What Should You Feed Your German Shepherd Puppy?

Beyond all doubts... there's nothing more important than immunization and diet during the growing phase of your puppy. The two most important things regarding this that should be kept in the forefront of your mind are:

a) The puppy's diet should be nutritionally beneficial having all components to promote growth
b) The puppy's diet should be in correct quantity based on age

Your German Shepherd puppy should get a balanced diet. Any highly reputed commercial dog food brand that "meets the nutritional requirements of puppies established by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO)" is recommended. Your vet should be the best person to give you a proper guidance about the brand of dog food for your puppy. Remember that all dog food brands that are hugely advertised may not be good for dogs. There's nothing like home made foods if they are prepared keeping in mind your puppy's nutritional requirements.

Whether or not you are using a commercial food but here are certain foods that you should consider giving your GSD pup...

Chicken neck: Properly cooked chicken neck is highly beneficial for your puppy because chicken neck is rich in natural calcium. There is no risk developing splinter with chicken neck. Moreover, necks are easy to digest for your dogs.

Pure Chicken: Apart from just neck, pure chicken meal is very rich in vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein and production of RBC and strengthens the immune system.

Chicken gizzards and hearts: Both chicken gizzards and hearts are rich source of natural zinc which helps in strengthening the ligaments. Apart from zinc these are are rich sources of iron, which is one of the most essential components for puppies during its growing phase. Both heart and gizzard provide all B vitamins - especially vitamin B12. Heart and gizzard are also very decent source of riboflavin, folate and pantothenic. Chicken hearts are good for your dog's heart too.

Chicken liver: Chicken live is a nutrient-rich organ that is rich in vitamin A, vitamin B, protein and essential minerals like phosphorus, zinc, iron, niacin and copper. Liver is a decent source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and amino acids that are essential for your growing GSD puppy. Feeding too much of liver may lead to constipation. Give your pup small quantity of it daily or moderate quantity for at least 4 days a week, giving gaps in between.

Give him green: I have purposefully and consciously used this phrase "give him green" in many of my articles across the web. Remember that puppies that are kept only on meat and egg do not get balanced diet. Vegetables like asparagus, broccoli florets, brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, edamame, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, green papaya, gourd, spinach.

Here is why these veggies are important for your growing GSD: 

• Asparagus - Good source of vitamin K. Good source of Vitamins A, B1, B2, C and E, folate, iron copper, fiber, manganese and potassium
• Broccoli florets - Good source of Vitamins C and K. Good source of Vitamin A, folate, manganese and fiber
• Brussels sprouts - Good source of vitamins K and C. Good source of manganese, folate, fiber, potassium and vitamins A, B1 and B6
• Carrot - Good source of vitamins A, K and C, and fiber and potassium
• Cauliflower - Good source of vitamins C, K and B6, folate and choline
• Edamame - Good source of vitamin B2, vitamin K, Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, magnesium and fiber
• Green beans - Good source of vitamins C, K and A, manganese and fiber
• Peas - Good source of vitamins B1, A, B6, B3, B2, C and K, manganese, fiber, folate, phosphorus, protein, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, potassium and vitamins
• Sweet potatoes - Good source of vitamin A, C, B6 and B5, manganese, potassium and fiber
• Potatoes - Good source of vitamins C and B6, potassium, manganese and fiber
• Green papaya - Promotes cardiovascular functionality and enhances the immune system, prevents constipation
• Pumpkin and pumpkin seeds - Pumpkin effectively prevents constipation. Pumpkin seeds are rich in essential fatty acids and antioxidants that are good for a growing puppy. According to many vets pumpkin is good for overall healthy skin and fur and also promotes urinary health.
• Gourd: Gourds are rich source of water and helps keep your puppy cool from within. It prevents dehydration. 

Eggs: Eggs are rich source of protein and even water. Many dog owners have misconception that raw eggs are good for your puppy. the fact is that raw eggs block the absorption of biotin and hence is not recommended. Always feed your pup cooked eggs that are good source of digestible protein. Boiled eggs are rich in riboflavin and selenium, which are beneficial for your growing pup.

Your growing German Shepherd puppy need more than just balanced food.
 
