Geyser!

[leih merigian]

So, this is Geyser's 5th day here in her new home. As both Asheley and Heather said, she is very sweet. I am not used to that (my GSD was definitely not sweet as a pup ), but I like it a lot.

She is very cute, and very smart. By yesterday she had her pee and poop cues down! She is very strong environmentally, tho we seem to have some work to do on the social side. So far, that's proceding well (my spousal unit keeps reminding me she's only been here "x" days , and of course, he's right).

We've been working on engagement a lot, and have started on "go to rug," and Crate Games. She catches on quickly to whatever I introduce to her. Even staying on this fake lamb rug during the evening while enjoying a chewey...after one session of the rug command (without having even introduced a cue yet), she understands to keep her treat on the rug with her, and it's just the cutest thing to watch (and, I'm using a towel in training, so it's not like it's even the same rug). This afternoon, I went to take her out on the front porch with the chew thing for a little while, and as we passed the front room, where she usually has her chew treat, she went looking for the rug (which had been taken up for training). Just a smart little bugger!

I am quite overwhelmed, tho...it's been a very long time since I raised a pup and as everyone knows, it's very demanding. I"m also a total gimp, so everything gets magnified in this regard. I've not been online at all, and it'll probably be a while before I get my rhythm going so that I am doing so again with much regularity.

Pictures...well, I have a new/used camera which I can sort of operate...and she's very difficult to take pictures of...so right now, I only have one. I will try to upload it (I have no idea how to do this, and couldn't find any directions in the FAQx ).

I promise pics in the future...soon as I can find time to figure it all out


let's see if that worked...

OK, screw it. I just resized the darn picture and I still can't seem to make it work. I'll try again sometime :fluffy:

[icvanstra]

(my spousal unit keeps reminding me she's only been here "x" days , and of course, he's right).

relax....

Personally, not something I do very well... but ... relax.

[vneerland]

That''s just WRONG Leih! Promising us (by location of post) that we'd get to meet your new first (??) brindle and then we don't?
Take it easy with your goals. Go with the flow. Most things are not messed up overnight, or done right overnight either.
I just survived another pup and as they begin to really become depedable, I start to remember all the funny (in hindsights) challenges that we had to overcome. Like stealing everthing that was not nailed down and bringing it to me, or leaping tall furniture. At the time it happens, I pull my hair out. Then afterwards, it becomes a sweet memory, and just another pup, doing much of the same stuff as the one before it. There are times when I wished my 'babies' were easier to be around. But they probably have to be pests, in order to become good working adults? That's what I tell myself anyway, to get me past the stages where I think about assisted suicide.
Long winded way of saying that some owner anxiety is probalby a normal phenomenon.
So go ahead. Live dangerously and show us a pic.

[leih merigian]

Eric and Judith...you're both right, of course. Deep breaths and not getting too wound up are the right way to go. Alas, I am a very excitable person by nature, so it's a good challenge .

I am not wishing her puppy days away, either...but I'm definitely challenged by them.

She was fanstastic at the vet this morning, and no excitement dribbles at all, so I was very pleased.

One of the clerks asked me if I knew what kind of mix she is . I expect to get a lot of that. I've already had dog "experts" tell me how the coat will change and the face mask will go away.

Off to rest up a bit for the next round!

[vneerland]

One of the clerks asked me if I knew what kind of mix she is . I expect to get a lot of that. I've already had dog "experts" tell me how the coat will change and the face mask will go away.

Welcome to the "what kind o' dawg is dat" club. I have grown soooo tired of that, that I don't always answer truthfully anymore. I do a quick acessment of the person who is asking. If I think they have the ability to retain information, I might tell the truth. Otherwise, I may have a good time with various wild options.
I stopped taking my answers too seriously when someone asked, me, I answered truthfully and their response to that was "I used to breed those". (so that might have been why they asked me what it was first?)

And of course, the 'color experts' are right. Dogs are born with a certain allele on a locus, only to change what has genetically been given to them as they are getting older........... I see that rednecks are rampant in VA as well.

Now. Where are our pictures?

[leih merigian]

I stopped taking my answers too seriously when someone asked, me, I answered truthfully and their response to that was "I used to breed those". (so that might have been why they asked me what it was first?)

I see that rednecks are rampant in VA as well.

Now. Where are our pictures?

Oh, you crack me up! Puppies definitely bring out all the dog experts and training experts in the world (and yes, we have tons of rednecks here )

OK, let's try the picture thing again...she's really hard to take shots of, as she jumps/dives up at the camera/my face



Let's see if this worked (her ears are trying to go up...this morning, the right one was up on and off, and both of them if she was attending to something...won't be long now, I"m sure

[leih merigian]

Oh, I am so excited! I actually uploaded a picture!

