A report from a new Eurasier puppy owner

The Eurasier - a pure-bred dog - a family dog

(Excerpts taken from the "Eurasier-Nachrichten 3/2000", written by Marion & Helmut Urban)

ZG Eurasier Puppy Placement: Christa Stuhr, Waldkamp 5, 21039 Boernsen, Germany

Tel: Germany 40 - 7201607 *** Fax: Germany 40 - 72977373 *** info@eurasier-online.de

Our decision for a dog – for a Eurasier

In Autumn 1997, we dealt with the subject "A dog for the Urban's in Westerloy". Our children wanted a dog, we did, too. Generally, at first, we tried to find out if we were capable of sharing our life with a dog. The next question was: what kind of dog could that be? We studied Knaur's large dog encyclopedia written by U. Klever and directed our attention mostly towards character and appearance. Our first priority was that our dog should be a family dog and that it should be friendly with children. And, among other breeds, we finally found the Eurasier. We turned to two Eurasier Clubs, the EKW and the ZG. By doing so, we had actually already decided on the breed. Both Clubs answered our letters. We had just filled in the questionnaire from the EKW and had wanted to send it off, when we received a very nice (and handwritten) letter from Mrs Stuhr, the lady in charge of the puppy placement in the ZG. After a long and informative telephone call one Sunday morning, we filled in the questionnaire of the ZG and posted it. This took place in December 1997.

But there was still one decisive question on our mind: Would a Eurasier puppy become good friends with our beloved cat Pito? If not, we would most likely have a BIG problem.

The puppy comes into reach...

In March 1998 Mrs Stuhr called us: Puppies are on their way! End of March things became clearer as we were then told that six puppies had been born in Bremervörde at the breeders van Stiephaut, 1 female and five males. Fani von den Sander Tannen is the father, and Gela vom Kösterberg the mother. Mrs Stuhr also told us it was a B-litter, which means this was the second litter of the breeder. We were told we might still have the possibility to influence the name of our puppy, and we should discuss this with the breeder. We called the breeder end of March and talked about the names. Mr Stiephaut told us he had chosen the name Birte, but had not really named the puppies yet. So Bakira (vom Vördersee) now got her real name. When the puppies were four weeks old, we visited them on a Sunday afternoon in Bremervörde. And, on seeing those little teddy bears, everybody was so fascinated that it just cannot be described in words. The proud breeder told us so many interesting things in the afternoon and showed us many pictures. They also tried to get the mother of the litter make friends with us, but with little success. Gela was much too concerned about her puppies to show any real interest in strangers.

Picking up our puppy

Four weeks later, on May 21, 1998, we picked up Bakira. This was a great joy for us, but of course the family of the breeder was very sad! Bakira - our! Bakira - easily endured the one and a half hour car trip from Bremervörde to Westerloy, which included crossing the river Weser by ferry. In our garden, Bakira was then the shooting star. The Fischer family came over with their Golden Retriever Ayscha to say hello. From the first moment, Ayscha and Bakira liked each other and got along very well. And the first encounters between our cat Pito and Bakira were also no problem at all. Bakira made it through her first day at our house without showing any irritation. And then a good night's sleep followed!

From then on, everything happened just as described in the little booklet „Wissenswertes rund um die Welpenaufzucht“ (Helpful things to know when raising your puppy). The first night was without any problems, and also during the following nights Bakira slept at my bedside. I went outside with her once during the night and again very early in the morning. As Mrs Stuhr had predicted, Bakira was already house-trained so that no accidents happened! After a few nights, Bakira looked to find her own sleeping spots. Bakira can move around in the whole house, there are no areas which would be "off limits" for her. During the day, after short play sessions and much romping around, longer naps and phases of rest followed.

