And Finally....

He has arrived!!  In all his hugeness... Herkimer!  Yes that is what we named him, as we are in process of adopting this lug of a dog.  I'll leave the explanation of his name for a little bit - so if you want you can guess... I'll give a hint - it's a strange but funny (and I must admit, good) B-Movie reference, although very appropriate.

To update on "Her Cuteness", she was adopted this past Saturday - and it was a lovely fit!  She will be pampered and loved as she should.  Now I have the dubious job of un-training some of her cuteness' less wonderful behaviors that Herkimer picked up...  I'm hoping he at least instilled some of his on her  :o

Isn't he just darling?... and yes he still needs to grow into those ears and FEET!  We have him estimated at approximately 6 1/2 months (based on the trainers evaluation) and he weighed in at 61lbs last night! WOW!

We will be starting basic obedience training next week.  Although I need to buy a new leash before class starts - Her Cuteness ate my REALLY nice leather lead, and Herkimer finished off the two remaining leashes, including the double leash he is wearing in this picture.  Right now we are taking him out on our 20 foot training lead.  Gah!  A kazillion chew toys and he prefers the leads - oh and my socks, um... shoes, hubbies long pants (don't get THAT one).

I've been taking him for walks, and his natural position when we go out is almost right at the proper heel position.  He doesn't pull or even get ahead of me.  (doing the happy dance)  Our usual walk is down the backroad (wooded) that I live off and up to the main road which is 3/10th of a mile away.  He takes everything in, but so far, doesn't take too much interest in all the sounds.  Of course we haven't come across a squirrel yet...  When we get close to the road and all the noise, his ears swivel in all directions and he gets excited.  Right now we just stop at the road, he goes in a sit and we watch the traffic.  He is a bit nervous about the traffic running by, so I pet and snuggle with him.  We take in about 5 minutes and head back.  Eventually we'll head up that road (it has a huge shoulder), but not until I'm sure he won't panic with all those cars.  Introduce him gently.  Besides, by the time we get back (and if you do the math, it's only 6/10th of a mile) - I don't want him to 'heel' I want him to PULL.  I'm SOOOO out of shape, and he is bouncing around like, come on Mom lets do it again....  (so I've enlisted my son to help with extra walkings....)

I think the obedience classes will be fantastic for both of us.  And by the time we are done, we can test for the Maryland Canine Good Citizen test.  That is the required certification you need for therapy dogs, there isn't one technically for service dogs - but it will be a good thing to have.

I really can't believe how much he is growing! His ears are probably going to be erect, the right ear is always up and the left is trying to decide.  I secretly hope we have some ear floppage - it is soo cute, but when both ears are up he looks totally different.  My son called him noble -- so maybe we'll have to call him Sir Herkimer if they do stay up.

This is a recent picture of the me and my buddy -- and that finicky left ear.  How can you now love that face!!  His previous foster said he was German Shepherd/Mastif mix -- whoo boy!  I was thinking maybe Dane, but either way... he will be BIG.  I may actually be able to ride him...

Taking him to restaurants could be interesting... Yes, can we have a table for 6?  3 for my family, and 3 for Herkimer!!  I can't wait until we start training.  And I need to order a Service Dog in Training Vest, so we can really start going out on the town!  We take him out somewhere at least a couple times a week, mostly hubby or my son will keep him outside the stores because he still is young.  But we go to my husbands Mom's every Wednesday for dinner and she just loves him.  We do have to work on the elevator - he is terrified of it!  But we have weekly visits and the more we go, the better he will get.

So work in progress... stay tuned, I'll keep this up to date as we move through the training.  (with pictures)