Hello, My name is Camille.

Here is how I came to do training, behaviour modification, and rehabilitation of dogs.......

Once upon a time in beautiful Englewood Hospital, Englewood, NJ, on an exquisite Sunday in October, my mother had the good fortune of giving birth to her first child......ME! Granted, throughout my years at home, it is a point of contention as to whether it was Mom's good fortune to have given birth to me or not. I had a propensity, even at a young age, to appear on the doorstep with some dog "that followed me home." Bottom line was, I would resort to ANY story to keep the animal in question, usually a dog of some kind. I was the dogs' equivalent of the Pied Piper and I even managed to befriend dogs that were wild.

When I was 7 years old, we lived in Turkey. There was a pregnant coyote that lived in the woods behind our house. Unbeknownst to Mom, I began sneaking food out to her. I named her Mama-dog (how original), at first she wouldn't come near me. I never knew if she watched me when I would leave the various goodies for her, although, each following day, the food would be gone. I eventually began leaving the food closer and closer to our house. In time she came to gather the food even if I was there, tentatively of course, but it was a start. At long last she started coming within feet of me. I remember feeling so disappointed that when I'd try to pet her she would pull back from my touch. Mom, God bless her, did not interfere. For some reason she trusted my ability even at that age. Mama-dog continued to grow in her pregnancy and was hanging around the house almost all the time now. Still leery of other humans, she had become my girl.

Mama-dog decided to den under the porch and had her babies under there (much to our neighbor Naomi's dismay). She was horrified and told my Mom that Mama-dog was going to kill me, eat me, or God only knows what. The pups finally made their appearance, an event I had been awaiting, impatiently, I might add. Mom then insisted on accompanying me to the opening under the porch to see what Mama-dog's reaction to my presence would be. Mama-dog was submissive, all the time whining and wagging her tail. Still not sure, Mom continued to watch. Days turned into weeks and Mama-dog was now accepting of Mom and even our neighbor Naomi and her daughter Visale. Naomi was finally convinced that we weren't in imminent danger.

Mom said one day she was calling me, when I didn't answer she came looking. Figuring I was in my favourite spot she went to the opening under the porch and looked in. There she found me asleep with Mama-dog and the puppies, what astounded her wasn't that I had fallen asleep, but that I had done so while nursing off Mama-dog.

From that time on I have a vivid recollection of having a gift with animals, particularly canids, felines, and equines. I'm ever so grateful for the gift.

When I was 15, my Dad took a job in Saudi Arabia. So off we went to a culture where dogs were considered dirty, a concept that infuriated me. Feral dogs roamed the streets of Jeddah, on the outskirts where we lived. One day, when we had only been there a month or so, I began to hear shooting outside our compound, which was surrounded by 12 feet stucco walls. Ahwaad, our man servant said it was the military guards in their Jeeps shooting stray dogs. I ran out of our gates and proceeded to scream at the guards, much to Ahwaad's horror.

From that day on it became my goal to befriend as many of these wild dogs as possible..... and that I did. Dad very seldom said no to me, so before I knew it we had 18 of the wild dogs living in our compound. Whenever there was a litter, I would bring the mother and pups to our house (thank God for our walled in property). I found homes for the pups and eventually found homes for all the adults I had rehabilitated and trained. We eventually kept one, Mom named her Cindy. Cindy was a resilient little dog, she looked like a cross between a dingo and a fox. She was without a doubt the spunkiest little dog we ever had. That fall, after a nine month break from school (no American high schools in Jeddah) I went off to school in Switzerland. The next year while I was still in Switzerland, my family went back Stateside with Cindy.

I never attended any training schools although I apprenticed for a little while under an incredibly gifted man named Jim Golub in my early twenties. Everything else I learned was through practical hands-on experiences. My entire life I've been surrounded by dogs, to be without them is no less traumatic than being without air. In the last six years I've broadened my experience so it now encompasses working with wolves & wolfdogs.

In time I'll introduce you to my ten canids, most of which are rescues. There is no doubt in my mind that my love of animals is just one of the many gifts from my mother Zizi. I'm far more comfortable, happier and in tune with animals than I am with humans. Most who know me well will admit that I'm just a two legged canine. That would surely explain much of my behaviour. <vbeg>

Until we meet again, you can reach me at Camille@divinedog.com.

"My Gabriel and Magellan ~ Not a day goes by....