Journey: Puppy to Adult

Toller_08

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#1
In my last photo thread I said I would make just one continuous one once puppy had a name, and now that she does, here it is! I just figured with all the hundreds of pictures I take it's easier to keep track of everything in one thread, and that way I'm not flooding the board with new picture threads every few days haha. I also thought it would be fun for me too to look back on in the future. It's nice to have everything in one place. :)

Journey is such a perfect puppy for me. Honestly I couldn't have chosen a better puppy for myself if I'd tried. I am so beyond happy with her. She's sassy and bossy, full of energy, super intelligent and a huge thinker/problem solver, attached in the best shadowy kind of way, and also settles really well. She is very respectful of my adult dogs and does not push their buttons too much. She takes a hint well when they've had enough. She's really, really come out of her shell in the last couple of days and is showing me her true colours. She's decided not to be so reserved and quiet and instead has found her voice and uses it to complain to management about everything LOL. She's full of spunk and is a huge brat. She tried to tug the Christmas tree down the other morning and her favourite game is flipping the water dish over for no reason other than it's fun. Sometimes she plays shy with certain people, but if I hold her to meet those she's shy with, she's more than happy to wiggle at them and let them pet her. With most people she's super happy to go up and greet, though. She saves her true enthusiasm for myself, my mom and brother, and the other three dogs, but she is happy enough to appease others who want to say hello to her.

She's so good with other dogs. For a while she was acting kind of indifferent toward them, but now she's not at all. She just wants to play. And she knows which puppies in school she can play rougher with and which ones just need her for some moral support haha. She can go from crazy to calm and gentle in a second depending on the dog.

She's a great store dog. She's wild and crazy at home, but just the most relaxed little store companion at work. She hangs out with me behind the counter and sleeps most of the day. I play with her a little throughout and do a couple quick training sessions, but mostly she just sleeps or chews her Bully Stick. I keep her behind a gate to protect her from visiting dogs, though. I don't want her meeting most of them because I don't trust them or their owners and want to make sure she has good experiences. I have let her meet a few nice ones though that I know well and she does great with that.

All in all, she's about as perfect as a puppy could come for me. Now if only she'd stop flooding the kitchen with the water dish....

Oh, and for anyone ever considering a tri Aussie: be warned that you'll get asked 50 times a day if it's a Bernese Mountain Dog or a St. Bernard, and you'll also have people insist that she's going to grow up to be just massive LOL. "Just look at those feet! She's going to be huge!" they say. And then when I tell them she's an Australian Shepherd I get something along the lines of "Oh my, Shepherds are very big dogs. I hope you've done your research!". It's a little nuts.

Anyway, she's 12 weeks old now and I'm not really sure how big she is, but I'll weigh her and try to measure her soon. I do know that she's grown a ton in the last week. It's easy to see especially when she's in her crate.

I still haven't taken my camera on any outings, but she's been to many places. The store, my Doberman breeder's, our friend's with Pomeranians, another friend's tonight with a big family and cats, Petsmart (in my arms), two puppy classes, etc. She's easy to take places so far and loves checking everything out. No fear at all. Just walks into everywhere like she's been there a million times before.

These are all just some pictures from last night (mostly) and the day/night before. :)

Having a good ear moment at the store on Friday (didn't last):



Tired after playing with her new Great Dane friend at my Dobe breeder's...



Visiting her boring Pom friends (they don't understand other dogs)...









She's lucky Dance is so patient with new puppies that come home lol. It's like a Dance and Ripley Rodeo sometimes around here - she's always sitting and climbing on them.



It was Keira's 5th birthday Friday night (the 21st). This was taken that night. She wants to know when the postman is coming to return the puppy to sender.



More!
 

Toller_08

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#2












(Yes, Dance really needs a bath. Playing with puppy makes her look a little rough!)









Lots more!
 

Toller_08

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#3




She's so good at the sad face haha. I locked her behind the ex pen while we ate tonight and she thought it was just terrible. She's been spending a fair amount of time behind the ex pen lately because she's starting to develop some separation anxiety with me. She's super attached, which is awesome, but I also want her to know she'll be fine when she's not glued to me.



(Yes, her tag still says "Nina" - her new one is coming in the mail soon)















Still a few more! I take way too many pictures haha.
 

Toller_08

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Yep, definitely the cutest puppy in the world. Or at least the cutest puppy that I've ever lived with.









That's all for now, although I am sure there will be plenty more soon! :)
 

Shai

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#7
She is very cute :) I'm looking forward to seeing her grow!
 

Cali Mae

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#8
Goodness, she is so adorable! All these pictures are making my couple year wait even harder! I'm so excited to watch both her and her brother grow up on here, should give me a decent idea on what to expect. :)
 

Fran101

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#9
Journey is such a pretty girl :) and growing up so fast! TELL THEM TO STOP IT WITH THOSE LONG LEGS! LOL
 
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#12
She is just adorable. Squash used to lay on top of Maisy like that, soooooo cute. :D

I also love how the two pomeranians are looking at each other in the one picture like WTF IS THAT. lol
 

SaraB

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#13
Journey!!! So in love with her, I am beyond happy she went home with you so that I can see pictures of her forever. She sounds amazing!
 

FG167

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#16
She is so beautiful! I am a huge fan of tri dogs! I love her little face, so sweet. And of course, huge fan of her name!
 

