Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today, I’m posting an article by Amber Kingsley, a journalist and social media manager based in S. California. Amber is a lifelong pet lover and owner and writes helpful pet articles while traveling around the world. While this article is focused on Greyhounds it does translate to all breeds.
Sleeping Dogs
Some dogs whimper or bark in their sleep, while some will sleep perfectly still. And some dogs may choose to sleep in a certain place in the home and only in that place, while other dogs can sleep almost anywhere. Sleeping styles can be unique to different breeds or even individual dogs.
Certain breeds need more sleep than others, which can be troubling to some pet owners with more than one breed of dog. You may wonder why your golden retriever sleeps 12-14 hours per day while your greyhound needs about 18 hours of sleep per day.
Shepherds Love Good Naps
Greyhound Sleep Patterns
One major reason a greyhound requires more sleep than other breeds of dogs is that it’s a much more active dog when awake. You may find that your greyhound needs a specific sleeping area more than other breeds of dogs too. Consider the following ideas for helping your greyhound sleep better in your home:
Quiet time. A greyhound will rest better if you give it a specific area in which it can sleep that’s away from other household activity. If people are moving around near the area where the dog is sleeping, it won’t be able to sleep fully.
Dreaming. Dogs spend about 10% of their sleeping time in the deepest stage of sleep, REM. Dreams generally occur during this period. It’s important that you don’t wake up your greyhound while it’s dreaming, which may show up as a movement of the paws as if the dog is running. A greyhound could snap at its owner due to being startled out of a dream.
Crates. If your greyhound is having a difficult time adjusting to sleeping through the night or to finding a comfortable place to sleep in your home, you may want to consider a crate. Many rescued greyhounds are comfortable sleeping in a crate because they often were crated during their time racing.
Beds. Greyhounds may want to bond with you by sleeping in your room at night, and some greyhounds will be most comfortable sleeping with you in your bed. Generally around 45% of dogs sleep in their owner’s bed. However, this really isn’t recommended until you’re sure the greyhound is comfortable in your home, as the dog could become aggressive if its sleep is disturbed suddenly, such as because you adjusted your position in the bed. Even if it’s sleeping in your bed, closing the door to your room is recommended to prevent the dog from prowling excessively while you’re asleep.
Outdoors. You are not going to want to allow your greyhound to sleep outdoors overnight or during especially cold daytime weather. Greyhounds don’t have thick coats or a lot of fat on their bodies, which means the dog will not tolerate cold very well. For the safety of the dog, it should be brought inside to sleep where it can be protected from the elements.
Have Patience at Night Time
Keep in mind that bringing a new greyhound into your home can be a stressful experience for the dog, especially if it hasn’t had a lot of experience with a family. This stress can result in poor sleeping patterns until the dog becomes acclimated to your home. You may want to give the dog Benadryl to help it calm down and sleep more peacefully. However, make sure to be aware of relevant food allergies before giving your dog a foreign substance to consume. Remain relaxed and patient with your new greyhound, and eventually the dog will relax and fall into a set of normal sleeping patterns.
Let Me Sleep Please
Sleep Time After Dinner
Please continue to check out our web page as we post updates on available litters: https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/PuppiesForSale.htm. We have several wonderful German shepherd puppies for sale that that are ready to go home.
Please call me at (918) 261-4729 if you would like to take one of puppies home with you. Please visit our web page to learn more about these wonderful Heidelberg German Shepherds that we raise at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels. https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to re post about how important it is to supplement your dog and even more so for growing puppies. Diets should be supplemented with vitamins and cod liver oil. Researchers have just discovered how important vitamin c is to proper growth and development of joints while German shepherd Dogs are growing. If insufficient amounts of vitamin c are provided in the diet during growth spurts that joint disease can develop even in puppies that are not genetically predisposed to joint disease.
