Her name is River. She will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, and we'll be bringing her home. You can follow her story on Twitter @RiverGSD. It's just getting started. No politics. No religion. No economics. Just tons of pictures and a lifetime of realtime memories (hopefully)!
Real prosperity, baby. That's what I'm talking about. :)
You've got a follower!
ReplyDeleteDon't know if I ever told you we've had two shepherds in the past and look forward to more in the future PLUS we volunteered or a GSD rescue for 15 years. Absolutely love them -- very special animals.
She's a doll, too!
p.s.: Don't know if you saw my comment the other day @ XN, but we moved up from SoCal to the Portland area recently.
I saw that you became a follower and immediately followed you.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! This will be our first German Shepherd. I think she's going to be a fantastic fit for our home. Very sweet.
Tomorrow will be quite the adventure. She's already bigger than our Shih Tzu. D'oh! :)
You're in for a real treat. Shepherds can be scary smart and exceptionally tuned into you. You'll learn as much from her as she does from you.
ReplyDeleteSoooo jealous!
p.s.: I have SO many stories about our last girl Merci. She was absolutely the love of my life outside my wife (which is exactly what my wife says as well).
You know that Christmas Eve feeling when you were a kid? I've got it right now.
ReplyDeletePicking her up in the morning and I will not be getting a good night sleep tonight. I'm very anxious with anticipation. Hahaha!
Um, seriously. :)
Congratulations!!! You brought your new baby home!
ReplyDeleteLooks like she's already getting quite comfortable.
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe had some flea issues, but I could not be happier right now.
She's so sweet and is getting along great with our Shih Tzu! They chased each other all over the backyard and neither wanted to stop playing. :)
BTW, wanted to ask... what interested you in a shepherd? I'm biased, of course, but curious as to your attraction.
ReplyDelete1. I was very attached to one in my youth. Literally. 78 stitches to the face. Lucky it didn't kill me. It's the owners I've always blamed though, not the breed. Want to do something nice for the breed to offset that. Would like to do the good citizen dog training. Not sure I have it in me. Time will tell.
ReplyDelete2. I really like loyal and smart.
3. The ears. The head tilt. Enough said. :)
4. When I drive to the gym, sometimes I see a German Shepherd that has a wheelchair for its back legs. What a loyal owner!
5. Want an even bigger dog as a hiking buddy.
6. More dog to hug. :)
Can has no anti-felinism!
ReplyDeleteCan has some anti-flea-ism though. :)
Fascinating! In our case it was my brother who had to have his face stitched.
ReplyDeleteFormal training isn't necessary, just lots of love, time & socialization, although courses are great opportunities for all of that as well.
p.s.: There is NOTHING like having a big dog to hug!!!
7. A few years ago, I was taking a walk around my neighborhood at 2am. An unmarked van approached me on a dark side street. I got a bit nervous. I think you can see where this is going.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe you can't. I walked over to the driver. He had lost his German Shepherd and was out looking for it. Said I hadn't seen it. He gave me a business card in case I did see it.
I walked home, then got in my car. I immediately drove 2 miles away to the local ice rink. I figured that's where I would go if I was a dog, where people hang out late at night.
In the parking lot, I saw two people talking with a friendly German Shepherd by their side. I parked and walked up to them. Now they were nervous. I asked if it was their dog. It wasn't. They asked me if it was my dog. I said it wasn't. I asked them to call the owner on the business card. They asked me who it was. I said I didn't really know. Just met him about 5 minutes ago. Asked why I wouldn't call. I didn't have a mobile phone. They seemed very suspicious of my story, but I talked them into calling anyway.
A few minutes later that van shows up. Driver was very surprised to see me. Last time he saw me I was walking in the opposite direction. Wanted to know how I found the dog, and how I found it so fast. Hahaha! Was SO thankful!!
I was just as thankful to be able to help. Made my whole year! Had a permagrin for a week. Found the needle in the haystack. Racked up some good karma points. It was a great night! :)
Awesome story... and those tweeted photos & videos are SO cute.
ReplyDeleteWe're about ready to jump in the truck and come visit!
I'll just have to keep tweeting pictures until you do. :)
ReplyDeleteJust introduced River's twitter feed to everyone at the office and they're all in love with her. Although I don't personally do InstaGram one mentioned that River could easily attract enough followers to get paid. ;-)
ReplyDeleteNice! Well, I might be a bit biased but I'm not going to disagree about River's appeal. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the sneaker chase.
ReplyDeleteThe sneaker chase was incredibly difficult to capture. I had to wait all of 30 seconds for her to come to me, notice them, take one, then run.
ReplyDeleteJust like the financial crisis, there was absolutely no way to predict that 25-sigma event!
I swear it had never happened before in exactly the same way! ;)
8. Angie Tribeca: Detective Hoffman :)
ReplyDeleteNo doubt about it... a few days in and you're a goner. Totally smitten.
ReplyDeleteMy wife was saying the pics were hitting too close to home. I was okay until the head-in-your-neck shot, but that really nailed me. Miss my baby-girl.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. Every now and then River will do something Honey used to do, and I just about lose it. Miss my baby-girl too.
ReplyDeleteMerci had floppy ears her entire life -- we loved them, so expressive.
ReplyDeleteWe're not sure what her final colors will be. Not sure if her ears will pop up. Won't matter. :)
ReplyDeleteBTW... shepherds really don't like any kind of barriers.
ReplyDeleteThey're truly different than other dogs. It's their job -- and I mean JOB -- to keep an eye on you. They can't do that if there's anything between you & them, and that can cause stress. Once she grows a bit then the job extends to your property as well. ;-)
[It's not separation anxiety -- that comes from over-dependence. We can chat about that another time.]
I'll shut up now.
It was amazing to see her climb our baby gate, straddling it at the top. Very agile and brave. She then did it two more times in a row to prove to us it wasn't a fluke. D'oh! :)
ReplyDeleteUnlike a lot of intelligent dogs, shepherds are also problem solvers.
ReplyDeletep.s.: Really want to learn about that little wonder of yours?
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=new+skete
My problem is that I miss our labrador. Made me unhappy. I still miss that dog but I'm no longer unhappy. In fact, I'm very happy. Problem solved! :)
ReplyDelete