Almost Christmas Time

The big boy is currently weighing in at 73lbs. He's learned almost all the exercises he needs to pass his BH this spring, and we're back to working on tracking. This weekend I have a meeting with the local Search and Rescue group to see about getting involved with them.

We're currently enjoying the dubious pleasure of his teenage years... but even so, he continues to be an incredibly intelligent and sweet dog. Even when he's deaf as a post.

Happy Halloween!

From Ruff and Shakespeare!

Birthday Fun!

Happy Birthday Ruff!!!

Almost There!!

Ruff will be 1 year old on Saturday!! I can't believe it went so fast.

In celebration of his birthday, Ruff saw fit to pass his AKC Canine Good Citizen test on the first try!

As always, his progress is beyond amazing, and hopefully our *next* Shepherd will be just as incredible... ;-)

September 12, 2011

10 1/2 months, around 72-73lbs. His birthday is fast approaching!

August 9, 2011

Ruff had a fantastic trip to Canada! He swam, he dove, he kayaked, he hiked, and he loved every minute of it. I think he's sad to be home!

July 9, 2011

8.5 months, roughly, and 66lbs.

20 days until we leave for our Canada adventure. Ruff will be the only one accompanying us this year. He's getting much better at swimming, but we're still bringing a life jacket for him. Still trying to figure out the food, it looks like we're going with dehydrated, but it's going to be expensive. May bring a few pounds of raw and organ to mix in with it, and of course we'll already have eggs and meat scraps as we cook.

Such a big boy...

June 23, 2011

64lbs!

Not much new news- still progressing well in all his training. Will post some pics this weekend when his buddy Xander visits!

June 7, 2011

7 months and 1 week old.

I'm hoping to get some new training videos soon. Ruff has been tracking 3 times now, and he's officially started learning the obedience routines. We're working on the heel, and we're going to start on the hold and bark soon. He continues to be absolutely incredible and I can't wait to see him trial.

He's also beginning to transition from puppy to adult in terms of mentality. We babysat for a friend's new 12 week old puppy this weekend, and he showed some adult behaviors as far as correcting the puppy for trying to take toys/bones out of his mouth, crowd him at the water bowl, and so forth. It was cute, if not a little sad... our big boy is growing up. I don't have a recent weight on him, but after trying to heft him into the bathtub today, I'm betting we're nearing 70lbs. He certainly looks like a grownup, until he starts bunny-hopping across the yard.

I did a slideshow movie of his growth-comparison photos. I wish I was better at editing, but it's okay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSqJJFqJOqY

May 18, 2011

62lbs at 6.5 months (plus a few days).

Ruff has officially started work on the bite sleeve and has been doing excellent. He had his first day of tracking and did very well with that too. Right now Juergen is handling him for tracking, since we're both beginners and tracking is difficult to teach correctly. Right now, he's only doing very short, straight tracks, 50 footsteps or less. By the time he reaches Schh3, he'll be doing 800 foot tracks that cross each other, and passively indicate 3 lost articles along the way. We have homework to start with some basic heelwork, but his formal obedience doesn't start for a few more weeks.

In the meantime, we're gearing up for Canada! We've started putting together their first aid kit, Shakespeare has his life jacket already but I still need to order Ruff's. I think the boys are going to love it!

And one more video: Day 2 of the bite sleeve!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eve0qU8fLxY

May 10, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enBOt4D21B4

I finally got a video of Ruff at Schutzhund. :-)

His trainer says he's ready to start tracking, so we'll be going out Sunday morning for that. And in a couple weeks, he gets to start transitioning to the puppy bite sleeve, and also start formal obedience work. By the first week of June, he should be doing a normal training routine with the other dogs, not just the puppy work he's been doing so far. I'm so proud of him! He looks amazing out there, he's come such a long way in just a few months from the puppy who wouldn't even play tug of war with the trainers on his first day. I think he's going to be an awesome dog, and I fully expect to get him all the way to Schh3.

He's doing great all around... we go on hikes and play dates with Lupa every week, and he's getting almost impossible to tire out. He's still between 55 and 60lbs. I need to get him to the vet for a weight check soon. He started getting knuckle bones to chew on when we're busy, and he can strip them down to almost nothing, although he still leaves the thickest, hardest parts of the bone behind. He's slowly starting to fill out and look more like a real dog and less like a mismatched goofy puppy with a bobblehead. :-)

April 8, 2011

Happy Birthday Ruff!

