Ok, so I got a puppy for Christmas. I wasn’t drugged, as far as I know. There’s even a vague recollection of me actually asking for one. It’s fuzzy (my memory). It gets all jumbled up in my mind… I hear squeaker toys, smell puppy breath, with some shivering cold outside at 2am in my bathrobe in there too… I think I actually did this willfully though. Does that mean I’m as crazy as I’ve long suspected? Probably. But the truth is… I love my puppy. I love everything about him. He’s the smartest, cutest, fluffiest, most lovable-est puppy in the history of puppies.
So, the details. He’s an East German Shepherd. Which are mostly like a regular German Shepherds, but with a stockier build, different coat, bred for the old-style working traits of a German Shepherd. Google the breed name if you are interested. These dogs are sometimes called DDR Shepherds. DDR is not Dance Dance Revolution, although I bet I could teach him a few moves. It’s an acronym for Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or East Germany. Here’s a snippet from EastGermanShepherd.com:
“EAST GERMAN SHEPHERD CENTRAL is devoted to the German Shepherd Dog of the former East Germany, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik or “DDR” (1949-1990). The DDR was a political, social, economic, and geographic entity that was physically solidified with the tragically oppressive construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and which began its political and physical dissolution with the history-making and liberating fall of that barrier on November 9, 1989.
Just as the geo-political entity formerly known as the “DDR” no longer exists today, the “DDR German Shepherd Dog” is a historical relic of a bygone time and place, and it no longer exists today. Rather, the generations of true “DDR” bloodlines are limited to a span of roughly four decades of breeding and development in the former East Germany. These bloodlines may be found in the third, fourth, and further generations back in the pedigrees of working, sporting, and companion dogs found around the world today. These modern representatives of the German Shepherd Dog breed, with a genetic heritage in the former DDR bloodlines, have their true provenance determined by the place of their actual birth.”
Well he came to us small, as you can see in the pic above. But that didn’t last. We knew he was going to get big in a hurry. His mama and papa were big. His grandparents were big… grandpa is a Grafental (for the DDR GSD folks that may be reading). At 4 weeks, when we brought him home because his mama was getting aggressive with the pups, he weighed just 7 pounds. I know that seems like a lot since he was born at just under a pound… imagine growing that fast! Well, he just kept growing… and growing… and growing… and the vet was amazed… and everyone that saw him from week to week was amazed… and he’s now 34 pounds at just 12 weeks.
Now some of you may be thinking that bringing him home at 4 weeks is terrible. It definitely is too early. And we were concerned about this. But his mother had been so aggressive that the breeder had completely weaned the pups and started them on a raw meat diet just a few days before he came home. We got some puppy formula and mixed it with his kibble and he ate it that way for a few days. Not long after he would gobble up the dry kibble like it was nothing. He had plenty of teeth. The vet said as long as he was eating that we didn’t need to use the formula anymore. He hasn’t stopped eating since. Vet said, increase food by 1/3, he’s skinny. Then she said increase again by 1/3, he’s still a bit skinny. He’s now eating more than our 100lb golden retriever does in a day. And he’s still on the skinny side underneath his doggie ‘fro.
Ok, enough is enough… did I mention how much I love him? I mean the real gushy, slobbery kind of love…
I call him Big. 
Here’s Big at 8wks:
And here is Big today, at 12wks of age. I love those ears.
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I get all warm and fuzzy inside seeing Big’s picture. Makes me long for the day when my girl was a puppy. I’m so happy for you and your family. He’s an amazing wonderful addition to your amazingly wonderful family!!
The kids and I catch glimpses of him out our back window every once in awhile. It always creates quite a stir- “Look at Big now mom! He’s grown so much! He’s even bigger than before! He is just so BIG!” We keep waiting for the day that we glance out and find him to be bigger than the goldens.
@Pam: He is all warm a fuzzy too! I remember when we picked him out, with his long coat sticking up in all directions, thinking of you and Lily.
@Kipp: I guess you see him trying to play with the big dogs too… they clobber him a dozen times a day and he just keeps coming back for more. When it’s not such a swampy mess in the backyards, we’ll bring Big over to meet y’all.
You know, honey, you are just amazingly beautiful in that shot at the top if I do say so myself.
Oh, and Teri, you look good too.
Wow! I can’t believe that the East German Shepard in the last 4 pictures is the same as the little furball in the post header!! Mama has a photo almost just like the header in a frame on her desk. Cute.
What a great introduction of Big! It’s going to be awesome for everybody, to watch him grow (& grow!) here on the blog. Again, beautiful photos!
Roger…You got a big burst of laughter out of me on that one – and I’m sure from the other readers too. Seeing as though Teri really is just downright GORGEOUS, anyone would be nodding in agreement as they read your comment, and therefore really not expecting that punch line at the end at all. ; ) You’re something else!
Oh Teri that Big just melts me to pieces by looking at him. He is absolutely adorable, I just want to squeeze him. Those ears, lawd those are great, love it. I am the same way with my dog Sarge (he is an English Bulldog), he can do no wrong and sometimes I think he is my baby! Enjoy Big and can’t wait to watch him grow..
I love Big!
@Missy: Thanks Missy, I’ll be keeping everyone up to date on Big’s growth. Friday, the vet told me she thought he’d top out at 120+ pounds. Yowza!
@Laura Biermann: Me too. <3
@Roger: I’m going to train Big to people that are mean to me, you know. Better be nice to me!
You are going to train Big to ______ people that are mean to you, can you fill in the blank?
I need to perform a risk asessment to determine my next post.
@Roger: See now… you can’t even let a typo go. I’m going to go right now and get a photo of you and show it to him while I teach him the command “Sick Balls”. You better stop on the way home and buy a cup.
For the rest of you Typo-Nazis, you’re next! (right Big? … he barked.)
OK, the race is on. I just have to train Big to go get my slippers at the command “sick balls”, and I can continue to irritate you all I want.
Neener neener.
Seeing how Big is now 52#, don’t you think it is time for an update?
Coming right up