Hello Everyone,
I am new to a German Shepherd, and I am new to this forum.
Well I recently got a German Shepherd puppy just over a week and a half ago. We brought him home at 6weeks, which seemed a tad early, but the breeder mentioned this is common for the bread (I assumed this is correct).
We had no trouble potty training him (his name is Newton), in fact by the end of day one, he was scratching at the door to let us know he had to go out (I was amazed).
At about the 2nd/3rd day home, we took him to the vet for a general check up, to make sure he was in good health. The vet said he seemed healthy.
There are some things I am beginning to wonder about though, namely diarrhea, whining, and some runny nose/heavy breathing.
I have been reading countless threads regarding diet and diarrhea, this is a problem we are dealing with. The breeder had the pups on Puppy Chow, and we have spent almost the last 2 weeks trying to wean him onto something a little better. We started the first week with Performatrin, to no avail. This food caused incredible diarrhea at any quantity. For the better part of the second week we have been trying to work Wellness into his diet, and although it is not as severe, we are beginning to run into the same result we had with Performatrin. (any suggestions in the matter would be appreciated). I am not sure if his stomach ever really tolerated just puppy chow, as he seemed to have soft stool since coming home, but it has definitely gotten worse with the new food.
Some other things I have noticed are more about general behavior. Having never owned a puppy, in my adult life, I am not really sure what is healthy and what is unhealthy behavior.
I have noticed that Newton will sometime whine, and seem restless. This behavior is erratic and occurs maybe 5% of the time he is awake. Not sure if this is normal.
Another thing I noticed occurred last night. I was laying down with Newton when I noticed he was breathing a little heavily, and when I looked at him I noticed his nose was dripping slightly. I am not sure whether or not this is an indicator of illness or not. (I have not noticed this again today)
All things said, when Newton is up and about he is a happy playful puppy, and he has been growing quickly over the past couple weeks. I will be discussing the same issues with the vet in the coming days (he has an appointment for Friday for first shots, etc that we are trying to get moved up to tomorrow), but I was hoping to get the opinions of some experienced owners.
Thank you all, and sorry for the long post.
I am new to a German Shepherd, and I am new to this forum.
Well I recently got a German Shepherd puppy just over a week and a half ago. We brought him home at 6weeks, which seemed a tad early, but the breeder mentioned this is common for the bread (I assumed this is correct).
We had no trouble potty training him (his name is Newton), in fact by the end of day one, he was scratching at the door to let us know he had to go out (I was amazed).
At about the 2nd/3rd day home, we took him to the vet for a general check up, to make sure he was in good health. The vet said he seemed healthy.
There are some things I am beginning to wonder about though, namely diarrhea, whining, and some runny nose/heavy breathing.
I have been reading countless threads regarding diet and diarrhea, this is a problem we are dealing with. The breeder had the pups on Puppy Chow, and we have spent almost the last 2 weeks trying to wean him onto something a little better. We started the first week with Performatrin, to no avail. This food caused incredible diarrhea at any quantity. For the better part of the second week we have been trying to work Wellness into his diet, and although it is not as severe, we are beginning to run into the same result we had with Performatrin. (any suggestions in the matter would be appreciated). I am not sure if his stomach ever really tolerated just puppy chow, as he seemed to have soft stool since coming home, but it has definitely gotten worse with the new food.
Some other things I have noticed are more about general behavior. Having never owned a puppy, in my adult life, I am not really sure what is healthy and what is unhealthy behavior.
I have noticed that Newton will sometime whine, and seem restless. This behavior is erratic and occurs maybe 5% of the time he is awake. Not sure if this is normal.
Another thing I noticed occurred last night. I was laying down with Newton when I noticed he was breathing a little heavily, and when I looked at him I noticed his nose was dripping slightly. I am not sure whether or not this is an indicator of illness or not. (I have not noticed this again today)
All things said, when Newton is up and about he is a happy playful puppy, and he has been growing quickly over the past couple weeks. I will be discussing the same issues with the vet in the coming days (he has an appointment for Friday for first shots, etc that we are trying to get moved up to tomorrow), but I was hoping to get the opinions of some experienced owners.
Thank you all, and sorry for the long post.