BOSSFACE

IMO....Follow the breeders advice on exercise. For me two x half hour sessions on lead per day would be too much. Too much stress on young joints....free running is the best exercise with very short "on lead" time really more for training purposes than anything else. Also follow breeders advice on food amounts.....certainly don't feed extra because she looks like she wants more food. We have three Shepherds that live inside.....one of the girls will happily eat everybodys food if she is given the opportunity....she just moves from bowl to bowl while the others aren't looking. Dogs are like people in that respect....some are gutses some aren't. With food amounts however, you should always watch her weight and feed accordingly. If my dogs are looking a bit fat, I feed a little less...if too thin I increase food.....this is of course all assuming that there is no medical reason for weight loss or gain. You always need to remember that exercise amounts influence food requirements. My dog that lays on the lounge all day doesn't need the food that my girl outside running a fence with another dog needs. You may find that her exercise amounts with you are much more or less than with her breeder and her food may require adjusting....depending on her weight....which you will need to watch. With regard to her weight....I don't want to see ribs on our dogs but there should only be a very thin layer of fat over the ribs. You need to be able to feel the ribs fairly easily. Carrying excess weight is also bad for growing joints. We also advise our puppy buyers to avoid things like stairs, jumping on and off furniture, in and out of cars etc to avoid stress on joints in young dogs. Thus, the components of agility that require jumping, I would avoid until she is a bit older. When I say a bit older....If it was me, I would wait until after I had had their hips and elbows x-rayed at around 12 months of age. We have an 8 year old female that still lays under the table and I would agree that she probably considers it to be safe under there. It is no problem for us so we let her lay wherever she pleases but if you don't want her to do it then provide her with a crate. If she has been shown, it is likely that she is already crate trained and will find the crate just as secure as under the table. The jumping is usually just excitement and I have found with our dogs that the majority have grown out of it....however in conjunction with turning away and totally ignoring her when she does it, you could also try teaching her to sit and giving her this command when she jumps. I did this with one of our girls and it did help.... The following you around thing may settle down as time goes on.....but we have a 6 year old male that still follows us around. Again, it doesn't worry me so all is good. If you don't want her to do it, perhaps teach her to go to her bed....this could be her crate or a mattress on the floor. All only IMO.......:-)

Yes...have to agree Mirawee.....

First question for me is whether or not they have had German Shepherds before.......big no no for me is any mention of Inspector Rex......no Shepherd puppies do not come trained for police work.....

We use netting along pool fencing to stop our Shepherd puppies jamming their heads through when they are little. It is amazing what small spaces their heads will fit through but then can be difficult to get back out the other way.....

When using outside dogs, we have always paid a service fee at time of mating with the balance due at time of whelping.

We have four GSD's that live inside with us. Heaps of hair but the only one that smells is the male. The three girls are fine and none of them are bathed very regularly. The boy does tend to go out and lie in the water container quite often which I think is the problem with him. He is always wet.

We feed brisket bones to our 12 week old GSD pups and have so for about three weeks. Used to give chicken necks but had a 6 week old male decide to gobble one down whole before his siblings could get it and this resulted in several trips to the vet to get it out the other end without too much damage.

We have been using the heartworm injections on our GSD's for about 6 years with no effects to date. I give monthly chewables to our young dogs until it is time for their first annual vaccination and then they have the heartworm injection at the same time.

We have done a surgical AI on one of our bitches twice. She had puppies both times.....though only smaller litters (4 & 5). She handled the procedure very well both times. The first was done by Frozen puppies, the second by Robert Zammit.

Emergency c-section (in normal hours) on a German Shepherd - around $800 Ultrasound - around $65.00

German Shepherd litter due around 14th of January. Dam : Ch Turnberry Jacklyn 'A''Z' Sire : Cayos vd Noriswand (Gmy)

We breed showline GSD's but personally have no problem at all with the wording of the advert. We would have a working line dog in a heartbeat if there was someone anywhere within cooee of where we live, to help us train it properly. In my humble opinion, I think that obviously the problem lies in the general publics lack of understanding of the word "aggression" when used in this context. This is evidenced, as JJ has said, by the very fact that we have 9 pages of discussion over the word "aggression". Unfortunately, public perception of the breed is extremely important in this age of BSL, and while I really hate the idea of having to tip toe around what sounds to me like correct terminology in this case, public perception needs to be a constant consideration. I am well aware that it is a real pain in the butt, but it is reality nonetheless. It really all comes down to a lack of education about what a correct German Shepherd should be. Some of the enquiries we get for puppies are just ridiculous and it really concerns me when people looking for a working line dog contact me for a puppy. We obviously breed showline dogs (well it seems obvious to me anyway). What is going to happen when these people get there hands on a true working line dog....they obviously have no idea what they are looking for. I don't really know how the lack of education can be overcome, there is certainly no quick fix. It does however, seem to be at the heart of the problem, when we can't advertise our dogs for what they are without risking such a well meaning but negative reaction as that in the opening post.

We have used Frozen Puppies at Calga......litter of three puppies......and will be using them again, hopefully towards the end of this year......

Our girls eat the afterbirths........never had to throw any away....most of the time I don't even get a chance to see them.....ours slurp them up as they come out as well......no runs either......

Standard Poodle Giant Schnauzer Black Russian Terrier Malinois Collie Smooth Pyrenean Mastiff Corgi That's all.......