Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
I recently read an article and survey asking American Kennel Club (AKC) conformation judges what their biggest complaints in regards to the dogs being shown to them. Overwhelmingly, the majority of judges said that their pet peeve was long toenails followed closely by dirty or poorly bathed dogs. The third least acceptable grooming blunders were dirty teeth followed closely by dirty ears.
The sport of conformation and showing dogs is extremely time consuming and expensive, as well as highly competitive. At many shows, your German shepherd dog may be competing with some of the best German Shepherd Dogs in the country. The more competitive the show, the harder it is for the judge to pick the winner. A grooming blunder could and probably is, a lot of the time, the deciding factor.
Do not overlook the details when preparing your German Shepherd Dog puppy or adult for a conformation show. A thorough bath right before the show is paramount, but several days before the show, clean the teeth by gently scraping the tarter away with a dental pick. Clean the wax and debris from the ears at least four days before the show using a good quality ear cleaner. Clip your German Shepherd Dog’s nails at least once a week for several weeks before the show.
The nail quick will recede if you trim your German Shepherd Dog’s nails on regular basis. This will allow you to clip the nails very closely and tighten the feet up on your German Shepherd Dog so that they do not appear to have splayed toes.
A Perfectly Groomed Ch. Heidelberg’s Samson
Do not lose because you did not take the time to present a perfectly groomed German Shepherd Dog to the judge.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today I’m going to provide a very simple but extremely important health tip for your German Shepherd Dog. Simply, keep your German Shepherd Dog lean.
Everyone wants a fat healthy German Shepherd Dog puppy. A plump puppy indicates good health. However, German Shepherd Dogs, as do all large breed dogs, grow rapidly and even a few extra pounds can place undo stress on vulnerable and growing joints. Puppies play hard and often can come up lame, and the difference between limping for a few days and having a lifetime of lameness resulting from injuries can be a few extra pounds in a growing German Shepherd Dog puppy.
Lean Puppies Playing
Many owners cannot wait for their German Shepherd Dogs to bulk up once they turn two and have slowed in growth. Therefore, they often overfeed and unknowingly make their German Shepherd Dogs fat. Unfortunately the look they really want is not the rolly-polly dog that they have created, but rather that of a muscular mature German Shepherd Dog. German Shepherd Dogs are not stocky breeds by design, such as Rottweilers, St. Bernard, or Bernese Mountain dogs.
Usually by the time your German Shepherd Dog turns five they will have started to develop a mature well muscular look. This lean well muscled German Shepherd Dog will come naturally with proper nutrition and exercise. Be patient, with good genetics, diet, and exercise it will happen.
A Four-Year-Old Champion Heidelberg’s Bismark Naturally Bulking Up
Having your German Shepherd Dog adult overweight is more detrimental to their overall health than having them too heavy as puppies. While joints are still a concern, your German Shepherd Dog is now predisposed to diabetes, autoimmune disease, heart attack, stroke, and increased risk of cancer.
Keep your German Shepherd Dogs lean, and they will perform, feel, and look better.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Trimming Your German Shepherd Dog’s Nails Conclusion
One of the most frustrating and difficult activities you may ever attempt with your German Shepherd Dog is trimming their nails if they resist or fight. Today I am going to tell you how to train your German Shepherd Dog adolescent or adult to sit still while you trim their nails.
This training will take patience and persistence and will require you to perform theses exercises daily for a month or more. However, the exercises only take 5 to 10 minutes and have a secondary benefit of bonding closer to your German Shepherd Dog. Do not attempt to trim your German Shepherd Dog’s nail until they successfully complete the below exercises.
Every day as with the puppy, sit with your German Shepherd Dog adolescent or adult and rub and massage them to get them to relax. Once relaxed play with their feet. If they become anxious stop and go back to rubbing and petting them. Continue daily with this exercise until you can hold their feet and spread their toes without resistance or anxiety.
Every day after you play with their feet, place your German Shepherd Dog adolescent on a grooming table. Good quality grooming tables and neck harness can be purchased for approximately $100.00 to $140.00. You need a grooming table if you own a German Shepherd Dog, therefore, invest in a good quality table that will last your lifetime.
German Shepherd Dog Grooming Table
Once on the grooming table place the lanyard over their neck and brush them out. If they show anxiety reassure them. Make the exercise of being on the grooming table a good experience for your German Shepherd Dog. Once they have become comfortable being on the table lift their feet up in the air and spread your German Shepherd Dog’s toes. While playing with their feet on the table, groom them by brushing and using a shedding comb, and acclimate to the nail clippers by gently rubbing them on their body and around their feet.
After Your German Shepherd Dog adolescent or adult has become comfortable with the above exercises, you are ready to start trimming their nails. If possible have another family member to help hold your German Shepherd Dog on the grooming table. Confidently start trimming their nails. You will likely clip two or three nails before they realize something is not the same. Once your German Shepherd Dog realizes what you are doing they will become anxious and start resisting. Back off from the nail trimming and reassure your German Shepherd Dog by brushing and petting. Once they calm down start clipping their nails again. Repeat the calming efforts as needed. The first time that you do clip their nails it may take 30 minutes, but hang in there because it will get better each time you trim their nails.
The above method is the best method for training your German Shepherd Dog to sit calmly while you trim their nails. However, you may speed up the process if you lack the patience for the above method and you have a strong assistant. This method requires laying the German Shepherd Dog on their side on the grooming table. The assistant needs to hold the dog down distributing their weight on the neck and head and applying pressure to the rear legs. Do this as calmly as possible and within two or three nail trimmings your assistant will be able to hold onto your German Shepherd Dog adolescent or adult in a sitting position while you trim the nails. Eventually you will not need the assistant.
