Gidget, Lars and Pinkie have all been in puppy school together. They are in Jim's Friday night class and it has been alot of fun. When Andrew came home earlier this month for my birthday, Dexter joined us in class too! Also, Curtis, Jake, Andrew and I took Harley, Holly, Lars, Pinkie and Dexter to the Dublin Pub for lunch one afternoon. They all did very well (the guys as well as the puppies ...). We also took all five dogs hiking in Sunol Regional Park. They are all doing really well!
We took the big plunge, and yes ... Harley is now neutered. I really didn't want to do this, but in the interests of Harley getting along with all of the puppies, I thought it was best. Next up is Holly -- she will be spayed in the next couple of weeks.
When Andrew first showed up with Dexter, Harley and Holly were not very accepting. Harley spent most of the weekend wearing the shock collar. But I was very pleased that by Sunday, both Holly and Harley were able to be around Dexter with minimal supervision. When Andrew comes home for Christmas, things should go fairly smoothly.
I am also pleased with the great job Andrew and Tanya have been doing with Dexter. He has really bonded with them. He is well house-trained (thanks to me :) ), is quite obedient, loves to play, and is very loving. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, he is smart and beautiful. Things seem to be going well in San Diego!
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| Andrew and Dexter come home for my birthday, and we wear the puppies out. Here, a worn-out but happy Dexter asleep at the water trough. |
The really big news is that Pinkie went to her new home on October 8. This was so hard for me as Pinkie and I are quite attached to one another. With four dogs in the house, and since she is high maintenance, she just wasn't getting the attention she truly needed. (Pinkie needs a really strong owner who can remind her constantly of who the boss is.) Pinkie is now Jade, and she resides in Mountain House with her new owners, Cathy, Francisco, and Danika. Here are some pictures Jim took at Jade's new home:
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| Jade (aka Pinkie) at her new home with Cathy and Danika. |
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| Francisco with Jade |
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| Our beautiful Pinkie ( Jade) at her new home in Mountain House. |
I was very pleased to see how well Jade was doing with Francisco in puppy class last Friday evening. Jade has bonded with her new family, and she seems calmer. She also is quite obedient with Francisco. I am very grateful to Jim for finding such a wonderful home for Jade. She is so beautiful (and smart!), and I hope she brings them great joy and happiness. I am looking forward to seeing how she is doing next Friday!
And now for Lars. I have been in anguish over Lars' ears. When we went for the third set of puppy shots on October 2, I talked to the vet about Lars' ears, as they were not standing up. We discussed taping his ears up. (They use the correct size of curler, insert it in the ear, and tape around it. This keeps them straight up while the cartilage forms.). Then -- two days later, Lars' left ear started to go up. By my birthday, his left ear was definitely up, but his right ear was still floppy and down.
So -- then I began to worry that one ear would be up and one would be down permanently. And -- last Monday evening his right ear was still down when I came home from work. However, while we were out walking, I noticed that the gentle breeze blowing was holding his ear up, and I began to hope again that his ears would go up. Lo and behold, I came home from work Tuesday night and both ears were up!!! He looks so noble and kingly. The reason his ears took longer to go up than all of the other puppies' ears is because he is so big. Lars weighs in at 48 lbs at 4 months of age. The vet thinks Lars will be a 120 lb. GSD!
Here is my gorgeous Lars at four months of age:
To put Lars' size in perspective, here is a picture of him with his Mommy and Daddy:
Here is my gorgeous Lars at four months of age:
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| Lars is now four months old -- and his ears finally go up! |
To put Lars' size in perspective, here is a picture of him with his Mommy and Daddy:
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| Baby Lars with his Mommy and Daddy. As you can see, he is just about the same size as Mommy Holly. It won't be long before he is bigger than Daddy Harley! |
Jake is planning to take Lars to Cal Poly SLO with him on November 6. Oh my -- that is going to be a hard one for me. But Jake is very excited about having Lars, and I know he will love him googols.
So -- I have a few more weeks of puppy time, and then we will be puppy-less. That makes me so sad, as I have loved every moment of our puppy experience. I think I would really love to be a GSD breeder, but there isn't much money in that. Puppies are expensive little heartthrobs. I think I will have to settle for doing this again, but now that Harley is neutered, I am not sure how to make that happen ...
In two weeks we are having a Halloween puppy party, costumes and all. So stay tuned for the update!
