Sunday evening we decided to go to the Castle Illumination, downtown Heidelberg and I took Indra along. I wanted to see how she reacts to all the noises, fireworks and in a big crowd of people. We got there ten minutes before the fireworks went of.
Hundreds of people went down to the river and we were right in the middle of the crowd. Indra was fine. Then two fireworks went off and it was literally like two bombs went off. She was still fine, than a minute later all hell broke lose.

Castle Illumination and fireworks – Artisan Market on the Neckar River

picture from

http://www.visit-heidelberg.com/events/events.htm

One firework after another shot in the air, it sounded like canons, grenades and bombs went off. First she was startled and I thought that it might have been a mistake to take her but she recovered so fast that she sat down and watched. I was so proud of my little girl that I wanted to burst.

It’s time to brag about the dogs again. Whenever ever I walk out the door with one or all three of them I get at least one compliment and it can totally make your day.

Saturday, a day after my husband put Diesel into the car we took all three dogs and walked to the PX. Since we didn’t have the car we figured we could simply walk there and take the dogs along. We took the long route through the garden-lots so we could let them roam a little before we had to walk through the town to get there.

It was a nice day, sunny, warm, simply perfect for a walk like that. Once we got there I gave them water (always have the bowl and water with me), sat down on the bench and waited for hubby to get some lunch. The dogs eventually laid down and relaxed. I wished I had the camera with me. I wished I would have recorded or at least taken pictures of how very well behaved they were but the charger was in the car and the cameras battery so low that it didn’t make any sense to take it with me. However, that day they truly were remarkable ambassadors for their breed. At least three people stopped to ask questions about the German Shepherd breed. One Lady has two Shepherd mixes and thinks about getting a purebred Shepherd. Another Lady has a cat at home and asked if they are fine with cats and I told her that we once found a little baby cat and that the dogs got used to the cat in like a week (even Zenzy and that means something) and the third Lady had a Golden Retriever which died like a year ago and is now ready for a new dog and was thinking about the Shepherd breed.

I told them that I am completely biased. They asked if they are okay with other dogs, if they are aggressive, how they are with cats, kids etc. and I told them what I know from my experience. They are good with kids and other people, that one of mine is not so good with other dogs but that doesn’t have to do anything with the breed, that Shepherds are usually velcro dogs, easy to train but since they are big dogs they need training and lots of socialization from the first day you get them. That working line dogs, like mine need a lot of exercise because they are high energy dogs and during all the time they just laid there and waited patiently until we were ready to go.

Afterwards we went to the car dealership because I saw a car that I am interested in. It’s the new Dodge Grand Caravan. Man, I fell in love with that car and we wanted to take a look at it.

Guess what Zenzy did when the Car Dealer opened the trunk. SHE JUMPED RIGHT IN! Haha. She just loves riding in cars. Anyhow, I wished we would have taken the Caravan instead of the Jeep Compass. The Caravan has everything we need. Especially with three dogs it would be the perfect car, so we are thinking about trading the Jeep in.

Anyhow, after we all had a good laugh about Zenzy I told the dogs to lay down and to stay. Indra looked bored, extremely bored but she listened and I was so proud of them. I couldn’t be more proud of each of them.

I love the area around the Holy Mountain. Last time I went there was before Indra moved in. There is so much history to find. The walls, the Thingstaette, the tower, the Philosophers way, the Monastery and so much more. I love hiking with the dogs. It gives me freedom, a time out to get my mind off of all these every day things and stuff that makes a person think to much and/or depressed.

The dogs enjoy being out and hiking truly is fun as long as the dogs are well trained and you can actually trust them to be off leash. You can’t just risk your dog taking off to chase a bunny or something else he’s seen.

As I always preach, trust and obedience is the key. Sometimes I use a sharp voice to call them off or to call them back, it depends on what is going on, if they are off leash, on leash, how far they are away, how many people are around me etc.
While I use positive reinforcement to train the dogs I am consequent in carrying out the commands and I rather use one sharp word instead of trying to call them off twenty times without them taking me serious and doing what they want. Been there, done that will never happen again 🙂

Despite the crappy weather we went on a short hike. In between it was really getting nasty and I was a little worried that we’d get a thunderstorm. Luckily we didn’t, especially since we had to go through the woods to get back to the car.