Snowin' again....

 
The snow just keeps falling this Winter! Thorne seems to have adjusted to it happily :)

Snowy walk n' play....

It's been quite the Winter so far, lots of snowfall in New England and it's not over yet. Thorne doesn't seem to mind the snow and likes to eat mouthfuls of it in between play. Here he is yesterday at Tufts (pics taken by iPhone, sorry about the quality) when my husband took him for his walk. He met up with his friend, Herra the Dobie, and enjoyed some playtime. He used to be so much smaller than her, to see him just as big amazes me. It's gonna be a frigid cold week... prob not too much more walking this week. :(

Just over Six Months Old now .....

 Since our last post we re-weighed Thorne and he is 74.6 pounds. He's feels so solid when hugged....lots of muscle on this puppy. When he runs, he sounds like a horse galloping :)
Here is a link of the best pics from 2-6 months old (iphone users can view as well )

Thorne is officially 6 months old!!!

This past weekend he turned six months old and weighed in at 69 whopping pounds! He is such a sweet boy that loves giving kisses. Life is so much fun for him....all about playing day and night :)
We had some big snowstorms in our area and he seems to like the snow but gets cold quick.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

20 Weeks Old.... (with photo gallery link)

It's been a little while since my last post....been busy with this beautiful energetic boy of ours.  Took him to be weighed at the vet on Nov. 7th and he was 50 pounds :) He's such a sweetheart. His Dobie traits are coming through while he ages.... He watches us a lot (not just Maggie anymore) and he catches onto routines quickly. 

He doesn't mind the many car rides at all, he actually uses it as rest time :) 

He has been walking lots with us at Tufts and other trails, off leash! Want him to learn young to stick with us and he does great.  Still reserved with people but this is a Doberman trait and just might always be that way. Never aggressive with people though...just doesn't care for them to pet him really. He sniffs their hand calmly and gentle.  He loves to run and play with other dogs. He's going to be a fantastic adult dog, I just know it!! :)  He loves giving kisses on our faces and on my mom's hand when she visits. He is a SWEETIE.  Falling in love with this Dobe.  

   Check out some pics here of Thorne :  First Five Months 

13 weeks...going on 14 Weeks

Haven't posted in a bit, Thorne's been keeping us busy :) Still taking him to parks for walks and socializing. He's also started basic obedience classes a week ago. His next class is tomorrow. He seems to be getting the sit really well (with a little tug on leash after walking in a somewhat heel) . He always sits at home for lots of stuff like waiting for his dinner, treats, basically if we ask him to sit, most of the time he complies. 

 He is also doing the down with a treat pretty good now. This morning he was out in yard with me and responded the best he has ever with the "come" command for a treat. Very uplifting to me knowing he has such potential even though he can be easily distracted and hyper at times....but he is just a puppy. 

He is a good pup though, just wants to play as he should enjoy his youth :) Our only big wish: please ease up on the rough playbiting....OUCH! 

11 Weeks, 22 Pounds :)

   Thorne went to the vet on 9/5 (just turned 11 weeks) and had a good checkup. He was a bit apprehensive with the vet but I know the more he sees her the better he will be. 

  We also took him to Dean Park and Lake Park for some socializing.  He's met a handful of other dogs and lots of people and some kids. He also went inside my work today to meet some more coworkers.  We feel a bit better about having his next set of shots and want to socialize him more while it's still crucial at his age.  

   He saw our neighbors tonight again and he was being silly "shy" but came up to them finally and they pet him. He was holding his paw up while sitting. He does that a lot. Too Cute! I showed them how he sits and gives paw...and he did it right there outside with them there !!! I was sooo proud. Other doggies we have had wouldn't do that when outside and lots of distractions. He did great :) 

Pics at 10 Weeks Old....

Thorne turned 10 weeks old yesterday and he is growing quite fast.  Tried grinding and clipping his nails today and he will not have anything to do with either. We might have to have vet clip 'em for awhile 'till he's used to it more. That worked for Maggie, she don't like it but I can cut a few a day because she's used to having it done at the vet.

Today he sat in front of Barnes and Noble bookstore to watch people, kids, strollers and cars. A few people stopped to pet him and he was very receptive to them, even gave 'em kisses on their hands.  More socializing with him tomorrow :) 

These photos posted with this blog entry are sooo cute. He is very Photogenic :)

Note: he was playing in yard with Maggie yesterday...I took pics and they are posted on Maggie's Blog.

Our Boy has lived with us for over a week now....

   Thorne is 9 weeks old and growing fast!  He is such a good boy. I mentioned in past posts about his play biting which he still loves to do but we see improvement and he's really getting to know us (wags his nub tail when he sees us). 

