Bloggers, Meet Blitz

We're getting a puppy!!  And this is the little dude!

We got to go Thursday night to see the puppies and hopefully try to narrow down which one we wanted.  Obviously, it's hard when a puppy is only 2 and a half weeks old to tell much to differentiate it from it's siblings.  Joe knew he wanted a male and I am just thrilled to be getting a dog so gender didn't matter to me, and so that helped bring the choice down to the two males.  One was a pudge, with big paws and head, and the other one while not scrawny, was definitely smaller.  We asked the breeder, Al, which one he thought would be the best dog for us (knowing that we want strictly a pet and are not planning on breeding or showing).  He said that if he had to choose one to keep as a pet, it would be the smaller of the two.  He said that little puppy impresses him every feeding time by the way he latches onto the mom even though he's getting smooshed between bigger sisters and brother, he does not give up his spot.  Simply put, he has focus, and I guess tenacity.  Al thinks that will transfer over into his training and willingness to want to please us.  So, unless something were to dramatically change with his health or development... we'll be bringing him home sometime in mid-May.

So cute!

 

There was much discussion about the name...  Back when we were researching what breeds we thought would be compatible with our wants and needs, the German Shepherd came to the forefront straight away.  As Al has told us "they (German shepherds) are first in somethings, but second in everything", meaning that they are an extremely versatile dog - they pretty much do it all - hunt, swim, great with kids, protective, herd, agility courses, schitzhund, do well in snow, the list goes on.  Because of their temperament and intelligence, they can easily adapt to what you need them to do.  But I digress.  Joe really started liking the albino ones (too weird looking), or the all black ones that looked like wolves (too scary looking).  I was completely against both.  I kept having visions of the white dog rolling in the dirt and mud and looking gross and being a nightmare to keep clean.  So I struck a deal with Joe that as long as he agreed to get a German Shepherd that looks like a traditional one, he could choose the name.  He went through a lot!!  There were some real doozies.  Actually, it was a guy that used to be in Joe's group of high school guys that he led at church a few years back that came up with the name.  He was home on spring break, and came over to workout with Joe and have dinner with us.  He said that we should think of a German name for him.  He threw out "you should name him 'Blitz' from blitzkrieg, that would be really cool."  Blitzkkrieg means "lightning war".  And the name grew on us.  So thanks Andrew!!

So get used to this little face.  Because until little munchkins come, he and his antics will be getting a lot of air time on here!