Sam's first half year

Sam's second half year

Sam's second year

Sam's first half year of his life:

February 18th, 2004:
Finally! The Puppies are born. Six healthy, beautiful dog babies.
Birthplace: Buttenwiesen in Germany,
Zwinger: vom Thürlesberg,
Breeder: Herr Schikotanz
8 weeks to wait before I can pick him up, 8 long weeks -sigh-

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April 18, 2004:
After unloading the car of all the suitcases and making the house puppy proof, we went to pick up Sam. After lots of advise and good-bye hugs from Mr. and Mrs. Schikotanz, I finally have a puppy. Our newest member of the family: Sam, officially known as Pius von Thürlesberg.

His schedule looks busy: Eat breakfast at 7 am, Lunch at 12 PM, Tea-Time ( yes, he gets half a cup of black tea with sweetener) at 4pm and Dinner at 7pm.
In between his time is booked solid with:
napping in different places (preferred is right in front of the fridge, wrapped around the chair legs or under the desk),
chewing on everything that moves or lays still (such as toes, pant legs, fingers, towels, blankets, plastic food dishes, chair and table legs, and of course occasionally the doggy bones),
and having to pee.

April 19, 2004:
I painted the walls in my Grandma's room white, working on hands and knees to do the detail paint at the baseboards. Sam trots in, I thought to say 'hello' but he just had the jar of paint in mind, and fast as a flash, he stuck his nose into the paint and took a big lick .... he looked like a Cottonmouth.... I don't think he will do this again, he wasn't very fond of having his mouth washed out.

Timmy, the Beagle boy living with my Mother, is so much fun to play with, Sam lets him run around like mad and just waits smartly at the corner till Timmy comes around again to be nipped at his ears and legs.

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May 1, 2004:
the big day! We will be leaving for Florida.
Before leaving for Munich, Sam 'finds' the half pill I accidentally dropped without realizing. That's ok, except I wasn't sure if he ate it or if Timmy found it. Well, he slept like a baby all the way to the Airport but was alert and ready to do mischief on the parking lot, so just to be sure I gave him one quarter of a calming pill.  He ended up as a rag doll during the wait to check in. Definitely on drugs, but ok.

In Atlanta he had to go through the customs. When I picked him up at the bulk luggage, he had that 'I do not appreciate this-look' on his face, but he did not fuss, he is such a good dog! Customs were all over him how cute he is. After checking his shot records he had to be checked in a second time to Orlando, Florida.

Wow, what a trip this little dog had and that at the young age of 10 weeks!

Finally in the car on the way home, he made it to the on-ramp to the highway where we really really had to do a pit stop. Of course that made him feel better, he ate a portion of his food, gulped some water and was good to go.

At home Ruby, Stefan's Beagle girl, was waiting for him. The first meeting did not go too well, Ruby is jealous, but I am sure she will come around.

May 5, 2004:
Trip to the Veterinarian. Nope, Sam does not like shots, pokes, and teeth cleaning stuff ....

Ruby and Sam get along better. They play nicely in the back yard.

May 12, 2004:
We went for a long walk at the near lake. We took our time and watched the construction crew hammer and talk, Sam chased dry leaves and made sure that any pebbles he found on the way weren't any good. The lake was fun, Sam walked in the water, how exiting for him, so many new things for him to explore!

May 25,2004:
ohboy, the puppy class is fun! so many great puppies all trying their best. Sam is getting better, his 'Sitz' and his 'Platz' are great. well, the 'BeiFuss' needs some more work, but there is just too much to sniff and explore. We met another German Shepherd, Rommel is his name. Somehow there was the breed recognition, Sam loved playing with him and did not want to leave.

May 26,2004:
This morning Sam got another vaccination at the Vet, he weighs now 36.5 pounds. It is getting harder for me to carry him up- and downstairs, remember, he is not to walk the stairs until he is 8 months old.
He loves to ride in the car, and he mastered the getting out of the car, not the getting in, though.

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June 01,2004:
Sam's ears stay up. They still flop a bit when he walks, but they are up :-)
Puppy class is going well, Sam enjoys socializing with the other pups.

June 03, 2003:
Sam discovered the fun of playing with a tennis ball. He does not seem to get tired with retrieving the ball.

June 07, 2004:
The front baby teeth are falling out. good, the baby teeth are like needles and hurt like h... when he tries to take a chomp out of ones leg

June 08, 2004:
Sam passed the Puppy class :-)

June 19, 2004:
We visited the Sanford Schutzhund Club today. it was raining, so not many people did show up. Got lots of information and tips with what Sam and I have to start working on .... like 'sitz' without the hand signal.

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July 13, 2004:
Intermediate Puppy Class is done. It was fun, Sam learned to shake paw, crawl through a tunnel and go through a hoop. He was supposed to jump through the hoop, but that didn't happen. He actually just plowed through, taking with him the hoop and teacher.... The play dead we didn't do, the grounds were so dirty I would have to give him a bath after each class. Next comes the Canine Good Citizen Class.

July 20, 2004:
Sam is now registered with the United Schutzhund Clubs of America.

July 30, 2004:
We go to the SchH club every Saturday evening. Sam isn't very motivated, he looks bored. We are to keep working on building food driven motivation.

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August 4, 2004;
Sam is 6 months old today. He looks so grown up, but at times  he still looks like a puppy. He certainly still acts like one

August 11, 2004:
My Birkenstock shoes are in bits and pieces *sigh* I should have put them away :/ oh, and the leash, well, I have to buy a new one .... and more cow hooves. Sam loves loves loves cow hooves.

August 13, 2004:
Hurricane Charley did not too much damage at our place. The animals did not seem to be worried at all during the storm. Sam slept like a baby. Same with the other hurricanes, we had four hurricanes this year, unbelievable!

Read through his second half year