  He is a very fast learner and sits and gives paw on command. Almost has speak down but still working on him coming to us every time when called.

  He has gone for walks on leash, met many more people and has potty training down for about 99 percent of the time. Not bad for one week :) 

   Caught him watching TV many times, he also looks right at you when speaking to him (when he's not focused on our other dog of course)....and I noticed tonight how good of a watch dog he is going to be. Took him out to go pee and after he did his business, he stood on top step looking in one direction. Non stop staring across the street as if he heard something. He stayed on top step in a proud stance watching. Then after he came in house, had his treat he went right over to the storm door again to continue to check out the area he was staring at. His Doberman traits are starting to show.                                

                                                 We are loving him :)

Funny story tonight:  Rob had Thorne with him when he picked me up at work and two people at a red light were looking over at him because Thorne was laying his head on my shoulder...and they said " awww cute..." Then one of 'em said "it's a Dachshund"...Rob was like don't call my dog a Dachshund. It was funny. I don't think he will get mistaken for a Dachshund much longer as he continues to grow. 

Socializing continues....

Thorne went for more rides today, We stood in front of Borders Bookstore to meet people. He was sooo good, I was proud. He is not the biter/mouther he is at home. He sniffed peoples hands, let them pet him while he just sat there like an adult dog right next to me. I almost forgot he was a pup for awhile, lol..

He met lots of adults, young and old and also a special needs woman in a hat. I gave her a treat to feed him...cuz hat spooked him a bit. 

Afterwards, Thorne met his uncle (my brother) and his adult male Collie.  

He did well. Trying to socialize him in safe places...until he gets all of his vaccines. Don't want to miss out on his important 8-12 week stage of life for learning and socializing :)

He's Home !!

Been so busy with him, haven't had chance to post pics till now :) He is sleeping again in between energy spurts...lots of 'em!! Whew....sooo tired...gonna post this and go try to get zzz's before he gets up again. 

Check out his latest pics here ----> Thorne the past three days...

He's been to the vet twice this past week (breeders and ours), met a few elderly people, met four kids between ages 2-10... went for many car rides... almost has potty training down and I taught him "sit" tonight...he might forget the sit thing by tomorrow though, lol.  He hates his crate, whines LOUD in it...will not give up, either... I am about to give up on that though.  He is a rough player, bites a lot. We are keeping at him on that. Very cuddly when he is tired. Likes to lay on our leg, shoes, anywhere near us.  He is a rough and tumble , clutsy boy....has learned where our door is to go back inside after potty... seems to have a very good memory. That can be good and bad, oh yeah, we are in for a ride with him during his puppy years :) 

Test and photo :)

Trying out posting a blog from my iPhone...this is a pic of me holding
Thorne during our 6 week visit (pic taken by our phone) ....please
work :)

Thorne Video 'n Pics at 6 Weeks old

Here is Thorne at Six weeks old. We were so happy we got to visit him again before taking him home in two weeks! He was such a calm sweet boy during our visit, no fussing or whining. Our breeder cut his nails while he was being held by Kyle and he didn’t seem bothered by the nail trim :)  We really bonded with him today. 

     We also got to meet his big brother, from last years litter, and he is a great dog....beautiful, big and muscular, nice markings and not mean and viscous as the Doberman’s so called stereotype. Nice Temperament, he was alert, confident and playful with other dogs as well. 

Click Here to view more pics of Today’s visit 

 check out the video below of Thorne (blue collar)

Dobie Sighting in the area!!

It's rare to see one around in our area....but Rob saw one running
loose with someone at Tufts dog walking field. Cool!!! Forgive lousy
camera phone quality :(

Picked out our Puppy at 3 weeks old :)

  We drove up North today and picked out our baby boy :)

It was such a hard decision, they were all so beautiful... such Cuties!!  Two of the largest males (one black and one red) were already spoken for as well as one of the females (but we are going for a boy anyways) 

There were two red and two black males left to choose from.....

They were all sleeping but we picked them up and laid them back down to see them....one boy (our pick) was making all kinds of noises after being woken up...very vocal and cute. We like a talker :) He definitely caught our attention. Hope he is not gonna be too much of a handful though, he was spunky and cute. 

There was a sweet couch potato type Red male that we pondered about picking but we had our hearts set on a shiny black male (also he will match our Maggie :) Maggie has an extremely shiny black coat - very sleek. We also didn’t pick the red male because he didn’t reach out and grab our attention like the black boy. Rob liked the little fuss bucket a lot :) 

Woo Hoo, Pups were born!!