Water: Last but not the least Water is one of the most essential nutrient for all animals. Healthy puppies regulate their consumption of water as long as they are provided with fresh and clean drinking water. Water is the only thing that helps flush off the toxins from your puppy's body. Water aids your pup in proper digestion of food and helps its body to absorb all nutrients. Puppies that are kept mainly on dry food, may need more water than they may consume naturally. Consider giving them soup prepared with all greens and meat products.

Correct measurement: Quantity is as vital as quality. Overfeeding your GSD pup will eventually lead to a series of health disorders including skeletal as well as digestive problems, thereby checking the growth process. It is important to break the meals in small quantity to be given 5 to 6 times a day keeping enough gap in between for proper digestion.

Play: Free play is associated with proper digestion, and mental and physical stimulation, which are hugely important for your puppy's growth. Free play also increases the water intake that has already been marked as important for your puppy. However, don't let your puppy to drink water immediately after the play.

Last of all remember that your German Shepherd puppy may be allergic to one or more components here that have been discussed. If your pup is allergic to any of the compenent(s) consider giving it to your pup.

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More Than One German Shepherds? Pack Management Rules

Do you have more than one German Shepherds? Great, if you have! And I hope you know all rules of keeping multiple dogs - especially large breeds GSD, Rotties, Danes and Dobs. If you already know and if you are an experienced dog owner having several dogs, I am sure you will still like to read this post. This post is going to talk about something that probably many of the professional trainers and canine behaviorists do not tell you while giving you advices. Here is why you should NOT kennel all you dogs together even though they are highly obedience trained.

Yes... it is suggested not keeping all your dogs (irrespective of breeds, types, groups and size) together as a group in a single unit. Once your German Shepherd puppies reach an age of approximately 70 days you should consider kenneling them in separate suites. As several German Shepherd puppies grow together under one roof they will eventually develop a very strong pack. Since pack instinct is already genetically ingrained in dogs the instincts gets strengthened as they live and grow together in a single suite. Once your group of shepherds starts developing the pack they will also have a pack leader - the "Alfa Member" of the pack, who is usually the dominating specimen of the group. Eventually he/she (pack leader) will develop dominance problem.

Moreover the pack, as a whole, will gradually turn out to be more and more territorial. The entire pack will consider the whole area where all of them together or any member of the pack roam about as their territory. This means their territory widens up. Not only this, the pack's prey instinct will also be strengthened, which in turn stimulate the whole pack to exhibit attacking tendencies within their territory that is already wide.
Pack problems, at times, turns a simple undesirable behavior to a serious intra-pack aggression which can end up with an irreparable loss. Most types of group bad manners is often a start to aggression, which cannot be handled easily - especially when its a pack of large breed dogs German Shepherd, rottweilers, Dobermans etc.

Exception: There is obviously ONE exception to this norm. Opposite genders can be kept together in a single suite. And this is the only one single exception! Particularly for Bullmastiffs two males or two females should NEVER be left together unsupervised.

Pack Management 

Kenneling: Kennel you dogs separately in different units. Keeping them separately will not allow them to develop a pack. This means your dogs will have little chance to develop pack bad manners.

Feeding: Feed the German Shepherds separately - preferably in different rooms each closed. NEVER let your dogs eat from a single bowl at the same time.

Playing: Walking them together, if they are obedience trained, is good; but it's a bad idea to put them into competitive play like letting them all fetch a ball or a Frisbee at the same time.

Wait Exercise: The wait exercise is a good practice - especially when you have taken all your dogs to play freely. It is, however, essentially necessary that the pack should learn to wait until they are asked to go do something. This will keep them from getting into any competition during the play.

Share: Make sure that each member of the pack gets their fair share of attention, love, enjoyment, play and food. The chance of fight for these things will be mitigated.

Treating all dogs equally in front of each of them: It is important to support the dominant one when all other pack members are together. However, it is also important to treat all of them equally but love them with equal weight in their separate room. After all each of them deserves equal love and care.

Read out 10 Rules of Pack Management

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Why Isn't Your German Shepherd Coming When He Is Called?

