redman Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 All this war talk gets tiring. So I thought I'd share with you the fact that at long last, I've brought my puppy home. She's a 9-week old GSD, and is primarily black with tan paws and some very small tan streaks around her face and neck. She's very healthy and big - more than 20 pounds already. And she has huge paws, which means that there's plenty more growing to do. We changed our minds on the name, and are calling her Molly instead of Gretchen. We figured it's a better pet name for a dog. And she looks more like a Molly than a Gretchen. It's funny because the day we brought her home - Saturday - was the same day that we had one of the hardest rains of the year in SoCal, actually largest in a single day in history in some parts of L.A. including downtown. So my wife go to experience the whole wet dog experience on Day 1. :laugh: Of course, that also meant that I had to patiently coax her to pee and poop outside in the pouring rain . . . without the umbrella which was spooking her. But she's already learning to relieve herself when we bring her outside, and of course we're congratulating her and playing with her afterwards to reinforce it. She rode home in the car on my lap, on the towell we'd left with the litter the week before (thanks to tommy-the-greek for that recommendation) and I saw her smelling it from time to time which seemed to calm her down. She's basically been glued to me ever since, and has bonded with me the most. Wherever I go, if I stand still for a short period of time, she ends up lying on one of my feet. My wife is jokingly jealous, and says I should have let her hold her on her lap on the trip home. I'm also glad that, while a bit tentative and out of sorts in general, she hasn't panicked at all and has been very inquisitive both inside the house and out in the yard. We've even left her alone (within our sight) for short periods and she's done fine. On Saturday night, I slept with her out in the family room which has a hardwood floor) because she wasn't comfortable enough in her crate. She was fine sleeping next to the couch I was on, especially when I draped my hand down to the floor. She simply wrapped her head and neck around my wrist and went to sleep. The only interruptions where when I heard her peeing on the floor at 2 a.m., and at 6 a.m. when the early light awakened her. Last night, with some mild protest we got her to sleep in our bedroom in her crate. That was fine, but I've been up since just before 4 a.m. and I'm tired because her bladder fills far faster than I am able to get sufficient sleep. Anyway, my wife and I left for work today, which means this is the first time she'll be alone during the day. I put her in our bathroom with her crate in one doorway and a gate in the other doorway facing out into the family room where we've kept her most of the time. My mother-in-law is over at the house today to give her company, and I gave her a pig's ear to gnaw on. However as I was leaving the house (last one out) this morning I could hear her starting to howl. It's enough to make me want to take a sick day. Anyway, I'm tired and constantly thinking about her and very happy to have a dog in the house again! Yeah, I'm a big kid when it comes to these things. I'll see if I can get some pics scanned and I'll post them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Hey Redman... awesome recount. Thoroughly enjoy it.... and congrats on the new pet. I had some interest in the post... because my wife and I will be bringing our new puppy home on Saturday April 5th. We're getting an English-style (ie. light blonde as opposed to orangy) Golden Retriever. We've already decided to name her Abby. We're going about things right this time... as we've researched the top Breeders in Canada and made an educated decision of breeder and dog pedigree. It was difficult waiting to take in all the information and make the right choice... especially when you saw all the puppies and wanted to take one home with you. But we knew we wanted to do it right this time. We previously owned a Golden Retriever we bought from a kennel.... but at the time we were both college students and we purchased a puppy from the first kennel we visited... and we chose it because it had the lowest price (ie. $600). Jenny was a great dog as she got older. Damn near perfect... with the exception that she was hyperactive around strangers. Even I had difficulty when we went for walks and passed by strangers or other dogs. She was harmless.... but she was convinced EVERYBODY needed to see her and love... and she wasn't going to let her owners deprive them of that privilege. My wife, however, is a diminutive 5'1" and 98 lbs. Don't tell her I told you that. There was absolutely no way she could control her on a leash when Jenny wanted to greet people. So I was essentially the primary caretaker... which was fine with me. There was no doubt Jenny favored me. And the wife would openly admit it made her jealous. But I could play and wrestle with her like Beth couldn't... so it only made sense. Jenny knew all the tricks... and she learned them relatively early and quick. But she was a bit of a destructive dog.. and she had a hankering for anything wood. Teeth marks all over our kitchen table... and she actually