He's officially 6 months old today. :-)

He has most of his adult teeth in, and the rest are well on the way.

His training is going well. He's off this weekend, the trainers are at a trial in Kentucky. We're going to try to go Wednesday night instead.

His hair is changing- the coarser hair has taken over pretty much everywhere, and he's starting to develop a ruff around his neck.

He's getting really courageous at the park, he runs and wrestles more every day.

Overall he's a big, beautiful, wonderful boy. :-) Happy birthday Ruff!

March 31, 2011

Today was the first time I bathed big Ruff and felt like I was bathing a dog instead of a puppy. :*(

22 weeks old tomorrow... we'll get a current weight on him soon.

March 30, 2011

Ruff's sheep herding instinct test was both successful and adorable! He went absolutely CRAZY over the sheep, and immediately started chasing them in circles, turning them, barking, and just being adorably crazy. The trainer said he'd do very well with herding if we wanted to pursue it. I may look into it later this summer, but for now I prefer Schutzhund. He had his second day, and he did much better with prey drive. He chased, tugged, barked, and was suitably driven to chase his toy around. Our next assignment is to transition him from his stuffed animals to an actual Schutzhund training tug. To teach the bite work, they start the dog on a little stuffed tube toy on a rope, that's covered in the same material as the outside of the bite sleeve. From there, they transition to a pillow, to teach them to grab it with a full mouth. Then they go to a wedge, to help them make sure they're biting all the way to the back of their teeth. Then they go to a soft "puppy" sleeve, then the full reinforced sleeve. We've been working him with pieces of burlap to help him learn the feel of the material, so the next step is the tug. I need to ask about the tracking training, but we don't start the formal obedience until he's older. The big part of getting a puppy into this sport is teaching them to be driven and excited while they're working. It has to be a fun game for them, with lots of satisfaction and rewards. If they don't really want to do it, they won't do well.

His next training is on Sunday- 58 degrees and sunshine, best weather we'll have had for this so far!

We haven't gotten a weight lately- probably upwards of 55lbs. New photos soon.

March 21, 2011

Sunday Ruff had his first training day for Schutzhund! He did great. We started with some basic temperament exercises- walking over tarps, shaking coins in a bucket, opening umbrellas, walking over the a-frame wall, climbing fallen trees, and standing on a wobble board. He passed everything with flying colors, even outperforming some of the older dogs. He had a few problems with his prey-drive test, it boiled down to him only wanting to play with me, not the tester, and needing too much verbal encouragement to stay excited. So we need to work on getting him to stay excited and interested without a lot of chatter and without necessarily needing me to be involved. But everyone was impressed with him and said for his age he's doing really well and has a great temperament. I think he's going to do really well. He started showing a really strong desire to keep working and keep pleasing people as the day went on, he was always excited to come out of his crate and started looking for ways to make me and the trainers happy. It was very cute. For now we're going to be going every Sunday, eventually I'm going to start trying to make it Wednesday nights too. And Thursday he has a sheep herding instinct test- I just want to see how he does and see if it will be an option for future training. Right now I think we'll only have time for the Schutzhund, but I want to keep our options open in case he decides he's not a big fan of the Schutzhund after all.

March 20, 2011

A few days over 20 weeks / 5 months.

Ruff got his last set of puppy shots, including rabies, so he's now officially permitted to attend training and other events. And, I finally found 2 Schutzhund groups to meet up with- our first evaluation session is tomorrow (well, later today, when it stops being 2am). Weight at the vet was closing in on 44lbs, that was over a week ago, so probably past 45lbs by now. He's slowed to a nice steady pace, 3-5lbs per week, but definitely getting taller. He can get up some good speed now and he's learned to really wrestle and play with the dogs at the park. We've been visiting his cousins Lupa and Panzer more too, and he's learning to hold his own against them as well. Every day his overall training and manners improve. He's gotten very good about not putting teeth on people, even when we play. I'm excited to see how his first session goes tomorrow- Aunt Billie is supposed to be coming along to take some pictures! I'll post a good one if she makes it. :-)

March 6, 2011

Official weight: 40lbs.

