Pius von Thuerlesberg

Sam's second year of his life:

March 2005:
not much going on, we do training however good we can do it ourselves.
Every Thursday we go to a dog park, Sam loves running around with the other dogs, of course he is by far the biggest, but I swear he thinks he is a Beagle.
Long Down ( Ablegen) training at the dog park is tough for him, but we keep working on it.

After I got bitten by Thor's Kennel mate, I am sorry to say contact broke off with Doug, the owner. I would have liked to keep the training sessions with Thor and Sam.

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April 7, 2005:
the big day, we are leaving for Germany.
No food the day before and he gets a tranquilizer pill.... On the plane, the flight attendant comes to give me the confirmation ticket that Sam is boarded and says: with a big grin on his face: 'your Chihuahua is on board' - of course my seat neighbor looked at me with huge eyes. I say: 'yeah right, my dog eats Chihuahuas for snacks'. That of course started an 8 hour long friendship ;-)

Three weeks in Germany, April 2005
Sam loves the cooler temperature, I can hardly get him back into the house. Sam and Timmy ( my Mom's Beagle) acted like they never were apart, running around like crazy, chewing pigs ears and cow hoofs, rolling around on each other, chasing, nipping, laughing.... both had so much fun!

Serious training was the main goal for that trip. Every second day we had one-on-one training with Herrn Schikotanz, I believe I needed the training more than Sam did. Joe scolded me quite a bit.
Tracking wasn't very successful, I actually was very frustrated with myself and Sam, but we will train more next fall.
obedience went very well, we finally found what Sam likes: a bright yellow tennis ball!
Herr Dittl taught Sam the 'bring'. Sam needed several lessons, he is a very stubborn dog, but he finally got the message, I throw the dumbbell, he goes and brings it back, end of story.

X-rays where taken and sent in to the GS Verein.

April 27, 2005:
We have to leave Germany, the vacation is over.
gosh, what a day that was! I gave Sam his tranquilizer pill too early, couldn't check him in, but was told to 'hold on the dog' until 1 hour before the flight leaves. Great. Sam started to walk like a drunk sailor, people looked at us real funny.
I did not get a notice that Sam was on board , made me all nervous thinking he may have been left behind. Checking in with us were also a dog and a cat. So I asked the flight attendant if she would check for me. She tells me not to worry, there is a dog and a cat on board. After I mention that those are not mine but a GSD, she wonders whose dog and cat it is, after a round through the plane she comes back to me saying has to be my dog, no one claimed a dog and a cat. LOL ... I am ready to pull the emergency break! ......... she came back after a while saying the second pilot checked and did see a GSD.
Going through customs in Atlanta was no fun either, he barked up a storm demanding to be let out of the travel box. The custom officer says: take the dog out I have to check the box. I looked at him in disbelief, the box just came from Munich, what could possibly be in the box but an anxious GSD? I point and say, you are sure you want him out of the box? the customs officer looks at the dog, looks at me and the rest is history.
While waiting to board my plane to Orlando my name gets called out, seeing a guy in an airport workers uniform, I am having dark visions of a loose GSD on the runway..... but he just wanted to let me know that 'my horse is on board' and he never saw a dog that size before.

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Beginning of May 2005:
got the results of x-rays: HD - A normal :-)

May 24, 2005:
we stopped going to the dog park, it is just too hot over the summer. Maybe we will pick it up in fall again.

Summer 2005:
Really, we just take it easy and veggie out indoors, the heat and humidity is just about too much to handle. We go out early in the morning or late at night. the COPS training field is water logged from the daily rains, and the mosquitoes are way to aggressive.

June 2005

We are so lucky that Hurricane Katrina missed Florida, but our hearts go out the the many many people and animals that go through weeks of suffering. Consider helping with a small ( or large) donation to the humane society. Click on this banner and help:

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Fall 2005:
Not much going on, we spent 2 times 2 weeks in Germany, used the time for training at the Ortsgruppe Wertingen. The people there are awesome, nice, helpful and so much fun!

There was an argument going on between the owner of the land where the Central Florida Police and Schutzhund Club trains and one of the members.... leading to we are not allowed to use that property anymore. The club meets at another member's property, but unfortunately this place is too far away for me to go to. This means, no SCHH training for Sam and me. I am sad about this, this kind of training just can't be done alone in one's backyard :(

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February 18 2006:
Sam is two years old. Soon we will leave for Germany, hopefully all goes well on the trip.