Just a few questions :)

[kchristy]

My 4 year old recently decided that he wanted a GS. We needed a breed that would help protect him and our home, being that my husband and I are both in law enforcement, so I went to searching. I was looking on Craigslist and found a man that had DS. I had never heard of them so I started doing research. I fell in love from the very first moment I saw them. I messaged the man, went and looked at the pups and we got one. When "Soba" came home with us he was defintely weaned too early (5 weeks). He was very unhappy and layed around most of the time. I was very scared for him and had him looked at. He is healthy and is definitely coming around. He is very quick to learn and I have never felt companionship with a dog, like I have with him. He is always watching and paying attention, he is amazing. He even loves our little chihuahua. Anyway, the questions that I have are this, he is about 7 weeks now and his one ear is starting to flop. I have read other posts and have seen that when they are teething this can sometimes happen, so Im not too worried. I saw where people had mentioned food and nutrients so I was wondering if puppy chow will give him enough of the nutrients to help with his ears? I want to make sure that he is getting enough of what he needs, but we also live life of a budget. I plan on getting him some higher grade food and some chews to help with this. At what age should I start to think about taping his ears, if they dont start to stand up. As you can see from the picture, his ears have been erect since we got him. The right one is starting to drop and just barely at that. Also, I read a page that said DS don't have dewclaws, but have seen pictures of, "papered dogs" that have dewclaws. This part really makes no difference to me, I'm just curious. Any help will be great Thanks for all the info in the forum, I think this is going to be a really helpful place to help raise our Dutchie, being that most people in this area have never even seen one!

[kchristy]

Also sorry for asking so many questions in my introduction

[GSDNanny]

What a cutie pie! I've had GSD pups before whose ears flip-flop, do the ear-wall thing or go backwards, with every day being something different until about 10-12 weeks and then miracuously they stand. Then again, I have had pups who at 3 weeks had standing ears that never changed.
So with that said, your pup is still young.

[Sugars Mom]

Oh, what a cute pup!!

Welcome to the forum...I'm no help with the ears, mine has floppy ears, but still cute!

[CaroleBoaz]

Hello! He is very cute! I love how he has his front legs crossed.

[Marjolein]

Welcome

Awww, that pic..those paws! *melt*

[vneerland]

Welcome. Very cute looking pup.
I will refrain from comments about a dog that was allowed to leave the litter at 5 weeks of age. I hope that he will be all you hoped for in your pup. The ears, if they have already been up, will continue to go up and down until after he has been 16 weeks, maybe even longer. You have months of floppy ears ahead of you before you should worry about anything. I have no clue what you paid for your pup, nor do I want to know, but the best investment you can make right now, is feeding at least a decent grade food. If you feed kibble, do not go for Ol'Roy or discount store brand, for heavens sake, but at least go to a purina brand or something middle of the road from the grocery store. Bad food will not help grow a solid skelleton, wich may lead to high vet bills later on.

[kchristy]

Thank you all for the advice. He definately loves a camera! I am so happy with him. I will stop worrying about his ears for now! Also, vneerland I know what you mean about the pup being taken too soon. If you could, do you mind to private msg me some of the issues that I might have with him being away from his mother too soon. I want to raise the best Dutchie that I can and would welcome any advice or story. It wasn't really a professional breeder(as you can tell) that I bought the pup from. The owner had an adult female and a 8 month old male and the male bred the female. The man was looking to get rid of the puppies as soon as possible. I was really interested in the breed and wanted to give a pup the best home that I could. My mom used to be a Lab breeder, so I know that they are suppose to stay with the mother for longer. I hope that everyone will understand I did alot of research on the breed and respect it very much. They are amazing dogs and look forward to what he will become

[kchristy]

Also I have been feeding him Purina Puppy Chow so hopefully that will give him all the nutrients he needs.

[Schlussdibusti]

What a cute pup! Too bad he couldn't be with his momie longer.......

IMHO, home made food, raw or cooked, is still better than the top of the line commercial food. And I tried everything under the sun within the last 13 + years. And it is also cheaper. I am on a tight budget as well and have two big dogs. This is our home cooked recipe (but I alternate with raw):
10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters (save-a-lot $6.90) covered with water in a huge pot, a bit of rock salt and some herbs (Thyme, Basil, Majoran,..) When the legs are cooked, I take them out and put in 2 cups of rice (20lb bag at save-a-lot $7.99), at least a pound of fresh carrots cut in small pieces, a bag of frozen string beans, two good hand full of Kale, garlic and whatever is on sale (green cabbage, sweet potatoes). While that cooks, I take the meat off the bones (cooked bones are a no-no) and throw it back into the pot. Done! This will last about 5 days with my guys feeding just this (and if I don't eat too much of it too ) but I alternate with raw chicken backs, beef heart and liver. This batch costs about $10 and will last for a puppy probably at least 2 weeks.
If you like to supplement, I use Solid Golds's Seameal (vitamins, minerals, enzymes), natural Vitamin E (400IU), Vitamin C (calcium ascorbate), fish oil and raw honey. They also like to get some apple (no seeds), banana, all kinds of berries.