I believe we're currently at 18 weeks, but honestly I'm starting to lose track. :-P

Big Ruff had his first "home alone" experience... the little boys are sick this week, so he had to stay alone one day (with 2 walks by the pet sitter, of course). He did very well and didn't appear the least bit concerned, which is reassuring. He's definitely started getting taller again, and he's got adult teeth coming in- the rows of teeth between his canines are all filled in and he's working on a few molars. He's getting much steadier and faster with his running, and much more confident in his playing. We've had some good park trips. We're working on "down", which is still one of his least favorite commands. He has good and bad days with leash manners, although even his bad days aren't horrible- not so much pulling as maintaining constant tension on the leash. I've got feelers out for Schutzhund trainers in the area- there's on in Alexandria I just located that has 3 of cousin Lupa's relatives in it. We're still working through some obstinateness, but overall he's a good pup.

February 24, 2011

We're officially over 4 months! The 16 week mark was last Friday. So I guess he's now pushing 17 weeks. Today we started some clicker training to start working on tightening up his obedience commands in preparation for real training in a few months.

His current weight is somewhere around 35lbs... I haven't tried to measure him for height yet, but I guess we should give that a shot. It looks like his colors are pretty much done. A comparison from his 7.5week shots shows little or no change. He actually brightened up his markings on his chest and throat briefly, and they now seem to be darkening in again. I think his lack of growth in height and weight recently is attributed to his general thickening- his muzzle and legs are becoming noticeably more broad than they were before. We did increase his food from 2 to 2.5lbs per day, plus extra "goodies" every day or two. He's getting more outgoing at the park, although his clumsiness and lack of speed still keep him from being a full player. It's good socialization for him though.

I've been keeping a photo album of his age progression- all but the first one are shots of him on my grooming table at work. It was the only place I could get a good shot on a regular basis.

https://picasaweb.google.com/AJScorpio1184/RuffianGrowthPhotos#

It's amazing how much he's grown already. And still so far to go!

February 14, 2011

Ruff had an exciting weekend.

Saturday he got to see all his cousins. Hamlet and Karma were suitably unimpressed, but he enjoyed Grandma's backyard and played chase with Shakespeare for a while. He was a very good boy all afternoon. Then he got to take a special trip to his aunt's house to play with her GSD Lupa. They played so hard he finally crawled up on the couch behind me and collapsed. He stayed tired all night and all the next morning. Sunday we took a trip to the dog park, and he ran around for an hour or so, and then tried to crawl into my lap to sleep. We went back home, and he chilled out the rest of the night. Today, it's BATH TIME. Someone is a smelly little puppy!!!

February 11, 2011

15 weeks today!!

While filling out the AKC papers I realized I was off a day- Ruff was born on a Friday, so Fridays are his birthdays. :-/ Oops! Anyway, he's 15 weeks exactly today. Tomorrow we're going to get him on a scale at Grandma & Grandpa's for a weight check, and then he gets a play-date with Lupa. Since he's close to half her size now, I think he's ready for a rematch. :-)

So according to the paperwork, Ruff's official name is "Raufbold von der Kleinsmit". :-) Might be a little big for him now, but he'll grow into it, I'm sure. He's not even 4 months yet and he's over 40lbs! (Weight correction: after putting him on a pet scale, we discovered he's actually around 33lbs right as of 15 weeks old.) We're currently working through a bit of a rebellious phase, but he's still fairly obedient when we get serious.

February 2, 2011

14 Weeks.

January 27, 2011

13 weeks!

Ruff can now get up on the couch by himself- even the new one which is several inches taller than the old one. He's perfected the "wait" command. We haven't gotten a weight on him recently, but it's probably close to 30lbs or more. He's eating close to 2lbs of food per day. He looks more like a small GSD than a puppy now. He's going through a slight terrible twos phase, one minute he's calm and orderly and responsive, the next minute he tears around the house harassing the animals and trying to destroy things. His favorite trick is dunking his squeaky toys in the water bowl and then running around the house shaking the water back out everywhere. He's getting very determined to have the family together at all times too, he whines and searches if someone is missing. (Like right now, when he's been trying desperately to get into the bedroom and wake Dad up.) His ears are definitely "up", although not necessarily "upright". He got his first whole egg the other day for dinner, and though he couldn't figure out how to crack it yet, he had a grand time with it once I broke the shell. His housebreaking has improved dramatically, accidents are a rarity now. We got him a bell to help him tell us when to go outside, because usually his just sits quietly at the door and we can't always tell he's over there. We tried to encourage him to whine or bark, but he doesn't do it consistently, so we're working on the bell instead. He does usually whine at me at work to go out, which is good. He is an insanely smart dog. He learns quickly, and you can see him analyzing things in his mind when he looks at your or at something you're doing. I can't wait until he's old enough to start trying things like agility and herding, he's going to be amazing.

