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Goldens Born on October 2012

57K views 614 replies 38 participants last post by  Ernie D 
#1 ·
Dog Dog breed Canidae Mammal Golden retriever


Born first week of October. Please excuse his eyes, I was trying to capture a good shot while he was in the middle of playing with his chew toy.

Hi! We are new to this forum. We just got this adorable pup today and look forward to many happy years together :)


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#40 ·
ugh, that sounds pretty miserable. Our kids haven't eaten breakfast with their dad in forever! He was always gone before they wake up. Even now in school. We just visited our really good friends there in DC this past October and loved it so much. she lived out in Stafford and her husband commutes via train. My husband is in school right now and the DC area has the most job slots for his new job. Fortunately we are supposed to get a follow on here so we'll be here for five years (crossing fingers you know how the army is!)
We have lived mostly in Stuttgart. We were there from 95-99 then Bragg for a school then back to Stuttgart 01-07 then to Benning for a few months for another school then back to Landstuhl from 07-10 then back to Stuttgart from 10-12. We just moved to America this past summer for school no less! All of our kids were born in german hospitals and have been adjusting to living here.
We had some awesome friends that lived there in Dexheim and some friends that lived in Weisbaden on base there. I loved Weisbaden, it was a great city. I also love Stuttgart (that feels like home.) We weren't impressed with the Ktown area but lived on Ramstein and those facilities can't be beat when living in Germany. This will be our first Christmas in America in 12 years and it feels weird not going to the Christmas Markets this year…:(
 
#41 ·
Hubby's work is exactly 4 minutes from our house. We love living on post-we wanted the youngest to experience it like the three orders ones: PT formations in the morning, reveille playing on the loud speakers, being able to identify the different aircraft flying overhead...

We miss the Christmas Markets, too. The American tradition (Black Friday) is not nearly as nice as the German traditions. ;) But the commissary has Kinder Punsch and Gluhwein!

Ok, we should get back to cute puppy talk. The boys and I are going to buy some puppy stuff this afternoon and all of us are going to visit her this evening. We got first choice of females and even though they don't generally choose or let buyers choose until 6 weeks, we have loved her since her eyes first opened, so the breeder put a little sparkly pink collar on her for us and they have been calling her by her name for the last week. :)
A friend has an octagonal pen we are going to use for her in the kitchen during the day. I still haven't figured out for sure where we are putting her crate.
 
#42 ·
awww that is so sweet, she sounds like my breeder. She hasn't decided on any of the puppies yet except the females. Well, the first two females were spoken for and all there was left was ours in the first litter. It was kind of different how it all worked out but we ended up with Peaches. WE told her her name the first day and she immediately changed her collar to a peach one and started calling her Peaches. I find that so exciting. She told me that when she calls Peaches all the puppies think that that is their name too, ha ha! It is just the sweetest thing.
Takes some pictures of tonight's visit! I can't wait to see them!
 
#44 ·
Visit

We went to visit Thelma Lou tonight! She was rambunctious and adorable.
She is still the cutest little thing ever, but I admit, I am a little nervous about how rambunctious she was. The boys didn't see it as a problem-they called her "adventurous." She was just waking from a nap when we got there-incidentally, all three of her sisters and all but one of her brothers stayed asleep most or all of the time we were there (about 40 min). Thelma Lou and the little boy whined to get out, then played with each other and adorably scampered around on the rug. (Huge plus-she didn't potty on any of us or the floor!) she tried chewing on my son's shirt and we told her "no bite" and redirected her, which she was fine with. She did settle down when I picked her up and that is one of the things the boys love about her-that she's playful but also snuggly.
She was definitely more playful than snuggly this time, though, and I noticed when I put her back in the crate, she didn't lay with her sisters, but went over in the opposite corner and layed down. I've probably just read too much online about personality and temperament and every single other bit of puppy information ever written, but I really hope she's going to be the devoted, loving dog we are wanting, and not aloof. When we look at her, it's so funny. She doesn't just look like a puppy, she looks like OUR puppy, like she's already part of our family. :)
Here are some pictures. Don't judge me-all I have is an iPhone camera...
;)
 

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#46 ·
awww she is adorable. I know how you feel, I felt like Peaches knew we were hers and she was ours. It was such a special bond and I'm nervous that she will be different and aloof on Saturday, but that is just my anxiousness. I'm sure it is yours too. Also, the breeder had joked when they were born that at four weeks they were super sweet but at six weeks they can be overwhelming when they are all together. There will be sixteen six week old puppies when we go visit, ha ha, so I am assuming they will by amped up like no one's business. So she probably was more gentle and so forth last week and now she is finding herself and is my hyper. I wouldn't worry too much.
She is just beautiful! love her big dark puppy eyes.
 
