I was brought up with my Grandad's 2 GSDs (mother and daughter) - he had them before I was born and we lived a couple of doors up from him.

We had a border collie pup when I was about 7 or 8 - my dad stupidly bought it then realised he didn't have time for a dog so we didn't have her long (he did this again after he left my mum. He got a black lab puppy. She was left alone all day in the kitchen and consequently ripped it to bits, so he got rid of her). The collie was given to a farmer my mum knew from working at the cattle mart and was trained as a sheep dog.

After that I looked after family and friend's dogs (bedlington, terrier cross and springer) although didn't have my own dog until we got Bryan just over a year ago.

Now I've got Bryan and a foster dog

My gran had a huge gsd called Keamo who apparently used to guard me in the back garden when i was born - i'd be lying in my high pram and he would lie beside me and the only person who could walk in the back-door was my gran - he was still alive when i was 7/8 as i remember him visiting where we lived. He was a massive long-coated monster (in those days) and commanded respect from everyone who didn't know him. He would still guard me then. I don't remember him dying but ever since then there has always been dogs in the family. I couldn't own dogs while in the forces but worked them instead. Towards getting out i got my leonberger who is my first 'own' dog and she has been great with me - being there when things were bad or memories of work too much. She's coming up 2 now and i couldn't imagine life without her. I also have my wee pup 'Gizmo' who is a tearaway. Always been german shepherds except my girlie.

As a small child, I was absolutely terrified of dogs. As I got older, I got calmer and less nervous. I have been unwell since I was 16 (I'm 20 now) and have found animals, particularly dogs, very theraputic to me.

I used to hate dogs before I met my husband because I was mauled by a labrador when I was 7 and needed 32 stitches in my face!
I then met Bess, a welsh collie who was more scared than I was! I fell in love with her. She then had 6 pups and we kept Otis who's so loving and gentle.
Than we adopted 2 lurcher Danny and Jenny 8 weeks ago and now I'm obsessed with dogs! I just adore them.
So for 25 years I hated dogs and since I met my hubbie 8 years ago.....I just adore them

Ever since I can remember, I guess my earliest memory is when I was of my parents GSD sitting round me in the park when I was 2, Harvey was protecting me from whatever I wanted to train guide dogs for the blind ever since I was 10, decided I was going to animal college when I grew up, and then onto the school in Exeter, didn't work out though . We got dogs finally when I was 12, and Chips, my terrier came with me when I moved in with my fiance. She died recently, and we are now planning to get a puppy nearer Christmas. I did the course in Dorchester and got a diploma in animal care, and now work with children I am 25 now, so I have been 'into dogs' for 23 years. Am looking forward to the next 25+!

When I was a child I wanted a poodle but was not allowed one or any other dog . I was completely dog obsessed and eventuallly we got a small terrier cross when I was 11 .
Since then I have had many dogs some rescues some not and just 3 months ago I got my little poodle puppy at long last . She is even better than I had hoped for

I was terrified of dogs until July 1984 when my husband arrived home with a little lakeland x jack russel to try to help me get over a miscarriage I had just had. We called him Benny and so began my love of almost all things canine

Gosh, thinking about it is a bit of a shock, about 70 years, my family had a dog just before I was two and that was just before WW 2 in 1939. Have had dogs in my own right nearly 50 years. Can I remember them all, well yes but can't remember the name of some we lost as pups back in the days before you could inoculate against distemper.

When I was born my mom and dad already had a dog, a rescued old lab X bitch, but sadly she was very jealous of me and my sister, ending up in her biting one of us and having the dog put down... That was when I was one and a half, about. So I can never remember having a dog... it's sad, it really is

My Nan and granddad inherited a dog called 'Tugger' as I called him (His real name was Tucker, aww), I think some kind of poodle mix. I loved him, and used to follow him everywhere and chase him around their table! When I heard he had died I must have been only around 7- I couldn't sleep and I came downstairs to cry on my mom's lap...

Then not long after he died (well probably a year or two but it didn't feel long) they got a CKCS puppy, Penny. She is very sweet, alive to this day. [And as I have grown up I have heard stories of the tricolour welsh BC my mom had with her parents when she was younger, stories that always made me want a dog!]

We always saw lab puppies as my sister's god-mother had two bitches who she bred future guide-dogs from...(there was a puppy in their last ever litter, when I was nearly 13 called Zoe- my name- and I desperately wanted her!)

One set of cousins, aunt, and uncle, have had about 3 badly trained rescues over the last decade or two, and when I was very young my other nan and granddad had a lovely b/w collie, josh. My other set of cousins (I have 3 sets) have a beautiful collie X GSD mix, really well behaved, and apparently have just got another dog.

My mom's uncle has always had standard poodles... her cousin has SCWTs... I was *incredibly* jealous when my closest cousins got a SBT X Lab. My other, and last set of cousins got a friendly black lab [dog] who sadly had to be put down after being so protective that he bit one of their young son's friends...

I went to work at a kennels for work experience back in year 10, saw so many gorgeous, friendly dogs. Thinking about it, I have always been around dogs. Maybe the obsession went into high gear when I was 12, but it started up when I was younger, maybe 6. I count down to next summer when I can finally be walking and training a dog that is actually my own! <3
Thanks for reading my story... x

I would say it's about time you had a dog of your own. I'm sure summer cannot come too soon but this will give you time to learn from all the people here that have had so much experience.

Have you decided what breed you will want? If not there is a wonderful book called "Good Dog - Bad Dog" by Segal & Margolis. It's one of my favorites in that it covers so many breeds and points out the good points of the breed and the not so good and every breed has both qualities. It give you an idea of how the training on each breed should be handled. Most terriers need a strong hand since they are so full of life and have a mind of their own (now that can be good for some people and not others) A Cavalier King Charles you would need to train in a softer way since they are more sensitive etc but they give you ideas on how to work with them. You may have decided already and would love to hear what breed you are thinking about at the present anyway. I am retired and lost my yorkshire terrier of 14 yrs and I've been looking a bit since I don't know if I'm ready yet. At first I thought I should get a breed other than the yorkie so I wouldn't compare as much so I love both the Papillon and Japanese Chin since I have studied both breeds for a very long time but I am back to Yorkie and I think I may just have found what I am looking for but I changed my mind a few times since so many are so nice. Wish I could have three.

Keep us up on your quest for a new dog.

Joan