Toller_08

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#17
Sorry guys, wasn't on the computer much over the holiday! Thanks for all the nice comments, though. :)

SHE IS TOO CUTE.

OMG. Between her an Merlin, I may die of puppy fever.
My only solution for you is to get your own puppy. They're great! Well, at least I think so LOL.

Goodness, she is so adorable! All these pictures are making my couple year wait even harder! I'm so excited to watch both her and her brother grow up on here, should give me a decent idea on what to expect. :)
Obviously the breed is new to me as far as actually living with, but even in the two weeks I've had her, I feel like I was missing out on something really special all these years. I think she is going to grow up into such a fabulous dog. If she continues on as she's been, your wait will be well worth it. It sounds kind of silly, I know, but I really feel like things happened for a reason and with all of the puppy struggle I was having, I totally ended up with exactly what I'd been hoping for. She is so perfect for me.

Journey is such a pretty girl :) and growing up so fast! TELL THEM TO STOP IT WITH THOSE LONG LEGS! LOL
Maybe they'd listen better if I told Merlin and you told Journey? I know she certainly doesn't listen to me when I tell her to stop growing LOL. She's getting so leggy and her face is a little less puppy-ish than it was two weeks ago. I weighed her the other day - she's 21lbs (although she doesn't really look it). Do you know what Merlin weighs?

such a beautiful pup--I love the picture of her laying on top of Dance! So funny!
Only Journey could get away with that LOL. Dance is beyond patient with her. She's such a good dog to raise a puppy around. She tells her off nicely when needed, but she also just lets her be a kid. I am pretty sure Dance thinks that Journey is the best thing to have ever happened to her besides Ripley haha.

She is so cute, and I'm glad she's working out so wonderfully for you.

And of course I love the name :)
I didn't even think of your Journey when I named her and then I spotted your signature in your recent picture thread and felt a little bad for taking your girl's name by accident haha. I really love the name though!

She is just adorable. Squash used to lay on top of Maisy like that, soooooo cute. :D

I also love how the two pomeranians are looking at each other in the one picture like WTF IS THAT. lol
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Poms think that of every dog haha. They're so weird. They don't get out ever, and don't really have many dog visitors.
 

Toller_08

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Journey handled the Christmas chaos like a pro. There were 11 people in our house on the 26th for dinner and a get together and she was so good. She went and said a quick hello to everybody, but not overly enthusiastically. She definitely loves her family, but she's fine appeasing people by saying hello to them. Which is nice. She's not shy or scared at all, just aloof/indifferent, which I like.

Yesterday a friend came over with her year and a half old daughter to visit and she was really good with them. They're dog people too which is nice, so they know how to interact with her properly. Journey will be going on sleepovers and stuff with this friend as she's one of the only people I trust other than my mom to take care of her properly, and I think it's good for puppies to spend some time away from home here and there and be exposed to different things.

I've been leaving her separated from me in the house a little and she's getting much better with that. Now she only whines a little bit or is quiet. Much better than the barking and screaming! She's pretty good in her crate by herself too. The first couple of times I put her in there she screamed forever, but I rewarded her for quiet intermittently for the couple of seconds it did happen. And now she seems to scream only for a couple of minutes and then falls asleep. When I go check on her she's passed out on her back and wakes up like "Oh, hi!!! I missed you so much! I thought you were never coming back!!". Meanwhile I know she was totally asleep haha. Silly pup.

She seems to have inherited her mom's love for carrying items around and showing them off LOL. She'll pick up a bone or an antler or whatever and just come wiggle in front of you so proud of her prize! And she also loves a good bum rub haha. She wiggles from side to side dramatically hoping someone or something will pet her. Such a goof.

She's decided now that barking at the other dogs while they're chewing on something is a lot of fun. She hasn't figured out yet that it doesn't work.

I do wish she was a little more food driven. She doesn't get very excited about food, which can make training a little tough. And she skips breakfast almost every day, but eats lunch enthusiastically and most of her dinner. It's not horrible, and she definitely likes food, just not as much as I'm used to.

She's still perfect at bed time. She's the only little puppy I've ever had that can seriously sleep for 9+ hours. I wake her up every morning. She never whines or asks to go out in the night.

Still no accidents in the house. I wouldn't trust her still and would not consider her housebroken, and I know a lot of her success is diligence on mine and my mom's part, but still. It's pretty amazing. And she asks to go out too. She runs to the back door, does a little circle and whines. Or jumps on the door. Which is kind of cool, considering none of my current dogs really grasped asking to go out. They just wait for us to let them out whenever unless it's an emergency in which case they just pace.

Her favourite game is tug, which is awesome, because it comes in handy for so many things. We definitely need to work on her fetch/retrieve drive a little bit, but it'll come I'm sure.

Nails are getting better. She was still a huge brat when I dremeled them the other day, but not as bad as the first time. She also got a quick, minor paw trim just to get her used to it and a quick ear trim, again, to get her used to it. She didn't care about that at all. She only cares about getting her nails done apparently


Anyway, here are some more pictures! These were taken Christmas day because we just stayed home and didn't do much. There are tons but I won't post them all haha. That'd take all day, and eventually they all start looking the same anyway.



















More!
 

Toller_08

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Haha there's a reason this one isn't focused properly - I didn't have long enough since she doesn't have a clue what stay or wait means yet.





That's all for now! I'm sure there'll be more soon!
 

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