JR’s Story

My German Shepherd story begins in 1986.  My parents bought a black and red male, from a single puppy litter, for a grand total of $500 on payment terms of $50 a month.  That was a LOT of money to my family.  We loved that dog; he was like another child.  His name was Mi-Peg’s Falcor Von Wolf, CD CGC TDI  (call name – Falcor), but to the family he was “Falkie.”  I can’t remember a time in my childhood when there was no Falcor.  He was a sibling, a friend, a playmate, a protector, a nanny, a shoulder to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, a pillow, a rug in front of the fireplace, a spy for my mother, and a postal-carrier for my.   He was a stud dog, and obedience pro, a play yard moderator, and a mascot – he was the foundation of our kennel.  He was my Rin-Tin-Tin.  He was perfect.

In 1988, my father suffered a heart attack, and underwent open-heart surgery.  This was the start of a long health decline for my father, and the beginning of Falcor’s career as a service animal.  In time, he learned to pick up things for my dad, could bring him his shoes, help him stand up, close doors behind his wheel chair, etc.  In 1988, Falcor became more than just the world’s all-time greatest family pet. He became simply…family.

The most remarkable memories of my childhood all center on the dogs.  Getting a new dog, going to dog shows, showing off Falcor’s tricks to the neighborhood kids, taking the dogs for walks (‘cause it was cool to have a German Shepherd) … and HAVING PUPPIES!

When I was about 7 years old I began to take an interest in the kennel’s operation and began to take on tasks such as filing up water buckets twice a day.  Soon I was promoted to scooping pens, walking dogs, dragging things to and from the car at dog shows, feeding puppies, bathing puppies, playing with puppies, puppies, puppies, puppies, etc., until one day I finally (FINALLY) got to help whelp the puppies.  The REAL money began when we were old enough to CLEAN CRATES… one crate could bring in up to $5, depending on how scary it was when we started out. We discovered quickly that if it was really “gross”… it didn’t take much effort to negotiate an extra buck or two from mom.

At the age of 11, I joined 4-H and was “assigned” a kennel pup named “Katie” as my first project.  I worked her everyday, took care of her everyday, played with her everyday… she was MY Falcor.  Two months into the project I was devastated when we lost Katie to Corona Virus… NOT one of the standard puppy vaccinations given at the time.  Though grieving, my parents pushed me to “get back on that horse” and assigned me a 6-week-old puppy to start working with; we named her Tikki.  In our first 4-H dog show, at ages 18 weeks, and 11 years old, Tikki and I scored a 188 in our obedience class, took home a blue ribbon in showmanship, and the combined high score trophy.

I was hooked!  I went to every class, seminar, and practice I could and absorbed it all like a sponge.  I started showing everywhere I could, 4-H, FFA, and fun matches; Very soon my sister, brother and I were “the ones to beat.”  We were on top of the world!  Of course we all went through a phase where we were interested in other breeds, and we worked out a way to learn about different breeds and give back to the community at the same time. With the help of our parents, we began work on a string of adoption projects.  We went to the shelter and adopted a dog, which we would then care for, socialize and train as our next 4-H/FFA project.  We would keep each dog for about 6-months, compete with it until it was “in the ribbons,” and then place the dog with a carefully selected family in the community as a trained companion. My first “project” was “Jax”, a 1-year-old, hyperactive Dalmatian.  At our first obedience match, Jax inched across over 25 feet of ring (on his belly) to place his head on my feet, tail wagging.  He got the “down” part right… but it half a summer time to learn “stay.”

After high-school graduation, I became a 4-H leader, and began working with kids, teaching them how to be responsible dog owners and how to train their dogs to be happy and obedient family companions.  At about the same time I began marketing myself as a trainer, and holding obedience classes in the community, and giving private sessions to “problem” dogs.  I became very skilled at working with many different breeds and solving problem-behaviors.  These included leash pulling, door crashing, dog aggression, lack of socialization, timidity, barking, chewing, potty training, crate training, door scratching, and more.  Soon I began to do enough of this problem solving that I felt comfortable adding “behaviorist” to my string of titles.

In 2002, I got married; in 2003, I became a mother.  My five-year old son and four-year-old daughter now fill those water buckets and play with puppies earning about fifty cents a week (I’m saving the big bucks for the dog crates!).  My husband, John, has adopted the philosophy “if you can’t beat em’…join em’…” and recently began helping as an assistant when I am traveling.  I am now an active partner in the kennel my parents founded in 1985, responsible for the Idaho side of our business.  I can count 17 years of hands-on experience and am putting it to practical use as a trainer, behaviorist, and handler in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and California.  In 2010, Mi-Peg German Shepherds will be celebrating 25 years in the breed and I am looking forward to 25 more! We feel it is an honor to raise one of the most popular, companionable, and versatile creatures ever put on this earth…The German Shepherd Dog.   My personal goal, is to not only raise temperamentally sound, structurally elegant, and intelligent dogs for companionship, work, and show…but to make sure each of our clients gets to experience a “Falcor.”