Our mission at Love Your Dog is to present our readers with the right information they need to become better dog owners for their furry family.
Originally started as a website for children, Love Your Dog is now a website that covers all topics related to owning a dog which include:
- Training and Behavior
- Breed Information and Comparisons
- Dog Product Reviews
- Nutrition Education and Food Reviews
- Dog Wellness including Supplements & Insurance Advice
- Resources for Parents, Kids and Teachers that provide an educational overview of owning a dog
Kelly Wilson - Managing Editor
Kelly is the new managing editor at Love Your Dog. She is undertaking the project to revitalize Love Your Dog with all the wonderful work and effort that the Founder, Janet Wall contributed over the years making Love Your Dog one of the most sought after resources about dog ownership.
Kelly has owned many dogs throughout her lifetime. Her dogs include:
- A Female German Shepherd Mix named Pepper (Rescue Dog)
- A Male Golden Retriever Chow Mix named Nugget (Rescue Dog)
- A Female Chocolate Lab named Bailey that recently passed away at 13 years old (Rescue Dog)
- A Male English Mastiff named Uhtred (Current Dog aged 2 and was a rescue)
- A Female English Mastiff named Freyja (Current Dog aged 2 from a breeder)
This is a passion project for Kelly and her family. Kelly also has 4 kids and a husband who she’s been married to for 15 years.
Kelly will contribute content to the site, and acts as the managing content editor for all content posted to Love Your Dog. You can reach hear at kelly@loveyourdog.com with any questions or stories you’d like to share.
We plan to continue many of the traditions that Janet Wall (the original founder of Love Your Dog) had in place, including posting stories, pictures and videos from our readers.
Janet Wall - Founder and Contributor
Janet Wall was the original founder of Love Your Dog. She gave the website the base it has today, and has many years experience in handling and training dogs, which is detailed below. Jan will continue contributing to the site when her schedule permits.
About Jan:
Jan grew up in Southfield, Michigan, with two brothers and a sister. When Jan was two years old her parents took in a collie named Laddie. During her childhood the family also had a fox terrier, a dachshund, and a German shepherd.
Through Jan’s teenage years she studied all she could about dogs, their care, and training. She loved reading books about dogs, especially Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight, and the Lad a Dog series by Albert Payson Terhune. Jan joined dog clubs and her collies won ribbons at dog shows.
After High School Jan went to Eastern Michigan University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and her Teaching Credential. She began teaching in Michigan Public Schools in 1974, the first nine years with hearing-impaired students. Jan was awarded a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education at Western Michigan University in 1980.
Collies remained Jan’s passion and she enjoyed competing in AKC competition. She trained, Duke, Star, and Brandi for obedience trials. She conducted dog obedience classes for children and adults.
Jan moved to San Diego, California, in 1982 and received a Communication Handicap Specialist Credential from San Diego State University, and her Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential for California Public Schools. Jan continued teaching special and general education, kindergarten through sixth grade, in Chula Vista, California.
In 1985 Jan designed a Humane Education Program to teach kindness and responsibility to children. She developed a lesson series using dogs as the theme and, along with her collies, Trouper and Kelly, Jan taught the lessons at schools in Chula Vista, CA. Later, Jan would adapt her Humane Education Program for the Internet and create the website, How to Love Your Dog.
Besides her professional work, Jan served as a volunteer puppy trainer for Canine Companions for Independence. She promoted pet food drives for Animeals. Jan joined Therapy Dogs International in 1988 and began regular therapy dog work with Trouper, in health facilities for severely handicapped children and Alzheimer’s patients.
Jan joined the volunteer staff at Alvarado Hospital in 1991. Along with Trouper and Kelly, her second therapy dog, she visited stroke and brain-injured patients.
Jan took leave from the school district in 1998. She found a partial replacement for her love of teaching in the creation of this website. How to Love Your Dog was based on Jan’s original Humane Education Program. In 2003 Jan launched a second website as a resource for therapy dog owners, Therapy Dogs.Net.
Until the spring of 2006 Jan volunteered at Kaiser Hospital in the pediatric oncology department. Cody and Bailey, Jan’s registered therapy dogs, provided comfort and friendship to children receiving chemotherapy treatments.
Jan also was responsible for the orientation of new therapy dogs and their handlers at Alvarado Hospital. Currently, she enjoys her hobbies: dog agility, gardening, and photography.