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Animation, Animals, Comics, Cartoons, Scripts, Screenplays, Musicals, Children's Books, Music, and more!!!!!!....... My dog is big....REAL BIG.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sophie: 14 Weeks

Sophie is now 14 weeks. She stands at 20.5 inches at the shoulder. I guess this past week she decided to slow down from her normal 1 inch growth a week.
We wieghed her at 40 pounds.

She is doing well in alot of areas. She still seems stubborn in many areas too.
We will continue working with her.

I try to take her around the neighborhood for quick trips/ errands. She seems to like it. When she encounters other dogs, she is either excited or timid depending on the type of dog. Tonight we went to a neighbors house and they have 2 beagles...the wouldn't stop howling and woofing up a a storm. Sophie was timid at first, then just sat down and watched them. A couple of times she jumped up and barked back at them.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Aha! I caught you!

Busted!
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I'm Hungry


I just want one leg....perhaps a wing?
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chicken gaurding....

or is it more like chicken stew please?
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Stop and smell the flowers.....


and drink stale water from a snow sled.
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On Alert


Watching out for the boogeyman and mysterious joggers.....
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Is that a wink?


wink wink.....
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

My Sweet Sophie


Could she be any cuter?
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Sticking out her tongue


nana na na
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getting big

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got any food?


I smell bacon in your pocket.....
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My little hyena

Sophie and her hyena face.
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Dove feathers


Sophie didn't have much sympathy, but got some feathers from that little unfortunate dove.
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A hawk on my house!


One night the chickens were squaking. The pic shows why.

I snapped the pic of a hawk eating a dove. Poor little dove.
We'll see if Sophie can scare them away in a few months!
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she loves grass

munchin on the grass
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someone is coming


Hark, I mean Bark, .......who goes there?
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eating grass

yum
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Sophie and water

Sophie likes to play in the water.
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Look up, Sophie!


Stop eating those snails!
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Sophie, come here


Good girl.
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Sophie and the chickens


Sophie likes the chickens....ALOT!
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Sophie: 13 Weeks

Sophie is now 13 weeks. She stands 20 inches at the shoulder. She is still very soft, but she is losing her soft puppy fur along her spine and growing in a more course hair. We are really trying to work with her during these 16 weeks with dog socialization, livestock socialization and human socialization. She is coming along pretty well.

Some of our obstacles......digging, nipping, and being plain stubborn.

Some of the highlights..... she is beautiful, we can play with her/ pull her ears/ play pattycake/ etc and she allows us, nearly 100% potty trained without a whole lot of effort, friendly with everyone, smart, gentle, playful, and more....

The other night I came home from a date and noticed that Sophie was in her outside kennel. I decided to bring her in. As we walked in my kitchen, I was startled to see a large plastic tote with a guinea pig staring up at me. (my kids offered to babysit a neighbors guinea pig)
I was startled because I had no idea where this rodent came from, then was startled because Sophie came over and I thought she was going to kill it.

Nope.

Sophie walked over, sniffed it, and sat down.

cool huh.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Shepherds of old and their trusted gaurdian


This is a very interesting picture. What an amazing gaurdian dog.
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Now that's what I call a "PAW"!


That is enormous. I doubt our Sophie will compare to this paw.....thank goodness!
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Sophie

I guess its time to post some new pics. I have a bunch, but have to sift through them.
(also resizing is a bit time consuming) I will post some this weekend.

I have noticed that the anatolian shepherds/ kangals that come from Turkey have many different looks, fur coats to them etc. (konyas, akit/yoruks, karabas, kaba, kirik, capar etc)
check this out..... (look at all the pics)
http://www.anatoliandog.org/isik-001.htm

I am not sure about all the hooplah surrounding anatolian shepherds vs. the kangal dog. It seems like it could be a heated debate. All I know is, both dogs are beautiful.

I think it would be cool to have either.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Sophie is 19 inches at the shoulder

I can't believe how fast she is growing. 19 inches now! (to her shoulder)

She is still doing great with her daily training.