started eating a hole in our friggin back door!! When we lived at my wife's parents house for a few months out in the country... she was chained to her parent's porch while we were both at work. The damn dog chewed and demolished all the rails on the porch - they just got around to replacing them this year :laugh: But when she was in our company... we couldn't have asked for a better dog. She was such a good dog when we packed our Honda Civic with all our belongings and drove across the country to Calgary, Alberta. Unfortunately, unbenownest to us, there was a housing shortage in Calgary... and the landlords dictated the rules.... which always included "no pets" and usually "no children". We eventually gave her up to a loving family with a house and fenced in backyard. And we still think about her to this day. So now that we've finally established ourselves with our own house and backyard... and with spring just around the corner... we decided it was a good time to replace Jenny. And we can't wait. We gave our deposit about 4 weeks ago.. and just visited the pups last weekend. It was hard not to leave with 1. 3 more weeks now. I took a week of my vacation time to break her in... but really just so that I become her favorite I look forward to seeing your pics. I'll post mine as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Great post Redman... I'm a huge dog lover... In many cases, dogs are better than people... It reminds me of a story I saw on the internet one time: A long time ago, God was creating all of the Earth's animals and giving them names... He named the lions, then the elphants, the zebras, cats, fish and so on... finally, there was one animal left, this particular animal had stayed by God's side during the entire process and never left him.. this animal finally looked up to God and asked.. "Now that all the other animals have a name, will I get one?" And God replied " I saved you for last because you are my most loyal and loving animal, for you, I have taken my name and turned it backwards.. you will be known as Dog". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchogs Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 very cool story code! i like it! our dog is coming along swimmingly. the only issue is that my wife is not as forceful in her reprimands as i am. it take one bark of "NO" from me for Obi to stop doing whatever it is that he's doing, but my wife has to repeat it over and over. it seems to be purely a dominance thing. i'm the alpha, no doubt, but after that the ranks get a bit confused. Obi, with some very preliminary work, will sit, basically heel, and lie down (with a bit of help) for me. only a rare accident in the house, which are mainly because Obi will just sit at our back door waiting for someone to let him out. doesn't whine or bark to let us know, so we have to keep a watchful eye. luckily, getting the dog has added enough chaos to my wife's daily life that she's stopped talking about having a third kid. EDIT: sorry to be so self centered! Congrats RED! Enjoy Molly! There's nothing like coming home to a dog or looking into his/her eyes during a quite moment on the floor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Originally posted by dchogs very cool story code! i like it! our dog is coming along swimmingly. the only issue is that my wife is not as forceful in her reprimands as i am. it take one bark of "NO" from me for Obi to stop doing whatever it is that he's doing, but my wife has to repeat it over and over. it seems to be purely a dominance thing. i'm the alpha, no doubt, but after that the ranks get a bit confused. Obi, with some very preliminary work, will sit, basically heel, and lie down (with a bit of help) for me. only a rare accident in the house, which are mainly because Obi will just sit at our back door waiting for someone to let him out. doesn't whine or bark to let us know, so we have to keep a watchful eye. luckily, getting the dog has added enough chaos to my wife's daily life that she's stopped talking about having a third kid. EDIT: sorry to be so self centered! Congrats RED! Enjoy Molly! There's nothing like coming home to a dog or looking into his/her eyes during a quite moment on the floor! Obi?? is that a Star Wars referance??? My two dogs Cody and Murphy also have star wars nicknames... Obi Wan Cody and Darth Annoying. Murph is black and white and has a lot of puppy still in him... Dogs are our children... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchogs Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 yep, it's star wars. he's only obi wan when he's bad :laugh: . i pushed for redskin names, but the family compromised on starwars. chewy was in the running too, but we didn't want to subliminally steer the dog into ruining our stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Originally posted by dchogs yep, it's star wars. he's only obi wan when he's bad :laugh: . i pushed for redskin names, but the family compromised on starwars. chewy was in the running too, but we didn't want to subliminally steer the dog into ruining our stuff. :laugh: :laugh: That's cool... Our next Springer Spaniel will be brown and we already picked out Chewbacca as the name... Chewie for short obviously... