ABOUT ME
I have lived with animals since I was young. The family had border collies, labradors, shelter dogs and also a few cats.
I now live in Portugal with my own two wolfdogs and two cats and work in my dream job as a dog trainer.
Dangerous start!
When I was about 2 years old, back then we only had one cat, I was bitten in the head by my grandparents' dog. Since then, I was very afraid of dogs until, at the age of about 6, I was no longer able to avoid Jule, my grandmother's neighbor's dog. I often spent the holidays with my grandmother. Jule was always standing in front of the patio door and my grandmother had made an agreement that we would go for a walk with her every day.
Well, it happened that I had to face my fear and suddenly was out and about with the neighbor's shelter dog for several hours every day. And without noticing, the fear of dogs disappeared.
I am still very grateful to Jule to this day!
Jule
in
her
garden
The first dogs moved in!
A little later, first one and then the second dog moved into our home. I loved it!
The two lived a classic family life with us. Looking back, I have to smile about the “education” and of course I see the problems associated with it in a different light today.
Having dogs in my life was an absolute enrichment in my childhood.
When the dogs were no longer there, a cat moved in with us.
To this day he lives a great life with my father and sister.
My dogs - Bori and Aimie
I came back to life with dogs when I met my husband. With him the two wolfdogs Bori and Aimie also came into my life.
They were already 4 and 5 years old when we moved in together. I got two dogs that didn't necessarily correspond to the “normal” dog, neither in terms of character nor in terms of their previous training or husbandry. Both lived in a enclosure most of their lives.
Bori the male, although very sociable for a wolfdog, but far from being an everyday dog. There wasn't much to be seen of recalling or walking on a leash, but there was extreme hunting instinct, terrible panic as soon as he got close to the city, disrespect and so on...
We have now developed a good relationship and can enjoy great walks together. But he remains a shy wolfdog when we go into town.
And then there's Aimie. Many biting incidents with dogs and people without a second's hesitation she is always 100% serious. Explosive, reacts to every stimulus, incredibly dominant, I could continue the list...
However, Aimie is now my absolute favorite dog. Yes, she should still be viewed with caution, the character and the themes she brings with it do not simply disappear. But she has an incredible desire to work and is totally cooperative. She just needs good, consistent leadership.
From Germany to Portugal
We moved away from Northern Germany together 5 years ago and now live together in the Algarve with my two cats, a few chickens and geese and sometimes a foster or training dog.
Why a dog trainer?
Like most dog trainers, I came to the profession of dog trainer through my own problems with Bori and Aimie that no trainer could help me with.
With the training, experience and successes I was able to achieve with my own dogs, the desire to turn this passion into a career grew. This is how I got my animal psychology degree, numerous further training courses and workshops and finally became self-employed.
I am now happy to help numerous dog-human teams and to be able to call it my everyday life.