Makiya the Shepherd Puppy

Hi Shannon!! It was good to hear from you! Sorry it took so long to respond.....our new family addition is keeping us VERY BUSY!!!! I am in the process of uploading a bunch of great pictures to a photo-sharing website, so you can see ALL of them, rather than attaching them all to this e-mail....there would be WAY too many to attach if we did that! So be patient, and you'll get an e-mail from Shutterfly as soon as I get them all uploaded! At first, we all had problems remembering his name, and kept calling him a "her", so we decided to change his name. We settled on Koda, which is Native American for "friend". He already knows how to sit, lay down, get down, fetch and is pretty good at coming to us....depends on whether he is happy chewing on a stick, or is hungry & ready to eat!!! Would you believe that he went from about 11 pounds to 23 pounds in 4 weeks? Not only that, but he has probably tripled in SIZE??!! We can barely pick him up anymore!!! He weighs 25.5 pounds as of yesterday! He has lost most all of his puppy fur and is growing in shiny, WAVY-ish black fur along the top of his back. His paws are HUGE and he is really looking more & more like a shepherd. The vet estimates that he will grow up to be about 70 pounds. She said that she does not see any Rottie in him, just Shepherd! When we first brought him home, he was having diarrhea and was spitting up a lot after eating, so we took him in to the vet and he had gastroenteritis, was put on an antibiotic (just in case), and something to ease his stomach that we gave him before eating (a pink liquid that he absolutely LOVED!). She also switched him to Science Diet, which he is still on. And does that boy LOVE TO EAT!!! Since day one, we have given him the absolute maximum amount that we could give him, and he still seems like he's STARVING!! He is simply growing like a WEED!! We started him out in a huge plastic crate and he loves it, along with his thick comforter inside of it. I hope he doesn't grow out of it, because it's a crate made for large dogs to begin with!! Koda is a MAJOR STICK DOG!!! He loves any kind of stick, and thank God he does, because he is teething like crazy and if he didn't have something hard to chew on, he'd be chewing on our furniture!! We all have teething marks/scars on our arms & legs/feet, and we are trying to distract him and provide him with tons of chew toys. His favorite indoor toy is his tennis ball and his KONG (only when we put some food pellets inside of it!). He LOVES to crawl under our beds or under anything for that matter (like coffee tables)! But he is getting too big to always be successful at it nowadays! He starts Obedience School March 10th, and we can't wait!! BTW, he gets along GREAT with other dogs, and he is very sociable with everyone he meets--all ages and both male & female. We can't wait for him to complete his vaccines so that we can take him outside of our own yard and run around and play with other dogs in the 'outside world'!! We have a huge park right next to our house and we will be able to take him over there for long walks and to meet other dogs (on leashes). He will really love it, and will also get more exercise that way too. We joke that he must be part CAT since he makes a lion cub sound when he yawns, he rubs up against our legs like cats do, he lays on top of our feet while we're standing at the sink, or sitting on the couch (he's not allowed on the furniture, which he tries to do pretty often as he discovers his ever-growing physical capabilities!), and the cutest part of all is that he KNEADS (with his front paws-exactly like a cat) any kind of clothing, towels, blankets--especially if they're DIRTY(as in the dirty laundry pile!), as he gently chews/sucks on it!!! It is SO adorable!! Obviously, he is simulating nursing from his Mama. Speaking of which, how long did he nurse from her? We couldn't quite remember if he did at all, or for how long. I know that if kittens are weaned too soon, that they will often knead into adulthood. What ever happened to his mom, Maxine? Was she ever adopted? We sure hope so! What about his brother, Dakota? We know he was adopted, but is he anywhere near Brevard County? I know you can't tell us where he lives, but you're certainly welcome to let Dakota's new owners that we live in Merritt Island (and can also share my e-mail address with them), in case they ever want to visit Koda! Do you know how many of Maxine's 13 pups survived? I don't think many of them did, and can't recall why they didn't survive. Were they born at your house? We would love to hear back from you, with your reaction to our pictures (as soon as you see them!), as well as your responses to our questions! Hope all is well with you and your family! Sharon, Jim, Briana, Kelsey & KODA (XOXOXO)