The hassle is how long it takes to resize them on photobucket, but at least I can do it now.

soon, I've gotta figure out the video camera I got last year in anticipation of this event

then, I'll have to try uploading a video (first gotta figure out how to take them, and download them to my computer )

She cracked me up this evening...I'd put her up in her kennel after dinner for a rest, and will get her out later to chill with us in the living room for as long as she can do that. She'll be on her rug with a treat.

When I put her up, I didn't latch the door right. I left the room. Dan calls me into the living room...she'd escaped her captivity and made a bee line for the rug, since he'd turned the TV on and was in The Chair .

Reminds me of Christie's story about her G doggie heading home and reading the books on her own...

[vneerland]

Oh my goodness. Nice looking baby and what a precious expression!

[Christie M]

When I put her up, I didn't latch the door right. I left the room. Dan calls me into the living room...she'd escaped her captivity and made a bee line for the rug, since he'd turned the TV on and was in The Chair .

Reminds me of Christie's story about her G doggie heading home and reading the books on her own...

I'm telling you Leih - Ninja is the only appropriate word for them. Baby gates meant nothing from the day Geisha walked in. It took a bit of learning for her to consider them a boundary and not just an obstacle.

I was mildly amused when she would scale it to get into the room I was in. However, I was surprised when she climbed out of the room I was in to quickly push open the feed room door and try to eat Dante's $80/bag kidney diet. SMART, SMART, SMART. And I love every minute of it. I've had lots of Dutch and mals - of all ages in the last 10 years. Not nearly as many as some.....but she is the best pup I've been around since Willow. I agree with Judith when talking of her independent dogs. That smartness, confidence and independent working ability goes a long way on the competition field. I can't wait!!!

[leih merigian]

SMART, SMART, SMART. And I love every minute of it. I've had lots of Dutch and mals - of all ages in the last 10 years. Not nearly as many as some.....but she is the best pup I've been around since Willow. I agree with Judith when talking of her independent dogs. That smartness, confidence and independent working ability goes a long way on the competition field. I can't wait!!!

I am so glad you are so happy with Geisha! Smart is right.

Fortunado for me, Geyser isn't climbing over the baby gate, but she is chewing at the bottom of it. I just ignore and try to redirect. We won't be doing protection work, so I'm probably more into manners than most of you guys would be.

[leih merigian]

Here's a picture of a sleeping puppy...while the vacuume was running in the background pretty close to her Xpen



Also, I just have to brag a little bit.

The way things work now, I can walk up to the Xpen and put my hand on the door handle. She'll sit, and wait for me to put on her leash (even if I have to enter because she's too far inside). Then I'll leave the pen and she'll wait until I give her the release, then she'll come on out. yay! Same thing with her kennel, tho I have to remind her a bit more about not leaving until released in a crate, for some reason.

And boy, does she love ice cubes! Unlike my other puppy who crunched them (not so great for the teeth), Geyser licks them until they're tiny, then crunches the little slivers. I give them to her in the evening, after I've cut off the water.

So, I was filling my own water mug today, and reached in for some ice, and turned around, and there she was, sitting at attention with very bright eyes!, clearly interested in obtaining a cube for herself . I was quite happy to reward that kind of attention

[leih merigian]

Here's a relatively new picture of Geyser, taken in the early morning, so it's dark.



I don't think I've told you guys the diamond earring story...

The first or second full day she was here, I had her outside and was bending over to her, and she reached up and bit my ear, and pulled my earring out. It was a diamond earring that I've worn forever, and has a great deal of personal significance, as it had belonged to my grandmother.

At first, I worried that she may have swallowed it, but didn't think so. Could I find it? No.

Asheley suggested using a metal detector, so we bought one (you can't rent them, apparently). A few days later, my spousal unit and I got out there in the very hot sun and tried to find it with the detector. It turned out to be pretty worthless, but we combed the grass and brown stuff for a long time. Near the end, I happened to look down to my left, saw something kind of gold (they're on gold wires) and reached down to it and Voila!, my earring!

I was so happy!

We were able to return the detector and get our money back , and of course, I am not wearing any earrings right now and won't until she's past this stage.

The little darling... (Actually, given the happy ending, it's pretty funny to me now )

[k9katet]

Isn't it amazing how much they've grown and changed already?

[Marjolein]

oooh, just discovered the pics! Nice looking dog! I would say it has `van Leeuwen` blood in it according to the head, but I´m probabely wrong? Anyway, good luck with the little " hyena-wolf mix"

[leih merigian]

Isn't it amazing how much they've grown and changed already?

It is! She was so much smaller when I picked her up at the airport just two weeks ago.

She has also learned so much already...I love how smart she is.

I don't have any positions on cue yet, as I like to wait until I really love the behavior before naming it, but we do have to sit before going in/out a door/crate/Xpen.

