Hello everyone!

My name is Yuko Blum, I live in Ottawa, ON (Canada), I'm 21 and about to graduate from university (biology).

I'm new to this board, although I have been studying the leerburg site (extensively! lol) since summer. I also happen to be an extremely satisfied customer of this site (I bought the Puppy, the Obedience and the Competition Heeling DVDs months ago - fantastic DVDs!).
This site has been invaluable in helping me raise and train my puppy. Also, Cindy (and Ed's ;o)) advice on raw feeding is the best I've found on the web!

I was very impressed with the wealth of knowledge and helpfulness of the board members and joined to learn as much as I can for my dogs. I have two German shepherds: a 10-yr-old female (Moka) and a puppy who's now 7.5 months old (Taro). I've owned both of them since they were 7/8-week-old babies

(Oh, I also happen to be a recent "convert" to raw feeding, so I'm always eager for advice in the matter. My poor 10-yr-old female was on kibble for 10 years. She was switched to raw this summer when I got the new puppy, as his breeder convinced me to switch).




This is my pup, Taro! He's 7.5 months and about 85-90 lbs. He's the best companion one could hope for - loyal, affectionate, very focused, a dream to train and a wonderful friend )



This is me meeting him for the first time at 7 weeks old. One heavy puppy!

I don't want to exceed my 2-picture limit so I hope it's ok if I simply post links to the rest of them


Taro and Moka (Nov 23):
http://static.flickr.com/116/304963920_220ec7f783_o.jpg

Raw feeding is fun! (Nov 24):
http://static.flickr.com/110/305195916_71ada56eb0_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/110/304970800_05fefacbb2_o.jpg

Taro experiencing frozen puddles for the first time:
http://static.flickr.com/118/304965858_a872cb5279_o.jpg

Taro at 7 months:
http://static.flickr.com/122/304965860_d413663bdc_o.jpg

Training the down-stay at the park at 6 months:
http://static.flickr.com/109/290526990_1716d1f2fe_b.jpg

Taro at 3.5 months:
http://static.flickr.com/72/201141801_6c823ae8f8_o.jpg

At 6 weeks (his ears were up at 4 weeks!):
http://static.flickr.com/72/155456322_bfe5ac35fe_o.jpg

Some of Taro's littermates (litter of 11 with 9 surviving pups):
http://static.flickr.com/66/155827527_ddde18f3a3_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/54/155832942_31dbb2bd6c_o.jpg

Nice pictures, and nice dogs!

Good for that breeder who suggested raw feeding. :>

Welcome!!

Wow, I never considered deer heads when reserching raw diets!!

Thank you Connie!

Now that I'm comfortable with raw feeding and that I understand just how much better it is for my dogs, I try to convince others to switch their dogs as well.
I've actually managed to get 4 people around here to go raw for their dogs

Amber: they loved the deer head and had no trouble crunching it up. They ate every last scrap of it, skull/fur/ears/brains/eyes and all. The only thing left at the end were the deer's teeth - it's really fun to watch, you may want to try it out yourself!

Deer heads, so that's what they are! I couldn't quite figure them out Anyway, welcome to the board!

Yuko, Welcome! What a great looking guy! You are right, there are no better friends than our dogs. Mine love deer heads too!!! We live on a farm and some of the smaller ones don't always make it over the fence. The dogs always find them and have a ball! Sounds gross but what a treat it is for them!

Debbie

Thank you Eva. Lol, well it's a baby deer head so it does look small.

Debbie you are lucky - that deer head was given to me by my pup's breeder but I got it frozen. Must be great for your dogs to be able to feast on fresh prey!

Thanks for the welcome ^____^

Since Taro is now a year old (time flies!!!), I thought it was time to post some visual updates of him.
After all, I talk about him constantly here, so you guys might as well know what he looks like

He's quite a big boy now, and weighed in at 96 lbs. last month.

Here is a video of him that I put together (taken over the past couple of months):

http://www.gentlesoulsshepherds.com/videos/taro_12mo.wmv


It's just some random obedience and play, nothing fancy.


Here's a photo of Taro at 12 months old:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/466102036_9e1e7ba831_o.jpg

Here's one of him lying down

Taro standing

Another one

Head shot

With his precious, precious Orbee ball

As you can see, his raw diet really agrees with him and he's as healthy and shiny as can be. I love this dog!!

Yuko, he's just gorgeous!!

I love the Orbee ball shot - Oscar was a big fan of his Orbee as well, until he destroyed it that is...

Sorry if you've answered this question already, but are you training Taro for any sports or competition, or just enjoying working with him on your own? He looks destined for greatness either way...

~Natalya

Yuko that was great , you have done a great job with hima nd he looks like he enjoys it! You can always see a good bond in a dogs eyes when he looks at his handler and you could see that in him.
I would love to recruit you and Amber to my Schutzhund Club!!
Moving to Vegas???
I can't wait to see your training with Aja, , i will tell you this having those 2 young dogs looking the way your male looked , it is a very nice reward as a handler