Sophie: 8 weeks

Sophie is 8 weeks. She is changing day to day.

Before I get into her 8 week details, I need to back up and go to the beginning.

I have tried getting an anatolian shepherd for a few years now. I have contacted many breeders, read through many contracts, and spent many hours on the phone, email, etc. None of the breeders felt right for me. I was really turned off by all of the rules, restrictions, and legal mumbo jumbo that they crammed in their legal docs. I felt like anatolian breeders were in this exclusive club and they had to authorize you if they deemed you worthy to partake of the anatolian culture. I guess if the best interest is keeping the dog purebred and away from puppy mills, it would be worth all the scrutiny.

Anyway, a couple years ago, after alot of research, I found a breeder in Alabama. We spoke several times and I felt really good about him. At the time, I barely missed his current litter. I kept in touch and now a year later, after sending him a deposit, we have a wonderful new addition to our family.

The puppy was $1000. I paid a $500 deposit and was in line as 3rd pick. I spent another $150 to the breeder for his charge to get her ready(pet crate, info etc) to ship to us from Alabama to Utah. Total to the breeder was $1150.

It was pretty painless. And the breeder was great to work with. His kennel is called "Clear Creek Kennel" and can be found on the web easy enough.

We were mostly concerned about our new puppy as being a dog that is good with children. So far so good. We also have some farm animals, so she needs to be good to them as well.
So far so good.

Now back to the 8 week details........

We are still amazed by her soft furry coat....it almost feels like a soft wool. Many have commented on her coat. Her claws are really long and sharp. No wonder an anatolian is a digger. With the size of their paws and claws they can probably dig to China.

We have not had one problem with Sophie being potty trained. She lets us know when she needs to go. She hasn't had one accident in the house. (whew!) She is also being crate trained. We have had good luck so far.

I would recommend ordering the ASDI booklets for puppies and for anatolians. They have been very helpful along with an anatolian book by Richard Beauchamp. All can be found here.
http://www.anatoliandog.org/choban_chatter.htm


In the past few days Sophie has been in a playful biting mode. We're trying to curb her of that. I bought her some nylon rope and a juicy ham bone which she loves. When she nips, we tell her no and give her something to gnaw on.

One thing that has been a struggle is her leash. She is so stubborn. When you gently tug her with her leash, she plops down and won't budge an inch. It's really funny for now. Hopefully she will get over that really soon.

She really sleeps alot. I wasn't prepared for how long she sleeps. She can sleep for 2-3 hrs at a time. Then she'll get up, play for an hour, eat...then sleep for a few more hrs.

We have been socializing her alot with humans. Mostly neighbors and family. Once she gets her second round of shots, we will try socializing with other dogs.

We feed her Purina puppy chow and have eben advised by the breeder to keep her on the puppy chow for at least 1 year.

Other than that, she is smothered in lots of love and we are having a blast with her. Hopefully she is liking us too.

We think so.

Until 9 weeks..
see ya...