Sunday Stroke Survival~It's Puppies in the Murphey Saga!

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Since I'm off topic this month with the syndicated stroke recovery sites that republishes me anyhow, I'll get back in sync by November. A couple of them took a summer break leaving me to publish what topics I wanted without a tie in. So what to talk about today....hmmm...Oh, a bright spot in my future. Yeah that's it. I have new news.

I've wanted another dog for some time now. Not just any dog but a fairly large one, a German Shepherd. Plus I wanted a female to boot for the first one because they are easier to train. She in turn would help train the male when I got him. Females are smarter and quicker to learn from my experience.

Yes, I know they are big dogs when they grow up. Yes, I'm limited with my disabilities, but still I wanted one. In my younger years I trained AKC Shepherds for guard dogs, family pets, and show dogs. I did quite well at it and know there is no better family orientated dog breed that can protect the family. There's something about their size, their canine teeth, and their deep bark and menacing growl that make grown men pee their pants. Gee, I wonder why. (giggling) I'd planned to have at least two for protection of our acreage, if not four. It's a big piece of property.

Well, my stroke made me incapable of working at my previous jobs and it kind of put a serious cash flow crunch on us. Not to mention the delay in homesteading our acreage. The cost of one puppy with a great blood lines is between $450-$2,100. A big ouchie on an already tight budget. Not to mention the vet bills, registration fees, and food. I just couldn't financially see a way to swing it up until this week.

A friend of my daughter had a tan saddle shepherd who had puppies. She had been accidentally bred with a black shepherd. The result...18 puppies. I've never heard of such a huge litter before. There are more puppies than Sheba has teats to feed them. She has a rotation feeding schedule going on, but still the last two females born get the short end of the stick so they are not fairing well.

The owner is having to supplement feeding them with a bottle. Imagine only ten are shown in this picture. There are eight more waiting in the wings for the next shift. The pups are growing fast and actually roll their momma onto her back to nurse. She barely gets a break from nursing her litter to take care of her needs. The pups are just barely four weeks old.

The momma dog is exhausted. The owner is exhausted. And I'll reap the benefits. She is parting with the two runts for $100. What a deal! or Steal as the case may be for me. Although the pups aren't usually sold before eight to ten weeks, I'll take ownership of my pups in a week. Judging by their paws, ears, and tails the girls should weigh about 65 pounds when full grown. A little on the small side, but I don't intend on showing them or putting them in competitions. They will still be hefty enough to take on all threats to the family. Nobody will want to tangle with them.

They will have longer black hair like their papa. The girls have a very long, traceable pedigree. They are AKC registered already all except the names. I'll supply that when I transfer their registry. For official names, we are leaning towards Greta and Elsa Von Bach. We like to keep their names German and easy enough for the grandchildren to say.

Meanwhile, I purchased a few new signs to go around the fenced in property. It's me. You kind of figure I won't have signs that simply say "No Trespassing." Uh uh, that's not my style. If you've learned anything about me from reading my books or my blog that's for sure.

I've already got signs posted saying... 

 and 

This is the new one reads...

A full grown German Shepherd can sprint 35 miles an hour. Over the same distance a human triathlon runner may hit 23-30 miles per hour. You judge who can reach the fence first. While it will be a few months before my new girls will be any kind of threat other than an ankle biters, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. In training these dogs in the past, I know they can be also help/service dogs. With my husband being the way he is  and me post stroke, we can use all the help we can get. These girls have a lot of learning to do.

Now it's just a problem to get everyone else trained in a new language for commands. Humans are so much slower to train. Look at me, I'm barely house broken again. Still learning how to talk and a few other details.

The good thing is the girls won't have to try to understand how I speak now because they won't know any difference. In some ways our youngest grandson (18 months old) is blessed because he doesn't remember the way grandma or grandpa used to be. He only knows us as we are now compared to my teenage grandchildren. He still sits on my lap and does my facial exercises with me. Yeah, I still do those because it can't hurt. I live in fear that if I stop doing them the facial droop will come back. I know. Irrational, huh?

As far as my aphasia goes, I can relearn ten command words from my childhood easier than I can relearn being conversational in that language again. Or I can try. It is a goal. I love setting goals for myself. It gives me something to work towards. I haven't met too many of the goals I've set for myself within a given time frame, but over time, I'll get there.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

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Sunday Stroke Survival~It's Puppies in the Murphey Saga!

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