Everyone has such amazing dogs on here...thought it would be cool to hear how you all came across them! I'll start. We had been looking for a working dog for years, but the timing wasn't right and we just didn't find the right dog. We went for two years without a dog. It was hard but we weren't going to get another one until we were fully able to care for it. This summer we had decided to start looking again, but we weren't set on a breed. One night will surfing the internet, I came across an ad for Vader. He was 16 weeks old and being offered to a police home. Since my husband is a cop, I decided to pursue it. Long story short, we fell in love with him and drove 7 hours that weekend to buy him.
It's funny because my husband said we would never own a malinois..he'd only seen hyper crazy k-9s at work and couldn't imagine living with one. Vader has been just the opposite. He has a super high working drive but is also very easy to live with. He's overall the best dog we've ever owned and has far exceeded all of my expectations. Both his brother and father are police k-9s and our hope is to train him for search and rescue, personal protection, and possibly bomb detection.

Okay, so how did you get your dog?

We got Grace when I was about 21, after years of begging my dad to let us get a "real" dog. We got her from a breeder and she came home at 8 weeks old. She has been the perfect dog and turned my dad into a dog lover

Kira came when my sister graduated 8th grade. That was all she wanted was a dog of her own! We initially looked at one litter on our vacation in Northern MI. However, that litter got sick. We were so bummed and it seemed to be the summer of no GSD pups in driving distance. Luckily, that breeder told us about another nearby. And that is where we got Kira at about 4.5 months old.

When I moved out of my parents about 2 years ago, I had to leave Grace and Kira at home. Though I brought them to my house 3-4 days per week, I wanted my own! I knew the time wasn't right...
Well this summer, a friend offered me an adult GSD. That got me thinking and I was fairly settled on taking it, when another friend decided she wanted him. By then, I had wrapped my mind around having another dog and wanted one bad. I knew I could make it work. So I took a peek at Kira's breeder's website...well, she had two brothers left out of a recent litter. I emailed her on Thursday, talked to her on Friday, and had Vigo on Saturday. A whirlwind that turned out perfectly...it was also the only time in my life where I didn't listen to my mother!

I had just graduated from undergrad and had decided that I was getting a puppy. I had a specific time frame where I needed to get the puppy because it needed to be when I moved out of my non dog friendly apartment and right when I moved into my dog friendly apartment so I could have potty training well under way by the time law school started. Well needless to say that searching for litters based on the time they were ready to go home was not the right way to go about it but that is how I got Cicero my crazy severely dysplasic american line gsd(I won't be making the same mistakes next time )

Since Cicero was so crazy I decided maybe if I started fostering that would give him another dog to play with and maybe having another dog in the house would help with the slight separation anxiety he had. I figured it would be great all the benefits of having another dog but none of the costs. Until of course Cicero and I fell in love with our 3 foster Vice. So Vice stayed and I still foster so now there are 3 dogs and 3 people in my 2 bedroom apartment. I guess maybe I am a crazy dog lady...

I got a text message from my boss (worked at a multi species no kill animal rescue) saying that she had a 1 yr old, intact DS male, and to come get him because he was crazy and was going to kill her. His name was Pepper then. Koenig fits him MUCH better.

I've always wanted a working dog- never thought it'd be a DS because of the intensity, and they are on the rare side. Boy, am I glad he was dumped at the farm. He's one heck of a dog, and he fit right into our family. (after he bit me twice guarding the kids in the car...) lol.

Shyner (Lab X) was a stray dog found on a busy highway by the teen girls living in the group home I worked in at the time. She is a nice little dog whose only goal in life is to be loved. I decided that we could help her meet that goal. She's getting pretty frosty now at about 10 years, she's been with us for 9.

Toni (Malinois) came to us as a pupkin. Cindy had the Aera/Turcodos pups in the office for socializing and I fell in love. When Toni's sale didn't go through, Cindy asked if we would like to foster Toni for the breeding program. Took about a second to say YES!!!! She's 6 years old now.

