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You Start off with one account and are absolutely not having more than one.

Getting another one because your "side project" lead to an overfull kennel. But that really is it. No more at all.

Doing multiple maths with currency checker to prove that actually a family account wouldn't be THAT much more than two accounts.

Decide no 2 is plenty.

Dither.

End up buying family account.

Get laughed at by Friend on showdog who heard you say "No I am sticking with two and knew you would cave" xD

End up chatting to friend on different accounts on THEIR different accounts. Get confused.

Realise you will need to spend a fortune on pretty banners for all your kennels.

Struggle to think of names for new dogs. Realise you will need a theme for each kennel. Panic slightly

Realise you are totally addicted to showdog xD

Surely I can't be the only one? xD

*You stay up an extra two hours just to see show results.
*You put SD into your monthly budget.
*You post your successes on facebook and twitter for all to see.
*When you set calendar reminders on your phone or computer so you can look at pups the moment they are born.
*When the top abbreviations you use with friends are CH, GCH, Maj, BIB, BIS and BISS.
Nope, not the only one.

Oh I can't believe I forgot those! I have stayed up stupidly late for pups before xD I still get really excited about pups being born and clock watch

I have also got up really early for show results too!

Hahaaa - don't even get me started - the list could go on and on ! :P

Sadly I have to go and get ready for work ... but I'd rather be here sorting through the hundreds of pups that were born across my fifteen kennels last night :P

Or when you try to log into your email and it doesn't work, you get frustrated and then realize you're trying to log in with your SD kennel name/password.

Julio, again

My daughter dangled the showdog.com carrot in front of my nose by talking to me EVERY morning as I would take her to work. I thought to myself, why in the world would anyone want to pretend(as adults) to have online kennels, breed, show online in the virtual world. After I lost my real heart dog in Dec, I thought that I could use a pick me up. Not long after I got my first account, and I bought a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and a couple Cardigan Welsh Corgis...Name my pemmi after my heart dog. Started adding a breed or two, sessioning, and watching my dogs get up to 20's and begin showing...

Fast forward to today......5 paid Kennels(I know I could do the family one and am still considering that but don't quite get it)and have shown dogs to their grand championships, bred litters, championed those breed puppies, and and and and........and now I will stay up late to get the critters sessioned just after midnight, and get up in the AM excited to see show results. Now my daughter and I talk about our kennels and plans and and and. Have gotten to know some great gamers on here too, and plan on staying for a long time.

Thanks everyone for all the fun. This game really helped to get me out of my grief and depression.

Shannon in MN

Badgerhill- What a lovely story. I'm so glad that the game helped your grief, in what is such a hard time. I keep chatting to my mum about my results but shes not joined yet. I don't think its her thing. I will still keep telling her though lol

As for the family account. Basically you cancel your subscription then pick an account that is your main and re subscribe as family. Then you can add your other kennels to your account

I can relate a lot to your post Shannon, in a slightly different way.

Many know me on SD, but not many know my story.

I spend a lot of time on SD when I'm not at work or out enjoying myself with my two RL Ridgebacks.

And the reason I spend time on SD is because it's the one time and place that my depression doesn't overwhelm me. In the past 2 years my depression has flared up and sometimes SD and the people on here are the only things that keep me going. If I didn't have my RL dogs, and this game - I don't know where I would be.

Even though it's an online dog sim game and it's one that I pay for - I'm forever thankful that I found it that day 10 years ago. It's a great outlet for me and has definitely given me a distraction from my problems.

Wow I didn't realize people had similar stories to mine. I found SD 6 years ago and became serious about it 5 years ago. I had zero friends to hang out with and one best friend who was 7 hours away who I got to talk to once a week (if that). It was definitely an escape.

And if y'all remember Shimmer of Inspirational Kennels...she dragged me thru a heartbreak when I wanted to give up and die. In those months, I nearly lost my mind...I only got up every morning because my cat, SD, and the banners I got to do for SD. I was just a machine.

And then things got better but my friends were still all SD friends. I eventually burned myself being stupid and ruined both of my favorite SD friendships and several other friendships because I was a miserable human being and life happened and I quit.

But now I'm back because I needed something else to fill the void of my fiancé being off a long ways away and I've gained back one of those good friendships that I lost.

This place is really the best.
Alexandria

It's great to read everyone's stories it's definitely a special group of people. It's a great game and my husband and I both enjoy it, though we've been on hiatus a few months (oops)

Get up at 3:30 AM when you don't have to leave for work till 5:30. Only get five hours sleep cause you stay up late playing but still get up at 3:30 AM cause you gotta play before you go to work. Brag to your co-workers that you got BIS and they think you're ccrraazzzyyy!

I also have a story that you all can relate too. Started playing in march of last year kept telling my sister all about the game. She would laugh at me survived breast cancer but tragically my sister died this last July 10 (total shock) this game has totally helped with my grief.

