Hello from Marc, Janina and Maya

[Marc]

hello all,

I have recently registered and thought I would tell you about myself and about my new puppy Maya.

About me. Well my name is Marc and I am 27 years old. I have always been a dog lover but unfortunately my parents never were and neither was my wife so alas, this is my first time as a dog owner. I have always been determined to eventually get a dog, but I held off until my wife was confident enough in me to look after it (and the house lol). I always wanted a Siberian Husky or a Utanagon, Simply because I have a very deep love and interest of Wolves, but for a number of different personal reasons, I decided a German Shepherd is the dog more suited for me, and since getting Maya, I am convinced I have made the right choice Before I tell you about Maya, I will tell you what made my wife Janina, change her mind about owning a dog. She and I were both fortunate enough to visit her Family for 6 months (they have emigrated to Namibia). While we were there, Janinas sister decided to get a dog for safety reasons. I was thrilled, since I love dogs. we spent around 4 months with the dog, I spent a lot of time training and playing with him and Janina also grew to love him, and ultimately, we came back to England and Janina was happy for me to get my own dog.

About Maya. I found Maya on a website called Pets4homes.co.uk quite close to where I live, she was one of 3 pupps left out of a litter of 9. I saw her when she was 5 weeks old and agreed to purchase her from the breeder, incidentally she was an identical twin, which is apparently quite rare. I put a deposit down and the breeder said that she will be ready to go in about 3 weeks. He called me up on Saturday (20/10/2012) and asked if I would like to come and get her, I was quite shocked, since I wasnt expecting her until today (25/10/2012) but I immediately went and picked her up. She is a beautiful Sable Girl



The first night I introduced her to her crate, and she took to it like a duck to water. She woke up at 3 am whining (expected) and I put her in a cardboard box and brought her into my bedroom. She was fine until morning, although a little restless, she didnt whine. The following day, we started to get into a routine, I took her straight outside to "go potty" and once she was finished I gave her breakfast. we had a play and then she had a little nap, and we have been doing great ever since. The following night, I brought a matress down and stayed by her crate when she whinned and after that she was fine, the following night when she whinned, I let her go to the toilet and went straight back to bed and she was fine until morning, and then the last 2 nights, she has been perfect, waking up at 7am for "potty" and breakfast.

She has a healthy appetite, but its not greedy, or glutsy. She loves to play and after a good 30-60 minutes, she likes to settle down with a chew toy on her bed next to me, or have a little nap. She is excelent at going the toilet, she is not even 8 weeks and is able to hold her bladder through the night, and will scratch at the back door to tell me she needs to "go". She does have a little problem with Marking, at least she did have, she didnt do it yesterday and hasnt done it today (yet), but did on sunday, monday and tuesday. Hopefully I can curb it before it gets out of hand, but it is a bit frustrating, since there are no signs, she will litterally just run over to a spot and 'go', since this is territorial behavior and not actually 'needing' to go to the toilet, I will tell her sternly and firmly "NO!" and take her outside, although she is a little bit too clever for her own good, she starting using this, just to get to go 'play' outside. Apart from that and biting, she is an exceptionally (at least compared to my sister in-laws dog) and she is happy to learn and be trained. She is wary of unfamiliar things and will bark at them, but once she gets used to it, she is fine (perfect example is the washing machine).

I have noticed that she is able to hold a 'poo', a lot longer than a 'wee' even when I started to change her pet food over (gradually) she had a couple of runny poos.

Apart from the Marking which has hopefully gone now, and the biting, which I am assuming it teething, because she is not aggressive at all, and will only bite in play (if I make my hands appealing to biting) or if she sits next to me and starts chewing on my finger. Either way, it is not hard, but I want to stop it now, before she turns into a big dog and its more difficult to stop and more painful lol.

We are actively trying to socialise her, with other people, unusual items and once she gets her shots from the vet (today) with animals also. I am 100% happy with her, she has exceeded my expectations, with regard to separation anxiety (at night), familiarisation with her crate, and especially toilet training, the few minor accidents we have had, I would put down to our fault for not watching her closely enough, or marking.

So that pretty much sums up my past 5 days or so with Maya, I would be grateful for any comments, that you might have, or anything you notice that might be something to watch out for, or even any advice you might have, in general, or specifically for the minor issues she has. Thanks in advance.

