update 01/31/05
Just thought I would drop you a short note. Nina was quite the attention
getter during Xmas. My parents and my brother and his wife were both
here. My brother's wife was ready to take Nina home with her she liked
her so much!
Here are a couple of photos. One from Christmas and one from the recent snow we had, where NIna and Casey were truely enjoying running through the snow drifts. Both came in and had to be toweled off to get all the snow off their coats, and out of their feet
Hope you had a great holiday!
JS
I took both dogs to the beach on Sunday afternoon. Neither one of them were sure what to do with the waves. They were both at the water's edge and would back up as the waves came in.
Both were also very busy sniffing everything. At one point, Nina ate some sand, just to see what it tasted like I guess. Her nose was sandy tan for a few minutes! It would have been a great shot.
We walked for 4 miles. When they got back to the house, both dogs were pretty tired. That was the first time I have seen Nina showing no interest in playing. She found her favorite spot on the rug, and curled up to take a nap.
It was tough to get a good shot since neither pooch was too interested in posing for a photo!!
JS
Nina is doing better. Switching back to pro plan seems to have worked. I'll leave her on that food for a while. Nina still has quite a few of the puppy traits I had forgotten about. Casey is so laid back though, that some of it may rub off on her. Nina had one accident in the house on Sunday. She and Casey were playing upstairs and I think she may have forgotten where she was. Did not even try to go out. Just squatted right in the middle of the floor and peed. I bought another crate for my bedroom since she does not appear to be comfortable sleeping on the open carpetted bedroom floor the way he does, (and it gets really old moving a crate upstairs each night). I bought a nice doggy bed pad as well for the crate, and she is quite happy to go in there at night. After she stretches out, she lets out a sigh. She still does not like going into the daytime crate downstairs. If I don't catch her as she is walking by, she drops to the floor and does not want to go in. If I try to help her stand up on her feet so I can escort her in, she'll roll over on her back, just like a little kid not wanting to go to bed. I found its easier if I get Casey to go into his crate first. Funny thing is, Nina will readily hop right into Casey's crate, especially if he is already in there. If she gets in there with him, she does a similar routine, where she lays down, so it tougher to get her out! It’s hard not to laugh even when I am trying to get out the door to go to work. He is still extremely tollerant of her constant desire to play. He has only growled at her once, when he was not interested in playing. Having her in the house has also calmed him down considerably when I leave for work. Casey started a new game which I had to discourage (at least indoors). She would be in the TV room with me laying on the rug, and Casey would get up and stand in the kitchen doorway and just stare her down until she decided to give chase. He would tear through the house with her in pursuit; through the dining room, up the stairs, through two bedrooms, back down the stairs and into the family room, and back into the kitchen, where the loop would be repeated. At first she was tentative about the stairs, but has quickly improved her confidence in going up the stairs. I finally decided they had to move that game outside after a couple of GSDs lost their footing, and slid on the wood floors sending lamps flying, and chairs slamming into tables!!
JS