#47 ·
Thank you-I just love her little face so much. :)
I feel like I over-analyze her every move. Is that little hopping thing normal? Is she being too aggressive? Is that a "potty sign?" Sheesh. I'm worse than I was with my human babies...
She is definitely one of the more "active" puppies in the group. Maybe because she's the smallest? We decided maybe she was just showing off for us since she knew we were her family. :D I picked up one of them who was waking up and she promptly fell back asleep in my arms. Looking at the next few months, a very sleep puppy didn't sound too bad to me. (Smile) The biggest puppy in the litter, a girl, has never been awake when we have been there-3 times. She is ALWAYS sleeping. I saw that she had a collar on last night so someone has chosen her. Probably because she's so sleepy. ;)

Anyway, I can hardly wait to bring her home. We were looking at bringing her on the 14th, but we have a battalion Christmas party that night and the next day have a church Christmas party and band concert we have to be at, so we're thinking of either pushing it til the 16th (I hate waiting!) or getting her earlier like the 11th or 12th. She'll be 7 weeks on the 8th.
 
#48 ·
I think you are probably over analyzing like you said. I do the same thing. And I agree, I've fretted more over this dog than any of my three kids! ha ha!

As far as the size goes, I don't know. I read all sorts of information on size because Peaches is a lot smaller than her litter mates. She nurses like a fiend and is ganging a ton of weight but she is still smaller. BUT she wasn't wild or crazy like the other pups. She is the thinker. She watches everyone. There were puppies that I wasn't as crazy about. One in particular, she was running around bitting all over me but really hard, not like the others. I would try to redirect her and it was like she only wanted to bite. But our family is very mellow so we're not typically drawn to more hyper people or animals. I'm curious to see how they've changed in the last two weeks. I wonder if the "biter" is now more mellow and Peaches is suddenly a wild woman, ha ha.
That sounds great about picking her up early. I wouldn't mind picking peaches up early as I'm worried about that whole fear stage after 8 weeks and she'll be a few days older than 8 weeks. I'm going to talk to my breeder for reassurance.
But it sounds like you'll have a full plate those days after you get her, do you think that it would be better to be around more? I'm worried about leaving her, even for exercise, ha ha
 
#49 ·
That sounds great about picking her up early. I wouldn't mind picking peaches up early as I'm worried about that whole fear stage after 8 weeks and she'll be a few days older than 8 weeks. I'm going to talk to my breeder for reassurance.
But it sounds like you'll have a full plate those days after you get her, do you think that it would be better to be around more? I'm worried about leaving her, even for exercise, ha ha
I know what you mean! It probably makes more sense to get her later rather than earlier. We will still have a busy schedule, but things will be slightly less busy than that week before. It seems like every event we have falls between the 7th-16th. I guess we'd have to get her on the 17th, though, since we do have the Christmas pageant at church the evening of the 16th. It's like planning when to have a baby-there is never a perfect time. ;) Actually, she's going to be an Army dog, she may as well get used to going with the flow!

What about house training, though? I don't think the breeder is doing much about that, and I worry about her getting older and settling in to bad habits. Maybe I should ask on the puppy thread...
 
#50 ·
I hear ya on the army dog! ha ha!
As far as house training, my breeder has been getting them used to going either outside or on their pee pee pads and she recommended putting them by the door when we bring her home. That way she can equate pads to door to outside. When we visited they were actually doing rather well on pooping on the pads. Some walked over to the pads and peed. You might be surprised!
 
#51 ·
Today we are going to go shopping for puppy stuff! We have been busy the last few days but this morning we realized we miss Thelma Lou and wish we could go visit her again. :) I do not want to drive the breeder nuts so we'll wait until next week, but to satisfy our puppy need we are going to go shopping. :)
Kind of feel like I'm preparing the nursery.....
 
#53 ·
Well, we are stocked up on Bitter Apple spray and Nature's Miracle, and lots of toys. I couldn't bite the bullet on a crate, though. I just can't make up my mind on whether we will always crate her or just when she's small. A crate is going to take up a LOT of space and as we live in military housing, space is at a premium here. :)
A question: what size of hollow Kong toy did you all buy? A small one for under 20 lbs and then just plan on buying the next size up soon, or did you just go with medium (15-35lbs, I think)?
 
