Hi all! As a newcomer to Pet Talk, here's a little bit about me.

My current interest is promoting responsible pet ownership. For the first time in my life I don't have a dog, but hope to have a rescue very soon. I'm currently co-feeding a colony of feral cats though I've never even owned a cat.

My experience in the dog fancy stems from an extremely active involvement in the competitive world of dogs that began in 1974, though I've had dogs all my life. We stopped breeding altogether once we became aware of the pet overpopulation problem.

For over twenty years I was a board member of the Desert German Shorthaired pointer club. Most of that time I was the club secretary which provided interaction with many other breed clubs. This also led to a heavy involvement in the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America and membership in several all breed and obedience clubs.

I've trained my own German Shorthaired Pointers for confirmation, obedience, field trials, and hunting dog tests. In addition I worked for vets for many years and was a free lance writer who enjoyed contributing articles to Dog Fancy, Dog World, German Shorthaired Pointer News and Shorthair magazine.

I'm no longer active in the dog fancy. Presently my efforts are directed towards education and the promotion of responsible pet ownership through the printed word.

I look forward to being a member of Pet Talk and taking part in the discussions.

Here's a link to an article I wrote about an adventure with my dog Howdy that was published in Dog Fancy's issue on movie dogs quite a few years ago. Hopefully it will help you to get to know me a little better a little faster. Howdy in Monument Valley