Our puppies weighed 16.6 and 15.5 lbs respectively at the Vet, that’s female and male order. Gretchen is the female, and Lothar is the male.
The vet estimated that they were about 9 or 10 weeks old, sticking closer to 9. That’s about what I thought, giving them up to 3 months, but thinking they were closer to 2 months old.
As for their mix, who knows. I can tell they are shepherd mix, due to the markings. As time goes on we can tell more. Their ears are the right shape for a shepherd, and have until about 6 months of age to stand up. Some shepherd’s ears don’t stand up fully ever though. Many mixes I’ve seen photos of, shepherd mixes, have ears that stand up, or don’t. So it remains to be seen what happens with the ears. I hope they do stand up, I like how GSD’s look.
Also GSD markings change as the the pups get older. Right now, both pups are very black on top and all the way down their legs 3/4. Comparing both of them, their fur is different from one another, with Gretchen being short-coated, and Lothar having longer short-coat, still smooth against his body, but nearly wavy in places — which reminds me of a Rottweiler’s coat. So, according to photos of pure GSD’s, these pups fur isn’t purebred GSD fur. But their markings are classic, IMO. With the exception of Gretchen having creamy white at the end of her nose and paws. She’s lighter in color overall. Lothar has red/tan fur where as Gretchen has tan/to light tan to cream fur. Both have some silver flecking in the neck area, and Gretchen has more on her back in the black fur, whereas Lothar is purely black on his back.
Their coat colors changing over the next many months is of high interest to me. I’m anxious to see the changes, and to document it with photos as time goes on. IF they change, that is. From what I’m guessing, they will. I’ve spent myriads of minutes searching the net for photos of shepherds and shepherd mixes. My two pups, and particularly the male, fit right in with the looks of all I’ve found. The female looks just like the male, only her colors are fairer … and the whitish color at the end of her muzzle has made some people, namely the Vet, say they are part “beagle”. But that’s just not what I see. She is exactly the same in color pattern on the head, just different color structure, the patterned lines are the same on she and he.
That all said, I am NO expert on dogs at all, and so it goes to say neither am I on any particular breed or mix. There are clues that I would have no way of interpreting, so growing up and exibiting characteristics in coat and action is all we can do. So waiting patiently is the name of the game.
Our housetraining is going along fine. Three nights in a row they have had no accidents in their crate, and gone all night the last two nights … getting up at 6:30am on Sunday, and 4:30 on Monday [and going back into the crate for awhile after going potty], and that’s good news!
I started this out getting up every couple of hours to put them out and have them go potty, then put them right back into their crate. They had their nights and days mixed up. After two nights of that, they were on track for day being day, and night being night. What a blessing a quick learing couple of pups is!
They stay in their Superyard penned in area in the kitchen during the day, or out in the yard they can roam freely, when I let them out to go potty and play for a bit every once in awhile.
When I let them back in, they automatically, 95% of the time, go right into their pen area. When I open the pen to have them go outside, they walk right out to the door. It’s nice to see them go in and out so perfectly.
Well, Gretchen is a leader. Lothar is a lover. He follows her lead. Lothar wants lots of belly rubbing from us. Gretchen likes belly rubs too, but not as much as Lothar. If I give Gretchen attention it makes Lothar jealous, he barges right in to force the attention on himself. The one place he’s aggressive is when there is one piece of food. He won’t share. He grabs it and is very mean and nasty in sound and appearance if Gretchen tries to share. It’s not as if she’s trying to take it away, mind you. So when their dinner is a big something, I must split it in two, or feed them separately, so that one can tackle it for awhile, then go outside while the other comes in to tackle it for awhile themself.
I’m enjoying having pups. They are nice, sweet, and love to bark at the cats while the cats are eating. The cats eat slowly, the pups eat fast. Makes for puppies wanting what the cats have. But the cats just ignore the pups, since the pups are all bark, and no bite, being penned in.
I’m looking forward for having well trained, sociable dogs.
My biggest problem now is wanting to begin a rescue organization. Just today there was an adult dog with 4 puppies roaming the street. It’s not a dog we recognize as belonging to a neighbor, and it seemed they were roaving up and down behind houses, looking for stuff. The pups looked like they were about 8 weeks old, but neither they nor their supposed Mama would come near me when I called to them. Stray and dumped dogs and cats around here are becoming a huge deal. So, it’s sad that I can’t do what I’d like, have the ability to pick up strays, fix them up and house them until new homes could be found for them. Someday, maybe. For cats too.