Right from puppy care to adult. - Page 1

Hello,

Hope everybody is fine and enjoying time with their dogs.

Had a few queries which i would like to get some clarity on.

Its absolutely difficut to bring up a showline dog. I wanted to know the basics you need to follow when bringing up the puppy. Say for example if you buy a 4 month old showline puppy.

- What is the diet that you are looking at. If kibble then which is the best or if not then what do you include in his regular diet. No raw food though as the quality of meat sucks here and i aint giving that to me dog.

- The amount of playtime or exercise it needs

- How to take care of the coat.

- When do you actually start on training, basic obedience and ring training. And what kind of ring training.

If you think there is more that needs to be added, please do let me know.

Will await your replies.

Rahul

Nobody willing to help a little?

Rahul

Hey Rahul!

There is a really good collection of articles that address many of the concerns someone has with raising pups available at Ed Frawley's website.  Check them out here:

http://leerburg.com/dogtrainingebooks.htm

By the way, where do you live?

SteveO

I will try to help out, however, there are many opinions out there:

- What is the diet that you are looking at. If kibble then which is the best or if not then what do you include in his regular diet. No raw food though as the quality of meat sucks here and i aint giving that to me dog.
Many here will tell you that a raw or BARF diet is ideal.  I agree, but supply and storage issues may make that impractical.  I feed my dogs high protein kibble without any grain or fillers.  It is a little pricey, but worth it.  I feed "Taste of the Wild (Bison and Venison), but other similar dogfoods are just as good, or even better. 

- The amount of playtime or exercise it needs
Varies from dog to dog.  How "drivey" is your dog?  I found out that you can use a few tennis balls ans a "chuck" to launch the balls and keep the pup chasing them with little effort to you. 

- How to take care of the coat.
Daily brushing would be ideal.  I only bathe my dogs if they develop any unpleasant and incorrect odor.  I found a military manual in PDF form for K-9 care and unit operation that provides very good information on the care of the GSD:
http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p190_12.pdf
Grooming and inspection are essential to the dog’s health and well–being, and must be done daily. The physical
closeness between the dog and the handler during daily grooming helps to develop the strong psychological bond
between handler and dog that is necessary to function as a team.
a. German shepherd dogs have a double coat of hair; the undercoat of soft, wooly hair, and the outer coat of stiff,
water–resistant hair. Daily grooming is essential to the proper care of the dog’s coat and skin.
(1) In grooming, give the dog a brisk rubdown with the fingertips moving against the grain. This loosens dead skin,
hair, or dirt, brings it to the surface, and massages the skin. Brushing against the grain follows. Next, brush the coat
with the grain to return the hair to its natural position. Finally, hand rub the coat with the grain. This distributes the oil
and gives the coat a glossy appearance. Occasional combing helps, but in winter, it should be limited to avoid tearing
out the undercoat.
(2) An occasional bath may be necessary, but may remove the oils that keep the skin soft, prevent drying and
cracking, and make the coat water repellent. The veterinary officer advises on the frequency of bathing, the type of
soap, and how to protect the dog’s eyes and ears. Rinsing after the bath removes soap left in the coat that may become
sticky, collect dirt, or cause skin irritation. After drying with a towel, the dog may be gently exercised to complete the
drying. Do not bathe a dog in cold or wet weather unless it can dry in a warm place.
b. Daily inspection is part of the grooming period. During inspections, check each part of the dog’s anatomy for
signs or symptoms of illness or injury. After a short acquaintance, the handler knows how the dog should look and act
when healthy, what is normal for the dog, how the coat looks, frequency of bowel movements, and eating habits. In daily inspection, this knowledge helps reveal anything abnormal, and if treatment begins early, the dog’s recovery is
more rapid.
There is a lot of additional valuable information in a very understandable language that also adresses training and even running a K-9 kennel.


- When do you actually start on training, basic obedience and ring training. And what kind of ring training.
You can start basic obedie

@Charlie 319

Awesome Link to the pdf  Military Manual!!!!

Now it's safely stored in my computer, as long as my PC doesn't seize up...

Thanks!

SteveO

Thanks a ton for all your inputs.

I am still unclear. The options that i have here in regards to Dog food are pretty limited. I was thinking of Royal Canin as that is the best at the moment that i can offer. But with that can i add a little bit of Chicken Soup or so or mince beef / lamb. I know Kibble is really hard to digest and therefore takes more toll on the dogs digestive system.

I do not want the puppy to put on too much of weight either. I believe the leaner he is the better for him.

The excercise bit is still unclear to me as well. Some trainers really push their dogs quite a bit. I guess it differs from animal to animal. Basic obidience can start right away. But then what kind of training is needed for the show ring. 

Do no have local clubs here.

Will wait for your inputs.

Rahule (pretorian),

Sorry, I can't help you with the specifics of prepping a pup for the showring as I have no experience with showing at all.

I just wanted to let you know I'm not holding anything back, which you might have thought if I just remained silent.

Hopefully someone will step in and give you some direction.

SteveO

 Hello Rahul, did you get that little Tyson puppy?

As you know I also live where you cannot trust raw meat, and there is not a great selection of prepared foods available.  But my dogs do very well on Royal Canin.  For a puppy this age I would give maxi junior, and they usually look good, it is not high in fat so they grow lean, they also have  shiny coats. I do also give them a bit of "real" food occasionally, like raw egg, cooked chicken livers, mince beef and vegetables, though not every day.   Royal Canin is the staple food.

Obedience you can already teach him the basics, using food as reward, they very quickly learn platz and sitz we use the clicker method to begin with.

As for show preparation you need someone to help, so that they can hold the lead while you  (or someone else he loves) call the puppy- max 100m at a time, less to start with, when he gets to you give him lots of praise and/or food/toys.  Repeat a few times each day, only walking at this stage.  For stacking its best when he has been playing a while and is rather tired.  It helps to have 3 people for this - one to pose him, one to attract his attention and one to look to check the position.  He will soon get used to this.  Let him play plenty, but they are like kids they will play frantically and then crash!  To an extent he will dictate how much playtime he needs.  Playing with tugs is good for developing his prey drive, but be very careful as he is changing his teeth at this time so only gently.

Hope this helps for now.  Good luck!!

as a rule of thumb, a puppy can be talked for 2.5 minutes per month of age.......

so a 4 month puppy can go for a 10 minute walk, and a 10 month puppy can go for a 25 minute walk -

but only if you have worked up slowly.

after their hips are certified, then i work up to much more exercise.