SCHÖNE”S LITTER---UPDATED

            The long-anticipated day arrived Monday, 10/21.  The puppies were 8-weeks old and ready to begin relocation to their new homes.  Two of the pups left us---Gil to go to his new home in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains about an hour northeast of us, and Molly to her new home in Silicon Valley, about 2 hours southwest of us.   Gil will be living with two adults and several horses being trained and competing in endurance events.   Eventually, we’ll find out for sure whether an adult GSP can trot along for 20-30 miles without having to breathe hard, but I think all of us who own this breed of dogs already knows the answer to that.  They are incredibly gifted athletes with huge chests and equally huge hearts that translate to great stamina and endurance in the field.   Molly in Silicon Valley will be joining a family with a teenaged son and his younger sister, an ideal situation for a puppy that loves cuddling and people.   She also may have a show career ahead for her based on puppy grades, and will surely have a hunting career based on what the new owners are looking for from their dog.

           Tuesday was Audie’s turn to go to her new home, with a veterinarian and her family also located east of Sacramento, less than an hour away from us.  She has a future as a well-loved pet ahead of her, but Elaine and I have also tagged her as our dark-horse candidate to have a successful career as a show dog.  She has a lot of attitude to offset being the smallest dog in the litter.

            Wednesday Blaine got on a plane (does anybody like that rhyme?) to Georgia to start his career as a pet-companion, hunter, and probably show dog.  Blaine was the largest dog in the litter at birth, and is still the biggest by a small margin over Molly.  Early reports and videos show us he likes it there and is adjusting rapidly with guidance from his older cousin on his mother’s side, who is also part of the household.

            Thursday we said auf wiedersehen (they are German shorthairs, after all) to Kristy, who is moving to the SF Bay area.   Kristy, the lightest colored dog in the litter, is destined to be a snuggle-bunny and a family pet, but Elaine is betting she’ll eventually show as well.

Nick is scheduled to move to his new home in San Diego on Sunday.  He’ll be first and foremost a pet, but also has a future career as a show dog ahead if he looks as good then as he does now.

Steff will be going to a new home in Colorado.  He will definitely be a companion dog, maybe a hunter.  He’s by far the biggest dog here now with Molly and Blaine gone.

Finally, Iona will be go to her new home in the North Bay area in a week or two.  She will be a companion and a show dog.  Iona and Steff should be getting some obedience training from a pro (Elaine) and a semi-pro (me) for the remaining time they’re here.  They already seem to love running around loose in the back yard.  Now that we can keep track of three puppies, letting them loose to play with Mommy and Grandma is feasible.  This week’s goal is mastery of “come”.  Next week we plan to work on “sit” in the repertoire of new behaviors.

To get in the proper mood to share this new litter of puppies experience with us,  may I recommend clicking on the cover image of "The Deadly Dog Show" on the right side of this page and buying a copy to read.   These newcomers are Jolie's (the dog on the cover) grandpuppies.   If you enjoy the novel, and I'm sure you will, consider buying copies ($2.99 each, like all my full-length books) for all the readers on your holiday gift list.