January 21, 2011

Weekly bath shot. :-)

Tonight Ruffers grew up just a little bit more- he jumped up on the couch in the living room for the first time. And he did it so quickly and easily you'd swear he had been doing it his whole life. Just one more thing our puppy doesn't need us for anymore... *sniff*

January 20, 2011

Happy 12-week Birthday Ruff!!

Our big boy is now 3 months old. He survived without Mommy for 5 whole days. I think he's pretty happy to have me back though. :-) All the boys came to work today, and Ruff very politely gave the little boys the crate and slept outside it on his bed all day. He was very well behaved for not going to the shop for almost a week. Mommy was very proud of him. :-)

His coat is already starting to change- there's a mohawk of thicker, sleeker hair coming in on his back. It's a little wavy right now, which is cute. His ears are both "mostly" up. They're up, but they're not straight. We need to get another weight on him, he doesn't have another vet appointment until he's 16 weeks. He finished off his bag of puppy food, which means he gets to graduate to his all-raw diet. Which is good, because he's been steadily getting less and less interested in the dry.

And now we're curled up watching TV and getting ready to eat dinner. And for the first time in just about ever I think- Daddy will be home soon to see us!!

January 14, 2011

We missed Ruff's 11 week birthday!

He had another good day with Shakespeare at work, they seem to really be getting used to each other. Much less growling going on.

After Mom got off work, Ruff got to ride in to DC to take Dad to work. He was a very good boy. After we dropped Dad off, we swung by Petco for some cat food and got lots of compliments.

Tonight we're all hanging out with Mom while she finishes packing. Starting tomorrow morning, the house becomes a bachelor pad!

January 13, 2011

Today Ruff and Shakespeare learned to share. :-) A little begrudgingly at first, but since there was only one bed at work today, they figured it out in the end. Tomorrow is Ruffer's last day with Mom before vacation- we'll find out how much of a mama's boy he's turned into!

January 12, 2011

Sunshine!! Didn't get nearly as much snow as they predicted- boo. No cute snow-puppy pictures after all. He has consumed an impressive amount of it, however. Apparently it's better than treats. Tomorrow looks like Bath Day, since Mom has to leave on Saturday morning. Ruffers spent the day "shopping" on the lower shelves of the store. We're trying to teach him that just because he can reach it doesn't make it his. So far, he's conveniently not learning it. Now it's time to curl up for another night home with Mom- but pretty soon he gets Dad all to himself for 5 days of boy time!

January 11, 2011

Waiting for the snow to fall so we can go outside and play! They claimed it would start at 2pm and it didn't start until 7pm, so playtime will have to be tomorrow. Ruffer's had a good day at work with Mom, and is starting to learn "shake" and "jump up". He's also getting very consistent about asking to go outside both at home and at work. Tonight he gets to stay up for another boy's night with Daddy while Mom gets some rest. :-)

January 10, 2011

First vet visit was a success- no temper tantrums. :-) Ruffer's surprised us by weighing in at only 18.8lbs- as tall as he's gotten I was sure he was over 20 by now. According to the puppy weight predictor that means he'll only grow up to be about 90-95lbs or so. :-P We'll see. The same predictor said that Shakespeare should have grown up to be 15lbs, which is more than double his actual weight. So I guess the only way we'll ever know for sure is to wait and see.

January 8, 2010

First snow!! Well, not the exact first, since it was snowing when he was born. But definitely the first snow he could run around in. And eat. We're now just 1 day away from his vet appointment, and finally finding out what his exact weight is! He's now mastered the inside stairs, both up and down. He's making good progress on the "wait" command, and also leash manners. He's found his bark, and it's a big bark for a currently smallish dog! He's just inches away from being able to pull himself up onto couches. He eats more food in a day than the other 2 eat in a week. :-) A puppy growth calculator online claims he's going to reach 105lbs when full grown. That's 25lbs larger than his father and 40lbs larger than his mother, so we'll see if that actually happens or not. One of our next goals it to get his registration done with AKC and possibly also UKC (they have more recognized sporting titles to earn than AKC). We've started a list of various activities we may want to participate in with him in the future. So far we have:

-Rally Obedience

-Sheep Herding

-Schutzhund

-Agility

-Conformation (Dog Shows)

-Search & Rescue

-Dock Diving

We're not 100% on any of them yet, we're just going to try some beginner classes and aptitude tests here and there and see what we all like and might want to continue in.

