Member Mention - Jan Floyd

As a child, I had family dogs, but my number one childhood dog was a black German Shepherd. Her name was Mint Julep, but we called her Julie.

When my children had graduated from high school, I took a position as principal in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and moved to Rural Hall with my 3 dogs, PJ, Sandy and Rusty. When PJ passed away, one of my teachers told me about a black lab named Jenna in Lab Rescue. Jenna was two at the time and knew no manners. I had to go to “training” for the first time in my life!  I started fostering for a local rescue and adopted out 17 dogs over three years. The next dog to enter my life was Forrest, a malamute-husky-shepherd mix that I had fostered two years earlier. Forrest and my other dogs Sadie, Angel, and Princess became known as the WOOF Pack.  All four of them became therapy dogs with Therapy Dogs International.

From June 2018 to August 2019, I lost all four of my dogs. It was the most heart wrenching time in my life. Life goes on and I knew I wanted to get a puppy. I narrowed my search to the Labrador Retriever. As time got close for the litter's temperament testing, I was invited to come and be matched with my pup. During the test, there was one pup, a black male, that repeatedly left the test circle when placed on the floor, waddled over to my stool, and sat under it. The evaluator looked at me and announced, “Jan, that ’s your pup, he ’s picked you.” That evaluator was none other than Wendy Volhard, the creator of the Puppy Temperament Test.
I had planned to settle down to retirement living and enjoy the companionship of only one dog with a daily walk and snuggles on the couch. Jedi had other plans! He keeps me laughing and keeps me active. He also keeps me learning. Durham Kennel Club is helping me find and develop my dog ’s potential. He earned his CGC at 8 months of age at DKC and he showed me there was so much more he wanted to learn. We entered our first ever competition at Durham Kennel Club and earned the first two legs of his Rally Novice title. Hopefully we ’ll get that third leg at the next trial. Every achievement is a proud moment for this dog mom and we aren ’t finished yet! DKC is the friendliest group of dog people I know, and I am proud to be a member.