Reaper’s Realm (2024)

12/03/2024

Ok….spent about 90 minutes sitting outside the entrance to Bass Pro Shop to help Reaper get used to being around all sorts of people and sights and sounds without reacting. He did pretty well. TRIED doing obedience, but there was too much to distract him, so we settled on just exposure. Once we did this he settled down for the most part. He never once barked at anyone, not even when there was another dog coming out the exit. We were about 35-40 feet away.
I call this a successful outing. Little increments added until he’s where I want him. We came home and he wanted to go out in the front yard. Which we did for a bit until he was ready to go finish that bully stick he had waiting inside.

12/03/2024

Sitting outside while Reaper does his business and explores drinking my coffee. He is oblivious to the neighbor dog barking his fool head off and him. This is a HUGE improvement since up until this point he would hurry up and do his business, then whine to come back in immediately. Oh he ‘hears’ the other dog and knows it’s barking, but he’s unconcerned by it.
We’ve been busy working on his manners. Teaching him to wait to come out of his crate until allowed, going out a door until allowed. The same for coming in a door. As well as his water bowl, and food. Although he’s hand fed. All of these with the goal of NOT being plowed into by him. Yes Reaper is ONLY 45 pounds right now. That’s the key word NOW. Given the size of Mom and Dad, as well as pups from other litters, I anticipate Reaper getting to the 120ish range. Definitely NOT someone you want to be fighting with while trying to open a house door, or crate door. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Speaking of his crate. While I LOVE the Impact crates, I don’t like the fact that they are all metal. Well let me explain. While I like the fact that they are bombproof, I don’t like that they are so uncomfortable. To that end I bought Reaper a bed that fits in his crate perfectly. I won’t regale you in the experience of trying to find a bed that fit (36”x48”). We finally found one and so far he seems to like it. Although he may like the cool metal this summer when it gets warm.
Now to finish my coffee and figure out what new experiences we can have today…

11/03/2024

Decided I wanted to give Reaper more exposure to different environments, so we headed over to Bass Pro Shop. Upon getting him out of the car he proceeded to be an ass. Lunging, barking at people for no reason. Trying to drag me here he wanted to go. Je**ed so hard he hurt my left shoulder. So we turned around and back into the car and home we went. Once here I tried sitting out front with him and he was a street angel 🙄. The trip to Bass Pro Shop WAS without him wearing a prong collar. That MIGHT have helped. Once home we put it back on. And surprise surprise he was perfect angel. NO trying to rip my arm out of the socket.

Guess we have quite a bit of work to do. More than I initially thought.

06/03/2024

It seems Mr Reaper enjoys ice cubes….i bet it feels good on his gums where his teeth are coming in..

06/03/2024

WELL….that was a dumpster fire. Took Reaper out to the Portage Lakefront to work on obedience instead of Bass Pro Shop. He was SO distracted by the birds, the sand, the people, other dogs, the water, the waves, the wind. I think it was sensory overload for him. We were able to do a FEW minutes of obedience, but not NEAR what I wanted to.
I realize that it’s a process. And one without any shortcuts. So, we will be going back out to the lakefront again soon, along with Bass Pro Shop, and other places to work on his dealing with distractions. The more he’s exposed to things, the less he reacts to them.
Right now he’s in his Taj Mahal of a crate passed out from the outing. I wonder what we can do later to desensitize him. 🤔. OR maybe we’ll work on something else….🤷

06/03/2024

Opened the door this morning so Mr Reaper could see out while I enjoyed my coffee. As you can see, he did pretty good, UNTIL a neighbor with her two GORGEOUS huskies walked by. A male (brown and white)and female (black and white). He then proceeded to bark up a storm at them through the glass. They were across the street. Not like they were invading HIS territory. 🙄 Now he’s back to laying there watching the world go by.
Once I finish my coffee I think I’m going to take him to Bass Pro Shop and work on some obedience in a different setting. And with distractions.
These pictures were all but impossible to get because if I do much and move a finger, he’s all over me. 🤣

06/03/2024

Just took Mr Reaper to weigh him so I could get his next dose of his heartworm and flea and tick meds at the vet. He’s up to 45.2 pounds. So he’s cruising right along at about 10 pounds every 3ish weeks.

04/03/2024

Reaper is loving sitting watching out the front door. We went outside and I gave him a pork neck bone to Kane on. It was frozen, but that didn’t stop him from demolishing it in no time at all. While out there a neighbor down the street that I see out all the time with her GSD and two Great Danes walked down with her two girls to meet Reaper. He loved meeting them. They brought him a present. A Kong Wubba Friend. This is his new favorite toy. Did I mention that it squeaks? 🙄

We went outside in the backyard so he could run around off leash. It seems that he does NOT like the meter readers (3 guys) walking by the fence on there way back out to their truck. BOY did he raise a ruckus! 😳

03/03/2024

I decided that since it was so nice out that I need to start clearing the leaves that blew up against the screened in porch so I can bring my grill and smoker out soon. Mr Reaper attacked the rake the whole time I was trying to rake leaves. 🙄. Once done he proceeded to roll around in said leaves and play in them. He’s gonna go NUTS when I bring out the leaf blower. 🤔
Oh, and he REFUSED to spend any time outside unless I was right out there with him.

27/02/2024

It’s Reaper’s first visit to Bass Pro. He’s doing pretty good with all the new sights, smells, and noises. His heeling wasn’t bad considering we haven’t really worked on it. Gonna give Tractor supply a go as well. We need more food for the beast. We’ll see just how he does walking next to a cart.

