Mahlzeit
Dog person
I adopted Mahlzeit (German for “let’s eat!” or, “lunchtime!”) in 2020 one month before Covid hit. He was eight weeks old and around 18 pounds. He was described as a “shepherd mix” and I was expecting him to be a relatively large dog. One DNA test, and two expensive knee surgeries, and four-and-a-half years later I can definitively say he’s 140 pounds of 100% German Shepherd.
He’s aggressively snuggly, lazy, but not very territorial or protective. We were camping last year (2023) near Malakoff Diggins State Park in California. A bear walked past our camp. Mahlzeit looked him, assessed the situation, and decided it was not his problem. Mahlzeit went back to sleep, and the bear wandered off.
Mahlzeit is a very good boy.
Bucko
I got Bucko, a black-tri Australian Shepherd, in 2009. He grew into an extremely active and happy 55 pound pup who only required 4-6 miles of walking and at least one 30 minute dog park visit per day.
Unlike Mahlzeit (see above), Bucko took his responsibilities seriously. When hiking, Bucko insisted on leading and he always found his way, even in the least-maintained Forest Service backcountry trails. He, unlike Mahlzeit (see above), went after a bear at 3 am on a moonlit evening in the Sierra Nevada, busting through the tent screen in his eagerness to engage. Seconds later jumped back through the hole he had just made and hid behind me, fur all puffed up in fear. Never saw the bear again, though.
Bucko and I saw the Great American Eclipse in Ochoco National Forest in Oregon in 2017 (see Home page).
I lost Bucko in November, 2019. He was a very good boy.