January 6, 2010

Ruffer's got a good bath at work today. He's turning into such a handsome boy! He still whines for baths, but he's stopped thrashing and squealing. If only the clean smell lasted longer...

Week 3 (Jan 2- Jan 8)

First ear came up. :-)

First vet appointment is scheduled for Monday, Jan 10. We'll finally get to see where his weight is. His records show he was 6.5lbs at 6 weeks old. We got a rough weight on him (he wiggled a lot) at 8 weeks, and he was around 12lbs. It's hard to be certain, but I'm betting at 10 weeks (as of Thursday the 6th) he's at least 20lbs. He's certainly gotten MUCH taller and thicker. His legs and paws are huge. He's been to the park several times now and plays very well with others. He's starting to really look like a German Shepherd. Especially when he slinks along and stalks the other animals- it's adorable. His "come" and "sit" commands are pretty solid. We've started on "wait" and "down", as well as some "leave it", "bring it", and "give it", all of which he's starting to respond to. He's incredibly intelligent, although still very stubborn and puppyish. :-)

Which brings us to today (Thursday). He's exactly 10 weeks old, and I think it's safe to say he's his daddy's pride and joy. :-)

Week 2 (Dec 26- Jan 1)

Ah, simple blessings: he slept through his first full night without waking.

In addition to this huge milestone, he learned his first command: sit. He also took his first walks on a leash, and took his first trip to the dog park. He's become a pro at car rides and work days with Mom. He learned to harass the cats, courtesy of Pippin. Shakespeare finally broke down and started playing with him. He learned to whine at the front door for potty times (not 100%, but closer every day), sit automatically for his meals and to go out, and got his first taste of beef trachea (yum!). He celebrated his first New Year. He's getting better at baths and nail trims, which we try to do often to get him acclimated. In general, he's progressing at an amazing rate. He must have great parents. :-)

Week 1 (Dec 19- Dec 25)

Getting a puppy the week of Christmas was probably a crazy idea, but we survived somehow. In the midst of our last minute shopping, packing, family events, and work, we managed to keep track of our crazy little furball. Now dubbed "Ruffian", but more commonly called Ruff, Ruffers, Woofs, or Big Guy, the puppy was growing every day, and learning just as fast.

The first two nights, we discovered that GSD puppies are very good screamers. By night 3, he started to figure out the system (thankfully, since it was my first night alone with all the dogs while Static was at work!) and only woke me up about 4 times for potty breaks. Night 4, only 2 potty breaks, and he held at 1-2 for the next week or so. He made excellent progress on potty training, provided we kept track of time. He made the rounds during the week and met many of his future playmates: Khaya, Hamlet, Karma, Lupa, Panzer. He also had his first trip to work with Mom during the day while Dad had to sleep, and met Sam, Happy, and Smiley. He got his first bath (he was not impressed). He celebrated his first Christmas. It was a big week for him overall, but at least he turned out to be very adaptable!

The Beginning

I met Ruff's breeder 3 years ago when my best friend lost her German Shepherd to cancer, and asked my help to find a puppy for her family. I kept in touch with him over the years, as I found him to be a very knowledgeable and quality breeder. When my sister began looking for a GSD, I contacted him to see if he had any that met her specifications. He didn't, but he kept me posted on his litters. Meanwhile, it became very evident that at some point in time, we would be getting a GSD for Static. I tried to work it out for Christmas of 2009, but the timing just wasn't right. In October 2010, the breeder contacted me to tell me his female had given birth to a large litter, and if we wanted one, we could have first pick.

I had hoped to make it a total surprise for Static, but realizing that this was a bad idea, I told him that if he was ready, there was a puppy with his name on it waiting in Pittsburgh, and he would be ready the week of Christmas.

The next 2 months were a crazy blur of puppy-proofing and preparing. We got updates and photos from the breeder, and we had some ideas about which ones we might want or not want, but we decided to wait until we got there to make our final decision (or rather, Static's final decision). On Sunday, December 19th, 2010, we drove 4 hours to Pittsburgh with Pippin and Shakespeare to pick up our new family member. Out of the 4 male puppies we were looking at, our unofficial favorite was the one who ran over to us and plopped down next to Static for pets. So Red Puppy it was, and we were on our way home.