The Next Adventure: March 2012

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to write. School is coming to a close in my 8 week course so finals and projects are upon me, and Jannike Sabine keeps me on my toes!

We went to get her on a Friday afternoon and picked her up on her 8 week mark. She was the first of her litter to go, and one of the smallest. She came to us all fluff and these cute bent little ears leaving her German-speaking world, and entering the domain of borderline-obsessive American first time parents.

I’m not sure how many of you are aware that it was a very long process trying to find the right puppy. Not only did Matt and I disagree with the type of breed we wanted, we also had no idea where to start. Being someone who enjoys researching all I can, I dove into buying a few puppy books, and browsing the internet for all information on breeds I personally loved. Matt was not interested in the German Shepherd breed, but as a fair trade, we agreed to contact breeders of our own dog preference and went from there. Our almost breed was the German Pointer. Since I wasn’t in school I had the advantage to research and email German breeders and found one that spoke enough English to get by, and who looked promising for the right pup. Sadly for Matt, his breeders didn’t get back to him and the German Shepherd seemed to grow on him.

At four weeks we met with Bruno, his family, the mother dog, father dog, pups, and other dogs they had in their care. All were very polite, and with mass amounts of hand gestures and the simplest words/sentences, we fell in love. Because Jannike is a purebred German Shepherd with a pedigree to match, we had to name her with the first letter of her litter, which is “J”. While Matt and I were deciding on breed and sex, we picked out the name Sabine, which is German. Matt named her after Sabine Schmitz, the BMW test driver….Not surprised. Even though on her papers she is Jannike Sabine, we call her Sabine. So, we came back four weeks later, and she was already picked out for us, ready to go!

Here we are almost at her 12 week/ 3 month mark, and we love her just as much as day one. Of course due to her breed, she is more active so she has a lot of energy, but at the same time she is very smart. Matt and I set guidelines before we started training to keep her as consistent as possible, and through mutual efforts we are proud to say she knows some of her commands! She has a firm grasp of: Sit, Down, Stay, Wait, Shake, Roll Over (work in progress), Go Potty, Easy, Off (meh), and Kennel. To keep her stimulated, we play games that make her think as well, such as a puzzle ball to get her lunch, and using the game “Find It” to use her scent skills to find certain treats.

While she is only just over 11 weeks, she is quite the handful. We just started sleeping through the whole night, and she still has accidents inside of the apartment. When she plays, she gets very excited and has a nipping problem. She has let me practice my patience, and really pushes me to be the best trainer/pet owner I can be. Sabine is a gift that I never really thought I would be able to afford and I’m thankful for such a strong support system like Matt to help me through my struggles with her. She has a sweet face, and a really optimistic look on the world around her. Loud noises don’t scare her, and she loves to meet new people and dogs. Surprisingly, she gets really really excited about small children, which terrifies me. Kids aren’t really my style, but I can’t help grin like a fool when a baby that can’t walk giggles when she is petting a calm Sabine.

Thanks to everyone for letting me gush about this new addition to our lives. We love her with all we’ve got.

I’ve still got more to write, but for now this is all I have time to share. I miss you all, and I’m hoping to see you guys in July!!! :D XOXO.