Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
The best way to retrain your German Shepherd Dog not to be dog aggressive is to expose them to a lot of strange dogs while walking on lead while healing, and when the opportunity arises refocus their attention from the aggressive actions to that of a calm and relaxed mindset. To get your German Shepherd Dog to refocus while it is being aggressive requires a firm action from you that must be robust enough that it will distract them from the object of their aggression and refocus their attention back onto you. For those that are physically able a Kung Fu type grip and a sharp poke into the rib cage of your German Shepherd Dog is usually enough to get them to refocus back onto you. This is not to be done hard enough to physically hurt the shepherd, but hard enough that they will be unable to ignore it and that they have no doubts that you disapprove of their behavior.
Well Socialized German Shepherd Dogs Playing
In the wild, the pack leader would harshly bite a subordinate if they were showing undue aggression to other pack members or a perceived threat. By poking your shepherd in the ribs, you are assuming the role of pack leader and biting a subordinate dog that is misbehaving, and this is how your dog will perceive this correction. If done properly, the dog will turn in your direction and look at you, and at this time you should provide a sharp verbal command of “Leave it”. Throughout this retraining exercise, you cannot become anxious or excited, you must remain calm and exude confidence or your dog will pick up on your negative energy and remain aggressive towards strange dogs.
When the correction is repeated and done correctly over several days your German Shepherd Dog will begin to relax around strange dogs and remain calm while you are walking. Once this begins you can start trying to work this exercise with long leads and allow your German Shepherd Dog to actually interact with strange dogs. You must continue to use a lead so that you can separate your shepherd from the strange dog if either dog begins to show aggression. Only when you are fully confident that your shepherd is retrained can you allow your shepherd untethered access to strange dogs.
For those people that are not physically able to perform the above exercise, electric shock training collars work well to replace the hand as the pseudo bite to your dog. In addition, if your German Shepherd Dog shows unwarranted aggression in the backyard by barking and charging the fence every time a strange dog walks by, the use of a shock collar will place an end to this unwanted behavior quickly.
If the shepherd that demonstrates this behavior towards strange dogs has subordinate dogs in the yard with them, they may lash out at the subordinate when the shock is applied. This is because they believe that the dog closes to them applied the shock (pseudo-bite) and since they are subordinate, they had no right to correct the dominant shepherd. This is a simple problem to fix, just put up subordinate dogs when using the shock collar. You may want to create the corrective situation by having friends or neighbors walk their dogs by your yard until your aggressive German Shepherd Dog ignores the strange dogs after a few corrections from the shock collar.
Socializing German Shepherd Dogs Should Start as Puppies
If you hire a professional trainer to retrain your German Shepherd Dog not to be aggressive towards strange dogs, they will basically be doing a derivative form of the above training exercise. Once they retrain your dog, they will want to retrain you. If you do not follow their instructions you will likely be right back at the starting point with a dog aggressive German shepherd.
Ask me a Question and I will provide my opinion. Also, please see our web page: KeystoneGermanShepherds
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
A lot of people are paying more attention today to their health by educating themselves on a healthy diet.They are juicing to increase their nutrient intake.Juicing is becoming more popular than ever before as people learn more about nutritional needs and how to meet those needs in a world of processed foods.Besides being delicious, juicing fresh vegetables and fruit it is particularly healthy.I personally have been juicing breakfast and lunch somewhat inconsistently for the last two years.I get away from juicing because I get busy and do not have the time to purchase the vegetables and fruits and to prepare them.It does take a lot of time out of your daily schedule to juice on a regular basis.However, I keep coming back to because I feel and look much better when I juice. I lose weight, have more energy, and my complexion improves, and I have a definite healthy glow when I juice on a regular basis.In addition, it only takes a couple of days to start to feel and see the positive effect of juicing.
Healthy Puppy Befitting From Juicing Pulp in His Diet
Today, I encourage you to start juicing if you do not and if you do juice do the same for your German Shepherd Dog by including the pulp left over from juicing in your German Shepherd Dog’s diet. The pulp leftover from juicing is similar to the predigested stomach contents of herbivores.
Carnivores and certain omnivores such as lions, dogs, wolves, coyotes, and foxes in nature, after capturing their prey will always first consume stomachs and intestines, which contain predigested vegetation. These predigested contents provide the meat eaters with much-needed nutrients such as complex amino acids, minerals, enzymes, and chlorophyll necessary for maintenance, health, and longevity. These nutrients cannot be found in sufficient levels or in a readily digestible form in most all dry-foods. In addition, many of these basic nutrients are cooked out of the dry-food during processing.
Healthy and Happy Heidelberg German Shepherd Dog, Puppies
Prepare the pulp by bringing it to a boil.By denaturing the proteins, you will further make it more like predigested stomach contents of herbivores. You can also add eggs and fresh meat and cook these items with the pulp, thus making a gruel that you can pour out over your German Shepherd Dog’s dry-food.
Food items that are exceptionally healthy for your German Shepherd Dog include kale, carrots, apples, oranges, grapefruit, berries of all types, grapes only in very small quantities (grapes can be harmful to your dog in large quantities), cranberries, spinach, cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, etc.You will have to experiment with ratios both for you and your dog for taste.Too much pulp and your German Shepherd Dog may not eat it.
Grand Champion Heidelberg’s Kodi Enjoys Juice Pulp
Try juicing for yourself and your German Shepherd Dog.I guarantee that you will like the results.As always before dramatically changing your diet or your dog’s diet consult your physician and your veterinarian.
