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 of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
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 and this is his second litter. From his first German shepherd puppy litter, he produced two of the most promising male German shepherd puppies that I’ve seen in a long time. Champion Noah is producing great size and bone with fearless temperaments. I sold Newman, and co-own him with Jeremy Whitson and the other male German shepherd puppy, Nelson, I kept. Look for these lovely German shepherd puppies at upcoming shows this year (See them below).
Newman and Nelson Noah Puppies
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. Below are some snap shots of this German shepherd puppy litter:
Two females and on male in the above pictures are from Grand Champion Champion (GrCh. Ch.) Heidelberg’s Kodiak v Queridad (Kodi) and Heidelberg’s Quinn Delta (Crystal). Note that these three puppies are marked to identify them from the other puppies. Crystal is co-owned with Riley Westfall and is currently being shown to her Championship. 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
We also have a German shepherd puppy litter out of Ch. Heidelberg’s Bogie v Charisman and champion pointed Heidelberg’s Essence Jackieq:
Below are pictures of the Bogie and Essence litter:
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 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.
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
We have two wonderful older puppies available. A male and female from new Champion Heidelberg’s Zeke v Gennyh and almost Champion Heidelberg’s Brandi Charisman. The Puppies are fairly calm with medium prey drive and are highly intelligent. They would be good for an apartment dweller as well as someone that lives on a ranch. In addition, they are both energetic and would make good jogging or walking companions. Both puppies have fantastic gaits. These puppies have been well socialized and love small children and will be compatible with other dogs and cats. Attached are pictures of the of the young parents:
Below are pictures of the two puppies. In addition we are accepting deposits on a 7 week old litter from New Champion Heidelberg’s Nashville v Oklahoman and Champion Heidelberg’s Stefanie Missyw.
Excited puppies playing
We just sold the female for $1,200.00 on January 31, 2013. The lovely Male German Shepherd puppy is still available.
Please submit your questions and I promise to offer 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.
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