New pup

[Big Fitz]

Yep, sounds like a rough coat.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Pics! Pics! Pics!

 

[AllieBaba]

I just spent an hour trying to get pics uploaded but I don't have the stupid cable now for my new computer....my old HP just let me stick the memory card in and uploaded them but this one doesn't have a memory card slot. So I stuck it in the SD slot, but I can't save them to the computer...

So get this, I figured out how to send ONE pic to my e-mail and then put it on photobucket...and once I had it all cropped and adjusted, I couldn't find the fucker! I hate this shit! I've got some really cute pics and he's growing like a weed! They gain a pound a day!!!

 

[AllieBaba]

I went to the coast for 4 days for my uncle's funeral; and I took Klaus with me. The plan was to lodge him at a wonderful kennel I happened across a couple of years ago, but he was so good, I didn't board him at all.

He didn't have a single accident, he was as good as gold. I brushed him every day and he was (is) absolutely beautiful. Again, sorry, I have pics I'm just too retarded to share them. I will eventually, but it will probably be years and he will be in his dotage...

Anyway, he was wonderful, and everybody fell in love with him. I had a lady offer to buy him from me (I think she would have stolen him if I had left him in the car, she was circling the parking lot but my son stayed in the car with him). He went to the beach and was enamored of that...he ran away so we had to get him a stout extendable leash so he could run without getting away. He's not fast but he's inexorable...he just sort of goes and goes and goes and before you know it, you can't catch up with him. He functions on a grander scale than most puppies...

So he was perfect, was wonderful in the car, learned to drink from a water bottle, loved my granddaughter....and about halfway home, he is laying in the back of the Explorer and for no reason, he just starts barking. He was laying down, barking. We stopped because I thought there was something wrong...maybe he was having a seizure, or had gotten something wrapped around him or something. But no, he was just being silly, and bored...so he barked.

He has officially found his voice. He barks when he wants in or out, he barks when he doesn't like what Mylo is doing, he barks in the morning when he thinks everybody should get up. And just now, he came in from eating his own dinner, and started barking nonstop in the kitchen. I went in there, and he was barking insanely at a corner that held a bowl of Mylo's food, a bowl of water, and a plant. I'm not sure which of the three he was holding a conversation with. But he was adamant.

Oh, and he likes to dig. This is going to be fun.

 

[AllieBaba]

I think maybe he was barking at Mylo's food. He won't eat it; I feed him on the porch (different food). I think perhaps he was barking at it to bring her to it; to let her know it was there. Because she found it, and ate some, and once she did (and chased him out of the kitchen) he quit barking at it, though it's still there.

What a nice puppy!

 

[syrenn]

Got to love puppies!

 

[AllieBaba]

And he has had a marvelous effect on Mylo! She doesn't particularly like him; but she's glowing! She's calmer...not so obsessive/compulsive...having a little diversion is good for her. And she's so active it's good for him because he has to run to keep up, and given his sedentary nature, that's wonderful for him. At the beach, sans Mylo, he just laid around all day and night, until I would rouse him for walks. But here he's quite busy....and from everything I've read, that's key to them growing up strong and healthy.

 

[CMike]

I had a St Bernard as a child named Yael.

A phenomenal dog.

 

[AllieBaba]

I took Klaus with the fam on our long weekend...we spent Saturday night at mom's after spending about half the day at a local rodeo. Sunday night we came home and Monday we took him to a park and we hiked with him. It was my eldest son, his wife, their baby, my two kids and Klaus...the trail was narrow, steep, in places rocky and in places muddy. We had to climb over fallen trees, and there was a LOT of deadfall above and below the trail. I let him off leash and he did great. My daughter was running (against our orders, the trail was pretty treacherous) and wiped out, he stayed right with her and didn't keep going (she was running between me and my son and his family, we were separated by a little bit). He did want to cut across country when he heard the baby crying behind us, and I couldn't let him because if he had fallen or gotten stuck I have no idea how we would have gotten him out, lol. I'm trying very hard to give him lots of fairly strenuous exercise to circumvent potential joint problems; experts agree that is the single most important factor in preventing/alleviating joint issues in saints (that and not allowing them to get obese). He's definitely not obese; he's tall and rangy.

He's getting a lot more "nos" from us this week, as he gets a little older and more assertive with us. My daughter was antagonizing him in her way...giggling, racing around, laughing, rolling with him on the ground (also against orders) and of course he started to use his mouth on her, biting at her legs, her butt..I knew it was just a matter of time before we had an incident because my daughter has to experience such things she can't just take my word on it (which is why i'm very careful in the dogs I choose for the family)...so eventually he got her down on the ground and wouldn't let her up, kinda grabbed her neck but didn't get a grip, then the top of her head. He wasn't mad, just playing, but this is what happens when one plays inappropriately with big pups, even saints. (German Shepherds are much more serious about it). It made her cry and spooked her a little; we were right there and both I and my son gave him a very stern "NO!" and he immediately let go and skulked off (he pouts). And my girl learned her lesson....yesterday was wonderful because she was able to really move around with him on and off the leash, and practice appropriate behavior. I'm happy to report that they are happily running together, and she has learned to discourage (and not actively encourage) his mouthiness, while still keeping him engaged. He's very smart, and not inclined to be dominant, so she just has to make sure he knows that he isn't allowed to bite. confusing for the little boy because after all, she did pretty much teach him to do it in the first place, but he has taken it well.