#54 ·
I got all three sizes. I understand about the crate size but I am too fearful to leave her unattended when I am not at home. I wouldn't want to lock her in a bathroom either. I'd be afraid she'd hurt herself. Perhaps you can buy a baby gate? That might work just the same. You are lucky to be able to have three pets on post there. We were only allowed two in our other homes. That is part of the reason we live off post. I hate all the rules! LOL
 
#55 ·
Thankfully, we should be able to work it where someone can stay home with her most of the time when she is little. Except for church, I guess. I am hoping that when she is bigger she can be left alone in the kitchen with baby gates. If she doesn't chew up the cabinets....

But I honestly just can't figure out where a big giant crate would fit on either the first or second floor. I guess in one of the bedrooms upstairs, but not while she is little because of the house-training. And there is plenty of space downstairs, but it would require a steep hike up either the cement steps to the back yard (15 or so) or the winding ones to the main floor, and I've read about how stairs are so bad for their hips....
 
#58 ·
Dog Mammal Vertebrate Dog breed Canidae



Here's our little guy!!! We spent six hours driving to visit him, but it was so worth it! No official name yet...stay tuned ;)

He is just wonderful. I held him for quite a while and as soon as I set him down, he was back at my feet wanting to be held. All of the puppies are precious, but he seemed to be the friendliest. And the biggest! I've been affectionately referring to him as Little Chunk :)

We also found out he can come home earlier than expected, in 13 days! Let the countdown begin! We can't wait til he's home.


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#66 ·
Yes per our contract it's supposed to be within 5 days of picking him up. However, our breeder said he'd make an exception because our puppy will have been to the vet for shots/deworming the day before we bring him home. I may still take him to the vet within that timeframe for an exam just to be safe, but he should not need shots or deworming until I've had him for two weeks or so.

Sorry if this was confusing, it's all new to me! :)


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#64 ·
No, wait, I think I confused you. She will have had all her shots and stuff via the breeder and her vet. She won't need shots at our vet but as part of the contract she must see my vet within a time frame of picking her up. If not I think it voids our contract. So I have to make sure I can bump my appt up early so that I can adhere to our contract but it has nothing to do with the need to get her shots. She will already have those.
 
#65 ·
What a fun day for both of you! The puppies are gorgeous-I'm so excited for you at the idea dog bringing them home early!
I decided to spend the day Christmas shopping rather than with the puppies, although I did pick up some cute stocking stuffers for Thelma Lou (she's getting more Christmas presents than any of the children at this point). I hope we can go visit her on Monday. In hindsight, the breeder probably would have preferred we came today when everyone else has visiting hours (not at the same time, just most who visit come on the weekend).
We have the same contractural requirement with our breeder regarding the vet. That's a good idea about just going ahead and getting her micro-chipped since you're there anyway.
Peaches and Mr. No-Name are very lucky to be going to such excited, loving families. And I'm glad I will have someone to commiserate with in a couple weeks when I am sleep-deprived! :)
Thanks for sharing the pics-
 
#70 ·
Amanda, I would bring your dog in. It doesn't have anything to do with the vaccines. What if there is something wrong with him? I trust my breeder and her vet but I also have to protect my interests as well. So I want to do exactly what my contract says so that it is a solid one. I know you said your breeder would make an exception but man, do you really want to have to deal with all that if something did come up?
 
#71 ·
Right, absolutely! Plus it's not even so much about the contract as it is making sure he's as healthy as possible. God forbid he's sick or unhealthy in some way and I simply don't notice, and the poor little guy is suffering for a week. I'm going to call in the morning and make a second appointment. Thanks for the feedback! I'm wondering if maybe my breeder also thought I was wanting to move up the vaccine appointment, and that's why he said to wait the extra week? I'll ask him in the morning too just to make sure we're on the same page.


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#72 ·
Puppy Exam

Update - I lucked out and was able to reschedule my appointment for Saturday, 15 December, which is the day after we bring him home! Our vet is only offers Saturday appointments once a month, so it really is luucky that they happened to be open that day and have appointments available. We'll establish a vaccination schedule from there, but I'd like to take the Jean Dodd's approach whenever possible.
 
#73 ·
that is fantastic! WE were able to reschedule Peaches' appointment to Monday which is the day after we get her too so now we are getting her this Sunday instead of next! I'm really excited and freaking out all at the same time!!
Yes, I'm going to follow our breeder's advice too. I'm happy because our vet is really liberal with her thinking so I think we'll mesh well.
 
#74 ·
Aww yay I'm glad Peaches is coming home a little sooner. Ugh, I have a feeling this week is going to DRAG by for both of us! And sadly I am now totally stocked up on puppy items, I just need to pick up his first bag of food. I'm sure we'll stop and get more puppy toys on the way home, we can never have too many of those!
 
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