angelnkids

hello everyone our new dog came home 2 days ago, and there are lots of questions i would like to ask, i dont want to keep ringing the breeder to ask as she is busy a lot, so i thought it would be easier to come on here and ask? She is a pure bred german shepherd, ex show dog 10 months old. We have started feeding her gradually advance biscuits mixed with chicken mince. 1) how much food will be enough for her, the breeder recommends 1/2kg chicken mince and 3 coffee cups of biscuits per day. She does need to put a little weight on, being an ex show dog, shes a little thin. Does this amount sound about right, thats what i have been doing , spliting into 2 feeds a day, she woolfs it down and is looking for more, does that mean she needs more? 2) how much exercise, i was thinking 2 half hour walks a day, plus a play at the park/ in the garden with the kids for 15-20 mins, will that be enough, plus when we get use to her and control her properly i will take her jogging with me 1-2 times a week, plus agility training once a week. 3) how is the best way to stop her jumping up at us, she only seems to do it when we leave her home alone, and shes excited to see us. 4) is it normal at first for the dog to follow you everywhere you go, even when she is asleep and she heres me move she follows me, should we start training her not to do this? 5) how do i control her to stay somewhere or stop doing something i dont want her too, someone suggested sprayin water on her nose? 6) how many poos is normal, or are all dogs different, i understand it also goes on their diet too? 7) sometimes she has been sitting under the table to rest, is this a bad habit? 8) whats normal panting/heavy breathing, and wahts not normal. sometimes she pants whilst she is asleep, and when just walking around, is this normal? 9) she seems to be in good health, but it is wise to take her to the vet for a general check up anyway and what kind of price is normal jusst for a check up 10) lastly can we set up pet insurance without the papers for the dog, it has to go through the cannine association, and they send them to us, but it could be 2-3 weeks, i will be thankful for any help, sorry for all the quesitons, i just want to get things right from the start, so no bad habits crawl in,

and to add do you just buy stuff like chicken necks, bones etc from the butchers, supermarket??

thanks for that, im happy to pay for prmium biscuits, we can afford to, we will prob do a mixture of raw meat and biscuits, but like u said if u use less of the more expensive ones, then they will last longer anyway. i want what will be best for the dog, which is going to make her healthy and a nice shiny coat, not what is best for my bank balance. i understand breeders may try to budget cos they have a lot of costs. thanks

hi everyone i know this has been asked million times, and ive googled stuff about food, and get lots of different answers. The breeder uses the premium stuff when they are puppies, but when they are older uses woofbix from bigw, the dog looks healthy and has a healthy coat, and said she is fine on that and poos are good. She claims that there is around the same nutrients in it, as the premium stuff, i dont know if that is true or not though. Ive heard quite a few good things about the woofbix, but as its so cheap, im worried its rubbish. I understand diff foods work with diff dogs, and sometimes even the premium stuff doesnt work with some dogs. I went in better pets and gardens yesterday to buy some stuff, and she asked me about food, i told her what the breeder said and she said the cheaper stuffr will be crap and should feed the premium stuff, so im just asking you guys your opionions and advice. If stuff like fish with oils, bones, pasta and rice, is better i would just rather do that. thanks

Can I suggest you rethink the "no crate" decision? Crates are really only suitable to be used inside anyway. With a young family and a young dog, a method of safely separating them is important. A crate provides a safe place for the puppy when you cannot supervise and I'd really recommend you feed her in there, give her her naps and sleep her in there. I would also place her in her crate when your family is eating - at any time. Teach your children that the crate is your pupp's place and she is never to be bothered when she is in there. That gives her a refuge from the kids when she needs one and means you can keep her safely contained when you have visiting kids etc. Seriously, a crate trained dog is a godsend and knowing that she is separted from your kids when you cannot supervise will give you serious peace of mind. I don't know how old your kids are but I would not be allowing them unsupervised time with her until they are all aged 7 years or over. What do you want the chain for? Do you mean a check chain? thanks for the advice on the crate thing, i never thought of it like that, the breeder said she is already crate trained and well use to a crate, so that should be no problem. As regards the chain, i meant a dog lead and choke chain doh, she suggested getting a lunge chain to start with, so she can run quite far, with us still being in control,. until we get use to her, and trust her and vice versa

we dont have the other dog anymore, we decided that we made a mistake in getting that type of dog, through our own fault, so we decided to give her to a home that already had jack russells before. we have done a lot more research this time, and found a breeder. thanks for asking

