Thought we needed to break the "Greetings" mold, so others know they can if they want as well. Well, for those of you that don't know me, you'll get to know that I can make posts that seem to go on for miles!
So bear with me...we'll get through it, ok!
For those of you that do know me, well, some of this will be old hat, some not. I'll try to keep it brief, but you've been warned!
I have been working with Zefi on various projects these past months, and this Poodle Room project is one of the more substantial ones...one that we hope will be a great resource for people for years to come. Obviously, my name is Michael, and that's usually just all I go by on the net. I have two dogs right now....one mini poodle and one standard eskie (american eskimo dog). My current poodle is my second one, and I'm one of those people that years ago would have *never* thought he'd own a poodle, let alone a second one!
But life has a way of taking you places you didn't expect sometimes.
I'm currently doing mostly graphic and web design work, along with some other odd jobs on the side as it works out. Have been doing design work for some years, and having spent considerable time on the eskie.net site, it's given me the desire to do something similar, though hopefully even better, for poodles! It's amazing how few breeds really have *good* resources online. I'm hoping we can add something wonderful to the poodle community with this site and forum.
Anyway, I grew up with german shepherds mostly, though we had a few mixed whatevers here or there too. But larger dogs, and out in the country. Which was northern Wisconsin for me then. After spending two years without dogs, and graduating from HS, I moved to Duluth, MN. Not long after being there, and starting college, I started work at a kennel. The lady I worked for bred and showed poodles....toys and minis. It was also a grooming shop/boarding kennel. As I've noted, the room where we kept the poodles was always called "the poodle room" and I've always loved the ring of that, so it's nice to be using it in a new context here. Anyway, well, clearly I began to appreciate poodles more over time, and finally ended up with one of the minis there. Jamie was the sweetest girl in the world. She will always have the softest spot in my heart. After spending some years at that kennel, and then off doing other work, I ended up spending a year helping a lady with a kennel full of dachshunds. And then I've migrated back down to Wisconsin and into more design work since then. But I've spent a fair amount of time with all kinds of dogs, but my heart is really wound up in two breeds...eskies and poodles.
In the late 90s, I *discovered* the American Eskimo Dog, and just fell in love with the breed. They were as perfect as I could imagine for what I like in dogs, and so ended up getting into them. Have only gotten the one, but probably will always have eskies in my life! Have remained active in our eskie club and, of course, maintain the eskie.net site for the breed. In early 2003, Jamie started having seizures and though we never fully tracked down the cause of them, after a bout in mid April, she was never the same....actually went from fine one day to horrible the next, and downhill over the following day. By that last morning, there was nothing left to do, even though we'd been to the vet the day before. And parting with Jamie was the hardest thing I think I've ever done, yet it was the most necessary at the time. I hadn't had one-on-one time with Shelby up to then, and afterwards, was sort of hoping we'd get some months together...just us. She was ok at first, and we got out and did some things that are easier with only one dog, and made some great memories in the following months, but after a few months, it was getting obvious that she did *not* like being an only child and did *not* like being left alone at all.
So, in the end, I ended up talking to my former boss, and Jamie's breeder, about what she might have. She happened to have a 2 year old she was looking to rehome. I won't get into Amber's story now, but we tried her out (in fact, my sig pic is the day they met.....up on the north shore of Lake Superior, just seeing how they got along casually). All went well, and we ended up bringing Amber home. Amber took right to being here, and grabbed the first toy she could, and has been a toy thief ever since! Amber's come a long way since she first came here, finished her Can Ch., and has then settled into just being a spoiled brat! She's really good at the brat part!
But she's also the sweetest little girl in her own ways too. Very different than Jamie, but in many ways that's good. Shelby's still a lovely girl, and keeps me on my toes all the time.
Anyway, so that's a bit about me and my kids. You wouldn't want the unabridged version, afterall, right!?!?!
I'm really looking forward to the future here at PR, and am looking to learn more as well as share my experiences where it's pertinent.