The answer is very simple! You are right if you guess that the dog is not properly trained to come when called. If your German Shepherd is unresponsive to your command, then the fact remains that you have not able to teach him learn the trick. However, while breaking up the reason there could be found a series of factors playing underneath your pup's ignoring tendency.

The training is insufficient for your dog to act off leash. Training on the leash should be continued effectively until your pup is properly groomed up to act on command off the leash. The basics are still weak. It is important to understand that your German Shepherd are wary of strangers and won't effectively learn your tricks amidst the mob. Your German Shepherd is quite intelligent (more intelligent than many of the other dog breeds), but correct training procedure demands not to overwhelm him with fussy noise; nor to forcing him giving you attention. The trick of effective training lies in making the training session easy and enjoyable for your dog.

Booty drive is German Shepherd's one of the basic instincts. When your GSD pup is exposed to the nature and if he finds any moving object like a butterfly or a squirrel he would instantly chase it. If he is not coming back on your command you are loosing the competition with his instinct that is reinforcing him to ignore you. This is happening because his instinct is stronger than your way of training him, which in turn means that your training is not effective enough to win over his attention. It is important that you know this breed first and then you know the specific subject that you are dealing with - your dog.

Establishing the 'Alpha' membership is a must. If your German Shepherd pup's apprehensive of coming to you when you call him, the reason is "You". You have failed to establish yourself as an alpha member of your pack. Remember that establishing yourself as the leader of the pack doesn't mean yelling at him or punishing him to prove your strength. It is important to be sweet and cool with him, yet you must have a strong and powerful character to prove your dominance.

Very weak or no reinforcement from your end encourages your pup to ignore you next time. This is another very important factor that contributes to your pups tendencies of ignoring you when you call him. When you call you dog and he comes to you it is most important to reward him with lavish praise and prove that you are happy for he listened to you. Remember that German Shepherds are intelligent dogs and will be ready to make you happy by doing what you want. 'Praise', here acts a very strong reinforcement factor that encourages your dog to come to you when he is called.

Your GSD pup is smart enough to understand what you may want him to do! Your dog understands that you may want him to get inside, while he still wants play. This means he is not yet fully exhausted. Remember a tired dog is a content dog; and well bred German Shepherds have high level of energy. Full-fledged exercise is required to make him content. A long time free play will help him exhaust his energy and he would be happy to go inside readily. However, this is situational. It is not always that you may want him to go inside. It is, hence, important to analyze the situation and try to understand what might be going in his mind.

Praising him always when he makes you happy is the best trick ever!

This post is a part of awareness of correct dog training rule, hosted by dog training collar store. Visit dog training collar store 

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Do You Need to Clip Your German shepherd Dog During Summer?

Summer is a season that puts wrinkles in the forehead of German Shepherd Dog owners. Many GSD owners – especially the new comers tend to clip/ trim their dogs’ coat, thinking that trimming would make their dogs’ life comparatively comfortable in an extreme environment where the outside temperature is much higher the body temperature.

Fact is that you should NOT trim your dog’s coat in the hot weather season. The body temperature is radiated out via panting, not through the skin, unlike humans. For human the sweat is evaporated on the skin surface, and the process acts as a cooling mechanism. But for your dog, evaporation doesn’t happen on surface of its skin, and air circulation, hence, is not much important on the skin surface. Trimming or clipping hair is not necessary. Remember a trimmed German Shepherd faces tougher times during summer than its untrimmed counterpart. Coat acts as an effective insulator against environmental heat. If the environmental temperature is warmer than the body, then the body gets heated up faster if the insulation is removed.

German Shepherds, like any other canine breed, have thinner layer of coat in their inguinal region. Whenever they have to cool down they would lay on cooler surfaces with the region exposed to the surface. This way they would help themselves to radiate off their body temperature.

So, it is recommended not clipping your shepherd’s coat during the summer. Keep him in a cooler place inside that is airy. Natural thermoregulation through panting allows a dog to drop his body temperature. However, brachycephalic dog breeds (breeds with broad, short head like Boxers, Pugs, Bull Dog, Boston Terriers, Shar Pei, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel etc.) do not pant effectively. This, consequently, leads to insufficient thermoregulation, which over heating during the hot summer days.

