog, Crystal. She was five months old when we got her and ended up bonding more to my dad than anyone else (oops lol) even though my dad told me it was my dog. I trained her many many tricks right away, and was obsessed with her. As I got older, I realized that she did have many issues; she wasn't socialized enough, she had reactivity, she was scared of a lot of things. Also, I wanted a running buddy, and Crystal has luxating patella and it isn't recommended for me to run.
From probably ages 14-15 I begged for another dog. My dad repeatedly told me it wasn't going to happen. Once I turned 16 I basically quit because I didn't want to handle a not quite 2 year old dog and starting college. And of course, once the begging had stopped, I was idly checking Craigslist with my sister and we saw an ad for GSD x Siberian Husky pups. I literally had the most wicked smile on my face; my dads two favorite breeds. So, expecting him to say no, I asked if we could at least look at the pups. He looked for a while at the ad, and then said "ok, let's go". And without expecting a puppy at all, we picked out Hero.
And that's how I became obsessed with dogs and have 2 dogs, only as a teenager haha. The only problem with being 16 with dogs is that I am very limited to what my parents want/don't want me to do with the dogs. I'm hoping that my parents will allow me to pursue agility with Hero, but I'm not sure if they'll be ok with the money needed to be spent... Oh well!
Finally, when I was 10, we got another family dog, Crystal. She was five months old when we got her and ended up bonding more to my dad than anyone else (oops lol) even though my dad told me it was my dog. I trained her many many tricks right away, and was obsessed with her. As I got older, I realized that she did have many issues; she wasn't socialized enough, she had reactivity, she was scared of a lot of things. Also, I wanted a running buddy, and Crystal has luxating patella and it isn't recommended for me to run.
From probably ages 14-15 I begged for another dog. My dad repeatedly told me it wasn't going to happen. Once I turned 16 I basically quit because I didn't want to handle a not quite 2 year old dog and starting college. And of course, once the begging had stopped, I was idly checking Craigslist with my sister and we saw an ad for GSD x Siberian Husky pups. I literally had the most wicked smile on my face; my dads two favorite breeds. So, expecting him to say no, I asked if we could at least look at the pups. He looked for a while at the ad, and then said "ok, let's go". And without expecting a puppy at all, we picked out Hero.
And that's how I became obsessed with dogs and have 2 dogs, only as a teenager haha. The only problem with being 16 with dogs is that I am very limited to what my parents want/don't want me to do with the dogs. I'm hoping that my parents will allow me to pursue agility with Hero, but I'm not sure if they'll be ok with the money needed to be spent... Oh well!