German Shepherd Dog Restrained on a Grooming Table
Trim your German Shepherd Dog’s nails on a regular basis and they will love you the more for it, and you will love having doors and door jams without scratch marks ,
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today, I would like to discuss a grooming tip for your German Shepherd Dog, adult or puppy. Because German Shepherd Dog’s are relative clean in nature, they require very little grooming maintenance other than a good coat brushing a couple times a week and nails trimmed ideally twice a month. Many German Shepherd Dog owners never clip their dog’s nails because their puppy was not properly trained and conditioned to have their nails trimmed. Now as an adolescent or adult it is a nightmare to clip their German Shepherd Dog’s nails. Other owner are afraid of accidentally cutting the quick. Thus, many German Shepherd Dog owners avoid clipping nails or take their German Shepherd Dog to an expensive grooming service or veterinarian.
It is a health hazard to allow your German shepherd Dog’s nails to grow long. Sooner or later, due to the high activity level of your German shepherd Dog, they will snag and pull an entire nail off. Such an injury is highly susceptible to serious infections that can result in amputation of a toe.
While your German Shepherd Dog is a young puppy acclimate them to nail clipping by playing with their toes while they are being loved in your lap, on the couch, or in the floor. Make it a habit to play with their feet and toes by grabbing hold of the foot and spreading their toes apart. This conditions your German shepherd Dog puppy to be relaxed regarding having their feet and toes messed with. Then clip Your German Shepherd Dog puppy’s nails routinely at least every other week. If you do this as your German Shepherd Dog grows up, you will be able to always clip their nails without problems.
Human toe nail clippers are ideal for your German Shepherd Dog puppy, but eventually you will need to purchase a good quality scissor nail clipper as shown below. Never use the the guillotine type clippers on German Shepherd Dogs. Guillotine clippers tend to dull quickly and crush the nail rather than cut, which results in discomfort for your German Shepherd Dog.
Scissor Type Nail Clippers
Below the photograph shows the correct place to trim your German Shepherd Dog nails. The cut should be made in front of the quick where the nail starts to hook over. If nails are white you can see the quick, however, most our German Shepherd Dogs have darker nails making it impossible to see the quick. Through experience you will know where to trim the nail to avoid cutting into the quick. When you do cut into the quick it will cause some pain and bleeding, and you will need to apply styptic powder. Do not be afraid of cutting the quick because “it will happen”, but as you continue to trim your German Shepherd Dog’s nails you will learn how close to trim.
Tomorrow, I will discuss German Shepherd Dogs that resists or fights nail trimming and tell you how to train them so that their nails can easily be trimmed.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
ALL PUPPIES BELOW ARE SOLD EXCEPT FOR CH. BOGIE X ESSENCE LITTER. Please go to keystonegermanshepherds.com for available puppies. Just Click Keystone German Shepherds banner up above.
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. Nashville (Noah) is co-owned by Dee Pierce. Noah is also only three points away from being a Grand Champion.
Ch. Heidelberg’s Nashville v Oklahoman (Noah)
Ch. Heidelberg’s Stefanie Missyw
Champion Noah is producing great size and bone with fearless temperaments. 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. We also have two females and one male out of Grand Champion Champion (GrCh. Ch.) Heidelberg’s Kodiak v Queridad (Kodi) and Heidelberg’s Quinn Delta (Crystal). Crystal is co-owned with Riley Westfall and is currently being shown to her Championship. GrCh. Ch. 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
Future Ch. Heidelberg’s Rain Quinn out of GrCh. Ch. Heidelberg’s Kodi x Crystal $1,500.00 SOLD
Sire:
Ch. Heidelberg’s Nashville v Oklahoman
AKC#: DN230362/01
Dam:
Ch. Heidelberg’s Stefanie Missyw
AKC#: DN177134/02
AKC Litter # DN355781
Males
4
Females
2
Date Whelped
12/3/12
SEX
COLOR
TATTOO
DEPOSIT
PUPPY’S NAME
PRICE
M
Black/Tan
HH1727
Heidelberg’s Quantum v Stefaniem
$1,876.00
M
Black/Tan
HH1728
Heidelberg’s Quasar v Stefaniem
$1,826.00
M
Black/Tan
HH1729
Sold
Heidelberg’s Quest v Stefaniem
$1,200.00
M
Black/Tan
HH1730
Sold
Heidelberg’s Quincy v Stefaniem
$1,200.00
F
Black/Tan
HH1731
Sold
Heidelberg’s Qubec Stefaniem
$1,400.00
F
Black/Tan
HH1732
Sold
Heidelberg’s Quora Stefaniem
$850.00
Sire:
GCh. Ch. Heidelberg’s Kodiak v Queridad
AKC#: DN218604/01
Dam:
Heidelberg’s Quinn Delta
AKC#: DN243651/02
AKC Litter # DN355459
Males
1
Females
2
Date Whelped
12/7/12
SEX
COLOR
TATTOO
DEPOSIT
PUPPY’S NAME
PRICE
M
Black/Tan
HH1733
Deposit
Heidelberg’s Rainer v Quinnd
$1,550.00
F
Black/Tan
HH1734
Sold
Heidelberg’s Rain Quinnd
$1,500.00
F
Black/Tan
HH1735
Sold
Heidelberg’s Reba Quinnd
$950.00
Quantum $1,876.00
Quasar $1,826.00
Quest $1,200.00 Sold
Quebec $1,400.00 Sold
Quora $850.00 Sold
Rainier $1,500.00 Sold
We also have a litter out of Ch. Heidelberg’s Bogie v Charisman and Heidelberg’s Essence Jackieq. 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 Dog 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.
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