Booker is home! And growth thread.

[Liz_M]

OMG, I am so in love already. (Sorry for gushing; it's my first EM. He is 8 weeks old today.)
Drove 200 miles, with a friend, to pick him up. We stayed at the breeder's house for a while and Booker was just chilling out, then drove home. Stopped once for a pee and water break and the rest of the time he pay on the seat between us with his head on my lap. We'd brought a crate but didn't use it.
Got home, did a leisurely introduction with my two current dogs (middle aged male Lab and JRTx bitch) through the fence, then let them meet in the yard. The Lab got a bit overly boisterous and Booker startled and got scared and hid under a bush; I felt bad. But he rebounded very quickly and within 30 minutes was lumbering around the yard and my other two dogs are actually very civilized. My neighbors and their grandchildren came over (this is sort of a neighborhood event LOL) and were really good with him.
Also, he has never encountered cats before and I have three kittens. At first he was like WTF and tucked his tail and pilo-erected but again, got over it after about 30 minutes. One cat shared his food, one rubbed all over him, the other played with his ears. So he got completely relaxed with them in short order. All of this I hope indicates strong nerve.
He's outside in the attached photos because he hadn't peed or pooped yet so we decided to have food and water outside for him. He still hasn't, but now I am inside and he is passed out in the crate right next to me. Hard to take photos of him because he wants to follow me extremely closely!
Vet visit tomorrow. At his six-week vet visit he was 16 lbs. Breeder says he was 23-24 lbs yesterday. Sire is almost 240; dam 145. I think he looks to have pretty good bone. Vet visit tomorrow so I will have an official weight.
OMG OMG he is just the most amazing puppy! (Sorry. Gushing again.)

 

[angelbears]

I would be gushing too! What a cute little buddy! Can't wait to watch him grow.

 

[NYDDB]

He is the picture of puppy cuteness--who wouldn't be gushing, LOL... Congrats!

I got Mateo as a pup in July also and was happy to be able to have nice, warm weather for him to roam around and explore- sure beats housebreaking in the middle of winter---especially in Michigan (I grew up there.)

Looking forward to seeing him grow.

And grow.

And grow!

 

[Liz_M]

Thanks! We just went outside and peed. Yay! Pee-litzer prize! Now he is back to sleeping. This is so, so different than the Rottweiler puppies I've had. They were pretty much on all the time. And I am now too old for that sort of energy and have long said an EM will be my "old lady" dog.

NYDDB I got the JRTx in February during a really brutal cold snap. House-training was about 100x more challenging because she is small without much of an undercoat. Going outside was seriously not fun for her and after that I decided "no more winter puppies", at least if I stay here in Michigan. Uh oh, he is waking up. Back outside.

Lessons learned so far:
Cats not actually scary.
Dogs not actually scary.
Do not even think about snacking in the cat litter box.
I hate the crate.
Stairs to deck are actually scary (single-level house but three steps from deck to yard. I'm carrying him now but you know this is only going to last another few months.)
Mom's feet are my Safe Place.
Pouncing on water bowl and getting water everywhere is most excellent fun.

I don't imagine I will be getting much sleep in the next few weeks. But I am thankful I have two already well-behaved dogs and three really dog-savvy cats (and some great friends and neighbors) to show him the ropes.

Excuse me, I have to take a break to fall on my knees and smooch him. He is just so large for an 8-week old puppy!! My last Rottweiler was, like 9 lbs at 8 weeks old and matured to a solid very muscular 115 lbs. And he was just a huge physical and mentally powerful presence. I understand about growth rates and all but trying to wrap my head around owning a dog that may well top 200 lbs blows my mind. I'm sort of hoping he will end up a bit smaller, to be honest. For health and joint sake, mainly.

 

[Druid]

good looking pup! Our Aldric thinks steps/ stairs are the devil also (10 wks.). He barked at the front porch stairs yesterday afternoon (they didn't seem to impressed..).

 

[TWW]

He looks cute as could be.

Oh get ready, to take a lot of pics because you have now entered the EM world, they grow at a staggering rate, you will go to sleep as wake up and swear he grow a inch. Also at this age don't be surprised when he gains 4 to 10lbs in a week.
In the next 4 months he will most likely gain 70 to 120lbs.
Oh and for the next month or 2 don't be worried he is going to sleep a lot.
Oh and EM's are the masters of the off switch.
Oh and beware zoomies incoming in a couple months.

 

[tmricciuto]

He is adorable.


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[Bob Felts]

So cute. Have fun.

 

[Liz_M]

Druid, so far Booker is astonishingly doh-de-doh and go with the flow. I know he's just 8 weeks old and it's a while since I've had a puppy and it's not even been a day but I'm in the infactuation stage so give me a break.

TWW, like zucchini? Like when you check your garden and they are two inches long, then 37 minutes later you have baseball-bat sized zucchini?

I have already taken about 8 million photos of him since 3 pm today and sent about 20,000. His breeder is probably making plans to block me, right now. LOL.
And Booker is being extremely vocal right now and it is ten pm. Great!
His breeder was really concerned that he would get predatory with cats. Too funny. Already he is like BFF with all three.
yay, back outside. We are barking and getting ornery. I was warned he was the noisy one in the litter.

 

[Th0r]

Extremely cute pup.
I got my guy on December 27th with already 2 feet of snow on the ground and luckily he was super quick with potty training and very minimal accidents in the house. In fact I thought he was a Border Collie cause he knew how to tap the blinds to go out to the backyard at 10 weeks old even though I was taking him out to potty in the front on a leash before that!