It was wonderful coming down the hill because we let the kids run ahead when the trail mellowed out towards the bottom; but this is cat country (and bear country) so I was happy to see Klaus go with them. Not that he could do anything at this point, but I feel safer when my mobile kids have a big dependable dog with them when they're in the wilderness or around water, so I'm anticipating Klaus' future and it looks bright.

I was also glad that we were able to let him off the leash, and he still minded well and more or less came when called....

 

[CMike]

Get him to run up and down the stairs.

It will wear him out.

 

[AllieBaba]

He really doesn't wear out! He's just always sort of the same...gallumph gallumph, takes his rest when he can but always ready to go when we are...

 

[JackDan]

nothing like getting a new pup. My parents have always had Springer Spaniels that they trained for hunting dogs. Damn good flushers for pheasant. Here is their newest to the brood.

 

[Zoom-boing]

He really doesn't wear out! He's just always sort of the same...gallumph gallumph, takes his rest when he can but always ready to go when we are...

My daughter met Jeff Goldblum last year. She said he gal-lumphs into a room too.

 

[JackDan]

My dog charlie gets to come to the office with me everyday. Here he is on a couch in my office about 5 minutes ago.....

 

[AllieBaba]

That is so great. I wish I could bring mine. I probably could..on Fridays, anyway. He'd love it.

 

[JackDan]

That is so great. I wish I could bring mine. I probably could..on Fridays, anyway. He'd love it.

ya, it is fun having him around. we have 1 acre at our work and he loves to chase the squirrels. I yell "squirrell" and he runs to the office door ready to bolt to the back of the lot when I open it. I have it on video, maybe someday I will upload it to youtube..

 

[JackDan]

That is so great. I wish I could bring mine. I probably could..on Fridays, anyway. He'd love it.

one more pic..... on the way home from work....

 

[CMike]

My dog charlie gets to come to the office with me everyday. Here he is on a couch in my office about 5 minutes ago.....

Awwwww

Black lab?

 

[Big Fitz]

I took Klaus with the fam on our long weekend...we spent Saturday night at mom's after spending about half the day at a local rodeo. Sunday night we came home and Monday we took him to a park and we hiked with him. It was my eldest son, his wife, their baby, my two kids and Klaus...the trail was narrow, steep, in places rocky and in places muddy. We had to climb over fallen trees, and there was a LOT of deadfall above and below the trail. I let him off leash and he did great. My daughter was running (against our orders, the trail was pretty treacherous) and wiped out, he stayed right with her and didn't keep going (she was running between me and my son and his family, we were separated by a little bit). He did want to cut across country when he heard the baby crying behind us, and I couldn't let him because if he had fallen or gotten stuck I have no idea how we would have gotten him out, lol. I'm trying very hard to give him lots of fairly strenuous exercise to circumvent potential joint problems; experts agree that is the single most important factor in preventing/alleviating joint issues in saints (that and not allowing them to get obese). He's definitely not obese; he's tall and rangy.

He's getting a lot more "nos" from us this week, as he gets a little older and more assertive with us. My daughter was antagonizing him in her way...giggling, racing around, laughing, rolling with him on the ground (also against orders) and of course he started to use his mouth on her, biting at her legs, her butt..I knew it was just a matter of time before we had an incident because my daughter has to experience such things she can't just take my word on it (which is why i'm very careful in the dogs I choose for the family)...so eventually he got her down on the ground and wouldn't let her up, kinda grabbed her neck but didn't get a grip, then the top of her head. He wasn't mad, just playing, but this is what happens when one plays inappropriately with big pups, even saints. (German Shepherds are much more serious about it). It made her cry and spooked her a little; we were right there and both I and my son gave him a very stern "NO!" and he immediately let go and skulked off (he pouts). And my girl learned her lesson....yesterday was wonderful because she was able to really move around with him on and off the leash, and practice appropriate behavior. I'm happy to report that they are happily running together, and she has learned to discourage (and not actively encourage) his mouthiness, while still keeping him engaged. He's very smart, and not inclined to be dominant, so she just has to make sure he knows that he isn't allowed to bite. confusing for the little boy because after all, she did pretty much teach him to do it in the first place, but he has taken it well.

It was wonderful coming down the hill because we let the kids run ahead when the trail mellowed out towards the bottom; but this is cat country (and bear country) so I was happy to see Klaus go with them. Not that he could do anything at this point, but I feel safer when my mobile kids have a big dependable dog with them when they're in the wilderness or around water, so I'm anticipating Klaus' future and it looks bright.

I was also glad that we were able to let him off the leash, and he still minded well and more or less came when called....

That's a great little journal entry on Klaus. Sounds like a good dog.

Another aside is that the concept that going outside could be a life or death decision is so alien for most people. To not realize that if you aren't read to use lethal force or protect yourself and be aware of your surroundings, you could be killed is just bizarre (unless you're talking inner city where the human predators are the issue). When I go to my parents cottage, I get kinda wigged out after the sun goes down and the light doesn't extend too far from the cottage. There are black bears, coyotes and wild dog packs out there that very easily could come skulking in to check things out, and a teeny little screen door isn't going to be any protection if they do. So I can never leave them open for night air. I gotta lock down tight.

But that's me. I think it really got ingrained the night I heard a coyote pack start singing away less than a mile away and they were so loud they sounded like they were in the yard.

 

[JackDan]

My dog charlie gets to come to the office with me everyday. Here he is on a couch in my office about 5 minutes ago.....

Awwwww

Black lab?

Black lab german shepard mix. He is a gem.