About us:

Welcome to PuppyPrimer.com!

 

Hello, my name is Jay and I'm the owner and webmaster of PuppyPrimer.com.

So there's just 'me', not 'us'! So why 'About us' instead of 'About me'?

Well, I share my home with two dogs, Matilda (Tilda for short) and Bodhi. They are both Tibetan Spaniels, the best little dogs in the world - but more of that later!

Tilda and Bodhi help me run this website: Tilda, the Desktop Watchdog, by keeping guard (on top of the desk!), and Bodhi by snoring under the desk (well, he swears he's keeping guard too but it sounds like snoring!).

So, it takes at least one person and one dog (or even two) to run a website!

Why PuppyPrimer?

I started this website in 2008 because I was concerned about the number of people who buy dogs without taking some time to think about what dog ownership involves before they put their money down.

Often, these are kindly, well-meaning people, who buy the wrong dog for the wrong reasons but who blame the dog for not fitting in.

When pressed, these people say they suppose they ought to 'get rid of it' - as if they were talking about a defective electrical appliance or an old mattress! They have few qualms about dumping it at the council pound or leaving it tied up in the backyard for days.

Usually, these people have vague expectations about the effort involved in owning any animal, let alone a dog, and think that it should somehow look after itself and never cost any money.

When it needs feeding and vet visits, they complain about the cost, and when they realise that it doesn't come with inbuilt software that tells it how to behave, they resent the fact that it needs training.

So I decided to try to educate and inform people - 'prime' them, if you like - about what responsible dog ownership means, and the costs and effort - as well as the joys - involved in sharing your space with a dog.

And to do this before they buy a puppy. Hence PuppyPrimer!

I also hope that I can inspire people to extend their interactions with their dog. I hope they can see their dog not just as the animal you buy to keep the kids entertained in the yard, but as a companion, non-judgemental friend, playmate and source of inspiration.

Why Tibetan Spaniels?

Tibetan Spaniels (or Tibbies as they are often called) are a rare dog breed, a small dog of about 25 cm (10 inches) at the shoulder. They have a double coat. The top coat is silky and the undercoat woolly. They have feathery hair about the legs and long hair over the paws.

Tibetan Spaniels can be any colour from all black to all white, but most are red sable or grey or brown sable. My two, Tilda and Bodhi, are what's called 'parti-coloured' - that is, white with tan or red sable markings. This is a somewhat rare colour combination in Tibbies and often leads people to think they are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

Tibbies do indeed hail from Tibet - they run about the streets of the villages and are kept and bred in monasteries - but they are not true spaniels, since they were never bred as gun dogs. Tibbies have no other purpose in life but to be companions. They are bright, independent and highly intelligent.

Although I grew up with dogs and have had dogs around me all my life, I didn't do any formal obedience training until I got Tilda in 2007. She did well at obedience school but Bodhi, who I got as an 18-month old ex-show dog in early 2008, has proved to have a quite a talent for formal obedience training. I am about to begin obedience trialling with him - it would be lovely for him to have a title or two to add to his name!

Tibetan Spaniels are very easy dogs to look after - they need only a quick weekly brushing and no clipping - and are a constant source of entertainment and fun. The best little dogs in the world!

Getting started with a web-based business

Once I had decided that helping people buy and raise puppies was best done through a website, I had to work out exactly how to do it.

I wanted to make PuppyPrimer a business, not just a hobby, so I could work from home.

And walk the dogs whenever I want to!

Work from home: the dream

Working from home has always been my big dream.

I don't know why it is but I just don't seem to fit into an office environment. Having to stick to someone else's routine, commuting, doing work you don't want to do or don't value, getting bored, feeling you can't complain, can't escape, having to ask permission for everything ... no, it's just not my style!

Yet my skills - writing, creating, some analysis and project management - always seem to lead me back to office work, usually in the Australian Public Service. This pays well and has great working conditions - well, as long as your definition of 'great' includes always being told what you can't do, not what you can do!

But working as a public servant was always just a job, never a career. So I started to wonder about how else I could earn an income.

What about this Internet thing?

What about the Internet? I kept hearing that people can actually earn their income from the Net nowadays - and they can work from home to do it!

So I dug around and researched and questioned, and finally found a program that would help me achieve true independence and financial security. And now, here I am, a businesswoman and solo entrepreneur, writing about dogs and buzzing with ideas about other web businesses I will run one day.

I owe it all to a program called Site Build It!.

And I walk the dogs whenever I want to!

I hope you enjoy using PuppyPrimer.com - as much as Tilda, Bodhi and I enjoy creating it! And I hope new puppy owners find answers to their questions and old hands find inspiration for developing their relationship with their furry friends.

 

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