Marc, Janina and Maya.

[Lilie]

Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your first GSD!

[Nigel]

Welcome, I'm glad your wife became receptive to the idea of getting a GSD. They can be a lot of work in the beginning, but definitely worth it. Also, I've never heard of a pup that young marking.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Nigel

Also, I've never heard of a pup that young marking.

Thanks for the information. I am inexperienced, so maybe Im getting confused, but what I am calling 'Marking' is very different from when she goes to the toilet normally. Firstly, its a very small amount of urine, maybe a table spoon or two. Secondly, she doesnt squat when doing it, she sits down. This makes it very difficult to see that she is actually doing it, since we just assume she is just sitting down. Thirdly, when she needs to go to the toilet, as I stated, she is very good, she will go to the back door and sniff about, or maybe even a little bark. Finally, when she does what I am calling marking, she will run away from us to try and get away with it, although now we are onto this, we done let her out of our site. It is not a regular occurance, most days she doesnt do it. But last Sunday evening (second day with us) she did it once, so I took her outside, I waited for about 30 minutes for her to go outside until I finally brought her in, she ran straight to the same spot and did it again, I took her outside again and nothing, which as I say is very strange, considering from the first day, she was so good at going outside, and hardly has any accidents, I would attribute all accidents to being my fault for not watching closely enough.

[Castlemaid]

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum! Maya sounds delightful and perfect for you and Janina.

I'm with the others that she is much too young to be displaying marking/territorial behaviour. Reading more into her behaviour for when she goes in the house, I'm thinking she may have a bladder infection, the straining to pee when outside but nothing comes out, hiding when she feels she can't hold it, only dribbling a few drops - all pretty classic symptoms. If you haven't already, have her checked out by a vet as soon as possible, and if you have had her checked out, take her back for another examination.

In anyway, she is too young to be marking, or to be purposely defiant towards you, so it is a sign of something else going on, and getting stern or upset might only make things worse.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Castlemaid

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum! Maya sounds delightful and perfect for you and Janina.

I'm with the others that she is much too young to be displaying marking/territorial behaviour. Reading more into her behaviour for when she goes in the house, I'm thinking she may have a bladder infection, the straining to pee when outside but nothing comes out, hiding when she feels she can't hold it, only dribbling a few drops - all pretty classic symptoms. If you haven't already, have her checked out by a vet as soon as possible, and if you have had her checked out, take her back for another examination.

In anyway, she is too young to be marking, or to be purposely defiant towards you, so it is a sign of something else going on, and getting stern or upset might only make things worse.

She had her first set of vaccinations on thursday, I didnt mention the urination because I assumed it was Marking and something she would grow out of. The thing is, she doesnt have any problem going at all, everytime I take her outside, she goes, and seems to be in complete control. on the rare occasion she doesnt go, she starts playing (doesnt even try to go), and then I bring her back in and she is fine. She is also very good at letting me know at night, right now she sleeps right through, and only wakes me up to go to the toilet and when I let her out, she goes straight to her spot, does her business and comes back inside, she is not having difficulty in going, and not having difficulty in holding it, as I say the only accidents she has had, I would class as my own fault for not paying enough attention to her.

Last week consisted of her urinating on the carpet (small amount) then I took her outside and waited for her to go (simply played for 30 mins) when she came back she ran straight over to the same spot and went again. Both times, it was only a very small amount, but it certainly seemed like she knew what she was doing. She also always does it on the carpet in the living room and not on the laminate flooring in the rest of the house, she also seems to do it when I am not in the house, again I dont know if this is a behavioural issue in that she does not feel confident with my wife (I read dogs Mark when they are feeling insecure) or simply that my wife does not watch her close enough, but again the question comes up, if she is going because she simply cant hold it, why is it such a small amount, when if she goes outside, it is a raging torrent? and why is she in a sitting position, as opposed to when she goes outside (or the occasional accident inside) when she is in a squatting position?

As a side note, I did not scold her for any accidents in the first 3 or 4 days inside the house, whether I thought it was Marking or not, so there was no reason for her to 'hide it' when she is happy to go outside while I watch.

[Kayos and Havoc]

Welcoem to you! Maya is very cute, so glad your wife is happy too.

[Marc]

Update..... 12 weeks on thursday Shes sooo pretty.