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[Boxergirl]

Liz_M, he's just gorgeous. And you sound like me with Ella. As an adult I'd only had boxer puppies. Boy is there a difference between a boxer pup and an EM pup. I thought I'd gone to puppy heaven. Ella was just so laid back and easy, I didn't know puppies like that existed. I hope you keep updating frequently. We love to watch puppies grow.

 

[Liz_M]

He did great last night! Crated from about 11 pm with minimal whining until 4 am when he started fussing to go out. So at 4.01 am I am following him around the back yard with a flashlight making sure he had a healthy-looking poop (he did.)
Vet visit scheduled this morning.

 

[Ginurse]

He did great last night! Crated from about 11 pm with minimal whining until 4 am when he started fussing to go out. So at 4.01 am I am following him around the back yard with a flashlight making sure he had a healthy-looking poop (he did.)
Vet visit scheduled this morning.

View attachment 54987

Oh my gosh, I want to kiss that gorgeous face! Sounds like he just fit into your home/family without any problems.

 

[Liz_M]

OK, here's the growth chart bit.
He was whelped May 28, so 8 weeks old yesterday.
From his vet records: he increased from 4 lbs on June 13 to 22 lbs on July 21.
This morning July 24 at 8 weeks, one day old, he was 23.2 lbs.


Thanks for all the kind words!

 

[TricAP]

Liz_M, he's just gorgeous. And you sound like me with Ella. As an adult I'd only had boxer puppies. Boy is there a difference between a boxer pup and an EM pup. I thought I'd gone to puppy heaven. Ella was just so laid back and easy, I didn't know puppies like that existed. I hope you keep updating frequently. We love to watch puppies grow.

Boxergirl I almost spewed coffee on my computer laughing! glad to know I'm not the only one that thinks that ! way - An EM after boxer puppies is HEAVEN! SO SO SO TRUE!!! Took us 7 years after our boxer Bella to be ready for another puppy.

Liz_M gush away!!!! Booker is adorable! And the laugh about zucchini - I'm pulling the plant out of the garden today before it gets me run out of the neighborhood for trying to give it away

 

[Boxergirl]

TricAP, I have an online friend that's had boxers for about fifty years. She does a lot of rescue transports and fostering now and really tries to prepare potential adopters for what they're getting. She always says that, "boxers are just too much fun for most people." I seriously lost sleep because Ella was so good. While the boys (11 months and 2 years then) were bouncing around all day proving that their insides were made of springs, Ella was snoring or moseying around the back yard.

Liz_M, you need to sniff his feet. A good long sniff. Most people like puppy breath, but not me. I love puppy feet. And that soft spot right behind the ear. I really look forward to watching him grow.

 

[Liz_M]

"...bouncing around all day proving that their insides were made of springs,"

LOL!! I was almost worried that he wasn't feeling good because he is so laid back except he got a clean bill of health this morning. He lies down in front of the water bowl to drink, even. Although he is fairly vocal; lots of little whines and puppy murmurs and muttering. I grew up with working Border collies, and most of the dogs I've had over the years were Rottweilers with a Partweiler and a few Nottweilers here and there. And most of the dogs I've fostered have been pit bulls and mixes; so for the most part fairly high-energy dogs. This just seems so....easy! At least for now, anyway.

Boxergirl, I love puppy feet! They smell like Fritos.

He had a busy morning what with playing and sleeping and lots of yard time and the vet visit, so this afternoon I put him in his crate and left the house for a couple of hours. He barely complained and we just had a party and a meal when I came back so I think he's already learning that it's not a terrible thing to go into his crate and that I will come back.

No accidents in the house yet. I got a collar for him today as well, and will see what he thinks of a leash this evening when it cools off a bit in the back yard. It's almost 90 out; not mastiff puppy weather for sure.
I need to work on getting some photos with him and the JRTx, they are almost the same size now but that won't last long!

 

[TWW]

Hopefully all is going well.
Zoomies will start in a couple months and his real temperament will start showing around 7 to 9 months, and will really show around 18 months.

 

[TricAP]

TricAP, I have an online friend that's had boxers for about fifty years. She does a lot of rescue transports and fostering now and really tries to prepare potential adopters for what they're getting. She always says that, "boxers are just too much fun for most people." I seriously lost sleep because Ella was so good. While the boys (11 months and 2 years then) were bouncing around all day proving that their insides were made of springs, Ella was snoring or moseying around the back yard.

Liz_M, you need to sniff his feet. A good long sniff. Most people like puppy breath, but not me. I love puppy feet. And that soft spot right behind the ear. I really look forward to watching him grow.

Both hubby and I have spent our entire life around dogs, though we knew what we were getting into. We'd done boxer fostering and hubby had adopted older boxers in the past before we got our puppy - no matter how prepared we thought we were for the breed and their antics Bella upped the ante and gave us worst case scenario each and every time. She really was difficult and both of us swore never again! She finally calmed down about age 5. Now at almost 8 she still out runs our EM but is starting to show some cognitive decline. Love her dearly but no more boxer puppies - EM's even with their quirks are much easier by comparison.

 

[tmricciuto]

I've never had a boxer but I did have a cattle dog and no joke about energy. That's one of the reasons we chose EM as we know we could never be active enough for some breeds like the boxer. But I love them, so majestic looking. But my girls have my heart. They are more active now at a bit over 5 months then before. Up between 430-5, play eat poop go for walk till about 7. In for a nap till around 10 then pee and get a drink and up for maybe 30 mins till next nap. Then back up around 1 for about an hour and a half, playing and what not. Then back down from about 3-5. Then up for dinner and play time till between 630-7 when it's bedtime.


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