I tell you Dari, my heart almost stopped. Thank God he is as clear headed as you said he was, much more than I am evidently. I didn't even know he could go up the stairs yet, let alone push our door open.
By the way I showed him to the lady I was telling you about, the one that breeds American GSDs. I thought she would be kind of snooty, but she was overwhelmed. She could not believe how beautiful he was. She actually has a sable, and when she saw him she fell in love with him. I was so impressed she would actually say what she felt, but she did, and she stayed with him for an hour, going on and on. Who could blame her though. See you later, J
Hello Dari,
We had Savo's first private lesson today. I've been working with him twice a day for 5 to 10 minutes on just the basics. He did unbelieveable. His sitz was instant and straight, his platz was fast, and his foos was right on. Front sitz was perfect. Vince, the instructor was amazed. That is the first time he has worked him, and he was very impressed. We worked for about 20 minutes and then Savo started chewing on his lead, so Vince took him and I did a recall. Almost a 100 yard recall. At about 75 yards I turned around, fell on my knees and called for Savo. By this time he was pulling hard on the lead, and barking a ton. Vince let him go and he came flying to me. It was very good. We ended on that.
Then he had around 20 dogs up from Denver to work. There were two Czech dogs, one a bi-color that was significantly long backed, but did very strong work, the other a black sable that was beautiful. He had a huge head ( not as big as Congo's ) and great structure. Very nice dog with great bite work. The owner, in fact everyone there was overwhelmed by Savo. And why not...I had him on a long lead to watch these dogs work. He was giving it all he had, barking, growling, raring up, pulling at the lead. When the helper came buy he would wave the stick, or bag, or sleeve at Savo. I mean, he wanted it badly, in fact once he got the bag, and once he got the bamboo stick. Both times full bites, and he kept them for a while. I was so proud, every body there ranted and raved about Savo.
Most of them know VanDenHeuvel K9, and one of the members, who wasn't there today, has a dog from you, but I didn't get their name.
Well, I could not be more pleased with Savo in looks, attitude, workability, clearheadidness, everything. Last Thursday, which was 11 weeks and 3 days he weighed 30 pounds. I'll get some pictures to you soon. John
Hey guys,
Just an update on Savo. He is doing great. The first 2 nights of crate training were tough, but since then he has done very well. He can probably sleep through the night, but I've gotten up at 3 am each of the last 2 nights to let him out. He does his business and goes right back to the crate.
I weighed him yesterday on our scale, which is tough because he wiggles so much, but he came in at 25 pounds. I'm feeding him just as you said and he looks great. I can tell he has grown. You're right, I can't imagine what his brother would have been like. Savo is a mouth with paws.
Sunday I'll take him to the training center, probably just to watch. I'm sure he'll bark and growl like he did with Congo working protection.
I was watching the video we took of Congo, and Savo moves just like his dad, and his topline is the absolute same. What a beautiful dog. Today I'm taking him to see a lady who works for our medical group who has an American german shepherd kennel. She talks the game, but he's going to knock her for a loop.
Anyway, as you can tell, we love him. I told you before, I truly believe he is the best bred dog in the world, and everything I wanted and more. We love him dearly. I'll send pictures in a couple of weeks. John
Hello Dari,
I would be honored to be on the client list. I'll get you some new pictures in a couple of weeks.
Right after I e-mailed you this morning I had a terrible scare. I had just let Savo out and had to come in and change Issac, our two year old. I went out to get Savo and he was gone. I just about freaked. I knew he couldn't have gone far, yet I felt if I didn't look in the pasture areas and the mountains he would just get farther away. I called Suzy, she left patients at clinic, came racing home, and found him in his crate upstairs in our bedroom sacked out. I looked for two hours for him(he was just upstairs), twisted my ankle, fell in a cactus, and almost battled a golden eagle over a rabbit that I thought was Savo.
Hello Dari,
We went to training again today and Savo is doing very well with obedience. The trainer just keeps saying "perfect" over and over. We are not doing any recalls. In the bite work he is so into it I'm going to stop him for a while. He wants to pull so hard, and jump for the tug so intensly that I'm having a hard time keeping him from it. Although that is great, I want to wait until he is older so he won't hurt himself, do you think that's the best thing. I mean at 13 weeks, he is the example Vince wants the adult dogs to be like.
I'm absolutely not letting him jump or even pull near as hard as he wants to. I tie him up and stay right behind him on my knees and hold him and pet him up while Vince comes at him. Savo barks and pulls hard, but I try to keep him very stable and essentially in one spot. He is getting so strong that I think I had better wait until he is around 20 weeks to continue as I don't want to do anything that might hurt him. I'll tell you his bite is totally full and he will not let go at this time.