Ask me a Question and I will provide my opinion. Also, please see our web page: KeystoneGermanShepherds
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Traveling with your German Shepherd Dog can be easy and enjoyable when you and your dog are prepared for the trip.German Shepherd Dog, puppies or adults can be extremely sensitive to the water that they drink.Water from different areas contain different chemicals and hardness, and can cause your German Shepherd Dog to get diarrhea.Therefore, it is well worth the effort to travel with water from your house for your German Shepherd Dog.An alternative to this is to purchase distilled water.When we are traveling to dog shows, we may have as many as eight adult dogs in our van.This many dogs makes it impossible to carry enough water from home for a four or five day trip.We have found that the dogs do well on distilled water and they never get runny stools from the water.
Enjoying a Break while on the Road
I discovered this years ago while at a dog show with seven German Shepherd Dogs in West Texas where the local water was high in sulfur.I as well as all seven German shepherds had upset stomachs.I purchased distilled water and everyone got well within one day.Also, if your German Shepherd Dog does develop runny stools while traveling, four or five table spoons of Dannon plain white yogurt added to their food will calm their upset stomachs.
Traveling with your German Shepherd Dog’s food is easy with a little planning and preparation.I recommend bagging daily rations of dry-food in Ziploc baggies.This way you will not run out of food before your travels are done and you are not hauling extra food.You also can precook carrots and eggs and place these in Tupperware and keep them cool in a small doggie ice chest along with your yogurt and canned meet.Vitamins and cod liver oil also be premeasured and placed in smaller containers so you are not carrying extra while on your trip.We prefer to feed canned salmon or mackerel when traveling.One 15 ounce should be enough for 5 days.Be sure to bring a food bowl; we prefer stainless steel because it is durable and very easy to clean in a hotel sink. Also, you should bring a pail that you can hang onto the side of their crate for them to drink from.
Taking Time to Explore While on a Travel Break
Where does your German Shepherd dog ride while in the vehicle?For adult shepherds the front or back seat may suffice.If your dog is not crated, please use a dog seat-belt.This will protect you as well as your German shepherd Dog if you have a car accident.Even a minor fender bender can propel your unsecured dog into or through the windshield or into the back of your head killing you and your dog.For traveling with German Shepherd Dog puppies, I recommend a crate that is just large enough that they can stand up and comfortably turn around in.The crate should be secured to the vehicle so that it cannot become a projectile in case of an accident.
If you are staying overnight in hotels, you should bring a crate that you can place your dog in while he is in the hotel room, especially if you leave to go to eat and leave the German Shepherd Dog behind.This is because if hotel staff opens the door, they will not be greeted by a German Shepherd Dog and possibly let your dog out of the room when they leave the door open while running away.This happened to one of our customers while at a dog show in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Finally do not forget to bring a couple of your German Shepherd Dog’s favorite toys.Traveling is stressful to your dog and having a couple of their favorite toys in evening will allow them to unwind while you watch television to unwind. Enjoy your travels with your German Shepherd Dog and be safe on the road.
Grand Champion, Champion Heidelberg’s Kodiak v Qeridad Ready for Another Road Trip
Ask me a Question and I will provide my opinion. Also, please see our web page: KeystoneGermanShepherds
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today I would like to discuss whether to neuter and more specifically when to neuter. Today, more pressure is brought to bear concerning neutering your German Shepherd Dog. Your veterinarian more often than not wants to neuter your German Shepherd Dog puppy as early as six months of age. However, you should hold on and think about it before proceeding.
The Testicles produce growth hormones and are instrumental in proper development of your German Shepherd Dog puppy. It is quite simple, if you neuter before your German Shepherd Dog is physically mature, they will not grow right and they will never reach their genetic potential. For example if by disease or accident a human male child is castrated before puberty that child will never reach his full height or grow a beard unless the hormones produced naturally by the testes are replaced. The same is true for your German Shepherd Dog puppy. Therefore, if you plan on neutering, you should wait until age two to ensure that your German shepherd Dog has reached physical maturity. Actually, there is research that shows neutering your German Shepherd Dog before maturity may make them susceptible to various disease processes later in life.
Neuter! WHAT?
I am fully supportive of neutering in certain situations, one being access to random bitches. This situation is most likely to happen in the country, where your German Shepherd Dog has free roam of your property. If he is not breeding quality, you should consider neutering to stop random breedings with stray bitches. Neutering should be considered if your German Shepherd Dog has genetic or inherited defects. If you have more than one male German Shepherd Dog, you should consider neutering one or both males to ensure they do not fight for dominance. In addition, you may consider neutering for health reasons, if the condition would be improved if your German Shepherd Dog was neutered.
Other than the above reasons, I really see no reason to neuter your German Shepherd Dog even if you do not plan on breeding him. If you never breed your intact German Shepherd Dog, He will not miss it, and will not become a wanderer or fence jumper every time he smells a bitch that has come into season.
The worse thing in regards to breeding that you could do for your German Shepherd Dog is to breed them once. This literally could make your dog miserable. Guys seem to be guiltier of this than the ladies. I have heard it several times that they want to reward their male German Shepherd Dog with a breeding because they love them and want them to be happy. Do not do it! If you do plan on doing only one breeding, then you should strongly consider neutering after you do the breeding.
Tomorrow, I will continue this discussion focusing on what exactly neutering does to the mentality or personality of your German Shepherd Dog and what type of physical changes that you could expect.
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 ,
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