Gunner says hello!

Hi everyone,

This is my pup Gunner. He just turned 7 weeks old today (he's an April Fool's baby), and he's 10.5 lbs.



My wife and I adopted him at 6 weeks old and he doesn't have papers, but his mother is a stunningly beautiful AKC dam and the sire is a very friendly well-built unregistered male. Gunner is our first Doberman, and he's an absolute dream come true! I'm blown away by how intelligent and well-behaved he is. From the moment he got in the car with us to go home, he never cried or got upset. He's just curious, playful, and observant. We have 2 senior female miniature dachshunds who prefer to lounge around all day and are fairly sensitive, so he's learning how to control his puppy energy around his "big" sisters, and they're warming up to each other by the day. I've been exposing him to all sorts of stimuli (different surfaces, people, animals, noises, music, appliances, cars, etc.) and he takes it all in inquisitively. I also performed a temperament test on him and he passed with flying colors. He's been a complete velcro pup from day one -- if I go somewhere, he's going, and he loves crawling into my lap or on my chest to nap on the couch. We've gone for walks around the block, and he trots along beside me the whole time. I just can't get over how advanced he seems at such a young age!

Gunner has his first vet visit and vaccinations in a few days, followed by his pre-op exam for his ear cropping (we're going to Angelcare in Kenosha, WI). I also swabbed him with an Embark breeder's kit yesterday so that I can check for any potential disease markers and submit his results to the DDP.

We've got him on Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy (the chicken & rice formula), and I'm feeding him 1.5 cups spread out over 3 meals a day. He was knuckling pretty significantly when we brought him home, but that corrected itself within a few days and now he trots around just fine on our hardwood floors. When I feed him, he waits pretty patiently for me to put his bowl down and then attacks the food like a little madman! I got him a slow feed bowl so that he won't scarf it down too fast and upset his stomach. I'm wondering if I'm feeding him enough, though, because you can see his ribcage and hip bones when he walks around... I thought 1.5 cups a day was a pretty decent amount for a 6-7 week old pup, but maybe I need to increase that just a bit. He was supposedly the largest in his litter and he's got some pretty big paws, so maybe he just needs more food because he's got a lot of growing to do.

Anyway, I'm happy to be here and I'm looking forward to interacting with all of you and learning more about these incredible dogs!