Mesaticephalic or Mesocephalic dog breeds (breed that have intermediate length and width of head such as German Shepherd Dogs, Dalmatian, Cocker Spaniel, English Foxhound, English Springer Spaniel, Field Spaniel, Labrador, Komodor etc.) can thermoregulate through panting better than the brachycephalic dog breeds. Hence they have comparatively lesser chance to get overheated during summer.

On the other hand the dolichocephalic dog breeds (breeds that have long slender head like Afghan Hound, Great Dane, African Azawakh, Borzoi, Chart Polski, Galgo Español, Greyhound, Hortaya Borzaya, Irish Wolfhound, Italian Greyhound) are least prone of get overheated during the summer, because they pant most effectively. However, whatever type of breed you own, it is important to keep your dog in cool place, with making fresh water readily available. And it is one worst idea to trim GSD’s hair in the summer.

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Happy and Prosperous New Year - 2013

Wishing you all my fellow German Shepherd Dog lovers a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year  - 2013

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Wish You All A Very Merry Christmas

"Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men" Our wish and this Christmas greetings is just for you - fellow German Shepherd lovers. Thank you...

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Innovative Dog Training Tools

Before you buy a puppy make sure you will have to train it and socialize it. Crate training is of utmost importance in the first phase and unique dog furniture like premium wood crate can act as a great tool for the training session.

Quick Tips on Crate Training

• Your dog can feel trapped, frustrated and will bark and whine. Shouting at him won't help. 
• Don't use the crate for punishing him. The effect of training will get diluted. 
• Don't use a crate when your dog is scared and fearful. This will make the dog consider the crate as an abusive tool and he will not enter it any longer. 
• Don't keep the dog in the crate for too long time; human interaction is very important. 
• Don't crate you puppy who is under 7 months of age for more than 3-4 time daily for 1-2 hours each time. Let your puppy urinate outside.

Wooden dog gates are another tool to teach your dog his boundaries. For apartment dwellers the wooden gate - especially the highlander ones are very important if you want to naturally home train your dog. The highlander wooden gates for dogs don't use any nails, pins and screws, keeping in mind the safety aspects. They are made of made with mortise and tenon.

I found some good information about these wooden training tools at www.wooddogcrate.com

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Features of a Good Dog Training Collar

Dog training collars have created a good buzz across the canine community. Many pet product manufacturers are making good business by selling electronic dog training collars. It is however important for the owners to know the features of a good dog training collars, so they can buy the right thing for their dogs.

Training your dog by using a electronic dog collar is completely a humane process and doesn't create any kind of discomfort to your dog. The low static stimulation that a remote training collar gives to a dog helps him/her to concentrate on the verbal commands that the trainer delivers. Doubtlessly the stimulation training system is million times more safe and humane and more effective than the traditional choke collar and prong collar training process. With a remote control electronic dog training process discards the need for the choke chain or prong collar.

Area of the field of operation (distance between the transmitter and the dog wearing the collar) is another thing. A good device features an effectiveness from a distance up to 500 feet and the trainers gets good control and the dog soon identifies the commands. However, there are better devices that covers even up to 800 meters. The contemporary hi-tech devices works on remotes with transceiver technology and has gained a great popularity among dog lovers. The LCD screen is an added advantage in the better ones and it helps you by clearly displaying your dog's activities.

Get more information at http://dogtrainingcollars.com

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Basic Principles of Dog Bark Collar Training

Dog bark collar has created a good buzz in the market and is used by many professional trainers who train their dog to bark or stop barking on command. The device works in a very simple principle where a Sound Impact Sensor detects sound vibration as the dog start barking and generates a ultrasonic sound as the mode of correcting the undesirable barking. As soon as the dog perceives the ultrasonic sound from the collar worn around his neck, he stops barking and this is what the trainer encashes while training the dog not to bark or only to bark on command.

Dog bark collar training is based on 3 basic principles:
 
First - Determining the reason(s) of barking is the most important phase of bark collar training... This helps the trainer address the root cause of the problem.
Second - Deterring nuisance barking... In this phase the trainer uses the bark collar. The device helps in making barking a bitter experience for the dog because it generates the ultrasonic sound which is unpleasant for the dog. By this, the barking itself becomes unpleasant for the dog. Plus the trainer doesn't reward the dog for barking.
Third - The dog gets rewarded for stop barking. when the dog stops barking the trainer praises him and reward him with his tidbits, which encourages the dog not to bark.

