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.
In Most cases you and other family members are the sole source of information and training for your new German shepherd puppy.Please read the following and follow the simple suggestions herein and you will have a wonderful, loving shepherd that is a real joy to live with you.
You Are Responsible for Training Your New Heidelberg German Shepherd Puppy
Housing breaking is best achieved and most important in the first twenty-four hours you live with your new German shepherd puppy. You either housebreak your puppy or create lots of problems for yourself. Therefore, make up your mind that you are going to follow the instructions below and have a wonderful experience with your dog rather than poop and mess to cleanup.
A Properly Trained Heidelberg German Shepherd Will Provide Years of Pleasure and Security for Your Family
Remember, when you bring your dog home the first twenty-four hours are the most important: To begin, hang a bell with a string at nose height from the door the puppy will be going outside to potty.Now every time you take the puppy out make it ring the bell with its nose and say “Let’s Go Potty”. Then you should make a “NONO” bottle.For example, an empty plastic water bottle with six pennies wouldn’t really hurt the puppy or dog if you threw it and hit the puppy, but it would startle it immensely, thus stopping it from fowling the floor.Therefore when you see the new puppy squat to potty, you will throw the NONO bottle at it. If you don’t have something light weight and noisy to throw, the puppy will potty before you can get to it to stop the mess.If the puppy starts to get into position, throw your NONO bottle and shout “No Potty”.Then take the puppy to the door, ring the bell, and repeat the key word, “Let’s Go Potty”.
You cannot involve yourself with watching TV, become absorbed in reading, talking on the phone, or anything that will distract you from watching your dog.Your dog must be confined in an area that you can watch it.It cannot have the run of the house where it can get away to another room, out of sight and potty.You must watch your puppy at all times!!!.When you have an interruption and can’t watch your dog, either crate it or put it outside.
NONO Bottle
Normally the puppy/dog will begin to sniff the floor and circle and appear very nervous, sometimes even to the point of whining.When this happens, say “let’s go outside and potty”. Always use the same door and procedure because all animals are creatures of habit.Repeat the above and when you go to the door say “let’s go potty”. After a day or two the puppy will start to ring the bell with its nose when it needs to go outside.
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.
This is a quick post today to remind and encourage everyone about the start of our new Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Basic Obedience Class at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels on Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 10:30 am. There is no charge for this class and all breeds and ages are invited.The only requirement is that your dogs must be up to date on all their vaccinations.
We concluded our summer training session in August with several owners and dogs passing the American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen Class.Since the conclusion of that class AKC has announced a new advanced level for Canine Good Citizen. With the introduction of AKC Community Canine, the AKC’s CGC program now provides a comprehensive three- level training program for dogs and their owners. Beginning with AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, progressing to Canine Good Citizen and now to AKC Community Canine, the CGC program trains dogs through all stages of life to be well behaved in society.We are excited about the new program and will match our training class exercises to meet the qualifications of this advanced level of training.
We Cannot Wait to go to School
We look forwards to seeing new faces and old friends.Please make it out for our free training.The more participants that we have makes for a better class and training opportunities for all.
AKC Community Canine expands on CGC skills and lays the beginning foundation for obedience, rally and therapy dog work.Many of you with young dogs are planning on moving through to bigger and better things for your puppy, and we thank you for allowing us to be a part of this journey.
Slow School is Open
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 puppies that we are accepting deposits on, and these puppies will be ready to go to their new homes on September 9, 2011.
Ask me a Question and I will provide my opinion. Also, please see our web page: KeystoneGermanShepherds
Today, I am going to switch gears to discuss an issue that has developed with one of our long-time friends.Monday, I will continue my discussion of our new family members.
We received a call about 12 1/2 year-old Rocky, one of my all-time favorite German Shepherd Dogs.Rocky has stopped eating and drinking and is throwing up bile.He has rapidly gone down health wise in the last month and it is time to say goodbye until we meet again.
Rocky started his life out as a promising show dog and was sold to Connie who lived in Mannford, Oklahoma.Connie and Rocky were extremely close and did everything together.Connie after a year and half was diagnosed with breast cancer, and so Rocky was boarded out here at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels while Connie was going through treatment and too sick to take care of Rocky.We got to become very close to Rocky.Connie lost her battle to cancer, but her love and fighting spirit was not lost on Rocky.Connie’s husband gave us Rocky after her death because Rocky presence was just too painful of a reminder of Connie.
When Rocky came to stay with us he was not the same after Connie’s passing.Rocky was very depressed and grieving.We decided the best thing for Rocky was find him a good home with children that could take his mind of his loss.We re-homed Rocky to such a family, and Rocky began to recover from his grief.Now ten years later after a wonderful and spoiled life, Rocky will be reunited with Connie.I imagine that they are taking one of their long walks along a beautiful mountain stream.
Losing your best friend after 12 years is the hardest part of owning a German Shepherd Dog.It hurts as bad as losing a close family member and the grieving process is very similar. I am comforted in knowing that because God loves us that we will be reunited with all our companions someday in Heaven.He will not withhold any joy from us including being reunited with our best friends. I am not going to start preaching in this blog, but there are several Bible verses that support this hope of being reunited with our beloved German Shepherd Dogs.Personally I believe Heaven will be filled with cats and dogs.
A young Rocky and Younger Me On a Walk
Please continue to check out our web page as we post updates on this litter and future available litters: https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/PuppiesForSale.htm. We currently have Wally and Walter, two male puppies left.Both are wonderful puppies and Walter has developed in to quite the show prospect.Remember that we do ship puppies.
Ask me a Question and I will provide my opinion. Also, please see our web page: KeystoneGermanShepherds
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