What is normal, what to worry about?

[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

I have two 5 month old female GSD pups, my vet is making a fortune off me because I keep taking my puppies in to get checked out or ask questions that constantly seem to fall into the "pups look good, this is all normal stuff" category. I'd like to see if I can get opinions on a couple question/concerns I have without spending money to ask the vet, so please feel free to reply.

My two pups are sisters and extremely opposite in every way, the only thing that is close to similar with these two is the fact they are GSD's!

One issue I have is our vet. We've been with the same vet for all our pets for nearly 10 years, I have really liked our guy that we go to, but lately, the last year or so, we've been having a lot of second thoughts and considered switching vets. More and more I've been passed off to his partner when we come on, and I have found I really dislike this other vet. To be honest, the only reason we stayed is because of how long we have already been with him. Prior to getting the pups my husband and I discussed starting fresh or staying with our current vet and of course, we stayed. I am again rethinking whether to stay or change, I went along with my friend to her vet and really felt good about what I observed and the interaction I had with the staff at this other vet office. I am more so convince I wanted to change to this vet, yet I still feel a hesitation (maybe guilt) on going ahead and going through with it.

What do you think, should I really be in this much of a quandary over changing vets?


The other concern I have is with one of my pups. Flynn, the classic coated gal. I am convince something is a little off about this pup, but no one believes me! I'd like to know if I'm just imaging an issue or if perhaps there is something to my "gut" feeling.

We got the girls at 6 weeks, and I have noticed that little things I saw about them back then, still shine through in their characteristics now as they are getting bigger, like Abby since the day we brought her home has been the more excited and crazy of the two pups and still remains the "terror" as we jokingly call her.

Flynn is where my concern is right now because I am seeing a lot of things that seem like they are odd to me.

One thing that I find weird is she always sits to eat. Even as a tiny pup she has always sat, not one time has she stood to eat as the other pup does. The other thing that I think is related to that is I noticed she often leans on the walls. When she is sitting and observing me (her favorite thing to do) I notice she is always sitting up and propped against the wall. Thirdly I have noticed that when the other pup is lying down and something catches her attention or she is called she springs up very quickly, where as Flynn seems to be very slow and gets up with a lot more stretching and sometimes awkwardly.

I am just curious if this is "normal" or normal for her....could she just be super mellow and laid back, so she's a sitting and relaxing kind of gal, or as a puppy shouldn't she be crazy and more like the other girl?


Thank you in advance folks, look forward to your input!! Marie

[MaggieRoseLee]

Welcome to the site and hope both puppies are fine.

Interesting that you can really compare the 2 puppies.

What does the breeder say? Are any other puppies in the litter having issues? Have they seen this in their past litters?

Has the vet been concerned and what have they said? Mentioned Pano? click this --> Panosteitis - VetInfo

How about general play and walk? This is what my 5 month old dogs can do

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[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

We bought the puppies from a family that had an accidental litter. Both parents are purebred, she said she took the mom to the vet several times while pregnant for checkups and when the litter was born, she kept the parents inside till the puppies were all weaned because she didn't want the parents to contact and pass on something that could harm them. When I took them to our vet the day after we got them, he raved on about how clean they were, they tested negative for everything and he said he felt they were very well cared for. That made me feel so relieved! Both the parent dogs were about 2 I think, and was told did not have any hip dysplasia (spelling?) or any health issues thus far. I have yet to check on the specific issue with Flynn being that the last couple months flew by with the holidays and because anytime I call to even ask my vet he always says to bring them in and they check out "normal" and I get a bill for $168+ dollars and I to be honest I can't afford to keep paying that much on a consistent basis for basically no reason...

With Flynn and her weird sitting/wall leaning, my husband really didn't notice or think there was an issue, but the other day he did comment that she does seem a little "leggy", that it looks like her hind legs are disproportional to her front legs. I think partly because of her saddle pattern maybe, I haven't actually got out a tape measured and checked, but the curiosity is starting to make me wonder!

[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

Originally Posted by MaggieRoseLee

Welcome to the site and hope both puppies are fine.

Interesting that you can really compare the 2 puppies.

What does the breeder say? Are any other puppies in the litter having issues? Have they seen this in their past litters?

Has the vet been concerned and what have they said? Mentioned Pano? click this --> Panosteitis - VetInfo

How about general play and walk? This is what my 5 month old dogs can do

My Hiking/Swimming Girl Dogs (and Quinn!) - YouTube

I read the info about the panosteitis, very interesting, I'm not sure though, cause it says it usually starts in a front leg and her issues I am thinking are more rear leg related. The article did spark a thought though, when I pet or play with the pups they often nip at me playfully, but the other day I was "petting" them giving them a rub down check (feeling around as I pet for bumps, or weird stuff) and when I petted her rump and applied a little pressure she snapped at me, not the usually type nip. When I did the same with Abby, she reacted in her general manner of nipping at me and trying to head butt my chin. (The headbutting is such a stinker problem with that girl!).
I was just thinking, I wonder if that was a "fluke" or a red flag? My husband thinks I over think it all, but I'm trying to be aware so if there is a potential health issue we can get on it sooner then later, because with most things, I am sure the quicker you are on it, the better the outcome.

[doggiedad]

unless i'm missing something in your post i'm not sure why
you want to switch Vets. are you going to switch
Vets and continue to make frequent visits to the Vet?
is your current Vet telling anything that's wrong?
you have to be comfortable with your Vet. if you
feel something is wrong with your current Vet
then move on. i think the pups behaviour
sounds normal. my pup would lean on walls
and people. keep a close eye on your pups.
if you think something is wrong have it checked out.
you'll find a lot of help on the forum. good luck
with the pups.

