Introducing Annabelle Bananabelle
 Hi everyone, I wasn't sure where to post this since we have had our puppy Annabelle, for a while now, but finally got around to creating a username after following the forum since we got her in May, but thought the getting a puppy forum would be fitting. So, let me introduce to you our puppy Annabelle, aka Annabelle Bananabelle, aka Bananabelle, aka Killer. Annabelle turned 6 months just over a week ago. We have had her since she was about 6 weeks, which I know is a little earlier than is recommended, but she is a very healthy and active puppy, so hopefully no negatives have come from us having her a little earlier than the usual 8 weeks. And it was an extra two weeks of puppy, which is always a good thing, right? We live in St. Louis and missed Sheepiepalooza (sp?) by just a couple days or weeks this year, but we will be sure to be there next spring. We were pleasantly surprised to discover this website and find out there is a pretty good OES network in the area. We always wanted to have a puppy since we met freshman year of college, but never had a chance because of living situations, so now that we graduated and she is working downtown and I am going to grad school at Wash U and living together we thought now would be a good time considering I am usually only gone for about 3 hours a day for class. But, back to Annabelle, she is a very happy puppy to say the least and just absolutely loves anyone she meets, I don't think she has ever met a stranger. When we first got her we lived in downtown St. Louis on the 24th floor, so anytime we had to take her potty she met a ton of people. Not to mention when we were out in public, it was like walking around with a celebrity. We've even been in our car and had people ask us to roll the window down so they could say "hi" to her. Which is good because she was so socialized, but now she gets so excited anytime she sees anyone and has really just become a hassle when out walking her, we have waited a while for training classes but we are looking into that very soon. I have always played with her kind of rough and my girlfriend has always just laid with her and cuddled, so now when she is just at home with my girlfriend she is mellow and naps with her all day, but when I am there I am always the one she is bringing her toys to non-stop. She is a very smart puppy and caught on to potty training very quickly even on the 24th floor, as well as, basic tricks and commands like stay, lay, coming to her name, etc. While smart and sweet, she is very stubborn and likes doing this on her own terms like with most Sheepies. This is my first sheepdog or dog bigger than a dachshund really, so it has been a very different experience raising a large breed puppy. However, my girlfriend grew up on a farm and they had a few different OES, as well as, breeding AKC registered OES for FFA when she was in high school, so she has a lot of experience with OES. My favorite thing about our Annabelle is how loving she is and her constant need to be around us, even when we are standing in the kitchen or in another room, she always has to be laying at our feet or around us. Never thought about that aspect in getting a puppy, but it has definitely been a big positive. But enough with all this boring stuff, on to everyones favorite, the pictures. I think this is the cutest, most amazing puppy ever, as I am sure every owner does with their puppy, so pardon me if I post too many pictures, but I mean I do have to span from 6 weeks to 6 months, right?  Here is Killer on the ride home from picking her up.  Here she is sleeping sometime soon after we got her. For the first few weeks when she was sleeping in her crate as night, she would only sleep on the kitchen tile and especially like squeezing under the bottom cupboards. It took her a few weeks to move to sleeping on the carpet and and a month or two to finally nap next to us and cuddle with us.  Chubby puppy napping.  Loves sleeping on her back.  Sleeping again, sorry, I just think she is at her cutest when she is napping.  One of her favorite activities is just looking out the window, even now when we aren't on the 24th floor she loves it.  Someone got caught being naughty.  Look at that sheepdog butt. Terrorizing little dogs even as a young pup.  Having fun outside.  When we knew we would be gone for an extended period of time longer than like 3-4 hours, we would block her off in kitchen so she would have more room than her crate, but someone got too big for that.  Here she is at the puppy park. She is very agile and a very good jumper for a sheepdog, maybe agility classes in the future? Her favorite thing to do is wrestle with other puppies too, from taking down full grown labs to being taken down herself by little Scottish Terriers. She only likes chasing puppies for so long, before she realizes she can just stay there and wait for them to come back around and try and tackle them.  And here is the last picture, I swear. This is her a few weeks ago, after her first hair cut. She wasn't quite six months, so she has put on some more weight since this picture. So, I won't make this post any longer than it already it is, but I just had one question from you very knowledgable sheepie owners. So, right now, as I said before Annabelle is just over 6 months and she is about 45-46 lbs and if I measured her right is about 20 inches at the withers. So, my question is, is she big for her age or about right or small? She seems big to us, but we aren't really sure. My girlfriend while having a few doesn't really recall either. I am probably the only one of us who cares about her size, but I would really like her to get HUGE. So, I was just wondering if she was normal or large for her age. Thanks, sorry for all the pictures, but it is my favorite part of the forum, so hopefully I didn't get too carried away. |
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| Sorry, about the picture size, I resized them in photobucket, but for some reason it didn't work when I posted them here. Sorry, if I should edit with smaller pictures I can, but it takes a while, considering how picture crazy I went, so hopefully it is ok. Also, the Santa was an accident, but oh well. |