Caterina (Toni's sister) came to us a few years later when Cindy decided to retire from breeding. Caterina was retired and I jumped at the chance to bring her home as well She's been with us for about 3 of her 6 years.

Drift (GSD) was a pup with some balance problems and couldn't be sold as a working dog. She came to stay with us as a foster, and Cindy and Ed thought she fit in so well with our pack they asked if we wanted to keep her. She will be 3 in January.

Tyra (Choc. Lab) was my brother's dog. His wife decided one day that she no longer wanted her and he had to get rid of her. He says he tried to find a home but couldn't, and said he would have to take her out and shoot her if he didn't find something soon. So I loaded her up in the car and left. She is 7 years old and been with us since this spring.

Paul has been very supportive through the years, and has never gotten mad at me for bringing yet another animal into the home (I have also brought a couple of horses home). I don't imagine I would be able to have the wonderful pack that I do if it weren't for Paul.

A pic of 4 of the 5 (Drift, Toni, Caterina, and Tyra) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=82360&l=a2037f6040&id=100000929359537

and Shyner http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=248706&l=3cf87a42a2&id=100000929359537

--Kel

I had a keeshond growing up, but by the time I had been living on my own for many years I'd accidentally slipped into catdom. I was haunting a keeshond web site and got involved in a couple of rescue transports. I had one dog stay the night and fell in love. I realized then how much I wanted a dog. I was going to make it work. I moved to a dog-friendly place and tried living with a retired show bitch keeshond. I could not get her housebroken and she was really unhappy without other dogs, so the breeder took her back. While trying to figure out what to do next I visited the county dog shelter on a whim. I went into a room, looked at Ripley, walked through the rest of the shelter, and was about to leave when something told me to go back. I am so glad I listened. Ripley has made me happy every day since.

A friend of mine worked for a Dobe breeder for many years, and I ultimately got roped into helping. I absolutely fell in love with the dogs and ended up working there myself.

Eventually we bred our own dogs based on my favorites of my friend's lines.

My current dog was the first puppy born in the last litter we bred four years ago. He was huge and the only boy. I picked him up on the day he was born, held his plump, squeeking little body in my hand, smelled his skunky little puppy breath and said "mine". And so he was

Thinking about it makes me really miss puppies.

Maggie, now over the bridge, from a rescue

Max, from the newspaper, mistake but we love him

Erika thru the Sch club and

Roxie thru the club as well

For 20 years I worked two jobs and didn't have time to properly care for a dog. Then I finished one of my jobs and started researching into what breed of dog I wanted, decided on a breed and visited 5 different breeders. That took about a year. I finally decided on 2 breeders I really liked and put my name on their wait lists.

I had to turn down the first puppy offered to me due to extremely bad timing and then had to wait another two months to be offered another puppy. That puppy was born the day after my birthday and I picked her up 8 weeks later.

We had a wonderful 2 years and 7 months together but unfortunately she got cancer and had to be PTS. I am now waiting for my new puppy to be born and getting excited because the mom-to-be is due this week. I am hoping for a phone call sometime soon telling me I am a MOM!

Nico was a spur of the moment decision when I was 18. I had gone with a friend to look at lab pups because he wasnted a hunting dog. When we pulled up I saw through the fence that there was one lone pup outside with the mother and another dog.

So we went in to look at the pups and none of them were all that outstanding or interested in people, I asked about the pup outside and they said she was the runt so they didn't make her see new people..I asked if they would bring her in.

She came right over to me, I picked her up and she snuggled in making little snuffling noises. she was mine and I hers in that instant.

They then told me some story about recessive genes and brindle labs So I got my AKC papers paid my money and left. LOL

I am sure they just didn't want anyone to see this hound pup and realize the "labs" they were selling weren't actual labs.

Oh lord I did not need a puppy at that point in my life!!
But we made it work, she helped me learn to be truly responsible, and she has been the best dog anyone could hope for.