New member of our Baja family!

We would like to introduce our newest baja traveling companion and member of the family, Carter.



He's a Boerboel, a South African Mastiff. We learned about the breed from BajaDanD after seeing his Asuncion photos on the Nomad board and asking about his handsome dog Hank. Thanks again to Dan for pointing us in the right direction.

Carter flew in from Kansas last month at 8 weeks old.





Three days later at his first visit to the vet he weighed in at 24 lbs.



He's been growing every day. He turned 11 weeks old yesterday, and is up to 38 lbs. He's right in the middle of things, getting into the wet paint on the turkey hutch, playing with "Girl" our 40 lb. hen.



This morning I caught him trying out Dern's kayak in prep for a cruise on the Sea of Cortez, showing "Girl" how tough he can be.





We are working on the puppy teeth problem. They are sharp as razors. We call him "Carter-cuda" as he is constantly looking for something to put his teeth on. Poor Cody, the only time she can get next to him is when he is sleeping.



He seems to have replaced me as Dern's other half, going everywhere with him. He is learning his manners quickly. At 11 wks. he will sit, down and wait, it's the command for stopping the barracuda action that we are working on.



We are trying our best to make the most of the socialization period so that he will adjust well to accepting new friends in Baja. He hasn't had all of his puppy shots yet so his dog play has been minimal, but he holds his own with his best friend "Otis" a Harlequin Great Dane. He will be finally getting his rabies shot in Dec. so he will be experiencing his first trip to Baja for the Christmas/New Year holiday. We can't wait to see him run on the beach.



P y D

[Edited on 8-11-2009 by Paulina]

Wow, get a load of Dern's hands, worse case of "new puppy hands" I've ever seen....dt

Thank you for your replies.

Dennis, I thought about LuLu and how she can teach him the baja dog ropes. She's a cool dog and will put him in his puppy place in no time. He needs a bit of that.

Yes dtbp, Dern's hands are a mess. Just as they heal up Carter-cuda knows right where to put another tooth. Dern claims that he also suffers from "old man skin", so it's thin to begin with, which doesn't help.

His blue eyes are eerie, he looks like he's always thinking about something. Can't wait to see them when he's an adult. Blue eyes are a disqualification for this breed, hard to believe because they're so pretty.

Shari, thanks for posting the original photos. Just so you know, it could all be your fault someday! Yes, turkeys rock. Ours are the coolest.

Pompano, he is a retriever that's for sure, he already brings objects back when we throw them. I've been told the bite is so strong in this breed that they can't be used in Police work. I believe it as his puppy bite is right there. We've been using a loud voice, same volume I use for our horse, saying "OFF!" when Carter starts to bite something other than his toys. So far it is working. If there ever comes a time where he has to go into protection mode, we want him to know where the boundaries are and to stop.

We'll have to visit Coyote Bay one of these days so he can have a romp with your canine crew. I'd like that.

Diane, his paws are now the size of the palm of my hand. They seem to be bigger every morning. He uses them to hold onto things, to grab legs as you're walking, he uses them a lot.

This morning Dern hung up his wetsuit outside. Carter saw it hanging there, didn't recognize the "person" in the wetsuit so he planted himself there, staring at the suit to make sure it didn't move. I tried calling him off, but he doesn't listen to me,,,,go figure, so I went for my camera.



We're working on the listening to mom issue as I'm only the lady who comes to his house for 4 hrs. in the evening to go to bed, then leaves in the morning. Dern had to tell Carter it was ok and show him the wetsuit so that Carter would walk away.

A little bit of what's to come, this is Carter's older brother, Valiant. He's 32" at the shoulder, a good working farm dog.











Carter already has the positioning down like his big bro, he just needs to find a bigger farm animal to practice it on.




P<*)))>{

[Edited on 8-11-2009 by Paulina]

Beautiful puppy!

Dern is wearing the badges of puppy needle teeth, for sure.

When Paco was a puppy, I re-enforced the command "no biting", and put my face in his so that he would lick me. Then I would say "kisses". Well he learned quickly to substitute biting with kisses. The only problem is, he slimes everybody he sees. As you know, not everyone loves dogs. Some recoil in disgust.

Result: he has a soft mouth, albeit...slimey! I say "sic em, Paco!".

WHAT A HANDSOME BOY!

Ahhh-dorable!

Beautiful animal Paulina.
If he gets anything like his brother, he will be nothing to screw with in the future. Having him with you or in the house would make anybody think twice before doing something stupid.