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Bought a new GSD pup a month ago!!!

4K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  captainzombi 
#1 ·
Earlier in the month we ended up having to put down our 11.5 year old ****zhu due to issues with her uterus. It was really sad having to go through this since it was sudden and I never had to put a dog down. My wife and I have always talked about getting a German Shepherd at some point. A week later, my wife, kids, and I went to a few kennels to look at the 8-10 week old Shepherds. Since we live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, we fell in love with this pup at Heritage Kennels in Palos Hills, IL.We ended up buying her a few days later.

The last few days I started lurking and saw some posts on here how that Kennel isn't that good. It concerns me a bit since we have 4 kids and my family now almost a month have fallen in love with Chewy. For the most part, she has been a pretty good dog. She is almost fully potty trained, she has a few accidents here and there. We have been working with her to keep the nipping under control, it was pretty bad at first but she has gotten much better. It's crazy how loving she can be with our family and even more so with me, which I didn't even expect. We do have another dog, he's a male ****zhu mix and when she tries to play with him, he gets upset with her. He's about 10 years old and has really slowed down the last few years. My wife's grandma never socialized him when she had him, we ended up getting him when she passed away.

On top of the health issues that I am not seeing some people complain about this place, it's also concerning that they breed oversized GSD's from what I'm reading here. We saw her parents and they weren't overly huge. The owner told us that she would get to 80-90lbs which is fine, but some one here have said that they have dogs there hitting 110+ lbs. We are first time GSD owners, so I don't know too much about the breed.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
she's precious! and congratulations!

with the breed standard calling for females to be 49-71lbs, 80-90 is quite oversized and I wouldnt be surprised if the males at this particular kennel were hitting 110.

but none of that matters now, she's yours, enjoy her! plus you've got lots of catching up to do as far as learning about her breed.
 
#3 ·
Thanks! She's a cutie.

I wish I would have done a little bit more research about this place beforehand, I hate to support these kind of practices where they make superdogs. So far she hasn't been aggressive towards other dogs either, she plays with them very well. It's just that my older dog when she tries to play with him, he barks and growls and even has bit her once. I've never had a GSD so there is a lot of learning to do. Are there any good places on the web to read about the breed and I know there is a ton on this forum that I need to read through for sure.
 
#4 ·
I was also wondering what everyone's thoughts are on crating. We only crate her at night when it is time to go to sleep and if we are leaving the house for a few hours. About when do we need to stop crating her? She cracks me up, when it is time for bed, she goes right into her crate with no fuss.

Also, she tends to try and eat tree bark, mulch, paper, etc. I've had to open her mouth countless times to get mulch and paper out of it, is that recommended? She usually doesn't fight me and lets me go in her mouth and take that stuff out. She does sometimes see me coming when she is in the act of picking up mulch in the backyard and I have to chase her. It's quite cute chasing her and her reaction, but I do not want her to get sick.
 
#7 ·
Congrats! Why would you need to stop crating? My pup always has and will sleep in her crate at night in a different room. It allows both of us more quiet and rest. She's a puppy; she's going to take everything into her mouth. As Dogma13 said, don't chase her to get it out. I made that mistake. It really screws up recall. I've now taught her to bring me whatever I want her not to eat in exchange for a toy or treat or drop it but it's been a long road. Keep away sucks! Better to keep your pup on a light weight line and grab the line if you need to get her to get something out of her mouth. I can't tell you how many times I had to pull poop or rocks out of my pup's mouth. So glad that's over; I guess that's part of the deal. I gave my pup cardboard boxes daily to destroy and chew on. Get chew toys she can't swallow too. Be careful with rope toys as you don't want them to swallow those fibers.
 
#5 ·
Congratulations on your new pup!You will want to crate her until she's reliable left alone.Maybe around one year old or even older.And don't chase her when you need to take something away! Call her to you and trade her for something better,a favorite toy or treat.Run and have her chase you if she's reluctant to come.If she has something harmful in her mouth that you need to get NOW you don't want a fun game of keep away.Teaching a Leave It command is important too.

Enjoy your pretty girl and take lots of pictures:)
 
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#6 ·
Thank you for the advice! We will have to try that with her then to make sure she doesn't think we are trying to harm her.

How long is it before Shepherd pups stop nipping and biting? It looks like her teeth are still coming in. We have tons of toys for her and even plastic milk cartons that she really enjoys playing with. Sometimes she forgets her self and the nipping can kind of turn into biting.
 
#8 ·
The chewing and biting will fade away after teething is over between 5-6mths.Just don't make it fun and exciting for her to put teeth on you.A firm NO,stop the game for a moment,then redirect to a toy.Something to keep in mind with any behavior you don't want is don't allow them to practice it.Makes it 10 times harder to change it later on.
Chewy sounds like a fun,happy puppy:)
 
#9 ·
Is that the Kennel off of Harlem? I used to pass that all the time and seen the dogs outside but I don't know much about the dogs. There are worse things then oversized dogs, health and temperament to name two. So far you are seeing a good temperament. Watch the pups weight and keep on the slimmer size, better for the hips. If the dog is going to be big, it is what it is. Enjoy her.
 
#10 ·
Yeah, it's the one off of Harlem by Walmart. They've been there for over 100 years and so we thought they would be reputable. I've read some negative things about that place here on the forums yesterday which made me cringe a little.

I had read on another forum that it is recommended to feed her good quality adult food now which help keep the growth down and ultimately with hip dysplasia. Is any of that true? We'd like to try and keep her as slim as possible for health reasons.

Her temperament is pretty good overall. There are times she has her moments and we are trying to really get her out of the nipping and biting, which the biting at times she does for no reason.
 
#12 ·
I agree with this. Always look at what you have in front of you. You'll never enjoy her if you are second guessing everything about her.
 
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