Dakota - Our Newest Baby
I know I promised photos a long while ago. Learning the new camera and then finding time to upload and resize 'em turned into the challenge lol. I finally got around to it tonight though.Our New Baby just turned five months old. Last weekend, we took him in to be neutered. He spent the night Friday night and husband picked him up Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure husband said he weighed in at 59 pounds. My baby isn't a little baby anymore...that's for sure.
Here is the first pictures we took of him. They were taken at the end of January when he was eight weeks old.
The next photos were taken on April 3, so he was four months old. He's growing up so fast! He's getting more tan on the top of his head now too. When we first brought him home, his head was entirely black....then he started getting the tan above his eyes. A few weeks later, he started turning tan on the top of his head too. I'm interested in seeing what his final colors will turn out to be.
Here is my absolute favorite photo of both our pups in one of their favorite spots...the top of the stairs on the mezzanine.
They are both such a joy to have in our family. We love them so much and I'm so thankful husband talked me into going to "just look" at the German Shepherd puppies back in January.
Dakota is so much company. With husband deploying again later this year - having him here with me is going to be such a comfort. Like Chelsea Dog had been, Dakota is definitely my dog. Wherever I am, he is or wants to be.
Dharma, our rottie, has a soft spot for our babies (which we think is wonderful). When they go to bed at night, she goes with them. Some nights she sleeps with daughter, some nights, she sleeps with son...other nights she chooses the spare bedroom where she enjoys having a king sized bed all to herself lol. It all just depends on her mood I guess ;).
When husband is gone, I find it comforting to know that we have a dog on each floor. If someone were to try to sneak in downstairs, like Chelsea Dog before him, Dakota will hear it and let me know. If someone were brave enough to try to sneak in a window upstairs, there's no doubt our rottie would take care of business until I could get there :).
We've truly been blessed, that is for sure. Two wonderful dogs are part of our family....
posted by Shannon at
7:04 PM
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4 comment(s):
He's such a cutie ... and yikes, he'll be big if he' 60lbs at five months old. What are you feeding - miracle grow? :P
By
Mauser*Girl, at
May 05, 2006 1:10 AM &nbps;
You would think lol!!
We feed him the large breed puppy food per our vet's advice. When he was six to eight weeks, we were feeding him regular puppy food. When he went in for his first check-up and shots, the Vet said to put him on the large breed pup food. That way he hopefully wouldn't grow too fast with the lower fat content which he said "they think" can lead to the hip and joint problems.
I figure he'll be around 110 lbs or so when he is full grown - which was right around the size of Dad who was on site when we bought Dakota.
I worry about the way he seems to go to sleep for a few hours and wake up *bigger* lol, but the Vet said he seems healthy and happy - and as long as we're not giving him a diet full of high fat and junk, he should be good. I just can't help but worry though...I've just never seen a dog grow as fast as he seems too.
By
Shannon, at
May 05, 2006 6:51 AM &nbps;
I think he's beautiful and it'll definitely be interesting to see just how big he's going to get. If dad was 110lbs you may get a whole lotta dog when he's fully grown. :)
I just can't wrap my head around how big a lot of the GSDs in the States are being bred - and I don't mean weight wise, I mean size. My little Abby girl is just about 24" at the withers - which is the maximum height for females within the standard. People keep coming up and telling me how "tiny" she is and asking what kind of dog she is or whether she is a mix because of her "small size". Heh.
By
Mauser*Girl, at
May 05, 2006 1:24 PM &nbps;
TINY?? Sheesh, people can be so crazy. 24" is right at perfect for their size. I think for a male its 26".
Right now, my baby is around 21 1/2". Hopefully once he hits ten/eleven months or so, he won't get much taller, just fill out some.
There's no doubt he was the biggest puppy by far. The female and male pups that were on site when we picked Dakota out, were really small compared to him. His feet were just so huge...it was his personality that got me though. We walked up, out he came ;). He ran up to me and although I picked the other two up and played with them too, it was Dakota that seemed to steal my heart.
I knew the first time I saw him and said, "Hey Baby" to him. He looked at me right in the eyes and turned his head. He seemed to even be smiling....I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Even now, he always seems to be smiling. He's such a happy boy...
Ok, sorry to ramble. He's stolen my heart if you can't tell lol.
By
Shannon, at
May 07, 2006 6:58 PM &nbps;
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