 Got the wonderful news yesterday via email from our Breeder. A litter of eight puppies, 2 girls and 6 boys were born. I can’t wait to see pics :)

   Rob, Kyle and I have been tossing names around for awhile now and came up with one today we really agree on and like......

Thorne ....

My son, Kyle was reading through some

names on the internet and thought of 

Thorn(e) as in the Lost Boys movie -

Max the head vampire had a dog named

Thorn. We prefer the spelling with an 

E at the end. 

So, of course, I started investigating the

name and found out there was a famous

artist (she was famous for her dog art)

from the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s era.

Her name was Diana Thorne

and she attended art school in Berlin,

Germany for many years. Dobermans are 

German and I love the era around the 1930’s....so it works for me ;) I found a couple of Dobie

drawings she had done and they're posted here... I added the name Thorne to one, she didn’t have it named :)

  My husband later on realized there is another reference he remembers of the name Thorn ....this is not so good...it did have Dobermans in the movie - The Omen - the family’s last name was Thorn, as in Damien Thorn. Oh, Boy!! Don’t think many people will remember 

that though.....Whew :)

I think Thorne sounds sophisticated (in an old English style), masculine and brave. I also looked up the name meaning and it says it’s of someone who lives near a thorny bush...lol. Heck, we have tons of those in our yard. 

Waiting for the pups to be born.....

    It’s the last week of June and any day now we will be receiving news that the litter (from which we will be picking our pup) was born. Been checking my email hourly, lol. 

    So I have decided to post why I am so hooked on Dobies. Back when I was a teen, my mother had a Doberman mix she got from the dog pound. We had her for years and her name was Satin (pronounced like satin sheets). She wasn’t mean or even brave for that matter but she was a sweetheart and I really think I am the only one in my family who saw that or even got to bond with her. She always looked forward to our neighborhood walks and was very good on a leash. She was very loyal and really wanted to be with me on our walks, not like “take me for a walk and I will forget you are holding my leash” attitude... She was a friend on the walks. My brother was hanging out with his buddies and really didn’t get to know her and my mother had other things going on to even really know anything about Satin. I knew someday I would want another Doberman, kept it inside until the time was right to pick one out with my family. 

   We (my husband, son and I) lost a great friend and the best dog that we could ever wish for, our Chihuahua mix named Roxy. Thirteen great years we shared with her and no other dog can compare but I would like to try something different from our past pets (had a female Dalmatian, too)... gonna get a gentle giant (some Dobes can be pretty big) and a lovable goofy male for a change. Dobermans have that human like quality about them and devotion and love that we desire as pet owners. Yes, there is one other reason for a Doberman, feeling safe and protected. Times are changing, crime rates are rising and would like to have a loyal guardian type of dog....the thing is, with a Doberman, you get so much more. Bonus traits and qualities come with them. They have all the best traits from most breeds all rolled up into one- a Dobie!! :)

   As researched in forums and many other sites, I read many many similar stories of their temperament from people who have Dobies and how they could never go back to any other breed. 

   This excerpt is taken from The Complete Doberman Pinscher, 1976 book... “ a keen incorruptible watchdog, an affectionate house dog, a jolly friend to children, a good comrade with other animals. The fancier who loves this breed and has time to spend with his dog will always find new and interesting sides to his character. For such a one there can be no other breed and in his case it is “Once a Doberman- always a Doberman!” 

DRU (Doberman Rescue Unlimited) Open House 2008

We went to Sandown, NH for the Open House held at Doberman Rescue Unlimited. What a turnout it was, people from all over New England (CT, RI, ME, MA, NH, NY)....Lots of Dobie lovers out there! 

When we first got there we had just missed a parade of the dogs that are currently up for adoption at the shelter. :( We got a little lost on route 111, went the other way...thanks Yahoo and Google maps, NOT! But I cheered up with kisses from an 11 year old Fawn Dobie girl...what a sweetie she was. Rob got kisses too :) 

We met a few other Dobes but I was really impressed with Theo the Dobie. What a sweetheart, very handsome and alert but mild mannered and friendly...he kept his eye on his owner Claire thats for sure :) 

They had an awesome spread of food and goodies, raffles, tours of the shelter and much more. Lots of fun and a learning experience talking with other Dobie owners. I really believe we are ready for our pup now after meeting so many wonderful dogs and learning from others. As researched we saw with our own eyes how much Dobes are velcro dogs and leaners...Luv that trait. They are extremely obedient we noticed as well. One woman says they just want to please their owners and be with them. 

At the bottom of this blog post is a short video we took of pups they let out to play (adopted already, of course)....very cute. Theo joined in the fun jumping in and out of the pool.