On these hot summer days🔥 we all hang out under the tree🌳, dippin' in the cool tubby🛁, squabbling over toys🥎, and maybe try to eat the hose a little bit too🐕🦺🤷
If Bella enjoyed meeting new people as much as she enjoyed performing water attack acrobatics she'd be adopted by now! 😬 At least she's having fun!
Nova our lil' tiny pocket shep.
Small but mighty💪
1-2yo, she's scheduled for her checkup and vaccinations next week!
This rain is killing after-work recess🌧️☹️🐕🦺 The lame-o's won't come out from under the tree unless I come out from under it too lol.
Bella 5 yo (the dark shep), very loyal, sweet, but has been through a lot. Abandoned for awhile, escaped her former owner's yard, and was on the run as a stray once or twice. She needed a leader in her life and leans hard on me for guidance. She's leveled her confidence up quite a bit since her arrival tho!
Nova 2ish yo (the little shep) a fierce youngster! Good with people, but not afraid to challenge any dog, even the bigguns lol. High energy & playful ( but I think her favorite game is keep away 😐). Nova has oodles of confidence, but could use continued work on the basics and socializing. Also sweet & cuddly when she winds down!
Both of them have A LOT of potential as a canine companion☺️🐾
As you know we don't like to waste time with the introductions around here. It allows unwarranted fears to fester and reactivity to set in. So less than 24 hours later, after a few leashed walks with Bella to work out the jitters, here's Nova meeting the pack off-leash❤️ Thank you all for the name suggestions again, Nova received the most likes, and happened to be submitted by the woman who originally took Nova in.
Her confidence level is about where Bella's was when she arrived a few weeks ago, but Bella has since settled right in (already helping the new arrivals adjust😊🐕🦺) and I have no doubt Nova will too!
Bella's veterinary appointment is next week, and we will schedule Nova's while we are there. Busy busy!😅
Bella boo recap:
She was left on her own when her owner suddenly went away. I think the story goes she was left in the backyard, fed by family of the owner and neighbors intermittently. She had escaped a few times and went on a walk-a-bout of Syracuse, being caught and returned by the dog catcher once.... or maybe twice or thrice I'm not sure🤷... but for awhile she had been on her own, leader gone abruptly, she was lost :/ The Syracuse PD and Dog Control stepped in, and the day they picked her up with the plan to bring her to us, the officer called just to make absoluuuuutely sure we were prepared for her. I believe she called her "a very spicy girl" that required a catch pole during pickup😬 The officer just didn't want us to be shocked when she arrived lol.... and when she did she was definitely still "spicy 🔥"! Catch pole again to get her out of the cruiser 😆 But there's a clear difference between dangerously aggressive and terrified defensive, which she was the latter. The latter we can work with.
The plan for the last couple of weeks has been simple, assimilate her into the pack, include her in our daily routine, and fill the void left by her previous leader. We want to calm her anxiousness, take the load off of her, and teach her to communicate properly in our human world 🌎 Today, was her first time "off-leash" (yes even in the play yard, this girl has a history of running so there's extra precautions for her lol), as well as the first time playing with any of the toys🥎 Making great progress! She also loves cuddles on the couch in the evenings, she definitely missed having a lap to put her head on.
Btw, once again thank you to Syracuse PD and Dog Control for getting the job done. They care about what they do and are professionals.
The Syracuse boys, Mylo and Duncan, have settled in! Mylo a surrender, Duncan a stray, friendly, playful, happy to be here😊 Dunks loves to burrow in the snow, maybe hunting for vermin🤷, super playful, loves the Kong balls, tossing them up in the air and into the snow drifts. Mylo is learning.... pretty much everything lol, everything seems new and exciting to him but he especially loves to be around his peeps.
They are learning the finer bits of socialization & communicating with the pack, but both are good boys with kind souls🐾
Mylo, 2yo
Duncan, 8-10ish yo... maybe?🤷
Shout out to my brother Mike Chambers and his wife Lindsey Hinman Chambers for their generous donation and his employer National Fuel's match! It was very kind of them and will help us care for a lot of sheps😊🐕🦺🐾
As a token of our appreciation he can pick any one of the sheps in the video below to call his own😆 EVEN OTTO, he misses you guys anyway lol
Had a lot of great name suggestions! Some were names of sheps we've rescued before, some we're going to tuck away for future use, one follower fave is currently taken by Eddie Bear 🐻, so how about Duncan or Gunter? Let us know!
Here's his introduction to the play yard and turns out he's pretty playful! A happy, friendly boy waiting to come out of his shell and trust somebody😊 You can see he hasn't been treated well lately, tips of his ears are fly bitten and weathered, wrist joints are calloused over with licky loo hotspots, hind end has a bite taken out of it causing a limp, scars on his snout, etc and so on😞 You can see him flinch away from my initial pets in the vid (which btw, I don't recommend petting an unfamiliar dog like I do here😬 New guy had already put a bit of trust in me previously with the bath, wound cleaning, and plenty of scratches. This is just me acclimating him to normal every day scenarios, letting him know he can ease that guard down)
After everything he's been through, he still seems a happy go-lucky kinda dude! Pretty curious and friendly towards the rest of the pack too! Depending how the vet visit goes we may get a pack introduction update next week🐕🦺🐾
Got a short vid of the new kid on the block this morning before work. He doesn't seem super familiar with leash walking, attached to my hip and stepping on the crocs🐊, giving me flat tires lol. I will have to swap the 25' retractable for the standard 6' lead until he gains the confidence to explore and sniff around.
He's met the whole pack already, but here he is with Remi and Eddie.
Mylo, 2 yo
Early Morning Wynne Zoomies 💨🐕🦺♥️
What's it like supervising a yard full of GSDs? It's like a cross between a teacher making sure none of the kindergarteners do anything stupid on the playground, like getting their foot stuck in a Jolly Ball handle and panicking (looking at you Remi! 😐), and a prison guard keeping the inmates from starting a full on riot over the slightest insult 🥴😆🐕🦺
IndieeeeeGOOOO! She had a blast tiring Ol' man Eddie out and getting Remi in trouble for running the fence & barking at her🐾
Another new rescue, meet Indigo💜💙 She has been incredibly sweet upon arrival, leaning in for hugs and scratches, bringing me toys, etc. As always we will keep y'all posted as we get to know her and as she adjusts to pack life. She has a bit of dog reactivity we've got to conquer first🐕🦺🐾
Indigo, 5 yo
As is tradition, the field walk of freedom. A very foggy, very muddy walk. Then I threw the poor boy to the wolves... figuratively.... but he sure thought it was literally for the first few minutes of meeting the pack😅. After a bit he realized they weren't trying to murder him and settled into his first pack walk🐾
When it's too cold outside, we play games in the barn (Don't mind the mess) Wynne getting in some "nose work" 🥎
Mile is off to his new home! He's an incredibly smart, expressive shep and we're excited to see him flourish in his new home❤️🏠
With his placement I'm going to take a short break... It was a busy year and we need a couple weeks to recharge with the pack. Losing our senior Coco Puff requires some time to remember our time with her and reset energies.
- Pat
Wynne is one smart cookie. We just started practicing the "place" command 3 days ago, she's already doing soooo good.
With some continued training on her reactivity, I think she will be an amazing companion for an experienced owner. ♥️🐕🦺
Wild Wynne. Zoomies on the chilly last bedtime outing. Playing with pine cones and sticks 🤣 We are beyond thankful for frozen ground. ♥️🐕🦺
