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TAILS FROM A JUNIOR HANDLER

"All my life I wanted to be a Junior Handler. I told no one for I wanted it to be my own little secret, until it became a reality!

I walked into a room that was all blank. But there in the corner was a tiny kennel. I walked closer to it and I could see these big brown eyes staring up at me. My dreams just became reality. All my thoughts disappeared at the sight of this puppy. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I picked him up and we took him home in the car. We had this gigantic kennel we bought for him and he looked like an ant compared to it. We though he would grow really big, so we bought the extra large kennel.

As soon as we brought him home life turned hectic! Even on our first day, he was leaving us lots of "presents." As my mom put it, "tokens of love."

We named our puppy "Loki" (that was the only name we liked and could all agree on). The name means the Norse God of Mischief, which he still is!

The thing that was so hard is watching him grow up. He was the tiniest little thing and now he is able to tackle me and give me the most lovable dog kisses (except for my other dog Angel who gives great kisses too)!

He graduated best in his class at all levels (he had a tricky time at the advanced level) and then we started private lessons. That was when Rendy started training me to be a Junior Handler. It was tough at first, but then I got the hang of it! To this day, I am still showing that wonderful ball of fur named "Loki."

Lauren Hoffman
Junior Handler

Posted on: November 05, 2003