Included with your Puppy

Exercise 

 

From the moment you receive your puppy, it is very important to understand how sensitive their growing bones and joints are. Your German Shepherd should be exercised regularly but, with low impact exercises only. Such as, playing mostly on grass, carpet, and swimming. When your dog is under 2 years of age, the points below should be followed:

 

•Carry into & from the car and placed on the ground.

•should not be allowed on the couch, bed or other high surfaces.

•No strenuous activities. Such as, running on concrete or excessive jumping up and down or over large objects. 

•Try to avoid stairs in the house, keep the dog downstairs until fully grown. 

 

If they fall or attempt to jump off high surfaces, the impact of landing can cause  damage to their growing joints; even if the puppy shows no current pain. Just because they can do it, doesn’t mean they should. 

 

 

Nutrition

 

Good choices for dry dog food are brands that DON'T contain any corn, soy, wheat, legumes, potatoes or by-products and They should have real meat as the number 1 ingredient and contain Healthy ancient grains such as Quinoa, Buckwheat, Millet, Barley, Sorghum, etc that are beneficial for Heart health. Grain-Free foods have been linked to DCM heart Disease which is believed to be caused by lack of Grains and added Legumes that block Taurine absorption. German Shepherd puppies should be fed food formulated for large breed dogs. This avoids the dog growing too rapidly and developing skeletal problems. A raw food diet is also extremely beneficial but, it must be balanced and stored properly, so please do your research beforehand. 

 

Recommended dry dog food brands:

•Victor  •Earthborn Holistic  •Farmina •Taste of the wild

 •Diamond Naturals  •Orijen  •Merrick  •Fromm

•Wellness core •Acana  •Canidae   •Instinct  •Natural balance  

 

 

Socializing

 

In order to have a mentally balanced adult dog, from the moment your puppy is fully vaccinated (received all 3 rounds of booster shots), you should begin to socialize them. This is crucial during the puppy stages. Exposing your puppy to new environments to meet new people and dogs that they have never met before will accustom them to being social and interactive. Only Introducing them to your current pets, family pets, or friends pets  is not completely socializing correctly. Public parks, dog parks, dog beach, and doggy day care are all excellent places to go to socialize your dog.

 

 

Desensitizing / Grooming

 

It is crucial to get your puppy accustomed to having their paws, ears, tail, face, and food touched. This also includes grooming activities of nail trims, ear cleaning, teeth brushing, bathing, & fur brushing. Use a kong toy and fill it with peanut butter to distract them. Small, soft treats should be given before, during, and after these activities to associate them with something positive. In order to prevent food aggression, often put your hand in their bowl for a couple of seconds while they are eating and say good boy/girl. Same goes with bones or other high value treats!

 

Training

 

We strongly suggest taking your puppy to a professional trainer as soon as possible for at least obedience. It is easier to prevent bad behaviors than to have to fix them. An effective method for crate training is to buy their adult size cage that includes a divider. The divider is used to make a portion of the kennel small enough for your puppy to only lay down which will help properly crate train your dog to not do potty inside of it and the divider can be re-adjusted as your puppy grows bigger. During the day, keep the kennel door open so they can walk in and out of it as they please. Associate the kennel with positive things such as placing their food bowl, treats, toys, and blanket inside of it. When it’s night time (after their final potty break), you may give a kong toy with the spray filling treat to distract them when you walk away. We potty train our puppies here and they leave us knowing the concept quite well. While they are adjusting to your home and routine, if your puppy makes an accident inside the house, tell them firmly “NO” and take them outside on the grass. When they do potty outside, Reward them with treats and say “Yayy potty outside”.