Feeding just dry-food will leave your German Shepherd Dog or puppy deficient on macro and micro nutrients, vitamins, and certain minerals. The reason why these supposedly balanced and even the top-of-the-line dry-foods cannot supply these nutrients, vitamins, and minerals needed for proper growth and maintenance is due to the way it is manufactured. Dry-food is cooked at such high temperatures and extruded at such high pressures that the nutrient values that are in the starting ingredients are destroyed or altered in such a way that they cannot be assimilated or digested.
This is why we supplement our Heidelberg German Shepherd Dogs’ diet with our Pure Total Dog Supplement, which provides all the macro and macro nutrient, vitamins and minerals in a form that is readily digested and absorbed by your German shepherd. Our Pure Total Dog Supplement is loaded with vitamin C, all the B-complexes including biotin and B-6 and 12, Digest K yeast which helps with digestion, desiccated liver powder, which helps with finicky eaters, selenium that is important with skeletal growth maintenance, Omega 3 oils, which supports the circulatory system, and Diatomite powder, which provides the macro nutrients needed for joint growth and maintenance.
Pure Total Dog Supplement
Our Pure Total Dog Supplement in combination with a daily tablespoon of Perfect Cod Liver Oil, which provides vitamin A and E and a good quality dry-food will provide everything needed for your German Shepherd Dog or puppy to grow correctly and thrive. Our Perfect Cod Liver Oil provides for proper growth and maintenance of the circulatory system and brain, as well as the eyes. The cod liver oil will also keep the coats bright and shiny and if used daily will reduce shedding in the house with proper brushing. Also, if you have seen dandruff or flaky skin on your dog, the cod liver oil will resolve that problem while eliminating itchy skin. Be aware that cod liver oil is the king of all fish oils, and common fish oils that are sold at feed stores will not provide the same level of benefits and are many times loaded with contaminants and are rancid.
Perfect Cod Liver Oil
We sell our Pure Total Dog Supplement and Perfect Cod Liver Oil to the public. Our Pure Total Dog Supplement cost $19.95 and is a four month supply for one dog. Our cod liver oil comes in a quart bottle and will last two-months for one dog and is priced at $19.75. Our cod liver oil is imported from Iceland and is the most contaminant free cod liver oil available. We only purchase human grade for our dogs, which decreases possible contaminants such as PCB’s. Dioxins, and mercury. Please order online at https://squareup.com/market/keystone-german-shepherds-and-kennels or go to our web page and click on order online at https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/.
A Happy Healthy Correctly Fed and Supplemented Puppy
Today, I am posting a interesting article written byChristine Wilford who received her doctorate of veterinary medicine from Texas A&M University, Texas.The point of the article is that doing fecal exam on your German Shepherd Dog is likely a waste of time and money.Like all animals, your dog will get stomach worms, such as round, hook, tape, and whip worms are the most common.We at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennel do not do fecal exams rather like livestock ranchers, we assume that our dogs will get worms; therefore we place them on a worming program.Thus, worming our dogs twice a year for less than the cost of a fecal exam, which as you will read is not a reliable method to determine whether your German shepherd has or does not have worms.You too can learn how to worm your German Shepherd Dog for less than the cost of a fecal exam.
I’m Worm Free Because Dad Worms Me Twice a Year
Veterinary News
FECAL EXAM RELIABILITY
A common test for worms may not always give you the right results
A majority of owners may be surprised to learn how inaccurate the common fecal examination really is.Many owners are familiar with the annual regimen of bringing fresh fecal samples to their dogs’ annual physical examinations.Likewise, most owners take heart in hearing their dogs’ test are normal or, alternatively, owners are glad to receive medications for treating the worms lurking within the bowels of their companions.But what do these results really tell us?Understanding how the test is run and knowing a few facts about intestinal worms can help you understand the test’s relative inaccuracies.