I, too, have a story. I started playing in 2009. Stopped in 2011, came back in 2012, but when a lab I had at the time knocked a jug of water onto my power strip and it fried my computer...I had to stop playing.

Fast forward to February of 2015. Friday the 13th, to be exact. I still had no computer and my service dog, Dewey, the Anatolian Shepherd, died rather suddenly. We knew he was ill, but we didn't know he was that ill. I had him for eleven-and-a-half years and I was, and still am, devistated.

In November of 2015, I got an IPhone as a late BDay present from my dad. Thanks to Apple's wonderful screen reading software, I can use the internet again!!!! I am blind for those who don't know.

February 13th of this year, my other Anatolian Shepherd, Guinness died. So, in March, when I got paid, I decided to join again, as it would give me something other than my six RL dogs, to look forward to and really do every day.

I love watching the improvements my dogs make as they develop. And, it's a great de-stresser after I come home from training my new service dog in training, 14-week-old German Shepherd Dog Wuppet.

You know you're addicted to ShowDog when ...


- You hear a song on the radio and the first thing you think of is a dog on SD with that name :P (Everytime I hear 'One Call Away' I think of the Dachshund 'Gief One Call Away' that I was showing recently) :P

- You constantly think about the game when you're at work or driving home from work :P (OR when you get stuck back late at work all you can think of is 'Gee I could be on SD right now!) :P

- You spend hours talking to someone who you've struck up a friendship with on SD - and yet you've never met them in RL and they live on the other side of the world! (And sometimes you feel more kinship with them than your friends in the same town!) :P

- You still remember AMAZING dogs even YEARS after they had their show career! (I've been on SD for 10 years and I still remember a Ridgeback called 'Destination Unknown' bred by Veld that had an amazing show career back in 2007!!!) :P I always think of him too when the song comes on the radio :P

- You rock up to work having on had 4 hours sleep as you were waiting for pups to be born :P

- You get sooo excited when you win BIS that you tell everyone at work and no one cares :P



The list could go on for yonks! :P :P :P

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posted by Chaos and Havoc
You know you're addicted to ShowDog when ...



- You spend hours talking to someone who you've struck up a friendship with on SD - and yet you've never met them in RL and they live on the other side of the world! (And sometimes you feel more kinship with them than your friends in the same town!) :P

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This

The names that songs...I listen mostly to Country music so naturally I name quite a few of my dogs after songs I have a few favorite dogs and most also happen to be favorite songs too. Lol

Alexandria

I can so relate to the stories here could darn quote most of them

I started in 2006 with my original kennel Shelador which is still active . had just it and a basic for almost a year. added a 2nd then a family fast forward to 2009 10 kennels of my own and was kennel sitting FIFTEEN more for a player who had lost interest in the game but sub was paid for, for 6 more months.
I kept some of the kennels i had been sitting when the sub expired and went up to 15 of my own. I had to stop playing for a while work took me out of town and away from a computer, lost 5 months of progress came back last fall.

I have made quite a few friends here, some who have left the game but we still chat on facebook and I share big win news with them.


fast forward to 2016
I currently have 10 kennels plus a Basic and 3 more I look after for others.

I think post that hit home the most was chatting/forming friendships with a player with multiple kennels using my multiple kennels.

I thought i had met 4 new people in different breeds that I have, turned out same person that I have known for a while just more new kennels

To add a new theme to being addicted:

Adjusting sleep patterns and doing the math to figure out what time it is on the other side of the world so you can have a almost real time chat. I feel closer to more SD friends than friends I can see face to face.

Just want to say thanks everyone for being here, it's more than just a game it's an emotional release on a bad day, it's people to talk with who get the struggles AND love dogs who will talk for hours weather it's about their RL ones or the fakes.
L







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Last edited by London Calling on 4/24/2016 10:08:41 AM

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posted by London Calling


Just want to say thanks everyone for being here, it's more than just a game it's an emotional release on a bad day, it's people to talk with who get the struggles AND love dogs who will talk for hours weather it's about their RL ones or the fakes.
L

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This just sums it up perfectly!

i do really enjoy this game. i started with komondors and aussies, then i decided to split off into a dif kennel, and now i have 4 kennels and enjoy every min of it!

lol! I started playing while I was at uni (more than 10 years ago). Stopped for a while and came back.

It's so good now because i have a salary to play, so somehow the old kennel (which had 4 breeds in it back in the day) is just not big enough ... so now I have 3, and contemplating a 4th.

I'm lucky midnight SD time is around 3pm Aussie time, so I try to check in around 6pm in the evening for all the show results and sessioning.

I knew I was addicted when:
- I had a list of themed names for pups
- I worked out how to use excel to calculate which judges would be best
- I book a holiday and the first thought is booking hotels with wifi, not so I'll be able to check in with family and friends, but so I can check on my puppies.

Hahaa WhiteGold - I love that last point about the Wifi! :P