I have always been facinated by dogs since my earliest memory. I constantly nagged my mother for 14 years to have one but quite rightly she resisted. This didn't stop me requesting to be taken to visit anyone and everyone who had a dog! When we did finally get a dog it was because my parents wanted one. It came as a complete surprise to me. We were driving home from a sports training class I had attended and there was a faint whimper from inside the car. I always remember it because I couldn't breath I was so happy, it was like my entire body from my chest downwards had lept up into my throat. Bruce was a Border Collie and he was an amazing dog. My parents let me exercise and do some training with him but to be honest he taught himself.
After I left university, I travelled to Japan and met Megumi who was later to become my wife. While in Japan I began to follow the plight of stray (feral) dogs who lived in the nearby mountains. They were different from any dogs I had seen before because they were so very nervous of people, they were like wild animals and although I wanted to touch them it was impossible. But one magic day two years later a dog we named "Jackie" gave birth. We hadn't seen her for some time and then suddenly she was so happy and busy. In the excitement she ran to me and I touched her for the first time. In that moment, the wall of fear had crumbled and she began to trust me. We could go to that mountain and from the bottom call their names and from literally miles away they would come running - what a recall ! I learnt so much from watching her and her life long partner "Whitey" interacting with other dogs.
Jackie and Whitey are really what sparked my great interest in canine behaviour , training and homeless dogs in Japan.
Jackie's pups became our dogs and the rest is history.