Dog Advice...

[Jammer]

I've just recently adopted a full blooded german shepherd dog from and adoption agency. She is aca registered and so fourth and has been microchipped since a pup. Shes 1 yr old and seems to be well tempered at home and around people although she is a little shy and timid around new people for a about and hour or so. I and the adoption agency I adopted her from think that perhaps her previous owner beat on her since she seems to like women off the start but are a little leary of men and seeing as her owner was a man. The problem I have right now is that she is around 20 lbs underweight, she only weighs 58 lbs and should be weighing around 75-85 lbs. We believe that she was not fed very much with her previous owner. I give her food but she doesn't seem to want to eat, she seems to drink ok and she is very active, I take her for a walk in the morning and in the evening and sometimes in the middle of the day, our walks are around 2 miles a walk. I would think keeping her active and walking her so much would bring up an appetite but she still won't eat. I tried her on adult dry and mixed in a can of adult can food but she won't touch it, so I mixed a can of puppy with her adult dry and she ate it the first night but since then she won't eat no dog food. I haven't tried to get her to eat human food, I could try but my only question is if she has been used to eating human food if I start to give it to her also she will stay with not eating dog food. I've had to people tell me to 1. boil some chicken and mix it with some rice and give it to her or boil some hamburger and mix it with rice. They say that she should eat it and it will help pack in calories. I just don't want to have to go to the vet again for another bill. I took her wednesday the day after I got her and the vet said she is looking good except a bit under fed. And after just getting my cat declawed and spayed I have little money to be paying out for another bill this week.

So anyone here have any advice as to what else I might be able to try.

[WocusWoman]

Was she fixed by the adoption agency? Does she have normal stool, or diarrhea? Is she regurgitating her food? We have two cocker spaniels that are unfixed, and they are slightly under weight and very very active. When our male dog becomes very underweight; which is normal when the female is in heat, he stops eating enough. The vet advised us to leave a full bowl of food down for the dogs, all the time. If your dog has the above symptoms, she probably has something medically wrong with her. My other advice is to not exercise is so much.

[nt_inuk]

Was she fixed by the adoption agency? Does she have normal stool, or diarrhea? Is she regurgitating her food? We have two cocker spaniels that are unfixed, and they are slightly under weight and very very active. When our male dog becomes very underweight; which is normal when the female is in heat, he stops eating enough. The vet advised us to leave a full bowl of food down for the dogs, all the time. If your dog has the above symptoms, she probably has something medically wrong with her. My other advice is to not exercise is so much.

GR8 points Wocus ...
If she's got normal stool, then just have patience and keep a bowl of dog food out for her, lots of water.
german sheps are a beautiful dog.
all the best to ya jammer and your new pooch.

[Jammer]

Well since my post I have since returned the dog back to the adoption agency. I told the woman that 1. I couldn't get her to eat, except for the one meal within the week or so that I had her. I even tried some different foods and she had no intrest. I bought a tube of nutrastat I believe its called and fed her some of that, just to help put some vitamins and so forth into her. Her stool was fine and no regergitation at all. She loved chewing on things and everything else that a young dog does except eat. Also when she would get up off the floor from laying down her bones would crack every time. I didn't noticed this until I got her home. For anyone that knows about german shepherd dogs they are good for having hereditary defects such has common hip displaxia. With her only being 1 yr old and already cracking and her hips catching there is no way I would want to put her into surgery for reconstructive hip and bone replacement. I'm not greedy with money, but with her being so under fed within her first year of life theres not much you can do to undo the bad that is done. The dog also got up on my furniture, which I don't mind but the lady told me she didn't do that, also she chewed my hat to pieces and drug sewing pins all through the house, which the lady said she wasn't a chewer. The lady was more then happy to take her back and refund my money, she stated that she wasn't going to adopt her back out until she got her eating habits under wind and fattened her up a bit, wether the lady will do that or not I don't know.
I have decided to wait until next summer or so and spend around 1,000.00-1,500.00 for a good quality pup. If I'm going to spend money it might as well be for something from good stock. Also with my planning on having him trained with obedience and entered in with Schutzhund I would rather be the one to raise him the right way, with properly socializing and a well nutrioned diet. A well based foundation should prove good in the end. I'm in talks with some really good breeders and handlers that are going to help me find the pup that meets my expectations and quality of life, hopefully I'll make the right choice. Thanks for your advice and opinions wocus and inuk.

[Blackbear]

sounds almost like she's got a twist in the bowels

[nt_inuk]

I'm in talks with some really good breeders and handlers that are going to help me find the pup that meets my expectations and quality of life, hopefully I'll make the right choice. Thanks for your advice and opinions wocus and inuk.

Hi ya Jammer:
It is to bad that your adopted pup was returned, but by the sounds of it ... you tried what you could ... and well ... i commend you for that, as many would not have taken such time and care. German shepherd dogs are known for hip displaxia and it is a sad thing to see your babe go thru this ... even sadder, when your G. Shepard is so young. It sounds like you want a dog and will take the time to "shop" around for a great breeder - to match a dog to your needs ... and this is good. Jammer; I wish you all the best in finding, raising and enjoying your future best mate ... German Shepards are a beautiful breed of dog ... majestic and very loyal ... (like most dogs) but i have a soft spot in my heart for this breed, as i had more then one growing up; however, one imparticular stood out, we lasted together for almost 16yrs ... his name was Tiger and a pure bred German Shepard whom had great hips to the end ... i still have Tiger in my heart ... we grew up together ... :Thumbs Good Luck Jammer :Thumbs

[Jammer]