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Thanks guys for the congrats. She's doing great! Yesterday morning, my mother-in-law arrived 2.5 hours after I left and Molly was quiet and hadn't made a mess in the bathroom. She didn't make a mess all day in fact. She seems to be very smart and has already picked up that when we let her out we expect her to relieve herself, which she usually does within the first couple of minutes. It has of course helped that we don't try to make her wait more than 60-90 minutes before taking her back outside when we're there. She did so well without my wife or me being there yesterday that we today have left her outside; my mother-in-law will stop by again, but later in the day and will stay for less time. As I left today she protested briefly (<5 mins) before beginning to wander about the yard. I ran two errands before work and then came quietly back to see her lying quietly. I will say though that she's a handful in one respect: she loves to get her nose into everything, everything! We have a good-sized ficus in our family room in a large pot, and that dog just loves to stick her nose in it and to chew on the leaves that have fallen on the floor or into the dirt. She doesn't eat them which is fortunate because I believe they're toxic in some way, but she picks them up in her mouth. Every other plant too grabs her attention. But as I've read, that inquisitiveness is classically what you get with GSD's, and it's a good sign that she's adjusting well enough to wander around our house and yard away from us to check things out. I have yet to see her be any more than briefly alarmed by something before she goes back about her business. Anyway, I'm enjoying her immensely. And Die Hard, the waiting is the hardest part, isn't it! I too have had a golden retriever. They are great, intensely affectionate, gentle, loving dogs. I had to put mine down around 2.5 years ago at 14 years of age because of very painful arthritic hips. He was living with my parents at the time, but we'd gotten him when I was still at home. I still miss him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&G Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Thanks for sharing, Redman..great story! Why Dogs are better than Women Dogs love it when your friends come over. Dogs don't care if you use their shampoo. Dogs think you sing great. Dogs don't expect you to call when you are running late. The later your are, the more excited dogs are to see you. Dogs will forgive you for playing with other dogs. Dogs love red meat. Dogs can appreciate excessive body hair. Anyone can get a good looking dog. If a dog is gorgeous, other dogs don't hate it. Dogs like it when you leave lots of things on the floor. Dogs understand that instincts are better than asking instructions. Dogs like beer. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across. Dogs don't want to know about every other dog you've had. A dog had rather you buy them a hamburger than a lobster dinner. You never have to wait for a dog. They're ready to go twenty-four hours a day. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Dogs are the best! I personally am a Labrador retriever man. Two females, one chocolate and one yellow. They are the sweetest dogs, and are wonderful with my three kids. To share a story, my daughter was out on the swing set playing, while I was laid up after foot surgery. to make a long story short, I got a call from the local township building asking if I had a yellow lab. Of course I answered yes. They told me that the water man had come by to read the meter, and that my dog wouldn't let him into the yard. I had to do a double take and ask the woman if she was sure that she had the right address. To my amazement, she did. She was very understanding in the fact that my daughter was outside, and said that they would be by the next day and that if we would make sure that the dog was inside. I stared at this dog completely baffled. This, the dog that would never do more than harass a few squirells in the backyard :laugh: would protect my child like that. :notworthy There is a reason my parents made sure that there was one of these dogs in our house for all of the years that I lived with them. And why I will always have at least one in my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Great story, rdsknbill! It's amazing how with relatively little effort beyond the basic needs of life, you can instill in dogs a willingness to risk life and limb to protect your family. They truly are great companions and friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Redman, i saw this older fellow driving a beat up old pick up with a hound hanging out of the window. On the back of the truck there was a bumper sticker that read "God, please help me to be the person my dog thinks I am" I almost wrecked my own truck laughing so hard! