Eurasier Don vom Isselbruch - Eurasier puppy to young dog

Eurasier Don vom Isselbruch, Diary part 3 Diary 1: until the 4th month Diary 2: the 4th to 6th month Diary 4: from 1 year onwards Diary 5: from 2 years onwards Diary 3: 6 months to 1 year:
	15 July 2006	Don is now 6 months old We made a nice, long walk through the woods. After that, Blikki and Don got something nice to chew and then a good rest was welcome ...
		Slowly, but surely, Don seems to be coming into puberty ...
	20 July	Today we had a pretty and very nice Eurasier female and her friendly owner come and visit. Usually I pick up all food and food dishes, chews, treats, toys, etc., etc. and store it away before a visitor enters our home with a dog that my dogs do not know yet. This way I make sure that "resources" such as food or toys can not provoke any disharmony. I then distribute plenty of water dishes in and outdoors. Normally, I would also prefer meeting our visitors with their dog(s) for a walk somewhere on neutral ground first. But today it was so hot that my visitor and I both thought it better to cool off indoors first before going for a walk in the heat. There was no problem with that: A friendly greeting took place on our terrace and the dogs were on their best behaviour indoors. Lateron we went for a walk in the cool woods. After the walk, we prepared something to eat in the kitchen (for us humans), while three Eurasiers were lying about leisurely on the kitchen floor. Wonderful! Nice visitors like that are welcome to come again anytime.
	22-23 July	Last year, during a lecture held in the evening in the Forum of Euskirchen, Guenther Bloch (a well-known canine expert here in Germany) introduced his project in Italy, a planned three year study of a group of formerly domestic dogs now living a free life in the wild for some years. This lecture had fascinated me so much that I wanted to learn more. This weekend I had the great opportunity to participate in a weekend seminar held by Guenther Bloch about that project. Listening to Guenther Bloch live is a unique experience. He knows how to catch the full attention of an interested audience and then vividly shares his great canine experience and knowledge which is backed by his innumerable studies and observations of all kinds of dogs and also of free living wolves in the wild. Guenther Bloch likes to call young, teenage dogs and/or wolves with the German term "Schnoesel". I had to smile during the seminar, because some of Bloch's descriptions of the behaviours of teenage dogs and wolves often reminded me of my "Schnoesel" Don, whom I had left at home in the care of my husband, together with Blikki. According to my application for that seminar, I could have taken Blikki and Don with me. On one day a longer walk was even part of the programme, but I did not want to make Don sit still for so many hours again just now. Even without Blikki and Don, there were plenty of dogs in the company of their owners, aged from 4 months to seniors, crossbreeds and purebreds, and all behaved impeccably, were quiet during the lecture and were all very sociable. On hindsight, I am sad I did not take Don and Blikki. More information about this project and about Guenther Bloch, can be found on his website: Hundeschule Günther Bloch Hundefarm Eifel (in German)
	30 July	We had lovely weather this weekend and so we spoiled ourselves and Blikki and Don with a trip to the town Kronenburg in the Eifel, Germany. The lake called for some happy splishing and splashing and we then went to discover the castle of Kronenburg and the little village surrounding it. These houses are very old, but have been lovingly restored. Really pretty and well worth seeing.
	6 August	The weather invited us to undertake a further trip with Blikki and Don in the Eifel and this time we ended up in the gorgeous town Reifferscheid (see the report on my Tschifflik website concerning Reifferscheid). Here we could find another interesting castle and a wonderfuly restored old village around it. So this weekend, again, we found lots and lots to see and to find out about. "Sniffle tours" for us all :-)
	19 August	An open day at the dog school of Martin Ruetter. We went to take a look and watched one or the other event.
	20 August	We took Don and Blikki with us to the Dog Day in Duesseldorf (see report on the ZG website concerning the Dog Day) There we met a beautiful Eurasier female called Aurora with her human family :-) This family invited us for coffee and cake afterwards and we enjoyed their warmhearted hospitality. Aurora and Blikki behaved as "ladies", but Don showed some of his "drinking habits" he has at home: he dives his head as deep into the water dish as he can, then takes a good gulp and runs away dripping a lot of water all over ... after all, young males do not have much time as there is so much to see everywhere ... Sometimes Don can also not resist dumping one of his paws into his water dish to "wash" it - a very clean dog! Luckily, he did not do that in Aurora's home. We are working on this ... At home, things have already improved ever since I only fill the water dish half way, that way less water spills out ...
	22 August	We have visitors. A good friend with her two Eurasiers, a female and a young male, spent the day with us. A long walk in the fields and in the woods is good for us all. After the walk, Blikki and the female prefer to stay indoors and take a rest close to us. We leave the door open to the garden, but the two young males prefer to tumble and roll about the garden together ... tirelessly ... the whole day ... Finally, Don was tired out in the evening.
	24-25 August	We drove to our hometown and visited our relatives. Blikki and Don patiently went along with everything (and won a few more hearts ...). I always find it very important to carry sufficient drinking water with us so that we can offer it inbetween, also that we manage to find suitable possibilities for a few walks somehow, and that we try and stick to the usual feeding times. Then our dogs are happy, no matter what and no matter where.
	2 September	We attended the ZG Eurasier meeting in der Eifel. We are happy to see Arwen again. She is now 13 years old, healthy and well. Many people had come and many close "relatives" of Don and Blikki had come, too, e.g. Blikki's father was there and so was Don's father. I really enjoy that the ZG Eurasier meetings make it possible to see and meet "dog relatives". A highlight this time were the little puppies, that all looked so sweet and just made you want to cuddle them ... Not long ago, our "Schnoesel" Don was that little, too ... and now he has already grown so much ... and is in puberty ... how quick time flies. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere at the meeting, had a few nice talks and watched the dogs. The grillsteaks and coffee and cake tasted delicious. It was a lovely day at the ZG Eurasier meeting in the Eifel.
