Life on the Leash

Wow. I’m finally home. After dog blogging for AOL and NBC, I decided that it was time for me to grab my own little piece of the blogosphere. Welcome to it! (Ain’t it purdy?) Here’s all you need to know about me:

• My name is Victoria Schade
• I’ve been a dog trainer for nearly ten years. As Barbara Mandrell might say, “I was trainin’ when trainin’ wasn’t cool.”
• I have one silly, bizarre, far-from-perfect dog: Sumner the ten year old boxer. He keeps me humble and prevents me from telling my neighbors what I do for a living.
• The smiling Boston Terrier you see all over this site is Zeke. We lost him to a brain tumor on 10/13/08, and we still miss him every day.
• I’m married to the most wonderful, patient, supportive man in the world. He’s so wonderful, patient and supportive that he doesn’t mind being mentioned after the dogs. He’s also a major babe.
• My first book is out. I hope you like it.

You can watch me do my training thing in a few different places:

- My puppy training DVD, “New Puppy! Now What?” It’s geared to first-time puppy parents. Folks like The Bark Magazine and The Dog Writers Association really like it. In it you’ll see cameos by my husband, my father, some of my awesome former canine and human clients, and my very short hair, which is now, literally, long gone.

- I’m on a show called “Faithful Friends,” that airs on Animal Planet on Saturdays mornings at 9:00.

- I do fun little training videos for www.Petside.com .

There’s no one editing this site but little old me, so when you see mistakes like “your” when I meant to write “you’re,” please don’t think that I’m an uneducated bumpkin. Just politely get in touch and let me know. I’ll thank you for it. And speaking of politeness … let’s keep it above the belt in the comment zone. I understand that the world of dog training is littered with differing opinions, but I’m a dedicated clicker trainer and nothing you’re going to say about Cesar Milan, choke chains, e-collars or the Monks of New Skete will change my mind.

But maybe I can change yours?

You’ll see product reviews from time to time. If I like a product, I’ll tell you why. Ditto if I don’t. Want to have your product reviewed? Shoot me an e-mail and we’ll talk.

So that’s it – welcome to Life on the Leash!