What I got for Christmas :)

a bundle of joy that will keep me quite occupied for the next 12 plus years!
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I hope this link will work, if not, will upload pics directly in this post.

She's lovely, Rita. 9 months old is quite old for taking on a new 'puppy' isn't it?

*gets on to breeding dog-proof roses straight away *

Hi Rita,
how lovely. You'll have tons of fun with her. Our shepherd is 4½ months old now and getting naughtier by the day. Have you owned a shepherd before? They are sooo clever.
Barbara B

Thank you Simon. Nah, 9 months is fine if you know how to relate to German Shepherds. (I was a qualified canine obedience instructor in a past life). No need to breed dog-proof roses as the roses seem to hold their own against any dog I've ever had! You can however, help me out by breeding 'black bird' proof ones [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks Barbara, yes, I've had German Shepherds most of my adult life. The last one left me quite some time ago which broke my heart.

Shiloh is alreading settling in well and seems over her traumatic experience of last evening. I will introduce her to daily walking around the neighbourhood in a few days time. She needs to feel safe and comfortable with her new home first. But I have a few weeks at home to ease her into her new and permanent life.

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About time! Such a long wait for your dear companion. Congratulations.

She looks gorgeous.
It would be nice, one day, to have a GS but for the moment I think I have my hands full with 3 Border Collies.

Yes, my big Border Collie x Curly Coat Retriever is more than a handful... at 40kg he's a BIG boy

I thought I was the only one stupid enough (not really) to have three Border Collies!!!!

Hi,
they're all working breeds - we're really not so silly at all, are we?
Barbara B

Working Dogs? Ours are on the dole!!!!!

Balinbear wrote:I thought I was the only one stupid enough (not really) to have three Border Collies!!!!

Border Collies are well known to be the smartest dogs on earth......so I figured how they worked themselves to collect the dole and not work....

Balinbear wrote:I thought I was the only one stupid enough (not really) to have three Border Collies!!!!

LOL Some of the dog triallers I know have a LOT of dogs. So there are people madder than us!

Our three (mum and dad and one son) are each madder than the other (depending on which way you line them up I guess).

Congrats Rita. I love GSs. The first dog I owned when I left home was a GS who I named D'Artagnan. He was my knight in shining armour. He lived a great 17 years. Dogs....they get under your skin don't they? Obedience is so important.

I'm still reeling from the loss of my senior boy - Jack (A dachshund) who died in October just shy of his 17th birthday. The two 'children' I have now are Angus (dachshund...my avatar) and my merle border collie Matilda. Both are 4 years old. They make quite a pair.
Do these give you any hints?

Mangohead wrote:
Do these give you any hints?

LOL
That thing on the chair..? My Border Collie loves doing that.... hahahaha My computer chair is the first thing she goes for.

Wendy does your Border Collie sit in the or round it up,

Hi,
the most dogs we've had at the same time was eight, but we're down to only five now. Mine do obedience and tracking.
Barbara B

Barbara, together with your garden, your five must keep you so very busy especially with obedience and agility work. Are they all GSDs?

I hope to take Shiloh to an obedience/agility club I help establish a very long time ago, thankfully, its not too far from my new place.

I brought Shiloh a child's clam shell pool yesterday. It hasn't taken her too long to like playing in it. I took a short video with my little Canon IXUS 75 camera and hope you don't mind my testing the link here just for fun:

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Wishing you all a very happy and rosey 2012
and
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to all, especially Simon and David for making this such a fabulous and friendly forum for everyone to enjoy, share and learn.

Rita, what a great GS Shiloh is. The clam pond has many uses. Is it for training/washing or duck retreivable lessons.
The accolades for the forum goes to Simon, not me, thanks for the thought.

David, I'm sure that Simon will say you are being very modest. I am certain you deserve the compliment - so it stands.

Yes, the clam pool is multifunctional, but, the closest to ducks we have here are chickens, and I'm sure they don't like swimming or being 'fished' out of a pool by a GSD. She has learned to rescue her rubber ball though. She mainly loves stepping into it then running madly around the back yard a few times till she is hot again and then repeats the entire ritual. So delightful and entertaining to watch. I forgot just how much I missed having a gorgeous, intelligent, furry person to hang around with.

German Shepherds are extra intelligent though not as intelligent as Cattle dogs. Back in my past life (Rita's words) I had a good exhibition German Shepherd bitch 7 months old. A show family took a likeing to her and wanted to show her so after two months working with her she escaped. They phoned me all apologetic and considered her lost.
The next morning she was in my back yard with 5' paling fence all round and had walked 12 to 15 miles from where lost.

That's not a bad effort for such a young dog I had from a 6 week old pup.

Now how did I know you were going to say that Bruce

Isn't it wonderful that we love our furry people and think that they are the MOST wonderful and intelligent of ALL the precious creatures, great and small on this entire planet. And so it should be.

No matter the breed, I really believe that a companion animal is as intelligent and wonderful as its human caretaker raises it up to be. Just like children really ... tell a child they are stupid often enough and they will grow up to believe and act it. Your Cattle Dog Bruce, is a charming creature - I know that first hand.

roseman wrote:Wendy does your Border Collie sit in the or round it up,

LOL I missed this post over Christmas.
This is the girl... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Aw, congrats on your new baby! They are such delightful fun. German Shepherds are a breed I have a tremendous soft spot for, they are such funny souls. My new baby (Australian Shepherd) will be coming home at the end of Jan.