Technology based dog training methods have never been so easy until such devices was invented. You can find more information on dog bark collar here: http://www.dogbarkcollar.com

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Science of Food and Nutrition for German Shepherds

All pet food companies claim to offer perfectly balanced nutritional benefit through their commercial food brand, but not all of them do as they say. While most of them are engaged in ballooney talks, some ethical manufacturers try to offer perfect nutritional values in their foods. Most of the commercial dog food manufacturers use more fat and protein in their food, which helps them easily convince the owners by showing faster development. Most dog owners have been accustomed to believe in the myth that high levels of fat and protein is important for their dog's perfect growth. Big Mistake!

The science of choosing the dog food for your German Shepherds should neither be based on the higher level of fat and protein, nor on the cost. It is unwise to believe that higher the cost is, better the food. On the other hand, low cost food should not be considered economical. Higher levels of fats and proteins hugely magnifies the chance of dogs getting obese, and more prone to conditions - especially related to heart. Low cost foods, however, are mostly of low quality and lack in nutritional values and eventually lead to a series of nutritional deficiency disorders.

German shepherd Dogs were bred for working. But they have found their space in the drawing rooms in apartment. In most cases the amount of exercise that are given to the GSDs in families are much below the required level. It is hence important to understand how much fat, protein and carbohydrate does your German shepherd Dog need, based on the volume of calorie it burns each day. Germans Shepherds are easily prone to gain weight - especially if they are kept on high level of fat and protein and does not get enough exercise.

It is also important to understand the digestive system of German Shepherd Dog breed. German Shepherd has a short colon. Comparatively high fiber diet is a great option for this breed. This reminds me of William D. Cusick who published his first book - "Canine Nutrition & Choosing The Best Food For Your Breed Of Dog" in the year 1990 states: "The German Shepherd originated in the Alsatian Region of Germany..." He says, "The German Shepherd is unique because it has a very short colon in comparison to other breeds of the same body weight. For this reason a high fiber diet is required to slow the movement of food through this breed’s digestive track, thereby allowing more time for the nutrients to be drawn out. This high fiber diet will result in a larger stool but better assimilation of the food." In this context I would like to mention that high fiber is not always a very good option for your German Shepherds, or any other canine breed. Fiber, which is an insoluble carbohydrates, blocks enzymatic digestion in the small intestine of the animals. High fiber sources are almost the sources for carbohydrates too, such as soya, rice, oat etc. Hence, it is suggested not offering too much of high fiber diet - especially soybean, corn are not very good for dogs. Give him green! Veggies are also rich in dietary fiber and is important for dogs! okra (lady's finger), leafy greens like cabbage are important ingredients. Most important of all is Spinach that very high nutritional value. Spinach is the significant source of antioxidants, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin and most importantly omega-3 fatty acids. If you choose to pick a commercial food, it is important to choose the one that comes closest to the recommendations by AAFCO.

Correct food for a particular dog

With unlimited number of choices it becomes really tough and confusing to choose the right food for your German Shepherd. Remember the selection of food may vary from dog to dog within the same breed. If you have more than German Shepherds, it is not necessary that all dogs should have the same food, just because they are all GSDs. But the dog food should be "complete and balanced" for "a particular life stage", according to AAFCO. There is no standard for phrases like "good quality food" and "premium food". Choosing the correct food for a particular dog involves a series of factors to be considered.

• Choose the food according to the body weight and overall health factors of individual dog
• Evaluate your dog's weight, body condition, life stage and overall health
• Most commercial dog foods have protein, fat, vitamins, and mineral levels more than what is actually required
• Check if your dog is allergic to any specific ingredients in the food. Not all your dog may be allergic to a particular thing
• Evaluate how much energy a particular dog burns during the exercise
• Feeding diet with higher level of fat and protein will consequently lead to obesity and related problems, and German shepherds are highly prone to such conditions

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