He is absolutely a stud. I sent two pics. I don't know if you can really tell the color change in the pics. I'll keep you updated, J
7 week old Savo and his new owner Nate
Hello Dari,
We made it back about noon on Sunday. Poor Savo he must have thought his life was spending all day long in the car, and nights in a little hotel room. He handled it just great though. Friday night I was out with him about 3 am to go to the bathroom and we were on this patch of grass. Savo had a 3 foot drag line on. A man walked by who had obviously had too much to drink and Savo was barking and pulling hard on the drag line. The guy said, " About 6 months from now I'd be scared!" I just laughed.
Another guy walked by who was just getting to the hotel, and said what a good looking dog he was and Savo watched him, but didn't bark. I thought all that was excellent. He has bonded to us a lot already, and that will grow every day. The kids just love him and he has been playing for 6 solid hours. He just now went down...he is exhausted.
Dari, I can't tell you how pleased we are with him. He seems very stable, and aware. I don't think we'll have anything to worry about with his drives. His rag work is very good, and he was as defensive as he could be to those two guys at the hotel.
I watched the video we took of Congo and can't believe how impressive he is. He is a beast. You have a picture of Congo and yourself on the diet page I think, with Congo's mouth closed. Savo has looked just like that many times already. I can't believe he will approach Congo's size, but I hope you are right that he will. Anyway, thank you for letting us into your home, showing us the dogs, sharing your music, and most of all for Savo. I will send you pictures soon. Please tell John thank you as well. Your whole family is beautiful, and the time you took with us was extremely appreciated. I'll keep in touch. John
7 week old Savo and his new family
8 week old Savo in his new home
Hello Dari,
Today I took Savo to the training center for his first visit. There were about 20 dogs in the group obedience, two of which were the german shepherds I know. The youngest was 5 months. Savo just watched, and really seemed to enjoy it. When the class was over I took him out and did some sitz and platz on the field, he did great. From there two Dobes and a gsd did some bite work. They were tied to a fence and the helper came out. It was the first time for Tonka, the 6.5 month gsd. The dobes had been doing it for years, and have never gone beyond this point. Vince suggested I tie up Savo to the fence, which I did, and stay right next to him to see what he would do.
He never came at Savo except one time with a tug on a line. Savo pulled hard on the lead and growled and barked as hard as he could. Although he got tired, he never backed away, or lost interest. When Vince did come by with the tug he let Savo get it. He bit it and shook his head like he was killing it.
Needless to say, I was so proud of him. Vince, and everyone there absolutely raved about Savo and how good, and healthy he looked. There was even a lady with an American gsd there that went on and on about Savo. Four people asked me if I would breed him when he gets old enough...I told them no. I've already told you if I ever breed him, I would consult you first.
Dari, I'm sure you hear this all the time, but you should have seen him. Vince said we would have no problem with protection with him, and that he couldn't wait until he gets a little older. He is a wonderful addition to our family. I'll keep you updated. J
8 week old Savo "One tired Pup"
Hey Dari,
At training yesterday I spoke with Pat and Staci again about a pup and I think they are very interested. They called then last night after going through your website and said they were going to try to contact you this week. They were very serious about going ahead and sending you a deposit this week, but I think wanted to talk or e-mail you first.
Savo was unbelieveable yesterday in both obedience, and protection. Right now Vince is working with Tonka on aggression on command. Sitz and quiet until Pat tells him to be aggressive, then once he is sending him on Vince. Although Tonka did very well, it was Savo that stole the show. I am still kneeling behing him while he is tied to the bar, you know praising him for barking and being aggressive. When Vince starts though, Savo just loves it...to the point where Vince has to quit with Tonka and get a tug to give Savo a bite. It really is fun. Vince is so excited to watch Savo develop.
Anyway, if they get a pup half as neat as Savo she will be an incredible puppy. Thank you for taking such good care of your dogs. J
23 week old Savo
Hi Dari,
Today, at training, he did great. He had 4 bites on a medium sleeve and held on with all his might. Vince, and Tammie were impressed. At one point he was doing his normal bark as Tammie was agitating a dog about 12 feet away from Savo, and for some reason Savo switched into his deep defensive bark. Tammie completely stopped working the other dog, and turned around and said," there is so much dog in Savo it's unbelieveable. I can't wait until we can bring that out of him." They think for 6.5 months, he's doing great.
There was a lady at the club whom I had never seen before. She came up to me and asked where I got Savo. She thought he was beautiful, a little small, but built like a tank. When I told her he was only 6.5 months old, her tongue about hit the dirt. She thought he was an adult. Apparantly she has a SchH 3 dog, and just got back from the WUSV trials. She showed us some of his "focus" with the ball on the string, but no bite work.
Pat called and told me they are getting the sable. That is so exciting, they are about to jump out of their skin they are so excited. He said, you said, get ready for a lot of drive. We all can't wait to see her. I'll start trying to get some video of Savo working. In the mean while, this one is just him walking, and playing with Tonka, etc. I can't wait to see the puppy. John
