Finally introducing myself! Hi from Denver

[Rochele Smit]

Hey all,
I have been meaning to get myself on here and introduced since the forum started, but one thing always leads to another and I get sidetracked or run out of time. (That can happen when raising a litter of 10 wild DS puppies) Most of you probably know me, I hail from Denver, Colorado and belong to and train and decoy for Centennial Working Dogs. I own Zonya de Gestreepte Tijger whom I have trained in SDA back in MI and now do Personal Protection with CWD and Mondioring with Rocky Mountain Mondio Club. As I said above, I have a litter of 10 pups on the ground now out of Zonya and a male from the v Leeuwen bloodlines. They are 7 weeks old now and little firecrackers! I am very passionate about the breed, and although I am a fairly new face to most people, I have spent hundreds of hours researching the bloodlines and genetics of the breed. I have been blessed to have had some great mentors in the working dog world, and can't wait to continue my journey.

Zonya and me


We LOVE Colorado (please forgive her pregnancy weight!)


And of course some photos of her working!

[icvanstra]

Welcome!

You've set a new standard for people introducing themselves... everyone will need to have picture of their DS in the mountains.

[leih merigian]

Welcome! It's always nice to get new members, and I agree with Eric...your intro rocks!

[k9katet]

Welcome! Great pictures! Looks like you do a variety of protection sports.

Vada (Vrijheid's Amie - littermate sister to your dogs mum) has her SchH3. We trialed in UKC/SDA once and earned her PD1. Wow, what a difference in sports! I had heard that SDA was alot more defense but did not really grasp the full concept til we trialed. Does your dog do leg bites or all arms?

[Rochele Smit]

Thanks for the welcome!

Heather, Zonya will bite any part of the body whether it has equipment on it or not. Her favorite spot is chest/shoulder. Right now since we are focusing on Mondio, we are trying to work strictly on legs though because that is so important!

[Marjolein]

Welcome here

[GSDNanny]

Welcome, Rochelle!! Nice to have you join us.l Surprised you can still type with having 10 sets of sharp biting DS pup teeth to contend with!! They always seem to go for the ankles and hands! Probably lots of blood shed on your part
Really love the pics! Do please continue to share. And yes, Eric, Colorado mountain setting is awesome!


Denise Gatlin
Louisiana

[FG167]

I just got back from Colorado - we visited Fort Collins - loads of pics of my dog, Madix in the mountains. They are breathtaking! So you moved from MI to CO - how come? I am considering moving out there myself...

[Rochele Smit]

Yes... a LOT of Blood. Just got a cut worthy of stitches on my thumb. Sharp sharp teeth. I always forget just how sharp they are. These guys are particularly bad as they don't just like clothing in their mouth, if they bite you and only get your pants or shirt, they rebite until they get flesh, and then clamp down as hard as they can!

I have always wanted to move out to Colorado since I can remember Last year, we had the chance to move wherever we wanted with my husband's job. We immediately choose Colorado. We rent a home in metro Denver until we find a home with acreage to purchase in the foothills. I will never move anywhere else. The weather here is AMAZING compared to MI. We get 300+ days of sunshine a year, very low humidity, and LONG summers (its's been in the 80's since May and JUST now starting to cool down) And even though it gets hot in the summer, the nights are cool, so you leave your windows open and close em in the morning and don't even have to use A/C. And winters are mild compared to what people expect (average temps in the mid 40's here in Denver in Dec/Jan/Feb) The people here are really nice, you go hiking and EVERYONE says hi. Cost of living isn't too different, housing is higher, but food, utilities and gas are cheaper, so we've found it to be about the same. and don't even get me started on how DOG FRIENDLY this state is!!! Almost all restaurants have dog friendly patios, many stores will let you bring your dogs in, there are I think 30 dog parks (not that i use them) and oh all the hiking trails! In Boulder, you can get a tag that lets your dog be off leash pretty much anywhere after testing for control/OB. Pretty much everyone here owns a dog, and people always stop to chat about dogs with me when I have mine. Food out here is great! There are so many amazing restaurants, and we have such better/healthier options at the grocery stores!

Haha, maybe I should work for the state of Colorado, getting people to move here dept! I will stop, but seriously, we LOVE it here. Only thing I miss is the water (Lake Michigan especially!) but my parents still have a lakehouse there that we can visit every summer!

[GSDNanny]

My daughter who is up for doing a senior externship in culinary thru college is presently looking at some options for work in Colorado for next summer at a bakery or maybe a lodge restaurant. Maybe you will have some ideas even. She was talking New York, but I am steering her out west to Colorado because then we can take a road trip to come for a visit!! Gosh, a REAL dog friendly state?!? How awesome is that? Wish I could get hubby to move.

Denise Gatlin
Louisiana