Diet Improvements for Your German Shepherd Dog or Puppy

Diet Improvements for Your German Shepherd Dog or Puppy

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Why Does Your German Shepherd Dog or Puppy Eat Grass

Hello, today I thought I would blog about the correct way to feed your German shepherd dog and/or your German shepherd puppy. We’ve all seen German shepherds eat grass and then vomit the grass back up. Most of us have heard that the reason for this is that they have an upset stomach and that is why they are eating grass.

German shepherd dogs eat grass because they are not strict carnivores, but rather omnivores that have a nutritional requirement, as we do, for chlorophyll.   Unfortunately your German shepherd dog cannot digest the Johnson, rye, or Bermuda grass in your yard.  Therefore, they must vomit it back up.

We satisfy this need for Chlorophyll in our German shepherd dogs’ diet by adding cooked spinach and/or raw alfalfa sprouts to their diet. We add about 1 ounce per day of cooked spinach or alfalfa sprouts to our German shepherd diet.  Your German shepherd dog or puppy will be able to digest and fully assimilate these vegetables, thus benefiting from these rich sources of chlorophyll, vitamin A, and iron.

In addition, we monitor our German shepherd dogs and if we observe them eating grass, we increase the amount of spinach and/or alfalfa sprouts to their diet.  German shepherd dogs are like humans in that their nutritional requirements change; sometimes daily depending on environmental stressors and hormone levels such as going into season.

Try adding cooked spinach and/or alfalfa sprouts to your German shepherd dog’s diet.  You will be presently pleased with the results and your German shepherd will love you the more for it.

Ask me a question and I promise I will provide my opinion.

Sincerely,

KeystoneGermanShepherds

 

Diet Improvements for Your German Shepherd Dog or Puppy

German Shepherd Dog TrainingTip

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Hello, today I’m going to provide a very important tip in regards to training and the correct use of choke chains.  First, before using a choke chain the German shepherd puppy should be leash and collar trained.  A choke chain should never be used to leash-break a German shepherd puppy.  Choke chains are misnamed because the proper use of the choke chain for training is not to choke the German shepherd dog, but rather as a correction and control tool. The correct use of the choke chain is to quickly and sharply tighten then release the chain.

To have the choke chain to work properly it must be correctly placed on the German Shepherd puppy.  Many novice are not aware that a choke chain can incorrectly be placed on the German shepherd dog.  Below illustrates the correct way to place the choke chain on the German shepherd puppy:

Choke chain - NO  Choke chain - YESChoke chain - header

If placed incorrectly on the German shepherd puppy as shown above, the choke chain will not release correctly.  The choke chain will remain tight, thus the German shepherd puppy will not get the proper correction and will continuously be choked during the exercise.

The choke chain correction includes the auditory signal to the German shepherd puppy of the links clicking during the tightening and release, as well as the sudden tightening and then release around the neck.  The rapid release also allows for several sharp corrections in a row, which is very effective in healing training if the German shepherd puppy is being distracted by smells on the ground or moving off the incorrect direction of travel.

In addition, it is extremely important to place the correct size chain on your German shepherd puppy.  Too long a chain will allow the chain to slide down low on the neck during training and too tight is obviously uncomfortable and ineffective for correcting your German Shepherd puppy.  Ideally for the most efficient control and corrections, the choke chain should remain high upon the German shepherd dog’s neck, just under the chin.  This is why proper size is important to keep the chain high on the neck of your German shepherd puppy without having to make continuous adjustments to its position.  Even a physically small or weak owner of a large and powerful German shepherd dog can maintain control with a correctly sized choke chain that is positioned high on German shepherd dog’s neck

Ask me any questions and I promise to provide my opinion.

Sincerely,

KeystoneGermanShepherds

 

Diet Improvements for Your German Shepherd Dog or Puppy

Upcoming Puppies for Sale

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

We have a really nice selection of German shepherd puppies with litters available out of new Ch. Heidelberg’s Nashville v Oklahoman and Ch. Heidelberg’s Stefanie Missyw.

2012 - Noah - Glen Rose Speciality - 4 pt major - not a new champion - CROPPED     Ch. Heidelberg's Stefani Missyw

Nashville (Noah) is co-owned by Dee Pierce and this is his second litter. From his first German shepherd puppy litter, he produced two of the most promising male German shepherd puppies that I’ve seen in a long time. Champion Noah is producing great size and bone with fearless temperaments.  I sold Newman, and co-own him with Jeremy Whitson and the other male German shepherd puppy, Nelson, I kept.  Look for these lovely German shepherd puppies at upcoming shows this year (See them below).

