Today I’m going to offer a short but important basic obedience tip. When heeling with your German shepherd Dog or puppy start off with your left foot. This may be awkward especially for right handed people because most of us will start walking with our dominant side, but with a little practice it will become natural.Starting off with your left foot provides a visual clue to your German Shepherd Dog to start heeling with you. Also, if you have proper leash placement by starting with your left foot the leash should be engaged by your left knee or thigh coming forwards, thus giving a physical cue to your shepherd to begin heeling when the engaged leash pulls them slightly forwards.The other advantage of starting to with your left foot is while your dog or puppy is in the heeling position and in a sit-stay you can move out of the heeling position by starting with your right foot and not trigger your German to move out of the sit-stay position.This is useful for moving in front of your dog to begin a different training exercise such as ‘stay’ followed by the come command.
German Shepherd Dogs in Heeling Position While on a Sit-Stay Command
German Shepherd Dogs Heeling at Keystone German Shepherd Training Class
Remember even if you only have 5 minutes a day to practice obedience training with your German Shepherd Dog or puppy, go ahead and utilize those 5 minutes because overtime it will pay off with great benefits for you and your German shepherd.
We are close to starting our show season for 2014. We are very excited about the judges and shows through April 2014. We will be choosing shows past April as the judge panels are posted on Onofrio.com. We have several shows planned and everything has lined up well for us in regard to quality judges and show locations. Our training has started and we should finish three dogs to their Championship and complete the Grand Championship on two dogs this year, and if we do really well four or five dogs will finish.Our first show for 2014 is Saturday only in Wichita Falls, Texas on March 1, 2014.The following week will be going to Columbia, MO showing both Saturday and Sunday on March 8 and 9, 2014.
I learned a lesson last year about posting the show that we are going to be competing before the shows close. Apparently, we had some professional handler(s) that will go unnamed track my postings to enter shows where we had built majors and then showing up with one or two extremely competitive dogs.While we do not shy away from competition under some of the judges that we showed under last year strongly leaned towards professional handlers rather than owner handlers such as myself especially when the dogs are close.This proved to cost us some major wins in 2013, which was frustrating when we had gone to the expense and work to build the majors.Therefore, I will now only discuss shows publicly after the entries have closed.If you are showing a Heidelberg German Shepherd with us please call me to find out what shows we are planning on going to this year.
We have three dogs that are close to finishing and will likely complete their Championship this year.The First with nine points and one major is Heidelberg’s Kaito v Carlief (Toby), with seven points and one major is Heidelberg’s Brandi Chariman (Kailey), and with eleven with and one major Heidelberg’s Diesel v Oklahoman.Champion Heidelberg’s Kelsey Queirdad has 33 points and four majors and only needs to defeat two champions to win her Grand Championship.Also, Champion Zeke v Gennnyh (Kolby) needs only seven more points to complete his Grand Championship.
Heidelberg’s Kaito v Calief (Toby)
Heidelberg’s Ekko Quinnd
Heidelberg’s Daphne Oklahoman
Heidelberg’s Patriot v Atlantan
Heidelberg’s Jude v Renac
Heidelberg’s Brandi Chariman
Champion Heidelberg’s Kelsey Queridad
Champion Heidelberg’s Zeke v Gennyh
Also in contention for this year is Heidelberg’s Patriot v Atlantan, Heidelberg’s Ekko Quinnd with one point, Heidelberg’s Daphne Oklahoman with three points, and Heidelberg’s Jude v Renac with one point.
If you are considering getting a German shepherd puppy consider getting one of our older puppies and save a little money on some very high quality shepherds.
We at Keystone German Shepherds love to go on hikes in the woods and after 15 years of living in Northeastern Oklahoma, we actually purchased a book on ‘Hiking Places in Oklahoma’ and discovered a wooded 6 mile hiking loop within 5 miles of us on Keystone Lake.Patty and I took GCH. CH. Kodi on the hike yesterday.We all had a blast; although, we were not sure where on the trail we were all the time because there are many loops and intersections that were not well marked and I left the map at home.
A picture of the Hiking Trail That We Walked With Our German Shepherd Dogs
What a resource for us to exercise and enjoy our German Shepherd Dogs and to lose weight and get in shape.This trail is rugged and requires coordination and strength to avoid the rugged rocks that splatter the trail.We were sore and exhausted after hiking for two hours, but we are going back today. Today we will probably take Heidelberg’s Daphne Oklahoman and Heidelberg’s Patriot v Atlantan.
Another Picture of the Rugged Trail We Hiked With Our German Shepherd Dogs
If you are considering getting a German shepherd puppy consider getting one of our older puppies and save a little money on some very high quality shepherds.
What We Did After Our Hike With Our German Shepherd Dogs
It is the end of November in Northeastern Oklahoma, and it is time again to pull our dog houses out of storage and place them in the kennels.After the 15th of November, we often get cold snaps in Oklahoma, which can include several days of freezing rain or even snow.Our Heidelberg shepherds are well equipped to deal with the cold with their correct plush double-coats.Likewise if your shepherd has a correct coat and no health problems, you will probably notice that when you crank up the heater they well probably ask to go outside more often than normal. This is because they have their winter coats on and cannot remove them as we remove our jackets upon entering the house.Fortunately for our shepherds that are inside, my wife and I run a little hot and we keep our thermostat down during winter months.
