Most of the people that know me and most keep up with me on Facebook and Twitter know that we adopted a new puppy last month; five weeks ago to be exact. We picked her out from the usual motley collection of hounds and mutts and brought her home in the hopes that she would be a good bridge dog between Kuma (our mostly-Belgian sheep) and Nia (our mostly-border terrier). Kuma is, and always will be, Jessie's dog. Jessie (our blonde Lab/German Shepard) has trouble with her hips as do most of the dogs from both sides of her family and there will come a day when she is unable to run in the pasture like Kuma still wants to do.
There she was, in a pen with two chihuahuas (one that was so completely snaggle-toothed that it had surpassed ugly and circled back around on cute). According to her chart she was supposed to be a Saint Bernard mix. We didn't believe that for a moment. I can see the similarities in the coloration, but she just wasn't built like it and there was no little cask full of hard liqueur under her chin.
Jake named her: Kaiju Cannibala Sandwiches. Kaiju is Japanese for "strange creature" and is what they call all the "Godzilla" monsters in film (see also Pacific Rim). The other two names are just pure Jake, but it reminds me of the magician on Sesame Street that used to cast spells with "A'la peanut butter sandwiches!"
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| In line to pay for her adoption |
The pound had her age at 10 weeks. Based on that and the size/shape of her feet, we didn't expect her to be a huge adult dog.
She was paid for on a Thursday but I would not be able to pick her up until the next Friday after work so she could be fixed overnight. Esther, Jake and I had picked her out and when Chan saw the pictures above it was she that correctly identified the bread: German shorthaired pointer. A duck hunter's dog. From my reading it was clear that in breeding circles brown eyes are the preference and she was born with blue. She was the last one out of a litter of eight.
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| First night home, still groggy from the long day |
She shouldn't be a huge dog as an adult, probably about 65 lbs, but she is growing. She was 8 lbs from pound which became 10 lbs by the end of that week, and about 12 pounds the week after that.
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| 20 days later... |
Here she is about 23 days after we picked her up, her head slightly less rounded, but still very much the puppy.
She's a duck dog, webbed feet and all, but cries when she has to cross water. Swimming is out of the question.
Of our other dogs, she gets along best with Nia- who matches her drive to play and run like crazed jackals. Nia helps out by leading her outside when we are taking her out to potty and once even put her paw on Kaiju's rump when I was teaching her to sit on command. I have witnesses.
Jessie tolerates her for the most part about as much as she does Nia. Kuma might be possibly interested in playing with her but Kuma is the most inscrutable of animals and plays his cards close to the chest.
Her jaws are full of sharp puppy fangs and she approaches everything mouth-first, like a blind alligator.
She hasn't figured out jumping. She can leap at something and has no problem getting her front feet off the ground, but the back feet are earthbound for the moment. Fallen logs taller than her might as well be fortified motes.
Climbing and log-crossing is also beyond her abilities at the moment. Nia wants you to know that she has no such issues.
Now, in the fifth week of Kaiju, she has doubled to 16 lbs and is quickly shaping up to be a long and lanky young dog. Her front feet are huge and shaped more like tall, sturdy Lab feet. She's been on a few long hikes in the woods and loves that. Yesterday she started out crying at every stream crossing but was plowing through like a champ by the end of the trail.
She did need a little tote for a bit...
Pictures from the following days:
11/6/14
11/7/14
11/27/14
11/29/14
11/30/14
12/12/14
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