Through a friend of a co-worker of mine, I got to adopt a 1 year old purebred long haired german shepherd. I was looking for a German shepherd for a couple months now.... buying one from a reputable breeder would cost over $1500...and the ones at the shelter didn't fit my lifestyle.

But the one I just got is pure sweetheart. She gets along with my current dog, who is a 30lb Beagle/Dashchund mix.

I'll have to take some pictures of her. She's gorgeous. 100lb shepherd..which is REALLY BIG for a female German Shepherd...(average male is about 80lbs). We expect her to fill out to about 120lbs.

So why is this relevant?

I hope to do some training with Bella and get exercise with her. She's already got me waking up at 4:30 this morning to let her outside. I'm in front of the computer, getting some much needed work done..and now I'm taking a break to write this post. She's already a good influence on me....

They are my favorite breed since we had one when I was a child. King was the smartest dog I'd ever had , until we got Charlie our Kerry Blue Terrier. German shepards are beautiful and smart, and very protective. Congratulations!

What a small world. I have 3 Kerry Blue Terriers, Duffy, Katie and Bridget. They are absolutely wonderful dogs. I walk them daily and get lots of exercise. Where do you live? I live in TX.

I have a 7 month old German Shepherd. He's the best. He's from working lines and we're getting into tracking and SAR. He's an amazing dog!

I've been taking my little dachshund/beagle mix to training for the past couple weeks. What I have learned from there, I'm applying it to my GSD.

Guess what...

My GSD picks it up like 534635436854 times faster than my beagle. They really are super smart.

Then, I wonder... how fast would border collies pick stuff up?

I dunno! But there is a blood hound in one of my classes and he picks it up like INSANELY fast.

Border collies (typically) will pick up things very quickly. Hounds are usually a bit stubborn and typically it makes them come off as being a bit slow. Papillon's are also very bright dogs! My little guy takes 10-15 minutes to consistently pick up any command and that's since the day I brought him home at 9.5 weeks old.

I've been taking my little dachshund/beagle mix to training for the past couple weeks. What I have learned from there, I'm applying it to my GSD.

Guess what...

My GSD picks it up like 534635436854 times faster than my beagle. They really are super smart.

Then, I wonder... how fast would border collies pick stuff up?

I did a 4 miles hump with my GSD bella. It was a bit tough for me b/c there are a lot of ups and downs... but Bella walked by me the whole time.

It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to do this.... used to take me less than 30 before my accident .

Anyhow...it was such a good workout for me... and I'm very glad Bella could keep me company

I have two Golden Retrievers, 3 And 31/2 years old. They are so much fun and love their walks, but my main form of exercise is swimming laps in my pool. Harley, the 31/2 year old, has taken to swimming right along side of me! It's hilarious! We race each other - doesn't get much better than that. lol

I did a 4 miles hump with my GSD bella. It was a bit tough for me b/c there are a lot of ups and downs... but Bella walked by me the whole time.

It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to do this.... used to take me less than 30 before my accident .

Anyhow...it was such a good workout for me... and I'm very glad Bella could keep me company

I did the same hump in 55 minutes! This is including the detour we took to look at some horses. I was afraid a horse would drop kick my Bella... but it seemed like the horse was more scared of Bella...

I have two Golden Retrievers, 3 And 31/2 years old. They are so much fun and love their walks, but my main form of exercise is swimming laps in my pool. Harley, the 31/2 year old, has taken to swimming right along side of me! It's hilarious! We race each other - doesn't get much better than that. lol

Oh my gosh, I have two goldies too and they LOVE swimming. I wish I had a pool. My Zoe girl doesn't exactly swim swim swim... she just like jumping off the dock into the Water... she jumps straight up and basically belly flops. It's the funniest thing to see. Jax-a-saurus Rex will swim til his tail is crooked and he can't lift it. Poor bubbas.

If I could figure out how to insert pictures (this dumb computer has the old internet explorer and we're blocked from upgrading at work) so the editor won't let me select, insert pic.

But I'd add a pic of my Zoe, who smiles.