[dawnandjr]

You could have a pup that is structurally unsound. You did not buy from a reputable breeder that does health checks prior to breeding. Understand, x-rays of hips can be taken at any time, but they can not get an OFA rating until the dog is at least 24months old. So for the "BREEDER" to say they do not have HD but havent done x-rays, is a lie. Plain and simple. I wont go into anymore of why you should have NEVER purchased these two pups. Whats done is done, and we need to move on.
Sitting while eating is no big deal, for a normal pup. Some pups as they grow even find it more comfortable to lay down while they eat. I see no reason to keep running off to the vet every day. The next investment at the vet should be hip x-rays. I would look for a vet that has a digital x-ray machine and is familiar with reading hip x-rays. Any vet will tell you they can look at x-rays, but to find one that actually knows what HD looks like. I would wait a couple more months before getting x-rays done (save up the money). In the meantime, she could grow a bit more and not be at that awkward growth phase. Remember when they are growing, only two limbs grow at a time. So they will have a growth spurt in the front legs, then the back legs. So they have to accommodate for the awkwardness of such. DO NOT spay them yet. Please wait until the have finished growing, around 18-24 months.

[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

With our vet, he has become the largest vet office in town and has hired on 4 partner vets. More and more often we keep getting passed to one of his partners when ever we go in. This has been a common complaint with a lot of the long term clients the last couple years. What really started making us unsure was last year we had an appointment with our kitten with our vet that we requested and when we got there we were passed on to his partner Dr. X. Right off the bat I had a "weird" feeling with this guy but just ignored it. Our kitten seemed to be having developmental issues and was very tiny and underweight. Dr. X kept telling us he was fine, no big deal, just feed him more. When I tried to address our feeding practice and how we were advised by a friend to use this protein gel to help the kitten gain weight, his response was, yeah whatever, do that. He was not very engaging or inquisitive and he set us up for an appointment to get the cat neutered, he said that would fatten him up. We went back the following week and I asked Dr. X several times if he was sure the kitten was big enough, he was still scrawny and he said it was fine and off he went to the back room. I know as a pet owner if I felt odd about it I should have stuck my ground, but I figured he's a vet and probably smarter then I am about such things. After the neutered the kitten stopped eating, lost more weight and I took him back to our vet office. Again we were seen by Dr. X and he insisted that was normal. I took him to a different vet office all together and the vet immediately said there was something not right, he could do blood tests, xray and a sono, but just from looking at the kitten he said it was most likely genetic and talked about a couple different things that could be wrong with him. The other vet did say in his opinion he would never have let that kitten come into his office and get neutered with being that underdeveloped and ultimately recommended putting the little guy down.

That whole experience cause a lot of pain and distrust with our vet, mainly because of his association with this Dr. X and I really don't like making appointments to see our preferred vet and then constantly getting shifted to another upon arrival.

[Flynn & Abby's Mom]

Dawn, thanks for pointing out about their growth being uneven and awkward, that would totally make sense and I should have been smart enough to think of that!

Thank you also for not giving me the riot act about why I shouldn't have gotten the pups, I have them, they are here. I am not sure if I clarified, but I had gotten the pups from a family, not a breeder. I wanted to go with a breeder but honestly, I couldn't justify spending the amount of money for a puppy purchasing over the internet without even seeing it and having it shipped to me. I searched online and did not find any breeders remotely near us. We had taken a couple trips to the SF bay area, which is several hours from us and the two breeders we found had complaints with animal control against them. I feel we did the best we could as novice puppy finders and I think getting them from a family is probably about as close to getting them from the pound as opposed to getting them from a breeder.

Being new(ish) to the breed and first time raising pups (I've always had 3+ year old dogs) I'm learning a lot through trial and error. I do feel I did my best to try and be as prepared as possible and think about all the challenges ahead, we spent 2 months talking, reading and gathering info about GSD's before finally choosing this as our breed. We have had labs before and they are quite different then GSD's, which I was expecting based on my reading and talks with other GSD owners. I just want to clarify that we aren't the type of folks that wake up one day and think let's get a dog, oh this one is cute! We put time and effort into the process of choosing German Shepherd's

I have to agree I have made follies like getting two at once instead of just one, I often debate if I should rehome one or if I should suck up and be a stronger dog mom and accept the challenge! That is why I am glad I found this forum, so I could get thoughts from other GSD parents!

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Flynn & Abby's Mom

I have to agree I have made follies like getting two at once instead of just one, I often debate if I should rehome one or if I should suck up and be a stronger dog mom and accept the challenge! That is why I am glad I found this forum, so I could get thoughts from other GSD parents!

If you're asking for opinions (it sounded like you were) I'd vote for re-homing one. The nastiest, bloodiest, knock-down-drag-out fights occur between females the same age. Once they hit maturity it's like something flips in their brain and it's almost impossible for them to coexist peacefully. At the very least I'd always separate them when you can't supervise so you don't come home to a war scene.

If you're not asking for opinions, I apologize for mis-reading and retract my statement.

[Castlemaid]

Some puppies stay ackward and uncoordinated into late teen-hood, but I agree that since you have the sister to compare her too, there seems to be something a bit "off" about Flynn. How does she keep up with her sister when running, jumping, rough housing? Maybe get x-rays of her spine and hips?

Sorry about your experience with the new vet at the clinic, and what you went through with the kitten. The new vets at the clinic don't seem to be much help, might be time to change vets. I had changed vets a little while back, nothing specific about the care of my pets that I was worried about, but just a lot of little things were I felt the vets dismissed concerns, or felt that my feelings about my pets were not taken into consideration. Changed vets, and though the new clinic I go to is more expensive, the treatment from all techs and vets there is more respectful, my input is accepted and taken into consideration, and the care of the animals more common sense.