So I have been thinking about how I first got started in this crazy lifestyle. How is it that I have come to love these dogs so much that I am just about obsessed with them. Well, my story starts when I was very young. My dad was dying and I was staying with a friend of my family. We went to visit a kennel in Northern NJ, because their next door neighbors were getting a new dog. I remember, like yesterday, pulling into the driveway and before my eyes were the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen. We walked around and looked at puppies and adults and I could barely contain myself. As we moved along, I remember hearing the owners talk about their dogs and how some of their older dogs were available for adoption. Retired show dogs that were looking for a good homes to live out their lives. My heart started to race. I knew we could never afford a puppy, not with Dad sick and all. But certainly, we could give a home to one of these older guys. I went home and begged and pleaded. My mother, of course was not keen on the idea. After all her plate was pretty full. Facing a life without my father and raising 3 kids by herself. But I was relentless. I eventually just simply wore her down. We brought her home, CH Sanctuary Woods Early Bird. She was my salvation. She was the most beautiful and regal animal I had ever seen. She made me sane in a world that was quickly going out of control for me. She lived 2 years with us. She got me through one of the worst times in my life. And after she died, I knew in my heart that I would never own a different kind of dog. I didn't know how long it would take, but I knew Bernese Mountain Dogs would be a part of my life. Little did I know at 15, how much a part they would really become.