Daemion	Litter Box	About Me
Lavender	The Show Ring	Links
Sage	Afghan Standard	Artwork
Symphony	Grooming	E-Mail Me
Echo	Coat Colors	Letter about Afghans
Envy	Sighthounds	Raw Feeding Blog
Nox
Nyx

I’m the person behind the dogs. Call me Mel.

At the time I am writing this I’m 28. I haven’t updated my ‘about me’ section in three years. I figured it was about due. It’s currently January of 2007, I have a dog under the dryer and I’m redoing the website.

My profession is not dogs. My passion is. I’m a Police Dispatcher by profession. That is what gets the dogs fed and the grooming supplies purchased. Like anyone else I work 40+ hours a week, work overtime and debate the need for a second job some days to support my dog habit. I spend more time in then out and when I watch TV it is often over the back of someone who is being groomed.

My dog habit is all over these pages. I’ve been into dogs since I was 7 and got my first Yorkshire Terrier (or was that Terrorior...). I started showing dogs at 14 after we got a pair of Great Pyrenees. The breeders where incredible people and took a liking to a shy, 14 year old girl who was enthralled with dogs. They took me to shows, let me tag around and taught me what they knew. I thank them for that because it gave me a solid foundation that I wouldn’t have other wise held.

In my mid twenties I spent four years as a vet tech. I really loved that job. It was rewarding and interesting. I learned a lot. Because of it I have skills that make having a house full of dogs a lot easier to manage. However, it doesn’t pay all that well. I had goals like having my own house and that wasn’t going to happen on a vet techs salary.

I wound up applying for a job as a firefighter, got it, got out of that, went to the police department as a clerk, wound up moving, became a dispatcher and hopefully in the next year I will update this that I’ve graduated the police academy and am now a patrol officer.

I’m a pretty interesting person. I read and write and draw. One day I hope to become a published author. My house is half for humans and half for dogs. I don’t have children but I do have a husband. He is a nifty guy and enjoys playing with puppies and supports my dog habit.

I show when I can. Showing is expensive and time consuming. The problem is showing is geared towards weekends and as someone who works in emergency services, I don’t get off on weekends. These last year years since I’ve taken my dispatching position has seen a downward spiral of my showing. Don’t despair. I’m hoping for a schedule change next year that will get me out more. I’m also talking to a handler who is local to me. I have a lovely list of dogs to finish.

As I said, I don’t make my living off of my dogs. I was at work Christmas eve and Christmas day. They where also very busy days. Lots of domestics… but I digress. I have puppies when my schedule can give me the time to have and place puppies. I’ve learned over the last 3 years since I wrote my first, very optimistic ‘about me’ section that puppies are hard work and placing them can be even harder. I’ve had two litters in five years and hope to have a 2008 litter but that may not happen at this time.

I add this because I’d like people to see that just because I show and breed doesn’t mean the money comes from it. I’ve received nasty calls and messages from people before because they felt I should cater to them more. After all, I breed dogs and make my money sitting on my butt at home letting my dogs reproduce. I wish that was the case. Instead I work from 1030pm to 7am five to seven days a week.

But I love my dogs. I love talking about dogs. I enjoy the dog thing in general. I spend my time surfing forums and answering the occasional email about my breed. I’m hoping to get a Doberman next year as an agility/obedience dog. My GSD is starting to up there in the years and he’s taken to spending more and more time sleeping on a heated blanket.

Welcome to my world.

-Mel, January 2008