DEXTER!

 Meet Dexter, our German Shepherd puppy! Yes, I'm one of those people that's going to blog cutesy pictures of my dog. Until I have an actual baby, he's the only baby I've got to brag about; so I'm going to do so without shame. DISCLAIMER: we're very aware he's a dog and not a baby. Although he knows us as "mommy" and "daddy" we do not treat him like a child. We want a well behaved, well trained dog so we are rigorously and continuously training him. At 9 weeks old he already knows his name, mine and Tyler's "names" sit, lay, stay (most of the time), no biting or chewing, going to the bathroom outside (he hasn't had an accident in a few days!), crying A LOT less in his kennel and my favorite "nice". When we give him a treat we say "nice" and he takes it very gently from our fingers. He is an extraordinarily smart dog and we plan on helping him live up to his potential. On that note, I will admit that he's a bit of a smart alec and likes to push the limits. I told Tyler I sometimes feel like we have a teenager in the house already. But as time goes on that should get better. He absolutely LOVES children. If there's a child in the room he wants to be next to them. His breeders had their neighborhood children over almost everyday after he was born. So for the first seven weeks of his life, he spent a lot of time with kids. His excitement sometimes scares them, but he is so sweet with them. We got to know his breeders very well and they came over about a week ago to visit. They brought his mom (Sable) and she didn't even make it through the door before he pretty much attacked her. They had a fun time playing together again.

Check out his ginormous paws. He's going to be a big boy!

We had just gotten him to the point that he would sleep through the night in his kennel without howling like he was dying. That night, after his mom left, he cried and howled harder than before. We've decided it's best if he doesn't see her again until he's a little more grown up.

I'm sure some of you are wondering about his name. Yes we love the show Dexter, no we didn't name our dog after a serial killer. The show just put the name on our radar and it seemed to fit him perfectly. However, Dexter isn't his full name. In order to have him AKC registered he can't have the same name as any other German Shepherd. This means he needs more than one name. We did a little research and decided to name him something that incorporated some German words and where he came from. His full name is Herr (Lord) Dexter Nelson Von (from) Sable. And yes, years from now when he passes on and we bury him in our backyard, I will etch his full name into a headstone.....with a name like that, it only seems right.

  

That's Dexter in a nut shell. He can be a lot of work, but it's totally worth it.