Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, what a great pic, and what a great Sasha!

I love the picture, but your description of yourself is even more interesting. Nice to meet you!

I'm so relieved - until I read the post, I thought the Frisbee was some kind of a weird canine orthodontic device. A Frisbee taco, I can definitely understand.

I thought what John did, that it was an orthodontic device. Those are some strong jaws.

Great photo, I am a dog woman too: http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=20678

ha!

Sasha is probably trying to tell you her preferred dinner fare.

Hee!

I'd give you an extra thumb for the "huge scary teeth" tag if I could........

I thought maybe she was getting her teethed whitened. ..

She looks like a Belgian Turvuren to me! Gorgeous.

Why, Grandma, what big ears you have!

And what big teeth you have!

Verbal, I was going to guess Malinois myself. I understand that the three breeds are very closely related.

I thought what John did, that it was an orthodontic device.

I thought it was like those fake wax lips and buck teeth that kids get on Halloween, but for dogs. That would be cool.

Shepherd dogs have such great, earnest faces.

I was wondering if she was a Belgian breed too. It is hard to tell from the angle, but Sasha has a skinnier head than I'd expect in a German shepherd. My buddy Kira:

http://home.comcast.net/~stefan_jones/kira_beach.JPG

... is a Belgian with something more broad-headed mixed in.

It can be kind of hard to tell the various shepherd breeds apart, they were pretty heavily interbred in the 19th century, so features keep popping up across breeds. Corgis have the same problem,during the 1800s, they were considered the same breed, so to this day you still occasionally see a Pembroke (wee my avatar) with a long, fluffy tail or a bob-tailed Cardigan.

First, thanks for the warm welcome! It's hard to say whether I laughed harder about the guesses of orthodontic device (hey, almost all human medicine crosses over to canine now), teeth whitener, or wax lips! Sasha is a full-blood AKC German Shepherd, but I get asked about her all the time. Is that a Malinois? Does she have Doberman or Rottweiler mixed in (due to reddish leg color)? Nope. She's called a bi-color: all black body, reddish lower legs, cream-colored "antelope butt" (my term), and a tiny bit of tannish-red on her frill (she has a frill not a ruff). Her bloodlines are from the Czech Republic and her father is very accomplished at Schutzhund competition. I enjoyed browsing photos of Pretend Farmer's Marshall Dillon, Millie, Molly, and Cordelia. My son almost wet himself when I told him her story of how submissive Millie once peed in her ear (a must read). Stefan's Kira is also regal. Gary, you got it right about dinner fare. Like my beloved first Sheppie girl Sheena, my Sasha would rather play than eat. "Frisbee forever!" is her mantra.

Oh, she's a beautiful girl! I've always loved black GSDs. Lucky you. :D

My silver miniature poodle, Sir Sterling Silver of de la Warr, says, "What a looker! Can she hang in the air by her teeth like I can? I have a really strong jaw also!"

Loved your post and the fact that you are a former Latin teacher. Been there, done that! Do you, too, feel as though you must have been a Roman in a former life? (At least that's my excuse!)

Sleepytymegal

Nice to meet you! I lived one year in Bemidji (as a new young wife!) and was owner of Woody, a long haired German shepherd that folks didn't recognize as a GSdog either. His main trick was being a kite when we walked on the leash....but he just couldn't get off the ground no matter how hard he pulled. : ) Sasha is GORgeous.

That is a great picture!