New Dog Came Home 2 Days Ago, Lots Of Questions To Ask?

[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,

[Dogsfevr]

Your breeder is still the main person to ask as they now the dog in question & may have already used methods that worked.

As for weight when you say she is thin due to being an Ex show dog what do you mean ???

Be careful not to think fat is better ,she is only 10 months w& would still be going through growth changes & no where near filled out body wise.

Don't think feeding her up will put the weight on ,infact to much food will come out the other end & she will lose weight .

Training starts now BUT if she hasn't been trained to do something then you need to educate her,there is no point spraying her with water for not doing something she has no cle about.

Decide what the house rules are & everyone in the house must follow them & it will take time to train her to understand the whole new world she is now in .It may take a few months for her to settle & get use to the changes but being consistent & fair is the main aim .

We do encourage our puppy/older dog buyers to vet check.We have sold a healthy dog but feel its important for the owners to also vet check early on & if anything crops up it can be discussed,sorted or explained .

[SkySoaringMagpie]

www.dogstardaily.com - browse this site in depth, particularly the link under "Training Textbook" titled "Raising a Puppy"

And I agree with showdog, ask the breeder - if you're worried about hassling her, email instead of phone.

[Rebanne]

my german shepherds always followed me, often getting up as soon as I thought of moving, to me it's failry normal.

The panting could be becuase she is stressed, new home, new people, new rules.

Sleeping under the table could be cause she thinks it's a safe spot for her, does she have somewhere else like a crate that she can retreat to?

Her weight should have no bearing on her being an ex show dog. She is 10 months old, not fully mature yet, you don't want a fat GSD by any means, lean is good.

Re her poos, she is stressed, she could be doing more then normal. worry about it in a couple of weeks time unless they are really runny.

Yes take her to the vet for a wellness check.

Pet insurance can be done now, you don't need her papers.

Exercise sounds good.

Training wise, you need to teach her what you want, she doesn't come already knowing it, as her previuos home might have had different expectations.

And we would like pictures please :)

[silentchild]

1) Food sounds ok, like everyone else has said you don't want her to be fat, lean is best. If she looks around for more it doesn't mean she needs more, otherwise my dog would be eating forever! :laugh:

2) Exercise sounds good, also as she is still fairly young remember to try to not be too hard on her bones as they might be still developing. I personally probably would start with obedience training first instead of agility, and go into agility only once you have her good and obedient and more developed.

3) Turn around and ignore her when she jumps on you, completely ignore her, don't even give her eye contact. Once she sits, then you can greet her, heap on praise, rewards, etc etc.

4) She may feel safe and secure with you and possibly a little stressed in her new environment, that could be why she follows you around. That being said, some dogs are very velcro-like in personality - I don't really see it as anything too bad, I like a dog that follows me around, but that's just me.

5) Spraying water won't do any good if she doesn't understand what you want her to do, I recommend training.

6) My dog poos about 1-2 times a day, but it differs for different dogs and diets, like others have said she is possibly stressed.

7) Not unless you do not want her under the table.

8) Panting is normal, especially if it's hot / just after exercise / she is stressed. If she is panting very excessively and non-stop, it might be a good idea to ask your vet.

9) Yes take her to the vet, check up is always a good idea and prices can vary from vet to vet.

10) You can do pet insurance now.

Good luck and remember your breeder is always a good point of contact. And yes, pictures! :D

[canine fun sports]

It is your breeder's job and responsibility to answer these questions. In fact, they should have given you a lot of this information without you having to ask about it. Go ahead - disturb them.

[angelnkids]

It is your breeder's job and responsibility to answer these questions. In fact, they should have given you a lot of this information without you having to ask about it. Go ahead - disturb them.

my hubby picked her up, and he was a bit rushed for time, but i did ask some questions before we bought her, she said that she only needs walks twice a week at this stage.

i think her waist looks a little slim, but maybe im wrong, maybe shes right for her, and we are giving her what food amounts we have been told.

im not bothered about her following me everywhere, my kids do that half the time anyway, so an extra one wont make any difference hehe, i just didnt know if it was just because we are new to her and shes getting use to us.

She does have a crate she sleeps in, in our bedroom, but its so big and heavy i dont want to keep carting back and forth to the bedroom (maybe im just being lazy), im happy for her to sleep anywhere. I dont mind her sleepin under the table, but its where we eat, so would i be giving her mixed signals letting her sleep under there, but then not allowing her there when we are eating, im guessin it should be one rule, and thats it.

shes actually a pretty good dog already overall, and listens to a lot of commands, i just dont like the jumping when shes excited, esp if she jumped up at the kids, she would prob knock them over.

thanks again for ur advice, its been very helpful, and ill get a pic on asap :)

[Rebanne]

She does have a crate she sleeps in, in our bedroom, but its so big and heavy i dont want to keep carting back and forth to the bedroom (maybe im just being lazy), im happy for her to sleep anywhere. I dont mind her sleepin under the table, but its where we eat, so would i be giving her mixed signals letting her sleep under there, but then not allowing her there when we are eating, im guessin it should be one rule, and thats it.

I don't drag the crate around either. I wouldn't worry about the table thing. GSD's a quite smart, she would soon learn the differences that she can't be under the table while people are eating there. By the way what's her name?

[angelnkids]

She does have a crate she sleeps in, in our bedroom, but its so big and heavy i dont want to keep carting back and forth to the bedroom (maybe im just being lazy), im happy for her to sleep anywhere. I dont mind her sleepin under the table, but its where we eat, so would i be giving her mixed signals letting her sleep under there, but then not allowing her there when we are eating, im guessin it should be one rule, and thats it.

I don't drag the crate around either. I wouldn't worry about the table thing. GSD's a quite smart, she would soon learn the differences that she can't be under the table while people are eating there. By the way what's her name?

shes called angel, ill get some pics of her up soon , shes sooooo cute and beautiful

[Pockets]

I saw photos of your girl in the GSD thread, her weight looks fine to me, as others said, lean is best in a growing GSD.

I personally wouldn't suggest long 2 hours walks at that age, her bones are still growing, usually around 9-12 months their bones are still fusing and growth plates closing, over exercise can cause issues. Free running and puppy play is plenty :) and short walks :)

Food sounds good that you have her on, and splitting them

Up is a great idea :)

My dogs follow me everywhere when I move :)

[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.......:-)

[angelnkids]

thanks for the advice, shes actually a little older than we thought, only by 2 months, so its her 1st birthday in 8 days. we have just been taking her for a short walk once a day, thats all for now. When she is fully grown ill take her for more walks and start agility then, maybe around 18months.

We took her in better pets and gardens and the staff said she looks very healthy, and her waist is only very vey slightly a little bit thin, so im just feeding her the amount the breeder receommended.

Shes settling in fantastic and the kids love her, shes a bit smelly so shes getting her first hydrowash tomorrow, that will be fun.

tracy :)

[Rebanne]

Shes settling in fantastic and the kids love her, shes a bit smelly so shes getting her first hydrowash tomorrow, that will be fun.

tracy :)

enjoy the bathtime :laugh:

glad things are going well