Hello,

I've decided to do a formal introduction since I've asked so many questions. My name is Maisha Butler but my friends and family call me Mai. My family and I have owned two previous dogs. When I was a young child we had a GSD mix then as a teenager we had a Siberian Husky who just recently died. We love dogs but never did any training with them and they were all outside dogs. This past summer we had a family reunion in Denver and my cousin had a GSD mix that she got from a shelter. I was completely impressed at how obedient her dog was and begged her to tell me how she was able to train her dog. She told me about a video she got and a website that completely changed her relationship with her dog. She led me here. It's been a year since our dog died and we decided we were ready to receive another dog into our lives but with major changes. One, we (my brother, sister and I) are all young adults who lives at home with our parents and we wanted to make this dog a house dog. We also wanted to have an extremely obedient dog and feed the dog raw. So in a way we're new dog owners and the things I've learned here I feel bad at the disservice we did to our past dogs and it just breaks my heart. But we're excited and grateful to my cousin for opening our eyes and hopefully by Spring we'll have a GSD puppy and I can brag to everyone here about how well train he is. So please excuse my elementary questions because there will be plenty.

A formal welcome to the forum, Maisha. Let us know when you get your puppy

Do you have specific goals in mind for your future GSD? It will be a fun ride, whether you do sports or not

Welcome Mai! Sounds like you've got a level head on your shoulders! This site has changed a lot of our relationships with our dogs....and I'd have to say so much for the better! It's inspiring and encouraging to see youngsters into educating themselves about dog partnership.....good luck and look forward to reading your posts!