thanks, we may be getting her sooner than expected, the breeder will let us pay half now, and take her and pay the rest when we have it. so i was wondering what toys are good, and how many do i need. i dont think we will need a crate, she will be sleeping inside with us, so a dogbed, is there anything else apart from a chain and collar, and name tag. Just want to be prepared. thanks

thanks for all the advice, we are going to get her, the breeder has been great to accpet a deposit, and give us a few weeks to save up the money. We decided on a little older dog, cos it saves out the extra hard work of training etc, with having kids thats going to be harder, and we know what we are getting with this dog, and that its right for our family and children. the breeder has tried to sell previously and had 15 people look at the dog, but said no to all of them, cos they were more interested in the fact it was a show dog, whereas we just want a loving pet to fit in with our family. We have talked maybe about continuing with the showdog thing too, depending on how much training and stuff it needs, the current owners daughter use to show the dog, and loves it, says its only $10 a show once a month. I think it will be good to keep the dog mentally stimulated, but i dont know much about this, so will have to look into it, any thoughts about showing, anyone do it? thanks again, cant wait to get her, the kids keep asking every day when she is coming home, theyre so excited tracy :)

ok thanks for that, she is asking $1500, the same as what she sells the puppies, i will have a look on the german shepherd thread, thanks very much tracy

hello everyone, we are looking into getting a german shepherd. we have found a registered pure breeder, they have a 10 month old female ex show dog. We have met the puppy to see how it interacts with our 2 children aged 3 and 5, and how the childern are with the dog. The dog was very good with the kids, even though one was a bit scared the dog wasnt fazed, the owner says this dog has a very good temperement and would suit our family. She said if we take the dog and it doesnt work out, she is happy to take the dog back and refund our money. im just asking what is an average price for this type of dog? thanks very much tracy

i was thinking of maybe getting a playpen for inside, then he can stay with us, and hes got room to play and they kids cant get to him, does anyone know how much they cost, is it worth getting one? thanks tracy

I dont know how old your kiddies are, but we have a puppy arriving in a couple of weeks time, and what I've done with my kiddies is work out an area that my children are allowed to take turns with Charlie (My girls are 9 and 11). Our kitchen, dining, and living is open plan, but I have bought some gates to place into the doorways that dont have doors and that I dont want Charlie to have access too. Basically for us its a corner that I can view from any of these 3 areas. If I have to do something out of there - Charlie goes into his playpen, and my kids already know that this is an off limits area. The other rule I have laid down, being that a chihuahua puppy is so small, is to reinforce to my girls that even though tiny, first and foremost he is a dog. Dogs play and react differently than your friends. Another rule is and I know this will be hard when he first arrives, is that Charlie must approach them first - at least until he has had time to settle and get more comfortable with his surroundings. I think one of the biggest things I have learnt from DOL is that routine is a must, yet its never to late to implement one Good luck! my children are a lot younger than that, 4 and 21 months, so its quite difficult to teach them anything about the dog, what they should do, what they shouldt etc, as soon as they both see the dog, they get soooo excited, then the dog does, and they wont leave the dog alone, try to pick him up etc, so thats why i have them seperated from the dog unless i can watch 100%

we have a crate, so i might put him there, hes not toilet trained properly yet, and house is too open plan to trust him yet, plus the kids wont leave him alone, and when im busy i cant trust them all. I never thought of the social bond, so much you have to learn and think of when you get a dog, thats why this forum is sooo good, so much great advice thanks tracy It doesn't have to be all the time Tracey but both pup and kids have to learn that having each other around is just part of the routine. Constant exposure (with controls) can help to lower excitement levels on both sides. yeah totally agree, i dont like havin him in the crate(apart from at nite) beacuase i feel its too confined for him, its just tryin to teach my 21 month old toddler the rules with the dog is very difficult, they get too excited. I always let him in with me and my partner after the kids are in bed, i guess its just keep teaching the kids, be persistent, and get the right balance for everyone, we will get there thanks I'm not one for long spells in a crate but he could be inside to sleep, after play time and just chilling out with a chewy treat. A child lock on the crate door will solve any issues of unsupervised access. A balance of inside and outside would be best I think. He needs access to sunshine and fresh air and to learn to be on his own. But if you're all inside watching telly, he can be too.

