How to Dog-sit a German Shepherd Who Speaks German

My boyfriend’s birthday is tomorrow and the lucky dog is getting…a dog!  A five-day dog, to be exact.  We’ve agreed to dog-sit for a friend of a friend, and while this normally would be quite routine, now that we live in a no-pets apartment, it makes things interesting.  There will be early morning dashes and late night escapes to evade the never-really-present landlady’s attention.  If worst comes to worst, we’ll pretend the German Shepherd pup is one of those kitsch sculptures old ladies love to put by their front doors.

This dog-sitting will be even more exciting because of two big things.  One: the dog is only 10 months old so it’s still a puppy.  Two: It’s owners are from Germany.  Yep, that’s right; we’re dog-sitting a German Shepherd who knows German commands.  (I think I can hear you chuckling.)

This past weekend we spent some time brushing up on our Deutsch so that we don’t embarrass the poor thing at the dog park.  (Although I know we’ll embarrass it even more when we run out to clean up after it.)  Yes, we’ve also been brushing up on our dog park etiquette since, to our knowledge as past cat owners, cat parks are a bit more lenient on poop.

Since we spent some time with the pup last week to get to know each other, I’ve come up with a few ‘truths’ about German Shepherds who know German.

1. They drink beer with their breakfast kibble.
2. Their noses are programmed to find sausage.
3. They prefer not to talk about any of their dog fights.
4. Pretzel brown is their favorite color.
5. When it comes to cars, they are bias toward Volkswagens.

I’ve never had a dog so these next 5 days will be quite interesting for me.  If you have any tips on taking care of an older puppy (or hiding one from your landlady), I’d love to hear them!