This little corner of the internet was inspired by my incredible, Working Line German Shepherd, Aica. Lovingly, known as The Garden Wolf.

My story with Aica began when my husband and I somewhat spontaneously (and through an amazingly wonderful mutual connection) adopted Aica from her previous owner, whom I truly can not say enough lovely things about. Not only did her former owner train her impeccably, she also lead Aica to receive her IGP1 certification. The IGP (Internationale Gebrauchshund Prüfungsordnung) certification, is a comprehensive and demanding test designed to evaluate the skills and abilities of working dogs. The three-part examination assesses a dog’s proficiency in tracking, obedience, and protection work.

As Aica grew, her previous owner recognized her potential for a different life, and believed she would thrive in a family setting.

And that is when my husband and I hit the lottery.

We had always wanted a German Shepherd. We were eager for the challenge, and we wanted a dog we could learn from and gain experience with, one that required a lot of mental and physical stimulation and most importantly, a dog that was almost unacceptably loyal and fiercely protective.

We got what we wanted.

All of Aica’s commands are in German. When we adopted her, she already knew many commands, but the joy of teaching her new ones, in German, is an accomplishment that has filled me with pride. Her ability to grasp my words at lightning speed has shown me her insane intelligence and quickly grew our bond to what it is today. I thought for sure that adopting an adult dog would mean that it would take a good bit of time for us to form a strong connection…I was very wrong about this. Almost immediately, Aica knew we were her people.