Hello all, I am new to the forum and decided to post an introduction to our first GSP puppy.  We have both owned dogs all our lives, but were very excited in choosing a GSP as our next breed Manuel goes mountain biking, and we both play softball at least once a week, so we try to stay active and the GSP sounded perfect for us.  Luna was born on May 26, and she came home with us on July 21.  The passed month or so has been a wonderful learning experience and we are very pleased to have brought her into our lives. 

I have a couple of questions to ask all of you, as this is my first experience with GSPs, some behaviors puzzle, as well as entertain us, and we are wondering if these are specific to the breed.  Luna is EXTREMELY vocal, and all other dogs I have owned make noises only when completely necessary.  When she eats, she begins to whine and "talk", as if the food of so good she cannot contain herself.  She also "grunts" when she is asleep and stretches or changes positions (she also is constantly dreaming).  We initially thought this was because we would hold conversations while she slept, and she was complaining about the noise interrupting her nap   She sleeps with her paws straight up in the air, and seems very comfortable in that position.  She also slides off the couch and onto the floor upon waking, and proceeds to do a back-arching cat stretch as she walks over to her water bowl. 

The only thing I am dreading is getting her used to being away from us.  For now, she does sleep in our bedroom, and throws a fit if we leave her alone.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to start training her to be apart from us, that would be much appreciated.

Also, there is so much conflicting information as far as when to spay a puppy.  We definitely want to have her spayed, but i really don't know when that should be done (I have never had any of my dogs altered before).  So any advice on that would be nice   Thank you so much for your help and all the wonderful information and stories in this forum!!

Marie, Manuel and Luna

PS.  to attach pictures, do i just copy and paste a link?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77098417@N07/7932509652/in/photostream/

Hello Texas Belle and Lucie!!  Thank you so much for your welcomes and responses.  I live in Southern California (LA), where we have the opportunity to take our dogs to the mountains, beaches, and deserts as well as the city.  Lucie, i see you're in Seattle, one of my FAVORITE cities, and Belle, unfortunately i have not been in Texas outside of El Paso.  I look forward to getting to know you and your pups. We are definitely getting her into obedience classes, as well as working very hard on socialization (taking her with us almost everywhere we go, getting her to meet as many dogs as possible).  As i type this, she's actually going pretty crazy, so i need to take her out to the park and exercise her!! 

 Welcome!  She's adorable!  I LOVE the wrinkles on the forehead!  My female 11 month old still has her wrinkles!  I don't think she will ever grow into them!  Lol!   We are new to the breed as well, and inherited both of them a little older than normal......5 months for Maybrie, and 7 months for Kaido.  Both are littermates, and I had them both spayed and neutered with no difficulty at all.   They were already kennel trained and partially potty trained, so can't help too much in that arena.  The character....what you are describing is GSP!  One of a kind!  The vocalization, some are just more vocal than others.  Neither of mine are as vocal as I would like, although Kaido whines when he's bored!   You will learn more and more about Luna as the days and months continue, and you will enjoy every  step of the way.....well, unless destruction is the result...expect bumps, bruises, and a bit of destruction! All part of the breed.....as I am discovering!   Enjoy, and again WELCOME!

 Hello Maraezee. Thanks.  I am a proud mommy.....I haven't done classes yet.  I know we need to . So far they have done very well with our training, but very definitely need MORE!  Looking forward to  the coming years with these two! 

 @Smatulewicz......I feel the pain!  My two will be 1 year on 9/20/12.   It's a wonderful day, yet a sad day too...puppy days are coming to an end.  My boy, Kaido is hilarious.  He is HUGE, 75 pounds and clumsy as anything.  It's almost weird to see this massive dog running at you, but with the puppy prance!  He still prances!  Maybrie runs, no more prancing.  She is smaller, so it is a bit weird seeing them side by side.  Kaido could actually stand to lose a bit, as he is still eating the same amount, 4-6 cups per day, yet has been crated more due to his broken toe.   Though you can still see his ribs, and he doesn't look fat from behind, he has developed a nice fat pad in the center of his chest. I call it a love handle!  I am looking forward to being able to REALLY run him again on a regular basis so he can slim down just a tad.   

 I know....They can be fat or skinny in a matter of minutes sometimes!!  Lol!  I feel your frustration with the heat.  I am SO tempted to take mine to the dog park and let them run where they can cool off in the pool if need be, but I'm so afraid of other crazy dogs attacking mine, I just can't bring myself to do it.  Kaido's toe is still not heeled....not sure it ever will be, as I cannot keep that boy down for anything!!   I cannot wait for cooler days so we can bike a little longer than 20 minutes!