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The
importance of a good fenced in area. You will
need a well enclosed area, we recommend a 6ft.or
higher fence, This is necessary to keep your
Shepherd contained in a yard or area. They can clear a lower fence with no difficulty. The base of the fenced should be well secured and
preferably with bricks or cement to prevent the dog from digging under the
fence. There are some dogs that like to chew on the fence for which we
recommend to use a thick gauge wire mesh. Door latches A GSD can open latches and most other things. Keep a lock or
object on the latch at all times. This will keep your GSD safe and keep
unexpected visitors from entering. Crates- We recommend house training using a plastic or
metal crate. The dog is a cave animal and as his ancestors they
feel secure when a cave is provided. This is neither
cruel or inhumane. Most dogs seek out a den and prefer sleeping in a
crate once they grow accustomed to it. It also will ensure that your puppy
remains safe when it is alone. The crate is not to be used to contain the
animal all the time, for this deploys them from the need to exercise.
If by any chance or special circumstances you have to leave your dog in a
crate, be aware of letting him out of it alt least 3 times daily and give him
plenty of exercise each time out. make their crating comfortable, get a big
enough crate for them to be able to stand and turn, also give them plenty of
toys to maintain them occupied and not get frustrated, frustration can bring
lots of bad habits and unnecessary misconducts. Collars
and Leads- It is necessary to have two types of collars, a flat Buckle
collar for the puppy to wear and a Choke/ training collar to be used
ONLY when training! The choke collar should be large in width so as not to
cut into the neck . When fitting a choke collar,
measure the neck then add 1-2 inches. NEVER LEAVE A CHOKE COLLAR ON A UNATTENDED PUPPY OR OLDER DOG! Dogs can get tangled
with some object and get themselves choked to death. If you have two or
more puppies together is better not to leave any kind of collar on for they
can start pulling on each other collars and hurt themselves. NEVER USE
A SPIKE COLLAR ON A PUPPY. Only Professional Trainers should use this,
you can do more harm than good when using a collar the wrong way. Leads- We recommend a 6ft. leather or soft nylon leash. These all
easier to use and are used in training. we also have
on puppies the 15 ft nylon leads to start them learning to cope with the
lead. Food
and Water Water
bowls should be available at all times, these should
be of strong material for puppies like to chew on things. We recommend
SS water bowls or low buckets. For small puppies we do not recommend
pails for when can get drowned trying to reach for the inside of the bucket
and can loose balance and fall head first into the bucket and not be able to
get out fast enough and get drowned. Water should be maintained in a
fresh cool area were rats or rodents cannot get into
them. The water should be changed every day and buckets cleaned too. Food
should be placed in a clean area, preferably using a mat under the
plate. We recommend the non slip SS food plates,
these are hard to move around and saves you from having to buy food dishes
regularly. If your puppy is the kind of puppy that is lazy eating we
place them in the crate to eat , give them 15
minutes and then we take away whatever is left. This way he starts
learning to eat faster for he knows food will leave if he doesn't gets down
to business fast enough. If your
puppy is the one that puts his nose into the food plate and with his nose
throws all the food around the floor, place a clean round shape rock in the
middle of the plate, this way there is no possibility of him moving his food
with his nose. DO NOT
LEAVE FOOD FOR HIM ALL DAY LONG. This create a bad
eating habit and brings rodents into his food increasing the possibilities of
getting Leptospirosis which is a very deadly
disease. If you
are not there during the whole day and your puppy cannot have the three meals
he needs, you can use an Automatic feeder, we do not really recommend this,
but there are certain situations were it has to be used. Chews,
Toys Choo Hooves, Natural fresh big bones, not
small thin ones, Anklebones, Nylabones, Sterilized
beef bones, rope toys and canvas toys are excellent for those who are
teething. Grooming
Articles- Nail
Trimmers and cutters. We recommend the
scissors style. The Guillotine style have a tendency to break and cause pain
to owner and dog, when using the guillotine type do it with easy and caution,
check on the inner part of the nail to see were the "quit" starts
so we do not cut it. If by any chance we do touch the "Quit"
we should have "kwick stop" to stop the
bleeding. Brushes- You will need several types of brushes. A pin brush,
slicker brush and a rake for when the dog sheds. Small
Forceps and cotton- This is to clean the puppy's ears, we use either Vinegar,
or Peroxide, Alcohol to clean the puppies ears, be very careful not to enter
too deep and cause damage to his ears. Clean out
the ears once a week. If you notice a discharge, black build up or your dog
shakes his head a lot, take him to the vet to have his ears examined. To Clean Teeth's-
Wipe the teeth once a week with a moistened cotton
ball dipped in baking soda to remove minor tartar. If you have hard tartar,
use a teeth scraper to gently remove it.
