He Retrieves!

YAY! We were playing today for about 10 tosses of the smallest "dummy" toy. He was bringing it back to me! I had to guide him a lot by calling and being all cheerful but at least he was paying attention to my voice this time! YAY!! That's the first time he's brought the toy back to me instead of the bed! I have a retriever!

He even lets go of the toy really easily. The first time I played fetch with him it was down the hall way so that he didn't have a choice but to run past me to get back to the bed. In order to get the toy back I would say "drop it" and put some pressure on one of his front toes. Ha ha, he opens his mouth right away and I think now he is a little bit conditioned to it.

He still tries to grab it back but I'm sure he will stop eventually because I'm working on it. For now I'm just really glad he actually brought me the toy back several times!! YAY!! He Retrieves!!

Still snowing...

Well, the snow is still here. I can't wait for spring. Snow is pretty but I'm nervous driving in it. :( Makes me want to move south to San Diego. The pups are outside but I try not to keep them out too long. Hank doesn't seem bothered by the cold at all. The little one is shivering a little. Poor youngin'. OK, ok, I'll let them back in. ;)

HURRIKAN KRIEG AUF VÖGELN

It was around 4am this morning when I took the pups out to go potty. I was really surprised to see snow. Khan didn't know what to make of it at first and had to drag him a little ways to the stairs to go down to the grass. He figured it out pretty quick and started to eat it. He's so cute. Hank loves the snow and cold. He was all rubbing himself and rolling around in it making his puppy dog snow angels. I love Hank.

It's just after noon now and it's melting away, pretty fast. That's how I like it. I am so done with being snowed in. I was so bored this year that I think I must have taken 30+ pictures of myself sitting in pretty much the same spot in the dining room. The snow was fun but I am sooo over it. No one was willing to come over and I was unwilling to go out driving. Lexi is just not designed for this kind of weather.

Khan was too young to be outside in the snow storms of 2008. From way up north here in Seattle, to way south in Portland, where he was, everyone was pretty much snowed in for a couple of weeks. It was the heaviest dump in years if not decades. Mail delivery even stopped in Portland. Then it all melted and the floods came to start off the year. It was pretty scary in some places and hundreds, maybe even thousands had flood damage to their homes. Some parts of I-5 was under 15 feet of water. That's so hard to imagine but it really did happen. :)

Speaking of catastrophic weather, Khan's name is weather related. I don't know if I have explained it on this blog before but here's some of the story. Sarah, owner and breeder of West Star Kennels, requested the names of the pups to be Hurricane related. This was due to the trouble and stress she had to go through in coordinating the breeding of Maggie and Jake. Hurricane Ike was fast approaching Texas and all deliveries would be stopped. Khan is an AI baby. Hurricane Ike was one of the biggest storms of the year. It was just in the nick of time and the great efforts of many people that Khan and his litter mates were made to be. :) In honor, all the pups are named in relation to storms or hurricanes.

So, since I couldn't settle for an actual name of a Hurricane, I decided to name him Hurrikan which is Hurricane in German. The sound Kan stood out in his name so I researched Genghis Khan and really liked what I read. I liked the name Khan and on top of everything about his name, Khan has the same letters as Hank. How perfect is that? :) Ha ha, now my friend Raven calls him Khannie and I call him Khanathan or Mystikhan.

Raven is responsible for getting me into GSPs. So far I'm really glad she did. :) Khan is the sweetest puppy. She takes her dog Blitz to shows and I really liked his papered name, IAT's BLITZKRIEG AUF VÖGELN (Lightning War on Birds). Its all German and crazy. Raven and I got to talking and dreaming about breeding GSPs and found that KRIEG AUF VÖGELN sounds pretty bad ass for a kennel name. So, Khan's full name evolved into WESTSTAR'S HURRIKAN KRIEG AUF VÖGELN. It meets the breeder's requirements and this way both of our stud dogs are already KRIEG AUF VÖGELN. :) I really like it. Now, the task is to champion them. We want champions in conformation and field so we have a lot of fun times ahead!!



Here they are outside on the deck. Aren't they adorable??? I don't know if this is a myth or if it actually works but I heard that if the dogs stayed outside in the colder air, their coats naturally get thicker. I'll have to look that up but that's one of the reasons I'm trying to get them to stay outside more and I think the sun is good for them too. :) They are so cute together.

Not quite potty trained.

I was hoping that Khan was just so smart that he was already potty trained but he's really not. He asked to go outside once so I thought "Halleluyah!" and didn't make any messes in the house for the next two days.

Well, yesterday we had two wet spots on the floor. He could have been whining and I didn't notice but I would think he would have peed by the door if he was truly potty trained. Well, I do hope he gets potty trained before he starts lifting his leg to pee. That will be a scarier mess to deal with.

He's growing fast!

Khan is so handsome and he's growing so fast! He's twice his size. Poor Nadia. He wants to play with her but he has no idea how heavy he is and how clumsy.

He knows his name now, mostly. He listens fairly well. He's staying out of the kitchen which is good for Nadia. This gives her some place to run to. He's doing really well and Hank has beed SUPER great with helping me raise him. I learn from Hank actually.

Cutie pie Khan

Aww.. what a cutie. He's growing up so nicely. Hank loves him. Khan is getting a little better with controlling himself with Nadia too. She's starting to hang out in the living room with everyone again. :)

Khan has these bursts of energy and he will run around crazy jumping on all the dog beds around the house. Outside, in the back yard he runs around all crazy too. He's starting to be a lot more active and I think it helps that it has been a lot warmer outside. I am sooo done with the snow. I think it's really pretty but it's just so cold. Anyway, Khan is doing great.

He will even stack for me but I do have a trick. I stack him on one of the half walls so he doesn't have a choice but to stay still or else he will fall. It's only wide enough for him to stay still. :) What ever works.

Khan at 11wks

Khan is 11 weeks this past Monday and he is looking more and more handsome as he gets older. He is starting to fill with muscle. He is really looking great. He's really a great pup. Intelligent, easy, awesome. I am becoming more and more in love with him. Hank loves him too. Nadia, is being very good about him. Khan is being hard headed so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. He can't seem to help himself with Nadia. It's like he thinks she's another puppy and tries to play with her. He is twice her weight and size now. I think I will have him run around with a leash so I can correct him much better.

I can't wait to start walking. I'll probably hate it when I have to walk him everyday but for now, I have a month and a half to wait and I'm excited about walking him in the mornings. I'm going to walk them for a while then introduce the bike. I bought a smaller, fold-able bike just for the dogs. Someday walking wont be enough for Khan so I got a single speed fold-able bike that fits in my trunk. I figure Hank, Khan and I could do Greenlake or the Burke Gilman trail sometime. It will be fun.