A Little History Into My Unfortunate Education About Health And Animals

I'd been involved with the purebred, show-line German Shepherd Dog for several years and saw things I did not want to be a part of.

"Purebred" show lines are for the well-to-do and the elite, and - they are a tightly knit group.

I was born into a middle-class family, and growing up I never even imagined that I would have a 'purebred' anything. The money was simply not there to spend on such luxuries.

Kayla

I didn't get my first "purebred" pet until around 1996 - my wonderful girl, Kayla.

It turned out that she had a disease of the spinal column called Degenerative Myelopathy, which was quite common in the German Shepherd Dog breed at the time.

She had a great life with us until the time came when her body was failing her, and we put her to rest.

Our Kayla lived for thirteen years and she was sweet, gentle and a little shy.

I remember her peeking around the back of the house investigating my father-in-law coming to visit.

So much for the mighty, fearless German Shepherd Dog theory, LOL!

Booker

Booker was my first "purebred" dog with papers. He came from parents who were involved in the show world and were 'champions'.

I didn't have a clue in those days, and Booker was my lifeblood. We did everything together. We did all the puppy stuff. We did agility at the local shelter's programs. We did it all.

Unfortunately, he only lived for one and a half years.

We had entered a dog show and won a bunch of ribbons (for doing nothing), and shortly after we came home he started having seizures.

It turns out his breeder knew that his grandfather was a seizure dog too!

The day came when he started having a seizure, and even the emergency vet couldn't get it under control.

We put him to rest at only 1 1/2 years old.