She hasn't had much of an appetite last night or this morning.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Anatolian Shepherds are hypnotizing

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Training

I was really impressed with the lady that came over this past weekend. She had a great knowledge of anatolian shepherds. Not only that, but you could tell she knew her stuff by how she interacted with our dog. She mentioned that some of the things we hear on the ASDI forum, and published books, etc. are not fully true and accurate. It mostly depends upon the dogs personality and the training he/she receives. She stressed that with the large breeds, we needed to display dominance of our puppy as soon as possible.

She suggested that we buy a dog choker chain. .........So we did.

The employee at Petco wasn't happy about our choker purchase. His chiding suggested that the choker was "old school" training. He said there are more humane training methods. I basically mumbled something like, ....... "get out of my way you freaking tree hugger........this is an anatolian shepherd, you dimwit!".
He probably thought that Anatolian Shepherd meant a "herdsman village in Hungary" or something. - Don't you have an owl to save...somewhere?
(maybe I'll bring Sophie in to meet him in a few months when she is a hundred pounds heavier and her fangs are 4 inches long!)

So,.....we are making really good progress. Remember how I mentioned before that Sophie would plop down on her rear when you tried to walk her as if she was saying, "Not today ,bub.". Well that is nearly resolved. Not to mention we feel like we have more control of her....and at this stage it is very important for her to know that. (the crucial 16 weeks period)

I take her out each evening for her choke......, I mean, .....walking lesson. She does really well. We practice for 15 - 20 minutes. I try not to overdue it. Sometimes we only go 10 minutes, then she gets a brush.

fun times I tell ya.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Sophie: 12 weeks

Sophie is growing so much. He front legs look so long. I measured her at 18 1/2 inches. I suspect she weighs 30 pounds or more.

This weekend she got her 12 week shots. She did very well. She also got her chip implant. (between the shoulders) I felt bad for her, but she really was a champ.

We are trying to socialize her with people/ dogs/ pets etc. She does extremely well. At the vet she was friendly with everyone and their pets. She was also friendly in Petco.

I noticed that she is starting to shed a little. I am not excited about that. We once had a pug that shed like crazy. Hair was everywhere. In the cars, bedrooms, garage etc.....and we brushed and vaccuemed every single day. He was only allowed in our kitchen and hair managed to get all over. yuck.

We met a lady that has owned 3 anatolian shepherds. (she currently has one). She came over to see Sophie on Saturday. She was wonderful! We were so impressed with her...not only as a great dog owner, but as a wonderful person. She gave us so much advice and told us about her experiences with her dogs. She even clipped Sophies nails and gave us some dog training lessons. We thought so much of her. I hope we see her in the future.

more pics to come!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sophie update

My wife received a call from the lady listed on the Wasatch Anatolian Shepherd club. She lives fairly close and has raised 3 anatolians. She might come over to visit this weekend. We'll see.

I measured Sophie last night because I noticed that her collar was getting a little tight around her neck. She has grown an 1/2 inch in just 4 days. She now stands at the shoulder at 18 inches.

We are trying to really work with her between these crucial 16 weeks. We are trying to train her, curb the nips, leash train etc.....I might enroll her in a training class if it will help.
I'm looking into it.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Wasatch Anatolian Shepherd Club, Utah

I found this site...

http://www.anatoliandog.org/regn-wac.htm

... but it seems to be outdated. I have tried to contact the names listed but have yet to receive a response.
No one on the anatolain shepherd list/ forum (asdi) seems to have any information. hmmmmmm......

I guess I could get something going..... I'll check into it.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Sophie: 11 weeks

Sophie turns eleven weeks this weekend. She has grown 1/2 - 3/4 at the shoulder in a week. (at the moment, she won't hold still so I can measure her) She looks to be 17 inches at the shoulder...maybe 17 1/2? We are feeding her a little more of her Purina puppy chow because she seems hungry. We are playing it by ear. I doubt she will eat overeat herself......

She loves chasing her tail. She will spend an hour outside chasing herself.

I bought a used kennel last week. It measures about 25 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 6 feet tall.
She doesnt seem to mind being in there for an hour or two a day.

The nipping is getting better. I don't have the problem with her nipping at me, but my wife and kids are getting sick of it. It is getting a little better though.

Sophie relaxing

After a hard day of play.
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Wanted: more dirt clods

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