21/02/2024

Reaper and I are enjoying the weather outside along with getting some good food. This also helps him with socialization. He is doing pretty good. I mean he’s been here before so it’s not new to him, but it is a different environment and experience.

20/02/2024

Here are pictures of Reaper, both as he looks this morning as well as when he first came home. Quite a difference.

20/02/2024

WELL….we have achieved…PARTIAL ear stand! We’re halfway to both ears standing up. Which will take a little time, but happen I know. 😁

19/02/2024

Umm…..I think MAYBE I didn’t follow the instructions perfectly for assembly of my German Shepherd…..HMM….I’m getting sore just looking at him sleeping like that….

18/02/2024

THIS is what I see when I look over at Reaper sitting on the couch. He is definitely coming into his adult colors. What used to be a tan puppy with a black face is turning into the classic dark/black Sable look I was hoping for. He’s DEFINITELY a daddy’s boy. He wants to be under my feet every step of the way. Which is both good AND bad. 🤔. Tomorrow he will be 16 weeks old and definitely has a personality. LOL. Looking forward to starting his training this week and see where it leads us.

12/02/2024

Ok….i just weighed Reaper on my Wyze scale which required me to step on first, then step on with Reaper to get his weight well that was fun😬 he was NOT having it at first I was finally able to get him to settle down enough to get a weight MY scale says he weighs 36.4 pounds. We’ll find out what the scale at the vet says tomorrow. LAST of his shots for this year then we’ll just have to keep up on his flea and tick meds.

12/02/2024

Well Mr Reaper is good for comic relief he was on the couch eating a carrot (a favorite treat of his) and went to scratch and proceeded to fall off the couch He was facingvthr back if the couch at the time🙄

THEN dummy decided to climb over onto the chair with me from the couch only to fall into the chair on his head

THEN running into the kitchen he TRIED to make the turn around the snack bar to his water bowl at Mach speed….nope spun out and slammed into the fridge 🤔 I don’t think he got the memo that linoleum isn’t the same for traction as carpet 🤣

And throughout all these ‘adventures’ he has a surprised look on his face afterwards 🙄

All this morning only lord help me if this is any indication of how this day or week is going to go 🫣

10/02/2024

WOW! Talk about a huge difference! He is no longer a tan dog he’s slowly growing into his Sable coat although I kinda miss the black stripe down the middle of his back 🤣😂

What a difference 8 weeks can make

07/02/2024

Tell me you have a Velcro dog without telling me you have a Velcro dog….

17/01/2024

Reaper’s training is coming along very well I think. At 11 weeks old he’s already mastered coming when being called (MOST of the time). Working on sit and heel. Still a work in progress there. He knows the word ‘crate’ and will go into his crate most of the time now. And we’ve started working on him donning a harness. Today was the first day of that so it’s a work in progress. Just like everything. Repetition repetition repetition. I’m happy with his progress so far. Potty training is coming along well also. We’ve had bumps along the way, but nothing too surprising with that.

He LOVES the snow, but the temps and windchill have been BRUTAL around here so his outside time has been limited. As we speak it’s a balmy 17 degrees with a windchill of -1. And this is the warmest it’s been in about a week. So, plenty of games of fetch, which he does pretty good of bringing the toy back to me to throw again. I’m kinda curious as to how much he weighs now. He’s getting to the point where the small crate might be a little too small for him. Or MAYBE he just likes stretching out and taking up as much room as he can? 😆🤣

03/01/2024

Well Resper went and saw the vet today. He’s 16.2 pounds at 9 weeks old. They said everything looked good and normal for him. He got another round of shots, PLUS his microchip and didn’t react to either needle. And the needle for the microchip is a petty large one. The vet was impressed with him not reacting to the needles.

He HAS been a little cranky today, but nothing I didn’t expect after getting his shots. Oh, did I mention that he was an attention w***e to EVERYONE at the vet? 🤣

01/01/2024

Yep, I think it’s safe to say that Reaper is settling in just fine. Took him out a little while ago to go potty and he wasn’t too sure about the snow. He looked at it like it was a nuisance more than anything.

It’s been a year now since dad passed. And while it’s not been easy, I’ve pushed through it. Now that I have Reaper, I’m seeing things in a better light than I have been. He has restored some of my hopes and dreams that I’ve had for a while. We are just beginning our journey, and I can’t wait to see what it has in store for us, besides work….lots and lots of work. Work I’m actually looking forward to putting in.

31/12/2023

Reaper is slowly settling in.

22/12/2023

Yep, Mr. Reaper is settling in just fine. And is SMART! At just under 8 weeks old he’s slept through the night the last two nights with no waking up or accidents. In fact, he only had a single accident in his crate the very first night. He’s had a couple more (2) since then while out playing or eating. But only 3 total accidents in a week is amazing I think.

16/12/2023

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Thanatos beautiful reaper of the dead. AKA Reaper. It’s kinda hard to get good photos of him because he just won’t stop. lol. Except when he’s trying to eat his leash. NOW the fun begins.

Reaper’s Realm

12/03/2024

12/03/2024

11/03/2024

06/03/2024

06/03/2024

06/03/2024

06/03/2024

04/03/2024

03/03/2024

27/02/2024

21/02/2024

20/02/2024

20/02/2024

19/02/2024

18/02/2024

12/02/2024

12/02/2024

10/02/2024

07/02/2024

17/01/2024

03/01/2024

01/01/2024

31/12/2023

22/12/2023

16/12/2023

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