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by SitasMom on 27 February 2009 - 04:02
central texas - like Austin, San Antonio, Victoria?? If you can say with in 100 miles we can better suggest places to train.
by LukasGS on 27 February 2009 - 04:02
I found out today that carrots keep him entertained! And he really likes them! So carrots! Yes! Lol, keeps him busy without me worrying about his snack intake. Plus he likes his new Kong.
Speaking of food - we feed him Purina ONE Large Breed puppy. What is the "regular" or typical amount of food an 8 week old would eat? I'm concerned for his eating patterns as well, as he's either a picky eater ( I cant imagine as he eats everything in sight)
or he's just not hungry. I give him about a cup when I wake up, but he usually does not eat it all and may last until his lunchtime meal. So an estimate he may eat about a cup and a half of food in a day if not less since I'm not actually home to feed him that meal, though someone is always home.
Speaking of food - we feed him Purina ONE Large Breed puppy. What is the "regular" or typical amount of food an 8 week old would eat? I'm concerned for his eating patterns as well, as he's either a picky eater ( I cant imagine as he eats everything in sight)
or he's just not hungry. I give him about a cup when I wake up, but he usually does not eat it all and may last until his lunchtime meal. So an estimate he may eat about a cup and a half of food in a day if not less since I'm not actually home to feed him that meal, though someone is always home.
by Rezkat5 on 27 February 2009 - 04:02
Lukas,
It depends on the dog really and how they are looking. They go through so many growth spurts that it's hard to put an exact amount on how much to feed. A cup and a half of food per day, sounds like a good amount. That'll increase as he gets bigger.
Some can be more picky than others, my girls inhale their food, where as my boy kinda is the Munch....munch.....munch kinda guy. Still eats everything though. The girls are just chow hounds and will eat just about anything that you give them...
It depends on the dog really and how they are looking. They go through so many growth spurts that it's hard to put an exact amount on how much to feed. A cup and a half of food per day, sounds like a good amount. That'll increase as he gets bigger.
Some can be more picky than others, my girls inhale their food, where as my boy kinda is the Munch....munch.....munch kinda guy. Still eats everything though. The girls are just chow hounds and will eat just about anything that you give them...
by beetree on 27 February 2009 - 14:02
Add a bit of yogurt to the kibble, he'll love you for it.
by Adi Ibrahimbegovic on 27 February 2009 - 17:02
Ha ha ha. Puppy biting. Pretty much every owner that gets a pup at 8 weeks goes through that, we've all been there. Seems likea typical GSD pup to me. You'll just have to put up with it and put up with all the biting. He will bite the hell out of anything he can get his teeth on until 4 to 5 to 6 months until ge gets his new teeth.
THis is what you need to do to make it easier for you. You need to arm yourself with a lot of patience first. Then, buy some QUALITY toys for working dogs, from sites like www.elitek9.com www.rayallen.com or www.hallmarkk9.com
If you do not buy good quality toys, the crap you buy from Petco will be destroyed within days, if not hours. Guaranteed.
Buy him a puppy biting tug and play a tug of war with him twice a day for a few minutes. let him win after a vigourous (when I say vigorous, I mean, age appropriate vigorous fight, appropriate for a pup). If you playa lot, these tugs will eventualy get destoyed too, so buy 2 of them, as well as some balls on a string.
As far as not biting your ankles. YOU have to redirect the bites. What does that mean? It means, offer him your newly bought toys and play WITH HIM, don't let him use your ankles as a playtoy, cause if you offer nothing else - he will. He will pretty much bite anything, stuff you would never dream of would have any interest in him, like patio furniture, old rope, a garden hose, deck patio wood, doors, doorknobs, plastic garden utensils, showels, rakes, fence, old shoes, gloves - pretty much ANYTHING he can get his teeth on.
Luckily, 8 weeks puppies sleep a lot. To get the energy out of him, play with him frequently during the day, tie a ball on a string and drag it in front of him, then tease him with it. He'll strom to it like a banshee. As soon as he is almost catching it, yank it off from him, he'll chase it and chase it and chase it. Let him "win" (meaning, let him catch up to it and bite it) AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GAME, when his enthusiasm and excitement is high. Then, take it away from him and use another toy, like an old rag or a towel on a string. Play those chase games in the backyard 3 or 4 times a day in short sessions, as your time allows, 4 or 5 minutes sessions.
Of course a towel on a string is going to look like shredded wheats in a few days, so make susre it's something you actualy want destroyed. He will basically chase anything dangled in front of him that you put on a string, like an old glove, a ball a rag etc...
Take him for a short walk to the park, or somewhere on the grass every day if you can, half an hour or so walk with him and let him explore all the smells, scents, crushed leaves, see the squirrels etc... I say take him for a walk, he won't do much running and he will stay close to you. Have a handful of treats in your pocket and when he wanters 15 or 20 feet from you call him entusiastically to you, and when he comes up offer a treat or two and play tug with a ball or some other toy that you brought along.
Young puppies sleep a lotand need to, so the more SHORT play sessions you have with him, the easier for him it will be to calm down and nap it off.
His biting will change from reckless biting, to playful biting to careful biting, to nipping to mouthing until he is 6 or 7 months or so.
