Colubridz
October 15th, 2007, 01:46 PM
Today marks a year spent with Duke in my life. I brought him home excactly one year ago yesterday. I can't say it was the most thought out descion but it is one I will never regret. I was 17 and my mom was away on a business trip, two weeks earlier we had recieved a litter of 8 German Shepherd/Rotti/Collie pups, I watched them go one by one and became piticularly attached to one black and fawn male. I had worked at the store for two years prior and was used to distancing myself from other pups to avoid bringing every single one that came through our doors home. Yet something was different I was drawn to him, I spent every lunch and break with him and decided that if he was still in the store in two weeks I would take him.
Two weeks came and went and all of his littermates were sold except the black and fawn male I had been keeping an eye on. I arranged to have a friend pick me up and for a place to sleep that night with the pup planning on telling my mom the next morning when she arrived home. At the end of my shift that night I walked out of the store with a crate, a small bag of food, a kong and a book from the american kennel club about puppy obidence and with my first dog.
The news wasn't taken well, actually that's an understatement, my mom refused to talk to me for two weeks, but allowed me to keep the puppy but made it clear she would not help me out in any way, which was fine. The first month was completely sleepless and I remember having to wake up three times for the first two weeks while still attending school and working a part time job. I managed to come home at lunch to walk him and all spare time went towards training. My social life didn't suffer too much as my best friend had recently adopted a dog two months prior from a kill shelter in ohio whom she named gypsy.
Initially Duke would growl at her when she came to play with him, but after a bit of getting to know each other the two hit it off, they are still best friends today and interact unlike any other dogs I have ever seen.
At 3 months old I enrolled Duke in Puppy Obidence and he graduated second in his class. Around 6 months he went for level I OB this time graduating first in his class. At 10 months old he completed level II OB second in his class.
Though he does still have reactivity issues to work through, and despite prehaps not making the most informed descion when I originally purchased him I will never regret my descion to bring Duke into my life. He has been a joy, my companion, my protector, and a shoulder to cry on and for that I will always love him.
What the future holds for us is uncertain, lifestyles will change, relationships will change, finicial circumstances and places to live will change but Duke will be with me through all of it. Were enrolled in Rally -o classes begining in a few months and I'm hoping to do agility down the road if his hip x-rays come back ok.
Anyways here's the part everyone's been waiting for the cute progressive pictures.
Duke at 8 weeks
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/exotica_reptiles16/Duke/IMG_0310.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/exotica_reptiles16/Duke/IMG_0304.jpg
Duke and Diamond ( whom passed away three weeks after we brought Duke home due to progressive untreatable cancer)
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/exotica_reptiles16/Duke/IMG_0335.jpg
*much more*
Two weeks came and went and all of his littermates were sold except the black and fawn male I had been keeping an eye on. I arranged to have a friend pick me up and for a place to sleep that night with the pup planning on telling my mom the next morning when she arrived home. At the end of my shift that night I walked out of the store with a crate, a small bag of food, a kong and a book from the american kennel club about puppy obidence and with my first dog.
The news wasn't taken well, actually that's an understatement, my mom refused to talk to me for two weeks, but allowed me to keep the puppy but made it clear she would not help me out in any way, which was fine. The first month was completely sleepless and I remember having to wake up three times for the first two weeks while still attending school and working a part time job. I managed to come home at lunch to walk him and all spare time went towards training. My social life didn't suffer too much as my best friend had recently adopted a dog two months prior from a kill shelter in ohio whom she named gypsy.
Initially Duke would growl at her when she came to play with him, but after a bit of getting to know each other the two hit it off, they are still best friends today and interact unlike any other dogs I have ever seen.
At 3 months old I enrolled Duke in Puppy Obidence and he graduated second in his class. Around 6 months he went for level I OB this time graduating first in his class. At 10 months old he completed level II OB second in his class.
Though he does still have reactivity issues to work through, and despite prehaps not making the most informed descion when I originally purchased him I will never regret my descion to bring Duke into my life. He has been a joy, my companion, my protector, and a shoulder to cry on and for that I will always love him.
What the future holds for us is uncertain, lifestyles will change, relationships will change, finicial circumstances and places to live will change but Duke will be with me through all of it. Were enrolled in Rally -o classes begining in a few months and I'm hoping to do agility down the road if his hip x-rays come back ok.
Anyways here's the part everyone's been waiting for the cute progressive pictures.
Duke at 8 weeks
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/exotica_reptiles16/Duke/IMG_0310.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/exotica_reptiles16/Duke/IMG_0304.jpg
Duke and Diamond ( whom passed away three weeks after we brought Duke home due to progressive untreatable cancer)
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/exotica_reptiles16/Duke/IMG_0335.jpg
*much more*