Heidelberg German Shepherds Enjoying a March Blizzard
We place straw in our dog houses in our kennels to provide warm insulation for our shepherds. In addition, their runs are covered to protect against rain and snow.We have found unless our shepherds are wet that they will not use their dog houses even in subzero temperatures.We often have observed that our shepherds prefer to sleep on the snow rather than their well-insulated dog houses.
Heidelberg German Shepherds Playing in a Winter Storm
Therefore, if they can stay dry and out of the wind and your German shepherd is healthy and correctly coated, they comfortably can withstand subfreezing temperatures .Actually you may find that they prefer and are much more comfortable outside during the winter months than they areinside your cozy warm house.Remember to always provide fresh unfrozen water for your shepherd during the winter months because they will get dehydrated almost as quickly as they would in the summer.
Heidelberg Puppies Are Well Equipped to Be Comfortable in the Winter
If you are considering getting a German shepherd puppy consider getting one of our older puppies and save a little money on some very high quality shepherds.
Last night I had a very hard delivery with a first time German shepherd mom.She started labor at noon,three days early, which in itself is a little worrisome, but not that unusual.I now know why she was early.Anyway after several hours the first puppy was presented in the vaginal canal, but too deep for me to pull it out.This is when I first became worried that this delivery was not going to be normal.After two hours and several doses of Oxytocin, I was ready to take her in to the vet for a possible C-section.Of course this always happens on Sunday or holidays after hours.
I placed her on the grooming table to examine her one last time before calling the vet and I could feel that the puppy had progressed far enough that I could pull it on out, which I did.To my surprise the puppy was alive and is doing very well today.This puppy was large, but not unusually so, and I surmised that because this was her first puppy she just had trouble pushing out an above average puppy in size.I also surmised that the rest of the puppies should come much easier at this point.I was wrong.
The next puppy proved to be just as difficult if not harder for her.After five hours and several doses of Oxytocin this puppy presented itself breach.After feathering and some brave pushing by the new mom, I was able to grab the rear feet of the puppy and ease it out.This puppy was two to three times larger than the average newborn German shepherd puppy.Unfortunately, this puppy did not survive the breach delivery.
Heidelberg’s Farrah and Her New Puppy After a Difficult Delivery
This proved to be her last puppy and explained her difficulty in delivering such large puppies.Sometimes when females have small litters the puppies can grow too large to allow for an easy and normal delivery.When this happens the female will often have the puppies a few days early to keep the puppies from growing any larger.
Going to a vet during delivery is very expensive and also could expose the new puppies to diseases.Therefore, it not a decision made lightly. No easy way or formula exists for knowing when it is time to seek professional help.For example, I had a female that was in labor for over 24-hours with no progress made towards delivery.I had been in contact with my vet and he said that we had waited long enough and to bring her in.While picking her up on the delivery table a viable puppy fell out on to the ground.I was sent home and while on the way home she had another two puppies in the 10 minute drive.She ended up having 10 healthy puppies.Another female was in labor all day with presented puppy that was stuck deep in the vaginal canal. After several hours of pushing she was exhausted and could not push anymore, and this time, in the middle of the night on the 45 minute drive to Oklahoma State University Animal Hospital she fell asleep and delivered the puppy in the backseat while snoring. When she fell asleep she relaxed enough for the puppy to slide on out into the side-pocket of my trucks door.In this case she had to have a C-section to deliver the remaining four puppies because she had exhausted her ability to push.All five puppies were healthy and are doing well today with their owners.
Making the decision to go to the vet during delivery problems is not easy and best should be made once you have surpassed your knowledge and abilities to deal with the myriad of issues that could arise during delivery.Knowing when you have exhausted your expertise is also not easy.
If you are considering getting a German shepherd puppy consider getting one of our older puppies and save a little money on some very high quality shepherds.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Damon is a young 14-month-old, long-coat Heidelberg German shepherd that has almost completed his first level of Rally.Damon and his owner went out to the barn to feed their horses . Damon is still on leash while feeding because he likes to chase the neighbor’s cats (he mainly wants to play) and he wants to herd the horses at inappropriate times.The owner had experienced some health problems and has been falling a lot, and this time she fell at the barn and badly twisted her leg.She screamed and dropped the leash.
A Six-Month-Old Heidelberg’s Damon Relaxing at Home
Once she had dropped the leash she thought ‘oh no Damon is going to chase the horses and I am hurt too bad to stop him.However to her surprise Damon straddled her while she was lying down and stood over her until she was able to stand.Damon stood there on alert guarding her and trying to figure out what happened and why did his owner fall.She said, ‘it was so obvious he was guarding me’.Damon completely ignored the neighbor’s cats and horses and focused completely on protecting his owner.Once Damon realized there was no real threat he got behind his owner and started pushing on her back with his head to help nudge her up.
A Six-Month-Old Heidelberg’s Damon Sitting Nicely at Home
I have experienced similar behavior with our Heidelberg German shepherd while falling in the show ring.I have taken some hard falls over the years while running around the ring and each time our shepherds have immediately come up to me and start licking my face.Whereas, I have seen other shepherds being shown where the handler has fallen and let go off the leash and these shepherds that are not Heidelberg’s have taken off running away out of the ring and if they didn’t have a leash where somebody was able to grab them, they would probably still be running today.
A Six-Month-Old Heidelberg’s Damon Standing Nicely at Home
If you are considering getting a German shepherd puppy consider getting one of our older puppies and save a little money on some very high quality shepherds.
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