Please could you tell me if my german shepherd puppy will have long hair - Page 1

Please don't judge.

We brought this puppy from a pet shop in Cairo so have no idea of its parentage.

Usually I would walk right past any pet shop her because the animals are in very poor condition. However, on this particular day we walked past and Lily (the puppy's name) was being placed into a cage on bigger than herself, she would have had trouble turning.  I took one look at her and thought there is no way I am going to let a seemingly healthy and happy puppy end up in the same condition as the other puppies in the store.  So I fetched my husband so we could enquire about her. We were told she was 55 days and they had recieved her and her brother that morning. Her brother had already been sold. I refused to leave her in the pet shop. we brought her and took her immediately to a vet. He said she was in excellent condition and a beautiful dog.

Two weeks later and I have not had one moment when i thought i had done the wrong thing.  She follows me where ever I go and already when I tell her to come she does and she even now sits on command. She truely is a wonderful puppy.

I have had a lot of experience breeding, showing and carting bernese mountain dogs in the uk, however, I am not an expert with these dogs and so was wondering a couple of things. 

Will this puppy have a long coat, a stock or a plush coat? she has very soft fur, she has fur tufts in her ears, fuzzy fur  behind her ears and fur between her toes.

Will she get lighter?. Her fur around her neck seems very light cream with black tips and on her stomach she is grey. She seems to change colour.

Is she the right weight?  she is now 70 days and 7.8 Kg

The first picture is when she was 55 days old. The remaining pictures she is 70 days (10 weeks).


Thank you in advance.

Firstly, welcome; and happy new year.  I for one will not 'judge'
you, you clearly understood the implications of what you were
doing, and in your shoes at that moment I think I might have
done the same.  Even though I generally would not buy from
a shop, or from anywhere I thought the dogs weren't looked
after properly in case I just made room for them to sell another
one.

Its sod's law that she will grow up to be such a beautiful dog
you will always wish you knew her pedigree !

She could probably do with putting on just a little more weight
for her current size;  but let that happen naturally, don't force
it.  She may not be quite as old as you were told she was.  [Not
uncommon in this sort of situation].

She certainly looks healthy.  As to colour and coat length, the
thing about GSDs colour is it goes on changing until the adult
coat is finally through, so she may end up darker gold or lighter
silver in her markings, and she may or may not have really solid
black on her saddle, or have some degree of grey 'break-through'.
Coat length is also less than certain at this age, but I would think
the odds are on her being a 'langstockhaar',  a longish coat more
than show plush, but not really long or open.  Good luck with her,
she is pretty.

Boy, what a cute pup you got!  She is very lucky :) 

I do think you have a longcoat, she looks like she'll be a nice plushy longstockhair.  
Her color will change, she will continue to loose her black coverage and will be a traditional saddleback by the time she reaches maturity.   She'll probably be saddleback much sooner, since we can already see the faint tan under the black on her thighs and shoulders.  

Congrats on your new pup and welcome to PDB :)   

Happy new year and thank you both very much.

She is truely wonderful and very beautiful. I am feeding her as much as she will eat in 15 minutes four times a day.  She is on royal caine dried dog food and eat just slightly under what the bag says. Is this enough? She is extremely active.

I can relate to you. Although I understand a pet shop is not a good place to get a pet,  a few years ago we were at a pet shop and fell in love with a beautiful African grey parrot. He was in very poor condition and had plucked out all his feathers, even his tail feathers. We couldn't leave him there. Needless to say we now have a parrot! Lol

kudos to you for getting her outta there! She is a cute puppy!

Personally I think you are doing it about right if you are
using Royal Canin - have you the age stage version,
or just the general all-purpose ? (I realise supplies
may be a bit tricky).   I always think the manufacturers
add a little to their recommended measures, it sells
product a bit quicker !  The best way of judging is to
keep a close eye on the quality of motions produced
at the other end !  Watch out also for the quality of
commercial foods to be different to what you may have
been used to in the UK -  I have been surprised to learn
through PDB just how greatly any one brand can vary
from country to country !

A lot of folks on the board swear by Raw feeding;
I have never fed raw, though not opposed to it;  your
pup's diet could be improved by adding a little human
grade raw beef mince to the daytime meals;  then later
if you can get green tripe that is also very good (but you
may know that already from the Bernese).

Dear Hundmutter,

Thank you so much for your help.

I really dont want to go down the fresh option with her.  I tried this once in the uk and ended up with a puppy that was really particular at what he ate. I have always used Hill's science plan food in the past and found that the dogs get wonderful coats.

They dont do this food here so I choose the one which I had heard of in the uk and kne ew it to be a good brand.

When we bought her home we fed her maxi starter which is a food for mom and babies to 2 months now she has maxi junior this is for 2 - 15 months. Her poop is perfect not to hard and never runny so I am assuming eating what her body needs

We have been trying to get her to gain weight but she is so active. Does not stop running around, I am hoping when she has finished her vaccinations a few walks may calm her down. Do you think she will gain weight once she matures a little?

Thank you again for all your help and advise I really appreciate it.

Regards

Jaymas there are a million and one views on feeding [pups
and older dogs] ;  we can only speak from our own experiences,
and I have in fact successfully raised puppies using precisely
the method you describe - the only caveat being to take care
the RC Maxi you are getting is the same as would be sold
over here and not stuffed with rubbish fillers and too much grain
just because they think they can get away with it in Egypt.
I think you can check ingredients on the internet against what is
listed on the bag.  Only if she becomes less active or really starts
to feel 'bony' when you pick her up would you need to up the feed
a bit.  Don't forget to gradually raise the amount as she gets older
anyway,  and adjust it when she goes to 3 meals rather than 4. 

So since you are happy with her intestinal state, energy level and
general health,  I would just carry on as you are.  At that young age
it can be as dangerous to overdo it with supplements and so on,
as it is to malnourish.  An active pup is usually a good sign of a 
well fed and satisfied pup.  Yes I do think she will gradually come
up in weight without you doing anything special, if she is digesting
and absorbing what you feed her [as it sounds as tho' she is];  as
I suggested, I don't think you should try deliberately to get more
weight on her, as forcing the issue usually does more longterm
harm than good IMO.

She probably will settle more once you can get her out and about
for walks;  but please be careful not to overdo the exercise for her
first year.  I'm sure you'll recall from your Bernese that too much
exercise can damage the growth plates and thus the joints.

She may well always be more 'active' than not, partly depending on
the bloodlines which you don't know about !   Some GSDs are more
'hyper' energetic than other GSDs;  with few exceptions, GSD lines
have more 'get up & go'  than in many other large breeds.  That's what
we love about 'em...

She is really adorable and yes, I'm quite certain she is a long coat.  As much as I am against buying a pup from a petshop, I understand why you did it and could see myself doing the same thing if I saw a pup in those conditions. I wish the best for you and your pup! Please post pictures as she matures :) 

Oh my, she is a cutie!!   I'd find it hard to walk by her also, I'm a sucker for the fuzzy ones, and yes, I think she will be a long stock coat.
  Did I mention how cute she was?!