In general, the fresher the sample, the more accurate the test results.As a sample ages, the contents of the eggs may hatch, may dry out and burst, or may mix well enough with the solution to be separated and float.How fresh is fresh?The preservation of worm eggs in a stool sample varies tremendously depending on temperature, humidity, and the consistency of the sample.AS time elapses, eggs will degrade and thus will go unrecognized when the slide is examined.During busy times of the day, other priorities may cause fecal samples to be left unexamined far beyond the optimal reading time.Even when a sample is fresh and handled appropriately, results may still be unreliable.
The chances of finding a worm egg depend on how many worms there are in the intestine, how many of the worms are female, the maturity of the worms and whether the females were laying eggs during the time that the feces was formed.If there are only a few worms in the intestines, the relative number of eggs laid in a fecal sample is usually much lower than if there is a heavy worm concentration in the dog.It is also possible to have a significant worm burden with relatively few female worms present; thus, a dog could have clinical signs of intestinal worms without showing evidence of that in a fecal examination.Similarly, if many of the worms are too immature to lay eggs, there will be no way to identify their presence through a simple fecal exam.
Additionally, because worms do not lay eggs at a constant rate, there may be no eggs in a fecal sample simply because the feces were formed and collected during a period when the adult female worms were not shedding eggs.
Based on this information, one could argue that an annual screening of an otherwise healthy dog is an unnecessary, and possibly inaccurate, test.So why bother checking a fecal sample if the results could be misleading?If no eggs are found, then there may be no worms present or there may be worms and they’ve gone undiagnosed.Owners cannot depend on a single negative result.Veterinarians who specialize in the gastrointestinal diseases recommend examining three separate fecal samples before concluding that a negative result is reliable.
When your dog’s stool is abnormal, that is, if you see blood, mucus, or a change of color or consistency, or your dog has loose stools, a fecal examination is advisable.Depending on the types of worms present, clinical signs may not occur or may be subtle.Worms do not necessarily cause weight loss or decreased activity.
In many cases, veterinarians use deworming medication as a diagnostic tool when fecal exams do not reveal worm eggs.In fact, it may be easier, cheaper, and faster to administer a deworming medication that eliminates the common types of intestinal worms.If the stools return to normal, it is concluded that the clinical signs were caused by intestinal worms.Sometimes, common sense and practicality should prevail over complicated and expensive diagnostic tests.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Below is an easy way to prepare several evening meals for your German Shepherd Dog or puppy. Once prepared you can freeze in individual bags and sit out on bag per day to defrost.The defrosted contents can be added to the good quality dry-food in the evening to provide a fast, easy, and healthy meal for your German shepherd.
Healthy Food Means Healthy German Shepherds
To do a mass cooking for your new dog:
Get a whole chicken and place it in your crock-pot.Cook it for about 4 hours.Then put whole carrots in the crock-pot with the chicken.Cook 3-4 hours, until the chicken is done and the carrot are soft.
Healthy Food Means Happy German Shepherds
Let it cool to room temperature the let it cool in the icebox overnight.The next day take the fat off the top and debone the chicken.An ice cream scoop is about 3 ounces; place one scoop of meat in several zip-top baggies.Then put the cooked carrots (1/3 of a carrot per feeding), 1 clove of garlic for each carrot third, and two table spoons of cooked spinach (2 heaping tablespoons per feeding) to match the carrots in the blender. Put some of the broth in the blender.Make a purée of the veggies and separate that into the number of feedings (6 carrots = 18 feedings).Everything needs to be no warmer than room temperature.
It so important to provide supplement nutrition including macro and micro nutrients to the diet of your German Shepherd Dog especially as growing puppy.Researchers have just discovered how important vitamin c is to proper growth and development of joints while German shepherd Dogs are growing.If insufficient amounts of vitamin c are provided in the diet during growth spurts that joint disease can develop even in puppies that are not genetically predisposed to joint disease.
