Goldie’s DNA results are in! She is……..drumroll…………
50% German Shepherd (to Tim’s delight)
25% Boxer
12.5% American Staffordshire Terrier
12.5% American Bulldog (but “iffy” on this one, may be a mix)
Now that we know, we can see the German Shepherd in her, and also the Boxer (her face and ears). Tim is delighted about the GSD, as he has always loved his German Shepherds. She sure is a cutie!
She has been a delight to have around. She has very few discipline problems and it has been fun to begin training her. She is amazingly calm for a puppy of 8 months, and overall is a pretty good girl. She sits nicely, “shakes” and is learning “down”. She “stays” for short periods of time and at short distances. She has never had an “accident” in the house. We are working on teaching her to heal, but that is a challenge. We’ve been searching out different training methods, and trying to pick the right one (or combination) for us and for Goldie. Every dog and every situation is different, and I don’t think there is a “one method fits all” approach.
In the evenings she has begun to entertain and exercise herself. Tim has put a gate across the open end of the deck so she can enjoy being outdoors and watch us when we are around the house. She entertains herself quite nicely with a couple of toys out there. She occasionally runs back and forth, back and forth, sometimes carrying a toy, sometimes not. It’s quite entertaining for us as well. This evening she appeared to be trying to catch snowflakes as they came down.
We’ve been calling her the “wonder dog”. Prior to receiving the DNA results, it was “I wonder what you are?” And of course, there’s “I wonder where you’ve been all your life. I wonder why you were in the shelter. I wonder why no one else took you before we showed up.” Whatever the answers, she certainly is a “wonder dog” for us and we’re glad to have found her.