Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today, I am going to recommend that you add to your German Shepherd Dog’s diet one tablespoon of plain white yogurt to every meal. Yogurt contains the essential calcium in a highly digestible form that is needed for maintenance and growth. Once German Shepherd Dog puppies are weened they become lactose intolerant, which means they no longer are able to produce the enzyme lactase in sufficient quantities to digest most milk products. Certain cheeses and cottage cheese in small quantity and yogurt are digestible by your German Shepherd Dog.
German Shepherd Dogs love the taste of yogurt. Yogurt may help a finicky German Shepherd Dog eater to eat their food.
Yogurt is especially good for your growing German Shepherd Dog puppy by promoting and supporting proper bone and joint growth. Most all dry-food companies that sell puppy formulas, advertise their kibble as being fortified with calcium, but if you read the label the form of calcium added to the kibble is calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is ground up limestone and is not a readily digestible form of calcium. Therefore, the limestone powder passes through your German Shepherd Dog puppy’s digestive system unabsorbed and may even be detrimental by adding undo stress to your German Shepherd Dog puppy’s digestive system.
One heaping table spoon of a high quality Yogurt such as Dannon provides your German Shepherd Dog’s daily requirement for calcium, as well as probiotics such as acidophilus. Acidophilus will help your German Shepherd Dog digest their food more efficiently by assisting the breakdown of nutrients into a digestible form. This is one supplement for your German Shepherd Dog that may pay for itself by assisting in the more efficient digestion of your dog’s food. Thus, better absorption and less poop.
In addition, yogurt can help with diarrhea by replenishing the flora that is lost in your German Shepherd Dog’s digestive system during a bout of diarrhea. When one of our German Shepherd Dog has an upset stomach, we give them 5 to 6 heaping tablespoons of yogurt added to their dinner and in most cases this settles their stomach and reduces or ends their bout of diarrhea.
A good source of yogurt is as close as your local food store. We recommend a high quality yogurt because the cheaper brands may not have live acidophilus cultures.
Include yogurt in your diet regime for your dog, and your German Shepherd Dog will love you the more for it. You will not be disappointed, and will love purchasing less dog food and picking up less poop.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today, I am going to recommend that you add to your German Shepherd Dog’s diet a table spoon of cod liver oil. Cod liver oil contains the essential omega three fatty acids that are need for maintenance and growth. Cod liver oil is especially good for your growing German Shepherd Dog puppy by promoting good brain growth and a strong vascular system, as well as providing essential macro-nutrients for good eye health.
Another benefit of cod liver oil for German Shepherd Dog is that it will keep their coats bright and shiny. In addition, if your German Shepherd Dog has skin allergies, cod liver will help alleviate the itching and scratching associated with skin allergies and hot spots.
Cod liver oil can also be used to flavor bad tasting medicines. Just pour a little cod liver oil on the pill or powder and your German Shepherd Dog will readily take their medicine.
We sell one quart bottles of the purest North Atlantic cod liver oil that is available. We charge $17.50 for the one quart bottles that are human grade cod liver oil. Our cod liver is also preserved only with vitamin e (no artificial preservatives or harsh chemicals) and can be placed in the freezer for long term storage. A one quart bottle will last approximately 3 months.
Include cod liver oil in your diet regime for your dog, and your German Shepherd Dog will love you the more for it.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi everyone,
Today, I am going to explain why we supplement our German Shepherd Dogs’ and Puppies’ diets with vitamins and supplements. German Shepherd Dogs digestive systems are not as efficient at assimilating nutrients from their food sources as human beings. Yet, like all Carnivores and certain omnivores such as lions, tigers, wolves, coyotes, and foxes, German Shepherd Dogs have specific caloric and nutrient requirements. Unlike their wild counterparts that meet these caloric and nutrient requirements by capturing prey and consuming stomachs and intestines that contain predigested vegetation, our German Shepherd Dogs depend on us to provide these dietary needs. Predigested stomach contents provide the meat-eaters with much-needed nutrients such as complex amino acids, minerals, enzymes, and chlorophyll necessary for maintenance, health, and longevity.
Dry-food companies have recognized that many German Shepherd Dog owners are educating themselves on proper diets for their German Shepherd dog and puppies. Therefore, several companies are offering their dry-food (kibble) diets with vitamins and vegetables cooked into the kibble. However, what they do not say, is that because all dry-food is cooked at such high temperatures and extruded at such high pressures that almost all vitamins and nutrients are degraded. These nutrients cannot be found insufficient levels or in a readily digestible form in most all dry-foods.
