Hi! I'm new to the site- just made my account. I'm a mom to a 2 and half year old and a 7 week old and wife to a husband who is in the Army. I'm studying to be a vet assistant. We have 2 6 month old kittens and a bunny.
This Sunday we are putting a $200 deposit down on a puppy. We are going to meet her and her parents. A civilian who works on post has been breeding them since the 90s and offers them at a steep discount to military. ($400, AKC registered, 1st shots.) We will be nameing her Sapphire Whisky and bringing her home 8-14-16.
I've read up and researched a lot on GSDs. Any tips on training- potty and household? The food I'm ordering is Diamond Naturals puppy formula Lamb and Rice. I heard she will need a lot of protein and I'm hoping that's ok? Is it true that it's good for GSDs to have an egg a day? Boiled- I don't feed shell, too, do I? Any tips are appreciated. We've owned huskies in the past.
Also, can anyone tell me why this site won't let me add an avi or details about myself or anything?
To be totally honest, if you have a 2 yr old and 7 week old baby I would not get a GSD puppy yet. They take A LOT of work. More than most breeds. But if you are totally up for it, be ready for the crazy puppy biting stage that can last for 2-6 months. This is when the puppy bites everything in site, ankles, hands, clothes. You have to do everything in your power to not smack or hit the pup because believe me it will get on your nerves. A lot of new gsd puppy owners put them into a shelter because they couldnt make it past that 5-6 month old stage. Potty training has always been easy for me. I simply crate the pup for a few hours and as soon as I let them out of the crate I take them outside. When they finally go potty (this can take hours for shy pups) I praise them with treats and belly rubs. Don't let the puppy play or run after a meal, it can lead to bloat. After they eat, put them in the kennel for an hour or 2, then take them outside to potty and then do some training and exercise.
I'm not really worried about the nipping or biting. (I know of the moniker of landshark.) We've had cats and a few foster pups like that. One of our huskies was like that. We would squeal like an injured littermate and redirect with toys. Our 2 year old even knows how to redirect and not hit. This child has been raised around so many animals. She tells horses to back up when they bend out a gate to try and snatch a carrot from her and won't give it to them til they do as she asks. (We live around a lot of farmland and have friends with cattle and such.) When Cake, the younger cat, scratches on the couch she picks him up and puts him near his cat tree to play on and then goes to get the stick toy to play with him. When we fostered pups she didn't cry when pups chewed on her unless she bled, which only ever happened once. She'd just loudly say NO and give a pig ear or Kong to them. She knows to be gentle with younger pets, too. Heck, at the local shelter (where I used to volunteer) one smaller dog went grwlong and barking at her when she went to pet (they said the dog was child friendly, but obvi wasn't) and she just told him to hush and said "not nice". When the dog quieted she went to pet again. Dog began growling and she left him alone. She knows cues and such. She brought a freaking snake into the house last week. (UGH) The baby will be out of reach during the biting stage. And I'm not taking a pup to a shelter for being a puppy. A pet is a lifelong commitment and a part of your family. Not an item that can be thrown out when an inconvenience is presented. I've also gone to dog training with professionals in the past and know GSDs can be just as trying as huskies as far as attitude and not wanting to do as you say if you'r enot patient, calm, and firm.
i used to give my last 2 dogs eggs all the time. not everyday though but a lot. whole raw egg right on top of their food for one dog cause he liked the shell the other didn't like shell so i would just crack the egg onto her food and mix it in.
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