FEEDING- You should feed your German Shepherd a high quality dog food. An
active, average GSD puppy will need up to 28% Protein and 20%Fat. Depending
on his maturity growth rate, put him on a 26% Protein and 12% Fat between
6-18 months of age. A highly active, energetic or performance GSD will need
to be adapted accordingly to maintain correct weight and energy levels. Bathing
and Grooming- You should bathe your GSD only as needed. 1-4 times a year is
usually sufficient, unless circumstance finds it necessary to do it more
often. Bathe with warm water using a gentle shampoo. Towel dry completely, as
this causes an outstanding sheen on their coats. Avoid blow drying as it
dries out the coat. Cleaning
teeth's- Teeth should be cleaned weekly. Either remove excess tartar
yourself or have a vet clean the teeth yearly. We recommend using any variety
of cookies specifically designated to maintain good health on teeth and gums
and this will avoid the routine struggle of cleaning teeth's
Fleas and Ticks- These can
be extremely harmful, can produce different
allergies, and diseases, like the erlichia canis and the Lyme Disease. Use a good monthly preventative product on the dog and
keep a close eye on any flea problems. We recommend Bio Spot, Frontline or
the Preventic Collars.If
you do not, ticks and fleas are difficult to
eradicate. Keep your yard and house protected all year! We use Diazinone or Sevin Granules for
the yard and spray the kennels and crates with any Pyrethrine,
Permectrin based product. Whenever taking
your dog to a different place for either socialization or training spray his legs and belly with any flea and tick spray to
prevent getting ticks from other dogs or premises.
Heartworms- Dogs can get Heartworms, they should
always be on preventive. Heart worms are
caused by larvae and are transmitted by mosquitoes always use a heart worm preventative.
Treatment of heart worms is expensive and it is heartbreaking to loose your
dog unnecessarily! Ask your Vet about this and keep the dog in the safe
and clear side. Vaccines- Have your Vet give you an orientation on the vaccines routine. Dams/Mothers should have been vaccinated before being bred,
ask your breeder if the dam was vaccinated in within the six months before
being bred, responsible breeders follow these rules. Puppies are then
born with this immunity which they get from their mother. First
shots on puppies are done at the 6 week period, this one includes the
Parvovirus, Coronavirus, Hepatitis, Distemper, after this first puppy shot give
a second booster which includes all the previous ones with Leptospirossi added. It's important to have a t
least a set o 4 vaccines in a puppy within the first 4 months of life. rabies shots should be give by the 5th and 6th month of
life. You should always check with your Vet and keep a record on these
shots. Maintain yearly 7/1 booster vaccinations and yearly rabies
vaccinations. Protect your dog and others from infections!
Socializing- Once your puppy has received it's 3rd
shot, it is generally safe to start socializing your puppy. To maintain a
healthy and sound temperament , your puppy should
fully socialized. Take him with you and have a good safe time. Be aware of
his puppy fear periods. Do not force him into a situation if he is scared. We
believe in socializing with environment situations at a very young age, We do this in our own premises this way we do not
risk the puppies health. We start playing loud noises since they start
hearing, starting in an escalating way watching their reactions for we do not
want to see avoidance conduct on them. We tie bottles full of small
pebbles on their pens, do noises with pans, throw pieces of rubber hoses, we
use jingle bells and some control remote cars that arouse curiosity. If your dog responds to a situation by fear eliminating, shaking
in the belly or any other extreme behavior; immediately take him from the
situation! Bring him into the situation at a different time while taking
care. Never force a dog ! Doing so can cause
emotional problems. Socialize him carefully and
gently. |
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