Today, she had her first trip to the recycle center, which went great. Then, we stopped by a friend of mine's dog/cat/horse store. There were a bunch of ladies in there, and I told them all to ignore her when we first came in. They listented and did, so she was great and no dribbles . Anyway, before we entered the store (she'd never been there or seen that kind of glass swing door), and as we left, I stopped and put my hand on the door handle and paused and looked at her, and she sat and waited for her release. Good girl! (The nice thing about her still being a baby is that when either of us doesn't have the patience for this stuff, I can still just pick her up and carry her out )

[leih merigian]

oooh, just discovered the pics! Nice looking dog! I would say it has `van Leeuwen` blood in it according to the head, but I´m probabely wrong? Anyway, good luck with the little " hyena-wolf mix"

I don't know about those van Leeuwen lines...her pedigree is only 3 generations, and that kennel doesn't show up in them. Not sure about what's behind them...

[leih merigian]

Today's funny story...

I've puppy proofed as much as possible around the house, of course.

One thing I forgot was this connector that goes from the phone jack to the phone. It's been attracting her for days now. (It's a filter for the DSL line, something like that.)

She doesn't hear "no" very much, but the occasional loud clap or percussive sound is issued if I need to stop her from doing something.

Yesterday, she decided this little connector thing was just too attractive to pass up. She started to go to that end of the kitchen, and she'd start to mess with it. She'd stop when I made the right noise, and I'd go distract her, but that only makes it more attractive.

So, today, she's in the kitchen with me, and she makes this little attention getting noise, she's over by this connector thing, lying on the floor, looking at me. So, I turned and watched her, and she deliberately went for the thing. I barked an noise at her, she stopped, and I went over there... she turned onto her back and presented her tummy and wagged her tail, the little scamp.

Got some more cord protector stuff and moved the little phone stand in front of the connector thing, but that leaves another line that goes to the electrical outlet exposed (which is what I covered with the cord protector). I'm sure she'll go for that tomorrow .

She really seems to have a sense of humor...

[leih merigian]

So, here is the follow up to that story...

This morning, Geyser was wandering around the kitchen, and suddenly, she laid down near the place where the cord goes to the phone. This is the one I wrapped with that black cord protector stuff. It snakes across the wall about 18" up from the floor for about two feet.

She must have thought it was a snake . She crouched and barked at it. (She is not much of a barker, so far, so this was pretty significant.) I just laughed. After a bit, she got up and went up to investigate it (good girl!), and then of course, she started to mouth it. Stopped that, then moved on to other things.

I guess it's time to try some Bitter Apple. My GSD wasn't the least bit phased by that stuff, but it's worth a try.

At ten weeks today, she weighs 17.5 lbs. That baby puppy smell seems to be gone already .

[leih merigian]

We finally got a rain day today. It's actually cool, too, with highs expected to be only in the 70s (thank Galaxy!).

I've been waiting for rain to see Geyser's reaction. She doesn't like it (yet). When I took her out first thing this morning, she peed pretty quickly, but then, tried to hide next to my legs, and then, under this evergreen tree-bush thing right by our back door. She likes to dig under that bush thing , and this morning she wanted to get under the dry safety of that thing and also, well as long as I'm under here, I might as well dig (the little scamp).

About 20 minutes after her breakfast, she asked to go out (she doesn't have a real signal yet, but she lets me know by making a little noise and sitting at the door of her Xpen), so I took her out, and it was still raining. This is where the elimination cues come in so handy! She peed right off, and it didn't take but several minutes for me to get her to poop (yay!...man, puppy people and poop ).

She was fine tugging in the rain, but as she'd eaten pretty recently, I didn't want to overdo that. We'll do more later today (hope I have more rain to do it in). I'm aiming for she's fine in the rain as long as she's having some fun.

Then, of course, the drying off fun! I have taken to using two towels, so she can mess with one while I try to dry her with the other. Whichever towel I'm using becomes the one she wants to bite, so it's kind of like musical towels, but I get the job done .

I remember when my GSD was this age and was a similar PITA about getting dried off, especially her feet. I'd watch my mom's sheltie offer one foot after the other to be dried, and think, "I'll never have that!" Of course, I was wrong; in time, Zodi was fine about getting dried off, tho she would sometimes whine about it .

So, I expect that in time, drying feet and body will become second hand to Geyser, and so we just go thru this two towel thing for now.

(Do you guys want to hear this stuff? I've had no comments about the last few posts, and I sure don't want to bore people...)

[vneerland]

My brindles melt when it rains. Or so they say. Even the ones that were born and lived in rainsoaked Holland, will turn around when it's raining outside, heading straight back to shelter. They get over it fast when I go out in it too, but they act a lot like we do. Fine once wet, but initially hesitant about wanting to get there.

I do enjoy your posts Leih. Sorry that I missed acknowledging some, but please do keep us posted. A lot of it is all to familiar and funny for that reason.