| No, you don't want huge. Structurally you want a sound girl, not one overly large as you run the risk of orthopedic problems. All grow at "their own rate" it is hard to say what is "norm" since the breed does vary a bit in size. Growth rates change from week to week (if not day to day). Knowing her parents would give you a better idea on her ultimate size. Being a girl she'll be daintier than her brothers....probably. She'll be a good learning "big dog"...big enough to be impressive to 90% of the population. If you truly want "big dogs" there are breeds out there...I've had many of them. A girl sheepdog is a good entrace into the "big" dog field. Keeping her in long coat and fluffy will give the illusion of size without risking a hernia lifting her. Now as for the pictures........we don't complain about the number.......we love sheepdog and enjoy pictures. You have a lovely girl....who with all this socialization....will be quite the social butterfly and will do well at next year's Sheepiepalooza! Love the pix of sleeping on her back.......that always wants me to rub that little tummy! |
| Hi Annabelle and parents!! I'm so happy you finally decided to post! She is adorable~ What a cutie! At 6 months, I believe she still has some more growing and filling out to do. I'm not sure if she'll get HUGE as that's also very dependent on genetics. How big were he mom and dad? Let me see if I can find the thread where everyone posted growth charts.... Or we can start another one!!! |
| Welcome Annabelle and her parents! Cindy and Teddy from near Chicago, IL |
| if you search the forum, there are several threads where ppl listed growth/weights Here's one: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=32085 Again, it really depends on genetics, and many other factors as there is so much variance in growth rates. |
| Everyone always told me that your larger breed dogs continue growing- even if just to "fill out" until they are 2 years old. At 2, I was pretty disappointed that my girls both weighed in at about 65 pounds. They surprised me 6 months later by finally ending up around 80 pounds each! One is more of a lean, muscular 75 pounder, while the other tends to get a bit fat around 84 (she's on a diet now, and down from 92!). So its hard to predict what your puppies "final" weight and size might be. I really thought at 2 years old I just had the smallest sheepdogs ever. Now, they are very respectable in size, and of course my non-sheepdog friends thing them massive. Annabelle has really lovely markings- my favorites- white head and shoulders, and an unbroken solid colored back! She's quite the looker, and really adorable!!! Welcome to the message board! |
| Welcome! She's really cute. Our Mady will be turning 2 in a week, and she's been holding at 73 pounds for a while now. She is in full coat so she looks much bigger, we often get "wow what a huge dog" comments, but she is not a large dog, medium at best, I wouldn't want her any bigger. |
| HI...Annabelle~~~ Ask your mom or dad to check their PM (private message) Click on the new message at the top of the screen to view it!!! It is the details about our Halloween Party tomorrow..... I am so happy there is another one of us here in the ""Lou""~~pretty soon we will outnumber the 'Goldens'.....  LUV, your new friend.... HEART   |
Welcome Anabelle and family!  You do live in a pretty OES populated area, so you have plenty of resources locally, plus all of us here.  Keep her busy and get in some classes with her. And yes, we love pictures Welcome from Dawn and Chewie and the rest of the gang in Minnesota! |
| Hi Annabelle, you look pretty perfect too me. Welcome, and remember NEVER too many pictures especially of a puppy. |
| Ther could NEVER be enough pictures!!!!!! Annabelle is a cutiepie! I have had a total o 6 OES's, 4 were smaller, maybe 70bs and the other 2 bigger. Oliver is a very big boy, 115lbs. I am starting to cut back on his kibble and mix in carrots and beans. He loves it. Of course, I haven t found anything he won't eat, dill pickels, pickeled cucumbers, salad, coffee beans, (like he needs the caffene) even altoids. Go figure. Welcome to the forum. I wish there were sheepie people in the Twin Cities, MN area. Oh well  Again, WELCOME!!!!! Nancy, Abbey and Oliver |
Great pictures! She is adorable! I particularly like the "caught being naughty" picture. I've seen that look before!  |
| She definitely looks like she was a handful as a pup!! Love that puppy tongue. |
| You are making me soooo jealous! Love the pics, she is absolutely darling. A few more days 'til we have one too, yippee! |
| Adorable! We have an Anna Banana too! |
| Welcome Annabelle Bananabelle and family! Bananabelle, I LOVE that, maybe because we had Hannah, who among her many nicknames was Bananahead. Your Bananabelle is just LOADED with personality. We've had a petite sheepie averaged about 63 pounds and a humongous sheepie who was 99 lbs. Your girl seems just a hare bigger than our petite sheepie was. At the time the petite sheepie was our first and we thought she was huge. And she looked especially big in pictures with our head and her head, haha. Our Hannah that grew to 99 lbs had humongous feet that she grew into. And if I remember correctly was around 40 lbs at 3-4 months? Your girl doesn't seem to have humongous feet so my guess would be she'll end up smaller to medium sized which personally I think is a great size. So glad you've joined. Glad to know you've realized how much we love pictures. And don't forget how much we'd love to see pictures of Bananabelle as she grows. The picture section will hopefully be your new best friend.  |
Welcome Annabelle and parents!!! As others have said, never but never apologize for pictures. She is such a cutie, the sleeping on her back is my favorite  As for size, I saw so many different sizes and shapes at Sheepiepalooza last year. (I thought Chewie, the wonder dog, would be a brute, just because of the many events he can do, but just average size-all muscle though). Charm is ten months old and weighs 55 lbs now. That's just right according to her breeder. I think that would be your best indication. How large were her parents? Thanks for joining here, its a wonderful resource and community. I will look forward to more adventures of your beautiful Annabelle!! |
| You can never have too many pictures if they are all going to be as adorable as the ones you posted! Welcome and hope to meet you all at next year's Sheepiepalooza. |
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