What one item do you think is indespensible for a new ownerof a GSD? - Page 5

Separation anxiety? 

How have I managed, all these years, all these dogs,  to never have a dog with this "affliction" despite not following that ASININE protocol? 

Poor dogs. 

Jenni, that's simple. Your dogs have commitment issues, just like the men. It's not you, It's them.

a crate, a leash, my dogs love the Nylabones, there are also vege  chewy my dog like, treats for trainning and just your compainionship. i would  talk to my puppy -that is cruel-.  crates are great for quite time and to pottty train though.

I can't comprehend why these people think 48 hours of this is going to make any positive difference at all. I have a couple dogs who are extremely bonded to me- but don't have "separation anxiety" if you want to call it that. I think that's another psychobabble term for poor training and/or poor genetics, personally, but still yet- to ignore a puppy that you just brought home in hopes of avoiding a bizarre problem down the road just seems nutty. 

On the contrary, my dogs that I've raised by bringing them EVERYWHERE with me are the absolute most stable, confident ever, though a certain (good-naturedly) jealous detractor might call them "Momma's Boys" under his breath when he thinks I can't hear him.  LOL

lmao @ Chaz.  Jenni, it looked to me like he was just teasing.  

It doesn't seem to me that SharonCA was giving a lead-in to this breeder at all.  I've never seen or heard of this breeder before reading this thread.  I took a look at their website, I loved the puppy video they had on there.  Keith, I don't think I've ever disagreed with you before (either in posting or just in my thoughts when reading posts) but I do disagree with the statement that this kennel is a puppymill, I don't see any indication of that and it is a pretty harsh derogatory in this instance.  (unless someone has personal negative experience with this kennel to say otherwise?) 

It was shocking to me to read of not talking/touching/looking at a puppy for 48 hours.  I've never heard of anything like that in my life.  I do agree that not talking/touching/looking at a pup or dog is a good habit for 5-10 minutes just before leaving the house and 5-10 minutes after coming back home, that is beneficial.  But I really can't fathom how it's beneficial to a puppy to have no contact for 48 hours, especially in a brand new place with people it doesn't know.   Maybe this is something that works, but I don't think I could do it, it would break my heart.  

It's nice to see the early positive obedience training of the puppies.  Some folks are very good at this.  It's not my personal MO, I prefer to just concentrate on the socializing, play time, obstacle navigation and house-rules training aspect and save obedience for later down the road.  I do think that 30 minutes down-stay at 12 weeks old is a bit excessive.   It may make a good pet, but it can hinder working drives at that young of age.  But, I think that what Sharon wants is a very good pet dog, so I doubt it would be an issue. 

Trac123, according to Thinschmidt's website they seem to do a lot of work and socializing with their pups.  I think the reasons why Guide Dog pups go to homes at 7 weeks of age is partly because they don't have the funds to pay for enough people to do the work that all the puppies would need right in their own facility and it's easier for volunteer puppy raisers to do it in their own homes. 

Ditto on the caution for feeding dried chicken strips!  Too many warnings lately about them!  I used to buy them for my dogs too, (they were fanatical about them) but now I don't.  

I didn't see anyone mention raw bones?  They are excellent chew things for pups too.  I've fed raw chicken, turkey and rabbit bones to my puppies without any issues, but if you are worried about choking then just stick with beef soup bones.   I don't buy any raw meat/bones for my dogs from the grocery stores anymore, only from local butchers or farms where I absolutely know where the meat came from.  I soak it in apple cider vinegar/water mix for a few minutes before giving it to my dogs or pups.    Raw apple cider vinegar and food-grade Diatomaceous Earth are also big items on my grocery list for my dogs.  

Sharon, it seems to me like you are off to a great start with becoming a new puppy owner (since it's been so long for you I'm just going to call it 'new'  )  Congratulations :) 

chicken strips are so easy to make.......just slice approx 3/16 inch and place on "Pam sprayed" wire mesch in oven at 200 until they're dry..


that being said, good luck with your new puppy, please remember its just a pup and needs plenty of love and guidance.

5 litters born/due  in the space of 44 days? and they're not a puppy mill? how many litters do you have to have,to be a puppy mill?

Euroshepherd, about what? If you're talking about Chaz, I didn't reply to him, so I'm not sure what you're referring to. 

Dogud, I have no idea how many litters this kennel regularly has each year.  But because bitches are known to cycle with each other when they live together then it's entirely possible for a good breeder to have 5 litters in less than 2 months time.  I know good breeders would like to be able to space out their litters through the year, but thats just not an option they have.   Does this kennel let any of it's puppies go to new homes before 10 weeks old?  I didn't see that from their website.  What puppymill wants to voluntarily hold onto puppies past 8 weeks old?  Most don't even want to hold onto pups past 5 weeks!
I personally don't define a puppymill by how many dogs or pups that they have.  I define it by the ratio of dogs to people caring for them, the quality of care they receive, the size and condition of their living space and the quality of the dogs themselves (temperament, health, structure, etc.)  This kennel may be large, but they seem to have a lot of people there for their dogs.  The dogs have health tests listed on their website, many are titled too.  There's not a puppymill out there that wants to allow people to look at their entire kennels and operation.  It seems that this kennel is more than happy to have visitors crawling all over it, and I'm not seeing complaints online from the visitors about the condition of the place. 
I only saw one somewhat justifiable complaint online about this place, a pup with heart problems, and they refunded the buyer's money. 


Jenni, my bad, from the order of the posts it looked like you were responding to Chaz. 

I agree with what LadyFrost said, getting your dog to go to their dog bed is very important.