My inspiration

 While I am bear making, working with clay, or just doodling around I find that my pets keep me company and inspire me. Sometimes when I am at a loss for an idea I will just happen to look down and see my German Shepherd Dante watching me with the silliest expressions on his face;  I often try to re create these expressions in my work. I am lucky to have such a great dog model, Dante always follows me wherever I go, and I even think sometimes him with his big nose and deep amber eyes he looks a little bit like a big teddy bear himself. My animals have always been a big part of my life, especially my dogs; they are the main reason why I am interested in becoming a veterinarian. A few years ago my old German Shepherd Buddy who was seven years old passed away from his stomach twisting causing bloat. Buddy had always had many medical problems like epileptic seizures and serious allergies which required shots monthly. The seizure medicine had caused a chemical imbalance in his brain making him want to eat everything, so we always had to be very careful and keep a good eye on our big brother. Buddy would always go on every vacation with us including his two favorites, myrtle beach and Pennsylvania, he was very much a big part of my life and just like Dante he was always by my side. I remember one time we were exploring the woods near my house and it started to get dark when I realized I was terribly lost. Buddy was an extremely intelligent dog, and all I had to do was ask him to find home and he lead me there. One morning when I was in eighth grade my mom said that Buddy was very sick; he had been laying outside in our patio area. I went outside to see him and he laid his head down in my lap.. the light in his amber eyes dimmed and that was the day my puppy went to heaven. Although this was probably one of the saddest days of my life I will always remember the good times we had and the joy that came with owning my first dog. I had taught Buddy many tricks, but I think he had  actually taught me more than I realized.... since he was always sick I learned a lot about different types of veterinarians and medicines, we took him to many specialist for gastric problems, brain problems, allergies, and we even tried holistic and acupuncture. I hope that someday I will be able to help other animals with similar issues and more. Not just a dog lover I also enjoy having my kitties around while I am working. I have two black and white cats named Cookie and Oreo, and a calico named Autumn. We rescued Autumn and Oreo from an animal shelter nearby, and Cookie was a stray that followed our 120 pound German Shepherd home one day. My cats are very mischievous and have been known to toilet paper the house from the inside out while everyone is asleep.. Here are some pictures of a few of my pets. I hope you like them : ).

                                              Dante in the pool.. he loves to swim!

Autumn and Cookie  

A baby tortoise we rescued off the road and then released into the wild

Kermit the king of our pond

Smegal my brother Hans's leopard gecko

The fish

Dante- I named him after the musical term "Andante"

which means flowing, long lasting and full of life.