Jolene,
Happy New Year! I hope you and your son, and all of your wonderful "beasts" had a great holiday season.
Timber and Sitka continue to be awesome dogs. They are 16.5 months old and Timber weighs 116lbs and is 30" at the shoulder with Sitka weighing 105lbs and 28" at the shoulder. Both are very healthy. Sitka’s cherry eye (ended up in both eyes) was surgically fixed last March at the same time she was fixed, however one eye required a second surgery. She had conjunctivitis in her left eye until August, and has been fine since. My vet is extremely pleased with both of them in terms of health, temperament, and their overall stature, and they both go bananas over her which make vet visits very entertaining. The vet called them ”magnificent” when she they got their annual shots in December.
They are very friendly with any people that come over, and still always get more excited to see guests than they ever have seeing me.
Obedience wise, they test me daily on commands such as sit, down, stay, leave it and come. They both are perfect if there is any type of food involved. Without a treat, Timber is the more obedient of the two. Timber is usually fairly vocal with his favorite human guests, as well as during drives to the dog park. He woo-woo is fairly low pitched, however a lot of his other sounds are higher in pitch, and his growl makes the ground shake. He is well behaved in the house, with his only issues being looking in the sink and stealing towels or wash cloths and destroying them if I do not catch him right away. He is more interested in the TV than any dog I have ever seen. Anything with animals, particularly dogs and horses, gets his full attention for a while - Animal Planet, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel – he likes the Dog Whisperer, Eight Below, Living with Wolves, and March of the Penguins.
Sitka can be very subversive and is generally the one to teach bad habits, like not coming and looking in the kitchen sink (paws on the counter) when I am in another room, which she taught Timber. She is fairly quiet with guests and does not talk much around the house. However, in the car, once she is believes we are going to the park, which they both figure out by scent about 7 miles from the park, she talks up a storm - sometimes it sounds like she is saying hello, and other time she lets out these very long medium to higher pitch noises, in which she sounds like she is could by dying – almost pitiful but quite entertaining. Sitka likes watching football on TV – I guess its all the movement
They ride in the car almost daily, and attract an incredible amount of attention wherever we go. People are always commenting on how beautiful they are, with some favoring Sitka for her colors and somewhat wolf-like look, with others favoring Timber’s striking mask and his large head. They make everyone smile, especially when they talk. On the way to the park, they both often go into the howling mode(not talking, but all out wolf howling), which I provoke sometimes, and it is most amusing, very loud, but very entertaining, and you can see other folks on the road with a huge grin across their face. I have recorded them howling, and whenever I play it back for them, they start to howl instantly. Sometimes they go on for 1 1/5 minutes before they stop.
They are wonderful friends and companions. Thank you again so much for such great dogs. Their temperament is fantastic with everybody, and all dogs, male and female, large and small.
I’ll keep you posted.
Drew January 13, 2008