I hope this helps. All this writing and I could have just said, play with him, offer something else than your ankles and hands for a bite and let him spend his energy. It's high but it's not boundless. Don't get frustrtaed with him or pissed at him for biting, MAKE him bite, but what you want him to bite = not your body.
Seems like a good puppy. Stick with what I said and keep at it, he'll ou
THis is what you need to do to make it easier for you. You need to arm yourself with a lot of patience first. Then, buy some QUALITY toys for working dogs, from sites like www.elitek9.com www.rayallen.com or www.hallmarkk9.com
If you do not buy good quality toys, the crap you buy from Petco will be destroyed within days, if not hours. Guaranteed.
Buy him a puppy biting tug and play a tug of war with him twice a day for a few minutes. let him win after a vigourous (when I say vigorous, I mean, age appropriate vigorous fight, appropriate for a pup). If you playa lot, these tugs will eventualy get destoyed too, so buy 2 of them, as well as some balls on a string.
As far as not biting your ankles. YOU have to redirect the bites. What does that mean? It means, offer him your newly bought toys and play WITH HIM, don't let him use your ankles as a playtoy, cause if you offer nothing else - he will. He will pretty much bite anything, stuff you would never dream of would have any interest in him, like patio furniture, old rope, a garden hose, deck patio wood, doors, doorknobs, plastic garden utensils, showels, rakes, fence, old shoes, gloves - pretty much ANYTHING he can get his teeth on.
Luckily, 8 weeks puppies sleep a lot. To get the energy out of him, play with him frequently during the day, tie a ball on a string and drag it in front of him, then tease him with it. He'll strom to it like a banshee. As soon as he is almost catching it, yank it off from him, he'll chase it and chase it and chase it. Let him "win" (meaning, let him catch up to it and bite it) AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GAME, when his enthusiasm and excitement is high. Then, take it away from him and use another toy, like an old rag or a towel on a string. Play those chase games in the backyard 3 or 4 times a day in short sessions, as your time allows, 4 or 5 minutes sessions.
Of course a towel on a string is going to look like shredded wheats in a few days, so make susre it's something you actualy want destroyed. He will basically chase anything dangled in front of him that you put on a string, like an old glove, a ball a rag etc...
Take him for a short walk to the park, or somewhere on the grass every day if you can, half an hour or so walk with him and let him explore all the smells, scents, crushed leaves, see the squirrels etc... I say take him for a walk, he won't do much running and he will stay close to you. Have a handful of treats in your pocket and when he wanters 15 or 20 feet from you call him entusiastically to you, and when he comes up offer a treat or two and play tug with a ball or some other toy that you brought along.
Young puppies sleep a lotand need to, so the more SHORT play sessions you have with him, the easier for him it will be to calm down and nap it off.
His biting will change from reckless biting, to playful biting to careful biting, to nipping to mouthing until he is 6 or 7 months or so.
I hope this helps. All this writing and I could have just said, play with him, offer something else than your ankles and hands for a bite and let him spend his energy. It's high but it's not boundless. Don't get frustrtaed with him or pissed at him for biting, MAKE him bite, but what you want him to bite = not your body.
Seems like a good puppy. Stick with what I said and keep at it, he'll ou
by Adi Ibrahimbegovic on 27 February 2009 - 17:02
Seems like a good puppy. Stick with what I said and keep at it, he'll outgrow it and your life will progresively get easier.
by Two Moons on 27 February 2009 - 17:02
How'd you do that Mystere??
by 4pack on 27 February 2009 - 17:02
Hopefully he wont get over it, send him to me an I'll put him to good use!
by Two Moons on 27 February 2009 - 17:02
People amaze me sometimes..
Hey 4pack.
Springs coming, I've got daffodils popping out of the ground, and the Sandhills flew through this week.!!
Hey 4pack.
Springs coming, I've got daffodils popping out of the ground, and the Sandhills flew through this week.!!
by LukasGS on 27 February 2009 - 22:02
Nah, I'm good. :> I'm pretty willing to stick through the work to better it all since I do plan on doing something with him. Not necesarily schuzhund, though it is still a possibilty. And I may ask some pretty basic questions but I really only want to do right by him. I want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong or if I should keep at what I've been doing, since I'm clueless, other than what I've read, which hardly any of it seems to be the case. I'm 18, And I've waited a long time to get this dog, since I'm his sole caretaker unlike the previous dogs I've had.
Thank you Adi! It was very helpful. As a matter of fact I do redirect him and quite often but more often than not he finds my flesh more appealing. I'll keep at it though, because I don't let him bite my ankles or anything, I dont think he understands I'm not playin'. I guess the main problem I suffer is when he bites me, even if it is unintentional, he will not let go!
I'll have to upload some videos of us playing in the yard. Because at this point I had a toy I hand made to play with my cat which was a toy dangled on string from a big ol' stick and now they'll both fight to play over it through the yard. Right now he's sleeping from a run about.
Thank you Adi! It was very helpful. As a matter of fact I do redirect him and quite often but more often than not he finds my flesh more appealing. I'll keep at it though, because I don't let him bite my ankles or anything, I dont think he understands I'm not playin'. I guess the main problem I suffer is when he bites me, even if it is unintentional, he will not let go!
I'll have to upload some videos of us playing in the yard. Because at this point I had a toy I hand made to play with my cat which was a toy dangled on string from a big ol' stick and now they'll both fight to play over it through the yard. Right now he's sleeping from a run about.
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