Thanks for the reply inuk. Yea I also grew up with a german shepherd in the house. She wasn't quiet black but almost. She was one heck of a protection dog. I can remember being about 6 or so and trying to hop over the fence into the back yard and she shredded my coat off of me until I spoke, once she realized it was me she back off. But her temperement wasn't the greatest in the end, while eating one day she tried to rip my little brothers arm off because he was to close while she was eating. Needless to say we had our aunt hang on to her for a while and then one day she gave her away. I figured now that I'm old enough and have my own place theres no reason why I can't get a gsd. As you stated earlier gsd are good for hip displexia which is a coslty percedure to have corrected in the end. The gsd we had growing up was from american bred stock gsd, I will most likely get a german bred stock pup, they different between the two are, the american bred german shepherd is much leaner and slimmer, they seem to be a few inches or so taller and have a longer body length, the german bred gsd seems to be at the basic heighth around 22-26 inches and is much more muscular and stockier. I guess I"ll have to wait and see how the next couple of months go, hopefully I can find a good breeder either here or in germany and get things rolling.

[Jammer]

I don't think so bb, although I'm not a vet. But gsd are known for their stomach's flipping. As far as I know is if their stomach's do flip they have to be rushed into surgery asap. So I would assume if it was a flipped stomach she would be dead by now. Also she seems to have good bowel movements during the week or so that I had her, where or how she was able to still process food I have no clue. I wouldn't think that only one meal would be distrubuted in spurts like that. Hopefulyl they can get it under wraps. Although I was sensing that the lady wasn't really giving me the whole deal, she seemed to be relying on already spoken information and not really giving any new out. And for her to be so happy to take her back and refund my money seemed a bit weird as well considering she already had 3 dogs of her own and 4 other adoption dogs she was trying to adopt out. Almost sounds like dog farm but for older animals.

[nt_inuk]

And for her to be so happy to take her back and refund my money seemed a bit weird as well considering she already had 3 dogs of her own and 4 other adoption dogs she was trying to adopt out. Almost sounds like dog farm but for older animals.

"dog farm" that's enuff to make me :Cry ... i know of these places from seeing them on the news ... and each time i see one of them i think, "those ppl should trade places with the animals in their care" ...

[nt_inuk]

Thanks for the reply inuk.

:Thumbs your welcome Jammer :) I have great memories of Tiger ... He was one of our Guard dogs and my closest one outta a few. i think that since i was there (as a lil' grl) when we picked him up down south, he and i had to share a back seat for about a 16 hr drive back up home ... i think we bonded ... cause ... he became my dog ... we spent many a hours in the bush/woods as we both grew up ... but, Tiger wouldn't let any one near his dish, or boss him (like i did :) ) except me ... lol ... i used to hold a lil' treat in my lips, and this big dog would come barrelling over - skid to a halt, sit and no one could believe how gently he'd get the treat and if i wouldn't let it go ... he'd sit back, look at me like ... wellllllllll ya gonna let me get it. lol he's was such a good dog for me. by the sounds of it Jammer, ur future dog will be entering a good home. :Thumbs thanks for reminding me about my Tiger :Thumbs

[alamosaurus]

One of my friends has two dogs, a golden Lab and a
Rottweiler Shapard mix. The latter has almost the
exact opposite problem of the dog you descirbed. She
is SPOILED! I go over there some times for an evening
snack. While the other dog is asleep, she comes in with
a long sad "nobody ever feeds me, nobody ever pays any
attention to me" look on her face (actually she is quite
well fed), and positions herself either near or under the
table. She likes people food. If anyone drops anything,
she snaps it up immediately--sometimes before it hits the
ground. She will eat anything--fruit, cheese, bread, even
pies. She also wants to be petted constantly. There are
manipulative people--but there are manipulative dogs as
well. And they know exactly what they are doing.

[Jammer]

:Thumbs your welcome Jammer :) I have great memories of Tiger ... He was one of our Guard dogs and my closest one outta a few. i think that since i was there (as a lil' grl) when we picked him up down south, he and i had to share a back seat for about a 16 hr drive back up home ... i think we bonded ... cause ... he became my dog ... we spent many a hours in the bush/woods as we both grew up ... but, Tiger wouldn't let any one near his dish, or boss him (like i did :) ) except me ... lol ... i used to hold a lil' treat in my lips, and this big dog would come barrelling over - skid to a halt, sit and no one could believe how gently he'd get the treat and if i wouldn't let it go ... he'd sit back, look at me like ... wellllllllll ya gonna let me get it. lol he's was such a good dog for me. by the sounds of it Jammer, ur future dog will be entering a good home. :Thumbs thanks for reminding me about my Tiger :Thumbs

No problem inuk glad I could bring back some good memories. Yeah the dog will be entering a very good home. I live in a neighborhood were almost everyone has a dog, you can see them walking them at all times of the day. My only problem will be with obedience training. I'm going to be training the dog in either german or czech for later on schutzhund training, and my room mate can't seem to get her mind to flip back and forth. I've caught her at other times telling an animal the same thing in both english and the trained language, which from what I've been told and taught that will confuse an animal quick as heck. Of course she says she can't help it, which she might not be able to, the only thing is if she can't seem to do it then I'll have to tell her not to give the dog any commands ever. I'm not to sure how that will go over with her. I just don't want to spend 1000 on a dog and another 150.00 a month for training just to have a person within the house screw all the training up. My room mate has never been around a dog much, all of their animals were out side so they never tried to teach anything. I guess when training comes in to play I'll have to train both at the same time eh LOL.

[nt_inuk]

I guess when training comes in to play I'll have to train both at the same time eh LOL.

lmebo ... well to that last sentence ... i say, "good luck" jammer ;)