[Lauren]

Hi Katrina, I can see why you fell in love.... what a cutie pie.

I, too, found the breed by accident and jumped in without the full story. I read all sorts of on line histories of the breed and many dog breed books' accounts of the breed. Only once I put a deposit on a pup did I start finding all of the you tube attack videos and found this site of actual owners.....

I adore my girl. She is a handful of a pup, though (she is 18 weeks now but I got her at 7.5 weeks). I had not heard of the no dew claw thing and am very interested to hear some replies. My Xena has such BIG dew claws that I am sure she is trying to grow opposable thumbs!!!! Lets all hope that doesn't happen!!!! Seriously, she has little pads on them and uses them a lot.

Anyhow congrats on your new little one! They are so photogenic aren't they?

Lauren

[Lauren]

PS. I feed my girl raw food. My husband and I are gardeners so we are not raking in the big bucks. But I feed my 2 dogs and three cats raw. I grind up the raw chicken for the cats (adding egg yolks, vitamin E, chicken livers and salmon oil) but for the dogs to start out on chicken wings, chicken leg quarters etc.

I love that they love it. It seems right, their poops really don't stink and are small, the dogs' teeth are so clean, everyones coats are shiny and no one is fat. (maybe I should try raw.. haha )

[kchristy]

Thank you all for the positive support Im so happy to find a group to talk to about him, being that there aren't many who have even heard about them here, let alone those who own a DS. I think the homemade food idea is a good ond and I will try it

[vneerland]

Katrina. It actually makes me feel a little better that the person who had this litter, just wanted to place them a.s.a.p, vs someone who bred them on purpose, but could not wait to cash in.

Also, I read a page that said DS don't have dewclaws, but have seen pictures of, "papered dogs" that have dewclaws. This part really makes no difference to me, I'm just curious.

Not sure what page that would have been, but it is not true. DS's DO have dewclaws. Not usually on the hind legs, but certainly on the front. They are not typically removed, certainly not in Europe, where, I believe, it is practically illegal to remove anything these days!

[kchristy]

Thanks for the info, I know the dewclaw thing seemed strange, when like I said, I was seeing purebred dogs with them. Seriously though, get on google and type in Dutch Shepherd Dewclaw and see how many sites pop up that say they don't have dewclaws. Anyway, I am very happy with Soba and have never seen a more beautiful breed than the Dutch Shepherd.

[Dutchringgirl]

Welcome Katrina and Soba,

I have to say, Craigslist would be a red flag for me. But anyway, glad she is in a great home now! She is a beauty! Ive heard that crossing the front legs is a sign of intelligence. Dont worry about her ears, I fretted over my pups ears, glued, taped, and it didnt work and they eventually stood by themselves at around 6-7 months. I have always fed Purina products until I went raw. Purina is the only kibble I would feed. Although they think they have went to Heaven now with the raw, I bet your girl would love it.

[kchristy]

I will have to try the raw, I bet they do love it! Soba is really intelligent, I can see that already. My son and I, were taking him for a walk, when another dog got out of its fence and came running at us. Soba is close to 2 months and did everything he could to get between my son, I, and the dog! He never had to growl or anything, just those ears(they both stand when he is alert) and his body posture alone made the dog turn around and go home. It was interesting to see how he would be around other dogs, being that he loves our other little dog. We love him very much and at home he is just a big baby, but when he is outside he is so alert of everything that is going on. We have started basic obedience and he catches on so fast, he really is amazing.

[Schlussdibusti]

I think the homemade food idea is a good ond and I will try it

Just change him over very slowly to homecooked or raw. His system needs time to adjust to it or ..........

What I like the most about the self made food, you can adjust and fine tune it to the T for your dog. Like too much fat or not enough, more or less protein, etc. The dog food industry did a pretty good job brain washing the public, scrare them away from raw and self made. I wonder how dogs survived before dog kibbles were invented 60 years ago. They surely seem to be more healthy then according to what I hear from parents and grand parents. But that's OT, just wanted to help keeping the food cost down.

[kchristy]

Thank you, they have done a good job brain washing. I always thought that kibble would be better, although I guess it depends on what you are putting in the homemade. The idea of chicken, rice, and veggies for my puppy makes me happy. I want him to be strong, beautiful, and healthy. I really appreciate the recipe that you gave me and plan on getting some stuff to make it today Thanks again for the advice

[Jan]

Welcome. And what a nice looking puppy you have.