PUPPY!

[theweaselking]

This is Piper.

She is three months old!

That tennis ball is hers, but she will share it with me if I ask nicely.

EDIT:

OMG she has *never seen stairs*. She doesn't know how they work or feel at all confident about following me! She keeps trying to find a different way around to get up to join me, six steps up.

I may have to re-examine my previous estimates as to her intelligence.

Comments

[matgb]

She has almost the exact same colourscheme as Roxy (our 2 yr old rescue). Any idea what breed she is? Roxy is a definite mut.

Who also has a distinct preference for chasing tennis balls anywhere she sees them.

We live opposite the local tennis club. This is amusing.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Rottweiler/German Shepherd is the vet's best guess.

[skington.livejournal.com]

My wife reckons she's more likely a rottweiler / collie cross. A shepherd cross at that age would have massive paws.

[matgb]

Ours has an identical colour scheme, but is much more collie in appearance, a lot fluffier for a start.

I don't have many good pictures of her, she refuses to stay still when I point a camera at her, but this one is fairly clear if small:


http://photos-h.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v320/119/33/717005385/n717005385_4124375_7835.jpg
Would've been good, but she had to figure out what I was doing.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I'd be okay with that, although I'd expect a collie to have longer hair.

Rotties *do* come in as small as 25kg, and Shepherds are the same. She's definitely not pure Rottie - *way* too small in the head and chest. Rotties are built like barrels.

But yeah. Vet's best guess about expected max size is 25kg. Of course, that's just a guess.

So far, she is the most obedient and trainable puppy I have *ever* seen. Bar none. In less than a day she's figured out that we want her to sit before she's allowed to have things, that toys I give her are hers and ones I take away are mine, and that we expect her to sit on command when we say "Sit!".

Of course, the fact that she knows we expect it of her doesn't mean she DOES it. But she knows! Ingrained non-forced obedience will have to come in time.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

It's a VERY adorable dog.

[jerril]

Cute crossed with cute, then. I can't wait to meet her tomorrow

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

PRECIOUS.

And I bet she is totally smart. Stairs are just weird when you've got four legs.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

She can't figure out what order to move the legs in!

She made it up. DOWN is proving much more strenuous.

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

Down is hard!

She is seriously so cute.

[larabeaton.livejournal.com]

And just how is your cat dealing with this intruder?

(or is it cats? I can't remember.)

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Denial, mostly.

(Was three cats, then two, now one.)

The cat grew up with dogs and knows how they work. More importantly, she knows That around here, dogs are temporary things that will just go away if she sleeps up in a high place for a few days.

She is in for such a nasty surprise.

[zdallin.livejournal.com]

*grins* If Piper's like any other rotti I know (that hasn't had its head screwed over) the cat will have her in line in a few days ;)

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

What an adorable baby! Only 3 months? Of course stairs are gonna be a strange one for her to comprehend, especially if the previous owners have been working hard to keep her down off of furniture or anything else she might climb up.
She'll be fine with a little love and patience.
Love those eyes!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

"Previous owners" are 1mo at the humane society hoping owners will pick her up after being brought in as a stray (no stairs there) and then 1 day with the Bylaw Enforcement Officers for being a stray dog, and then 2 months I don't know about but probably a whole lot of nursing and lying around with closed eyes hunting for nipples by smell.

I don't think she's ever seen stairs before.

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

There are rarely stairs on the way to nipples.

Wait.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Ah.... poor baby, good on you for rescuing her!

[whisperkit.livejournal.com]

She is adorable!

I'm sure in time she'll be just whirrrrrrrring up those stairs.

[rbarclay.livejournal.com]

My cats were 5 and 6 years old, respectively, when I moved into an apartment with stairs.
Medusa instantly Got It, but Filou took it one step at a time - first paw one stair, 2md, 3rd, 4th - all 4 paws on a stair, pause, look, then the next step, for about a year.

[jenni411.livejournal.com]

My previous dog never quite mastered stairs. Current dog gives me a heart attack on a regular basis by thinking they're a launch pad.

[fortysevenbteg.livejournal.com]

Adorable. :)

[madfishmonger.livejournal.com]

So cute! Rescued animals are usually very sweet and loving. You should post this over on baaaaabyanimals

[dscotton.livejournal.com]

She may not know how to climb stairs, but she sure is cute!

[aeduna.livejournal.com]

Dammit, now I want a puppy.

[dolston.livejournal.com]

Why isn't she hovering yet?

[jokemanandpeppy.livejournal.com]

Awwwwww Peppy's in love. One training hint from the 7 dogs I've had the pleasure of caring for in my life. When she runs off, don't chase her. Get her attention, and the turn, and walk away in the opposite direction. She will then follow. It's the one big mistake "you" see all the time, people chasing their dogs. The dog thinks it's a game and loves it. If you knew this, then disregard this message, and keep up the good work.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

D'aww the eyes and the ears and and me melt now. Hi, Piper!

[singingnettle.livejournal.com]

CUUUTE!

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

*melt*

She's really beautiful.

mr_murphy_dog had trouble with stairs, too. Up was fine, but lugging an 85 pound Lab down the stairs was pretty taxing. Finally ended up applying boot to butt and shoving. It worked!

[mrbankies.livejournal.com]

She is entirely too cute, which is why I adore puppies. I expect a hoverpiper goes whirrrrrrrr at your soonest possible opportunity!

[cleodhna.livejournal.com]

I congratulate you, sir, on your seriously adorable puppy. May I add: AWWW!

Stairs are only an issue for us if they're the sort through which you can see. Habibi can do these going down, but not up. Fortunately, she is the one of our dogs who is of a carriable size.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I may have to re-examine my previous estimates as to her intelligence.

She's a dog. That's a big fluffy ball of insane good intentions, immense excitement and overwhelming love held together with loveable stupidity :)

[hakerh.livejournal.com]

That may be the best summary I've ever seen.

/has lived with many dogs

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

Yay puppy!

[oni-neko.livejournal.com]

very cute!

[jirel.livejournal.com]

larger dogs take longer to mature. I had an afghan hound that at 6 months still couldn't completely control his bowls when excited. And the dog training instructer considered him brilliant for an afghan hound. It was just a lack of the body growing up because he was so big.

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

WANT!!!!