Newman and Nelson Noah Puppies

Newman and Nelson Noah Puppies

Noah’s current German shepherd puppy litter has four males and two females.  We are accepting deposits.  Do not miss out on owning a future German shepherd dog champion out of this litter. German shepherd puppies will be available to go home on February 10, 2013. Below are some snap shots of this German shepherd puppy litter:

Noah X Stefanie cropped Noah X Stefanie cropped II

Two females and on male in the above pictures are from Grand Champion Champion (GrCh. Ch.) Heidelberg’s Kodiak v Queridad (Kodi) and Heidelberg’s Quinn Delta (Crystal).  Note that these three puppies are marked to identify them from the other puppies.  Crystal is co-owned with Riley Westfall and is currently being shown to her Championship.  Kodi is also a full time Medical Alert Service German shepherd dog.  Below is a picture of Kodi and coming is a picture of Crystal:

GrCh. Ch. Kodi

GrCh. Ch. Kodi

We also have a German shepherd puppy litter out of Ch. Heidelberg’s Bogie v Charisman and champion pointed Heidelberg’s Essence Jackieq:

Bogie - Sullivan MOcropped    2010 Essence Jackieq resized

Below are pictures of the Bogie and Essence litter:

Bogie X Essence cropped

Bogie has been a top producer the last three years and these puppies will be large.  There are 2 males and 2 females in this German shepherd puppy litter and we are accepting deposits.  These German shepherd puppies will be ready to go home March 3, 2013.

Ask me a question and I promise to provide my opinion.

Sincerely,

KeystoneGermanShepherds

 

 

Puppies for Sale

Puppies for Sale

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge

 

We have two wonderful older puppies available.  A male and female from new Champion Heidelberg’s Zeke v Gennyh and almost Champion Heidelberg’s Brandi Charisman.  The Puppies are fairly calm with medium prey drive and are highly intelligent. They would be good for an apartment dweller as well as someone that lives on a ranch.  In addition, they are both energetic and would make good jogging or walking companions. Both puppies have fantastic gaits.  These puppies have been well socialized and love small children and will be compatible with other dogs and cats.  Attached are pictures of the of the young parents: 

2012 - Zeke - Shawnee - Tulsa Show resized

2012 - Brandi - Claremore 3 resized

Below are pictures of the two puppies.  In addition  we are accepting deposits on a 7 week old litter from New Champion Heidelberg’s Nashville v Oklahoman and Champion Heidelberg’s Stefanie Missyw.

Excited puppies playing

Excited puppies playing

We just sold the female for $1,200.00 on January 31, 2013.  The lovely Male German Shepherd puppy is still available.

Please submit your questions and I promise to offer my opinion.

 

Sincerely,

 

KeystoneGermanShepherds

 

Conformation Titles

Conformation Titles

Exploring the vast Prairie at Washita National Wildlife Refuge

Exploring the vast Prairie at Washita National Wildlife Refuge


We at Keystone emphasize placing conformation titles on most of our breeding stock.  Attached is a pedigree from Grand Champion Champion (GrCh. Ch.) Oklahoma Natashac (Kay).  All the names in red or blue are Champions.  This pedigree represents a very typical pedigree from our kennel.

Ch. Kay Pedigree cropped full size

It is very expensive and competitive to win the title Champion on a shepherd.  The better the dog, the less expenses towards the title.  Kay finished in three weekends and cost us relatively nothing to finish her Championship title.

Nevertheless, there is no better proving ground for breeding stock than the conformation ring for shepherds.  For the most part, only the best shepherds in country ever obtain the AKC Championship title.  A Championship title requires a solid temperament, a beautiful shepherd, and correct, graceful movement.

As for the European or import shepherds most could never obtain a conformation title because they do not move correctly and are ugly.  They have short choppy gaits with no extension.  Therefore, they would struggle as a true herding dog because they would tire quickly if required to move across long distances.  It always amazes me how critical most European or import breeders are of conformation dogs, yet my shepherds could readily achieve a schutzhund title 3, but their dogs could never become an AKC Champion.

While the conformation ring is not perfect, it provides, the potential puppy purchaser the best starting place to find the next member of their family, which was and still remains the purpose of AKC Championship titles, thus as the proving ground for breeding stock.

Please send me your questions and I promise to provide with my opinion.

Sincerely,

KeystoneGermanShepherds