Our first holiday with Bakira

In August 1998, we had our first holiday with Bakira, who was then 4 months old. We just had to try out the holiday at this stage as we wanted to start planning our winter holiday in the snow later. Our holiday was without any problems. Bakira liked travelling in the car. And at the guest house Strasser at our holiday resort in Riezlern, Kleinwalsertal, Bakira made the best impression. And here - we also never had any difficulties. Quite the opposite, as everybody was simply fascinated by this little teddy bear! We kept the length of our walks in accordance to how much a puppy can do. After the walks, Bakira lay in the holiday apartment "flat" on the floor and was bushed. She did very well walking on the lead through the pedestrian area in Oberstdorf. Once somebody there asked us if this little Eurasier was already reserved towards strangers while trying to make contact with her, and almost immediately Bakira went into back gear.

Puppy classes

On October 9, we had our first trial session at dog training. The trainer, Andre Schubert, gave us a lot of information during our first session. Throughout our conversation, he observed Bakira, so this first lesson was very easy for her. During our second lesson, Bakira showed her willpower, and she did not want to follow on the long lead, but, this improved by time. In the next lesson more lead training followed, and the commands "Heel", "Come" and "Here" were trained. Inbetween lessons, so we were told, we should always train these commands at home, 10 to 15 minutes training every day are sufficient. In our third lesson we went for the first walk, "Heel" and "Sit" were trained on the lead, and then we were asked to let Bakira off the lead. When we called "Here", she really came. The most important thing is always - plenty of praise!

All this worked wonderfully - not always - but always a little bit better. During our walks Bakira happily followed suit, and she put the commands we gave her into practice. Her most difficult command is "Down" - until today she always tries to circumvent it a little. "Down stay" is even more difficult. During the lessons together with other dogs, I sometimes had to go back to Bakira 20 times to bring her back into the "down stay" position. Patience, patience!

During dog training classes we had seven lessons with Bakira on her own - no other dogs. And these seven lessons taught Bakira a lot - and even more us! Here we learned from the trainer how to act correctly and consistently for our dog, which was very important. From time to time we always go back for a few more lessons to brush up things in a group of 10 to 15 dogs.

Bakira during the week-end

From Monday to Friday Bakira likes to sleep a bit longer, she usually gets up when we have breakfast. Then she wants to go out for a short while, inspects our property, comes back to the door, and from there she heads directly to the hallway, gets into her basket again and has some more sleep. But during the week-end, when everybody else in our house would like to sleep a bit longer, Bakira stands in front of my bed at 6.15 a.m., nudges me, lets me cuddle her a little and then asks for a walk. Then I have no other chance, because if I do not get up, she will wake up the whole house. Then we go for a walk through the village, as soon as we are away from the street, Bakira can be let off the lead. I can rely on her as she will immediately come back to me whenever I whistle. Back at home, our cat is waiting to be let into the house, and the feeding of the animals takes place. Bakira and our cat get along well. After that we go to the baker's together to get some fresh buns and Bakira wants to come along - a car ride is soo much fun!

Holiday in the snow with Bakira

In December 1998 we spent our Christmas holiday in the snow. Accompanied by friends, children and the Golden Retriever Ayscha, we travelled 9 to 10 hours for a skiing holiday in the Kleinwalsertal. Again, everything went smoothly. Bakira enjoyed the car ride. And she behaved wonderfully at the guest house Strasser at our holiday resort Riezlern in the Kleinwalsertal. Just like in summer - no problems, quite the opposite, everybody was fascinated by Bakira again. Snow was a new experience, but for Bakira with her thick winter undercoat even minus 10 degrees Celsius was not too cold. Walks in the snow, running along the smaller lifts (when not many people were there) and romping around with Ayscha in the snow were great fun. In the evening our fourlegged party members (and not only they) lay "flat" in the apartment after all that exercise during the day.

Bakira and visitors

Visitors to our house, who do not come often, are usually barked at by Bakira, and this gets her some respect. She will not let strangers touch her then. But when our guests follow our advice and do not pay any attention to her, it is okay, then Bakira goes somewheres else. Eventually, she comes back after a while, has a good sniffle and then goes to her basket again. In these situations Bakira is the true Eurasier as described in the book, reserved towards strangers, but for us she is really the cuddliest dog.

Read more about Bakira: Eurasier - Bakira vom Vörder See

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