Nevertheless, many veterinarians and dog food companies are teaching people to feed only dry food. Consider that German Shepherd Dogs are less efficient at assimilating nutrients from their food sources than human beings. Yet, intuitively we know know that if we consumed a kibble only diet for years that eventually we would have myriad of health problems caused by this kibble only diet.
We at Keystone German Shepherds and Kennels consider our dry-food as a caloric base for our diet. Therefore, we feed a grain and gluten-free kibble that we supplement with vitamins and cooked fresh vegetables. Our vitamins, “Pure Total Dog Supplement” are packaged here at Keystone German Shepherds and Kennels in 3-pound bags of powder that is sprinkled on top of your German Shepherd Dog or puppy food. These powder vitamins last approximately 2.5 months for one German Shepherd Dog. Our Pure Total Dog Supplement contains diatomaceous earth, brewers yeast (all vitamin b complexes), active yeast enzymes to assist in digestion, selenium (for bone growth) vitamin c, kelp, flaxseed meal, chicken liver powder, and fish-meal for an extra boost of protein.
We sell these vitamins for $19.95 and can ship for a low fee anywhere in the United States.
Pure Total Dog Supplement
We feed our German Shepherd Dogs adults and puppies the same diet throughout life. Once weaned, German Shepherd puppies become lactose intolerant and can no longer digest milk products other than cottage cheese, certain cheeses, and plain yogurt. Puppies grow fast and require calcium and other minerals to grow correctly and avoid joint problems later in life. We meet these requirements by adding plain white yogurt and our Pure Total Dog Supplement to their diet.
If you have a poor eater our Pure Total Dog Supplement will encourage your German Shepherd Dog or Puppy to eat. The German Shepherd Dog cannot resist the chicken liver powder that is an ingredient in our Pure Total Dog Supplement. Pure Total Dog Supplement will also stop your German Shepherd Dog adult and puppy from eating wood, dirt, rocks, and poop. German Shepherd Dogs adults and puppies will only eat these items in an effort to satisfy their needs for certain nutrients and minerals that are found in wood, dirt, rocks, and poop, which are not in a digestible form. These macronutrients and minerals are in Pure Total Dog Supplement and satisfy your German Shepherd Dog metabolic needs for these items.
Try supplementing your German Shepherd Dog adult or puppy with high-quality vitamins and your German Shepherd Dog will thank you with a longer and healthier life.
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.
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:
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.
Exploring the vast Prairie at Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Why this subject, because we have been slammed on the blogs for having a “How to tape ears” section on our web page. In addition, having erect ears is an important part of the overall health of shepherds. Comments posted on blogs concerning the ear taping page included: “Keystone must have really bad ears”, “all their dogs ears have to be taped”, etc. These are all mindless comments.
The reason this page will remain on my web page is because I believe, my method is the absolute best for assisting shepherd ears to stand correctly. We sell puppies worldwide and the web page is beneficial for customers if they are unable to come out to our kennel for my assistance in taping their puppy’s ears.
I could have password protected this page, but I believe in helping people even if that means assisting my competitors. More than that, I understand the health risk to shepherds if their ears do not stand erect. Floppy ears could result in chronic ear infections, as well as, acute-severe ear infections that can enter the brain, thus resulting brain damage and death.
It is somewhat rare for us to have to tape ears. We go months sometimes almost a year before having to tape ears. Anecdotally, I cannot link any specific lineage to it, but have seen more of an occurrence with large males. Presumably because their ears are larger with more mass and, therefore, more likely to have trouble standing.
All breeders, I can comfortably say have at least the occasional problem with ears standing. So it remains a minor problem in the German Shepherd community, minor because it can always be corrected if approached before 20 weeks of age. If the ears are not standing by 8 months then they will likely never stand. Therefore, new puppy owners are responsible with working with their breeder in making sure their puppy’s ear stand. If you seek assistance from your veterinarian, query them to make sure they know what they are doing. We have had vets permanently ruin shepherd ears by taping them up like Doberman Pinscher ears after surgery. Also, we have had vets recommend massaging the ears on a daily basis, which is the absolute worse thing you could do because the cartilage has to stiffen for the ears to stand. Massaging the ears would break down the cartilage ensuring that they would never stand. Be careful about where you seek help.
These first two blogs were my attempt to address some unfair criticism of Keystone. The next blogs will be more instructive and hopefully of more interest. I must go now to teach our Saturday morning Canine Good Citizen Class.
Please post your questions and I promise, I will provide my opinion.
Recent Comments