we have a crate, so i might put him there, hes not toilet trained properly yet, and house is too open plan to trust him yet, plus the kids wont leave him alone, and when im busy i cant trust them all. I never thought of the social bond, so much you have to learn and think of when you get a dog, thats why this forum is sooo good, so much great advice thanks tracy

hi everyone, we getting use to the new pup now, but still finding out lots of info. We leave him outside now in his area, if it isnt too hot, but i was just wondering what people do when they at home? I still have him outside if im busy, or the kids are around, unless i can watch them all 100% i dont trust any of them. I feel a little cruel not spending more time with him (which will change when we can take him for walks), but obviously we all have things to do and i have 2 little uns to deal with. we try to take him out on regualr intervals and play with him for a while and then put him back in his area tracy

Hi Tracy. Not really - but the flies won't do so much harm. I think the bigger concern is the attraction European Wasps have to meat. I have gone outside to find my boy's bones swarming with Euro Wasps. I'd hate to think the outcome if he'd decided that he wanted to snatch at those buzzing insects!! So it bothers me. This is something you always need to be careful about with Kongs as well, as they seem to enjoy crawling in the hole to the food remnants. never thought of that, the vet told us to feed him 3-4 times a day, but when im at work i cant, ill have to feed him in the morning b4 work then when i get home, thanks for the advice tracy

yeah we have an alfresco and we in the process of extending it too, but this is where all the kids toys are, and until hes properly trained and i know i can trust him, i dont really want him in that area (i know for sure at the mo, he would try and chew their toys), at the mo hes down the side, next to the kitchen so we can see him, we will either get some colourbond roofing or a sunsail shade to put there where hes gonna rest and then when i know i can trust him not to chew the toys he can go under the alfresco. tracy

im sure everyone else has this problem, u just wonderin when we leave him at home outside and leave him some food is there a way to prevent the flies getting on it, or an altertantive way of feeing ie kong thanks tracy

Hi tracy crap happens in life we make mistakes we move on. you have a pup u love and thats what matters in the end. did u call rockingham dog club about there puppy preschool? might meet you in there if you go, im starting my boy in the obedience so if you join once your little lad has had his needles we would be in the same group. not yet, im gonna start him there when hes a bit older, if i can, only problem is with 2 children, and my partner workin long hours sometimes and no one to help with the kids, its hard to get anywhere in the evenings for any type of classes with a dog, unless i can take my kids (which is unlikely), if they at weekend thou that wont be a problem hopefully will see u there one day tracy

the innova is very expensive, cost $50 for 2.7kg and he just doesnt seem that keen on it at all, i have mixed some with dog meat (advance) which he loves, so i will gradually change

thanks for the support and nice words from some of u, esp koalabear. Im not going to be deterred from the people hear who dont agree with crossbreeds, i totally get why they are against them, but that doesnt mean i wont love and care for the dog as much as a pure breed owner. We made a geniuine mistake in buyin from a pet shop ( and although some of u may not belive me when i say this) i can honestly say i wasnt aware of pet farms, and how horrible they can be. I can say i will never buy from a pet shop again and discourage anyone from it AND i did read the forum rules B4 i signed up about it bein pure breed forum but cross breed owners welcome too. I mean where else can i go for advice, back to the pet shop eh ? i dont think so, thats why i am comin on here to get good advce thank tracy

totally agree we have thought of the idea of dog door, only problem is its a glass sliding door, and i dont know if you can cut into glass to fit in a doggy door, anyone know if u can? You can actually get a full length insert with a door that fits into the door track so you don't have to cut the glass. I think they are called Pigs in Mud doors or similar???? cool thanks for that ill check it out

totally agree we have thought of the idea of dog door, only problem is its a glass sliding door, and i dont know if you can cut into glass to fit in a doggy door, anyone know if u can?

hi everyone we have now decided to section off a part of the garden for the dog when we out instead of in the laundry, what i was wondering is it best to get him a dog kennel, esp since its coming up to summer? Theres no shaded area at the mo, although we could put his crate out there, and put a towel over it, would that be enough to keep him cooler, or would a dog kennel be better, if so what kind is best, will they stay cooler in there when its really hot? im wondering too if im best to buy him a little wading pool so he can dip in there when its really hot, and we are workin or out? thanks tracy

hi everyone puppy is 11 weeks old, had him 2 weeks, we been feeding him innova, but ill be changing to advance biscuits when it runs out, i have tried him on advance puppy plus chicken n rice, he seems to like this a lot, but i ran out today, and only had the biscuits. I had to go out in the morning so we left him enough for mornin and lunch, when i got back, it looked like he hadnt touched anything. I have given him some for dinner too and hes ate a couple of the biscuits. Hes only small, cross of jack russell and chiuaua. Im just wondering should i be worried hes only eatin a little, could he not really like the biscuits, should i just try him on the dog meat instead, or try changin biscuits, or is it just trial and error thanks tracy