Feeding just dry-food will leave your German Shepherd Dog or puppy deficient on macro and micro nutrients, vitamins, and certain minerals.The reason why these supposedly balanced and even the top-of-the-line dry-foods cannot supply these nutrients, vitamins, and minerals needed for proper growth and maintenance is due to the way it is manufactured.Dry-food is cooked at such high temperatures and extruded at such high pressures that the nutrient values that are in the starting ingredients are destroyed or altered in such a way that they cannot be assimilated or digested.
This is why we supplement our Heidelberg German Shepherd Dogs’ diet with our Pure Total Dog Supplement, which provides all the macro and macro nutrient, vitamins and minerals in a form that is readily digested and absorbed by your German shepherd.Our Pure Total Dog Supplement is loaded with vitamin C, all the B-complexes including biotin and B-6 and 12, Digest K yeast which helps with digestion, desiccated liver powder, which helps with finicky eaters, selenium that is important with skeletal growth maintenance, Omega 3 oils, which supports the circulatory system, and Diatomite powder, which provides the macro nutrients needed for joint growth and maintenance.
Pure Total Dog Supplement
Our Pure Total Dog Supplement in combination with a daily tablespoon of Cod liver oil, which provides vitamin A and E and a good quality dry-food will provide everything needed for your German Shepherd Dog or puppy to grow correctly and thrive.
We sell our Pure Total Dog Supplement and Cod liver oil to the public.Our Pure Total Dog Supplement cost $19.95 and is a four month supply for one dog.Our cod liver oil comes in a quart bottle and will last two-months for one dog and is priced at $19.50.Our cod liver oil is imported from Iceland and is the most contaminant free cod liver oil available.We only purchase human grade for our dogs, which decreases possible contaminants such as PCB’s. Dioxins, and mercury. Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested in purchasing these items from us.
A Happy Healthy Correctly Fed and Supplemented Puppy
Today I have another diet tip for your German Shepherd Dog.It is fall again, and for those that live in rural parts of the United States that means it is hunting season and more specific it is deer season.Here in Oklahoma, we have two large deer processors nearby and daily I collect their scraps from their deer processing operations.I usually pick up four large trash cans full of meat and fresh bones.We separate the bones from the meat scraps and place the bones in the kennels every evening.The following day we remove the bones before they dry out and become brittle and, therefore, become possibly a danger by breaking off in sharp shards.
Heidelberg’s William Loves Deer Bones
Fresh bones have the consistency of a bar of soap in that you can shave them as you can shave soap.Fresh bones in moderation are easily chewed and digested by German Shepherd Dogs.We even provide bones to puppies as young as 8-weeks-old.Our shepherds enjoying chewing off the fresh meat still attached to the bones and they enjoy eating some of the bones and the nutrient rich marrow inside the long bones. Our shepherd get very fat and healthier in the fall.In addition to the nutritional benefits of fresh bones, the process of chewing on the bones removes all the tarter off our shepherds’ teeth.
Grand Champion, Champion Heidelberg’s Kodi has a Perfect Smile Because He Keeps His Teeth Clean from Chewing on Deer Bones
Give your German Shepherd Dog fresh bones from time to time.Find a deer processor near you, and ask them if you can collect some fresh leg bones from them.Offer to bring a container that they can throw the bones in it for you. Most processor are more than happy to provide their bones to you.For the most part they just throw them away anyway.Collect and freeze enough to provide a fresh bone treat to your German Shepherd Dog a couple of times a month.
Note a word of caution: if you have not previously given fresh bones to your shepherd, you may need to monitor their consumption for the first couple of times because they literally will eat all the bones that you give them, which can cause gastric upset and constipation.Your shepherd never before having fresh bones will devour them as a kid would if they were experiencing chocolate for the first time as teenager.No amount will satisfy.Once you give your shepherd bones on a regular basis of a couple times per month they will then just chew on them and eat very little of the actual bone, which is what you want.After twenty-four hours remove any uneaten bones from the yard and throw them away.
12-Month-Old Heidelberg’s Nelson With A Perfect Smile
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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