Scarlet_GSD

hey nell....yes, tired dog and comatose owner :rolleyes:

uummm.....yyesssssssss rugerfly! :rolleyes: She's just beautiful, but still only 16 months old, and very much still a puppy in her head!

Here's a photo of my girl all tuckered out yesterday (but it took 2 hours to wear her out for long enough to take the picture!)

Here is one of Scarlet and I taken a couple months ago......she does love her mum!

Not to worry, Aussie...hair today, gone tomorrow! (all jokes aside...my sympathies - I own a GSD longcoat)

Can't comment re what's "allowed" in the standard, or where...but my afterthought is that as a fellow long-coat GSD owner all I know is that in this breed I own the perfect combination of beauty and brains. I can't imagine life without her because she's even more beautiful on the inside than she is to look at. KitKat - I can understand your liking for long-coats...for me the coat adds an extra element of elegance to what's already a stunning animal.

Hi dar1stheory.........I've found the basic "rule of thumb" with my 13 month old GSD is not to put anything I value within reach. I have to watch her though, because I swear her second name should be "kitchen-bench-klepto". When she was 8 months old, she pinched my wallet (from the bench I think) and buried it in the backyard. I didn't realise that was what had happened to it until a week later - and after I'd reported my cards and drivers license missing to the Police! The little darling tore past me at greyhound pace with my wallet in her mouth, and covered in mud, sand and thoroughly chewed. :D It was actually too funny to get mad at her about.......but you get the picture..... As far as the digging goes.....there are many good tips here. I've found what has worked brilliantly with my GSD is to buy a roll of wire mesh or dog fence from Bunnings/your local hardware store. Lay it flat and cut the wire slightly bigger than the hole in the ground, hammer it down with tent pegs (also available from Bunnings) and fill in the hole. Your dog will paw at it at first, but should then give up. With the tent pegs, you need to hammer them right into the ground so that they're not visible. I've found that even though mine dug right through well-established lawn and left a massive hole, the lawn has now re-grown and she doesn't bother to dig there anymore. Once the lawn has re-grown, you can pull up the tent pegs and wire mesh. Just a suggestion, good luck.

Oohhh yeah....I know about this one! My GSD is 13 months old now, but I got her at the age of 10 weeks from a breeder off this site. While she was (and still is) gorgeous in most senses of the word, the first 6 months were pure hell. With Scarlet it was the biting and mouthing that I know they all do......but she was exceptionally persistent. The only way I got her out of it was to put her on her back and hold her until she calmed down......every single time. She still thinks it's hilarious to pinch my socks out of the laundry basket and tear around the house and yard with them. Then there was the time at about 8months of age when she pinched my wallet from somewhere (kitchen bench I think) and buried it in the backyard. I didn't realise what had happened to it until a week after I had reported all my cards and driver's license missing to the Police.......when she belted past me at greyhound pace with the wallet in her mouth, covered in mud and sand, and thoroughly chewed. For those of you who have very young puppies still.......it does get better - although depending on what breed you have, they can take a while to really grow up. A friend of mine has had GSD's for years - he's on his 4th.......and he said something to me recently that will stick in my head for the rest of time, "by the time she's 12 months old, she'll have about a quarter of a brain!". Savour these puppy moments, because in far too short a time they will start to slow down and we'll wish they were young and bouncy again.

Tilly............these things happen - and sometimes even when us humans make all best efforts to prevent our pooches from hurting themselves. I can sympathise - my girl managed to half rip one of her toenails off in the garden last week and I came home to find it digging into her foot pad! An evening trip to the vet, sedation/anaesthetic, bandages, e-collar and antibiotics later.......it's looking good! I have to agree with Rommi & Lewis re the pet insurance - I've had to use mine a couple of times over the last 12 months (as you can imagine with a full-on GSD pup)......and it's already more than paid for itself.

Hi Kelpie-i.....sounds like you're doing as much as you can for your GSD's arthritis - it's always hard to see them slow down later in life. When the time comes that you have to make your dog's last decision, hopefully you may be able to take some solace in the knowledge that you did everything you could to make his/her senior years pain-free and comfy. I had my old girl (a Rough Collie aged 15 years!) put to sleep last year - and had battled arthritis and hip problems for at least the last 10 years with her..........so can sympathise with what you are both going through. I now have a 13 month-old GSD longcoat female.........who spends most of her time tearing around like she's been shot out of a cannon - and I'm battling to slow her down! But we wouldn't be without them, right? Scarlet_GSD