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Amen to that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy-the-Greek Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Redman, I just saw this thread. Congrats buddy. Female GSD's have a tendacy to bond with the dominate male in the house. The unconditional love of a dog is something noone should go thru life without. I wish you all the best with the puppy. Now about the peeing 2x a night. You have to limit the water the puppy gets between 6pm and 12pm. You should put about 8-12 ounces of water in a bowl around 6pm or when you feed her when you get home from work. If she doesn't drink it all by 8-9 pm take it away from her till the morning. I would take her out an hour or so after she eats and drinks and again when you remove the water. Try that. She might make it till morning without incident. As she grows and her bladder gets bigger she can hold it for 8 hours no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy-the-Greek Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Redman, As she gets older you will notice that she will start to get her light markings growing in. Her rear haunches and front neck area and her shoulders will lighten up alot. Take some pics now so you can compare them later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy-the-Greek Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Another thing, As she gets older, she will learn the sound of your car. She will be at the front door or at a front window when you pull up to the house. My wife says the dogs know I am comming home about a minute or so before I open the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted March 19, 2003 Author Share Posted March 19, 2003 Originally posted by tommy-the-greek Another thing, As she gets older, she will learn the sound of your car. She will be at the front door or at a front window when you pull up to the house. My wife says the dogs know I am comming home about a minute or so before I open the door. Yeah, every other dog I've had has done that too. They're amazing that way. In that regard, I saw a very remarkable show on dogs on (I believe) the Discovery Channel once. They showed a little dog, perhaps a Jack Russell, in England along with it's master, a woman. The woman's dog was always at the door waiting for her when she got home. As part of an experiment, the woman was told to go into town and to wait until she got a telephone call (from another location) to return home. She didn't know when the call would come, and they had a camera following her the entire time and a camera on the dog. At the precise moment that she received the call was miles away from the dog and began to maker her way back, the dog got up from where it had been sleeping all dayand went to wait by the door for her, and it remained there for her. Amazing. They also showed dogs that have been trained to sense when seizures are coming on in epileptic patients, so that they press themselves into those patients signalling that they should lie down to avoid injury. The dog gets as much as a 1 minute warning, which gives the patient time enough to get down in a safe location. And finally they showed dogs trained to sniff out certain types of cancer like melanoma. The advantage is that it's a lot less traumatizing for patients to have a friendly dog sniffing them than, for example getting MRI's or undergoing other types of radiological testing. Again, dogs are absolutely amazing companions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchogs Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 wow, that is amazing. dogs are amazing. red, i echo what tommy said (or mrs greek?) about the water before bed thing. no food and little water after 6pm works wonders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Mine know the sound of my car and my wifes.. they know before we come around the corner... they also love to swim. We go on my dads boat alot in the summer, my younger one goes nuts.. he loves jumping off the boat into the water, then up the ski ladder and back in.. he has also been tubing with me.. he couldn't stop his tail from waggin... I had to hold him though, he would have jumped off the tube going 25 mph... that couldn't be good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 My two labs know the sound of the kids school bus. They go nuts when they here the brakes! :laugh: :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted April 11, 2003 Author Share Posted April 11, 2003 At long last, here are a few pictures of our baby! Molly's a doll . . . and a handful! Both my wife and I have the scars and cuts to show for it! She loves to bite when she's worked up, but she's a sweetheart! EDIT- Well, that didnt' work! I'll try again below . . . :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted April 11, 2003 Author Share Posted April 11, 2003 Try #2 . . . EDIT - OK, I'm an idiot! It's a bmp file, and if it was too big, I'd expect that I'd get the automatic warning from the board. What what gives? Can I email this to someone for some help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Redman, If you email it to me I will gladly try to help. cochsenfeld@cox.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKurp Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 How big we talkin here Redman. If it's over 2 meg my Exchange server won't let it pass. Otherwise send it to me: richard.n.kurpiers@lmco.com (that's an "L" for lmco). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soliloquy Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 I recommend Irfanview as a graphic file viewer and converter. It's free and works very well. Anyway, hurry up and get that pic posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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