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last revision 06/25/2008

 

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Xander’s passing left a huge hole in my heart, and, after some discussion with my dear hubby, I decided to fill it with new life.  Harika’s litter was born the day before Xander died.  She is an Anatolian Shepherd Dog.  Her name came about as a result of a joke made in passing to a friend of mine.  I commented that it would be a miracle if I could get a puppy from THIS litter (all spoken for) AND get her here from Ohio.  Tatli Harika is Turkish for “sweet miracle.”

 

This pup comes from a natural rearing breeder and is untainted by commercial kibble or canned foods, flea/tick/heartworm toxins, and vaccinations.  My first naturally reared baby!  And I couldn’t be more excited if there were two of me. 

 

Mom, Siri, and litter of 6

 

 

 

And, thus, Xander’s legacy lives on in the next generation.  Granted, she’s not a GSD, but she will most definitely benefit from all that he taught me during his all-too-short life.

 

If you wish to learn more about NR breeding and raising, check out AuNaturelK9s!  LOTS of great information and wonderful people.

 

01/15/2008 – Good grief. Bad puppy mom that I am, I haven’t taken the time to update this site since before I picked Harika up. The drive to and from Tulsa, OK, to meet her breeder went well. Exhausting but well. Harika traveled well, and she did great in her crate the one night she spent with me in a hotel in NM on the way home. She was fully housetrained by 12 weeks of age. She has been learning SIT, DOWN, WAIT and SIT-STAY, along with TAKE-IT, GIVE, LEAVE-IT, “TEN”, “HI” (shake) and retrieving. And she loves water. The water bowl stopped being safe a while ago. She was making a horrid mess on the kitchen floor by dumping the water bowl and putting her paws into it. So I changed water bowls to a flat bottomed crock style that’s heavy enough not to flip easily, and I put it on top of a towel to control the water from her paws. Next thing I knew, she was dragging the towel across the floor out of the kitchen, bowl sloshing as she went. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat.  LOL

 

Yesterday, for the first time, she rang the bell hanging on the back door to go outside. I think she’s been watching big sister, Izzy, too long. Izzy is the only one who rings the bell to go out. D’Artagnan just sits at our feet and whines. I think I’m glad she’s been watching Izzy and not her “big” brother.

 

Interestingly, Harika seems to have somehow picked up some of Xander’s habits. Interesting, because she never knew him, and the other two dogs in the household don’t do those things. She loves to put her front paws up on my leg. Just plops her butt down and up the paws come. Xander started doing that as a youngster. None of my other dogs have ever done that. She also likes to carry the stainless steel dog bowls around; one of Xander’s obsessions. She also has decided she needs to babysit mom when I’m feeling under the weather. Xander used to do that. And I do mean quite literally SIT. She lays on or across my lap like he used to. Oh, and we mustn’t forget that she’s figured out how to open the backdoor from the outside. Another of Xander’s habits.

 

 

06/25/2008– I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted an update. Sheesh!

 

Needless to say, Harika has grown like a weed in the last few months. We had 2 housetraining setback when she was teething. She decided to lose all her puppy incisors and cut the new ones in one week, followed a bit later by cutting all her molars at once. Her growth otherwise has been steady and slow, no major spurts of sudden growth, and she’s developing beautifully. She turned 9 months old this month. Still have some growing to do, not to mention more muscle to lay down, but she’s looking great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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xandert@cableone.net