		We had lovely September weather. Walking past the fields and acres that have already been harvested, is wonderful. Up to now, Blikki has been very tolerant with Don and she let him get away with quite a lot. Since Don turned 7, 8 months old, this has changed. Blikki now waits for a favourable moment during our walks (preferably when Don has already "let off some steam") and she then invites him to games by which she can show him that she is in control and has the say. Blikki is in an overall good condition, she has improved on her speed, and she also learned how she can make quick turns and use these to her advantage.
	9. September	We had planned a quiet weekend. A family called and asked if we could let them experience Eurasiers "live". We offered they could come and accompany us on our walk late in the afternoon. During our walk, Blikki and Don showed them how much fun Eurasiers have when they can run outside and how lively they can be. They also showed how well behaved Eurasiers can be, even an 8 month old "youngster". After the walk, Blikki and Don rested in the living room, while we informed the family all about Eurasiers, a very special dog breed.
	15 September	Don is nine months old today As you can see, Don is already much taller than Blikki. But we will continue to call him our "little boy" and Blikki our "big girl" ggg
	weekend 29. September until 1. October 2006	We attended the annual meeting of the Zuchtgemeinschaft for Eurasiers on the Eisenberg. A report with many pictures can be found on the website of the ZG
	7. Octoker	We visited relatives that are very special to us. Blikki recognized the house and our relatives again and cuddled up around the feet of our aunt. Don still had a bit of "pepper" and so he had to stay on the lead for a while. Lateron he was allowed to be free and he curiously followed our relatives around the whole house. Of course we also went for a longer walk there.
	13. October	This weekend the VDH - German Kennel Club - celebrated their 100 year anniversary (1896 - 2006) in Dortmund. Two different shows took place during the weekend. I could not go and see the Eurasier breed show that Friday, sniff.
	14. October	We managed to go and see the 100 year show. You can find a few impressions of participating Eurasiers of this show on the website of the ZG.
		By now, Blikki and Don know many dogs that live in our vicinity. It is always fun for all when we meet some of them and the dogs can play and run together.
	3.-5. November	Can you imagine, Ellen left Blikki and Don in care of Peter for the weekend!? Of course, she carefully organized this, topped up the food supplies and other goodies and even set up a written plan "what to do when and what to do if" (just in case. Blikki and Don know how to express their own wishes). Ellen then called several times during the weekend to hear that her three darlings were doing just fine. When she finally came home on Sunday evening, what an "overwhelming" greeting that was!
Mirjam, thank you so much for the photo!	3. December	We attended the ZG Eurasier walk through the "Daemmerwald" forest, near Wesel, Germany. It was fun, as quite a few Eurasier friends had come, also from Belgium and the Netherlands. Towards the end of our walk, a few rain clouds caught up with us. Luckily it did not rain too heavily. Coffee and cake therefore tasted even better afterwards in the Pannebaecker restaurant. We were very happy to see Don's breeder again. This meeting was worth a "family photo", as Don's dog mom, his dog grandma, and his dog grandpa were there. Shortly after the picture, even his dog dad showed up. It was great to see all of them together! For more pictures, see the ZG website. It is always fun to be among Eurasier friends.
	Christmas 2006	The days before Christmas pass by much too fast. There is so much to be done until Christmas and time just flies. An upcoming cold does not help us much further, either. During Christmas we spoil ourselves with a few quiet days at home and a few nice walks with Blikki and Don. This is Don's very first Christmas and we enjoy this special festive season. Blikki came into heat during the Christmas days. We will therefore keep the two under very close supervision and will soon have to keep Don and Blikki seperately in the house and take them for their walks separately.
	Jan 1st 2007	Happy New Year !!!
	Jan 12 2007	Since the new year Blikki and Don live "separated from each other" - due to Blikki's heat. There is an interesting article written by Gisela Aach on the website of the Zuchtgemeinschaft fuer Eurasier e.V. How to survive the heat of your female dog without problems
	Jan 14 2007	Blikki's heat is over and our life is back to "normal". What a pleasure not having to be separated in the house anymore and to be able to go for walks together again! The sun came out, too, and so Blikki, Don and I thoroughly enjoyed a longer walk.
	Jan 15 2007	Don is now one year old. We are very happy to have him. A big thank you goes to Don's breeder family "Eurasiers vom Isselbruch", to the humans there and also to his dog-mom Cher and his dog-grandma Pia, who all raised Don so well, with much love, in accordance with the ZG and the Head of the Breeding Board in the ZG. Another thank you goes to the family of Devil vom Aegidienberg, Don's Dad. Happy Birthday to Don's sister Dinah, too ! Don's breeder called and we had a pleasant conversation. Sometimes Don put his front paws on my lap and leaned towards me as if he were trying to find out who was speaking on the other end of the phone. Don got quite excited and I am sure he recognized the voice of his breeder! Don looked at me, at the phone, he looked behind me, and my only explanation for this behaviour is that he was trying to find her. I then asked his breeder to say something to him and I held the phone closer to Don. Don seemed very happy, but at the same he had a somewhat quizzicle expression on his face. Maybe he wondered how his breeder could find enough room in such a little phone :-)
		The diary continues here: Diary 4: from 1 year onwards