2 to 2.5 years is for them to reach their mental maturity as an average. Usually the physical body will reach its adult size by about 18 mths the rest they will either develop muscle or fat from then onwards depending on their conditioning. For a female, the heat will start at about 6mths to 1.5 years. These are depending on each individual dog and what their bloodline guides us. Some are early maturers while others are late bloomers.
PSD
Quote "Take this trouble for me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim ."
I had someone told me sometime ago about the way he uses visual guidance to decide the right weight for a working dog. I find it to be quite useful for my own use and maybe I can share it with you.
If you have a GSD look at the 2 bones near the tail on the top, each side of the dog. If you can't see it then it is too fat. Out aim is to be able to see a bit if it but no too much. In a working dog whom does a lot of running and jumping, we want to just slightly see the ribcage as well. this is my own way of reading.
As a guideline something like 65-85 lbs should be ok depending on the bone structure and build of the dog.
PSD
Quote "Take this trouble for me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim ."
well ive read a lot of your post and it seems that ure very experienced in GSD...welll i have two GSD, one is 8yo and the other one is 3mnths..i have some problem with my 3mnths old girl..she is a very fussy eater and had a hard time with feeding time...am feeding her 3 times a day and she normally will refused the dog food...i have been told to ignore her and take away her food after 30 min if she does not eat it and let her wait till the next meal...and the next meal she will eat very little and then tht's it until night time,..even night time she eats very little too..she wasnt like this when she first came back...if i do add in a bit of canned food then she will finish off everything within mins..any advice or suggestion? she's been driving me nuts with this prob...my old dog used to have this prob too when he was young but now he is very happy whenever he sees food...thanks Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
good to have u in here with us.ehhehe...errmm..was wondering whether u could give us some tips on showing gsd??i have a 3 mnths old female which i'll be showing in the minor puppy this coming show in penang..had a hard time trying to teach her to stack..she;s very impatient...pls give some advice ya... Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
ya ya have read about it...but i tot pups should be having 4 meals a day?...she's only 3 months wor?..have u tried barf???. heard response fr others tht its better than those commercial food...hmmm ..but its kinda troublesome to fix it dont u think so? Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
I've been barfing for long time after being introduced to me by another sifu. Never looked back ever since. Look at it this way, fresh food and processed food which is better in terms of nutrients contents? I agree that to the uninitiated, it sounded troublesome but most people started barf because they loved their pets and wanted the best possible feed for their pets. Therefore once they started and incorporated their feeding schedule into their daily life it gets easier and easier, much like normal meals preparation for our own consumptions.
Well the idea of 4 meals is breaking up the day food consumption into 4 sections so that the puppy can digest the food well, nevertheless have experienced that 2 sessions feeding does not effect negatively on 3 mths plus puppies. This is of course my own experience. I find that they will generally eat better if I use 2 sessions instead of 3 or 4. Of course I'm talking basing on the feeding in BARF where the digestability ratio and nutrients contents are better compared to processed food. For your further understanding you can address your further queries on this in BARF thread. I'm sure you will get more people to share their experience with you.
PSD
Quote "Take this trouble for me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim ."
thanks for ur advice..well i might consider your suggestion as i heard a lot of good feedback from others feeding barf diet as well...currently im feeding her dog food plus veges and some chicken breast occasionally...she seems to be doing fine and she loves boiled veges...ehee...anyway thanks a lot for ur reply.. Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
well will let u know if she makes any progress...ehehe..these two days quite ok...i noticed that if i take her out for a walk and play in the garden, she will usuallly eat faster..hmm..guess wht u said is right..lots of play will improved appetite..hmm..will keep tht in mmind and keep her busy playing with my older dog..ehehe..thanks thanks Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
Play and leisure walk is ok with the puppy. At this stage remember not to force run or jump the puppy like extended game of fetch and such. Be careful of hard surface play, it would be better in the field. This will help to safeguard the joints at this tender age of growing. Good luck.
PSD
Quote "Take this trouble for me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim ."
Welcom.. welcome.. to the GSDs owner list...!! Happy to see another GSD owner on this site.. hope u'll find this site useful.
haha.. wut a coinsedence tat u hv the same name as my beloved GSD, in this case i can't call her if u r joing us on gatherings lorrr.... hehe... but luckily different spelling ha.....
by the way, is it ur furkid in ur avatar? nice doggy...mind tell us more about ur GSD?
"haha.. wut a coinsedence tat u hv the same name as my beloved GSD, in this case i can't call her if u r joing us on gatherings lorrr.... hehe... but luckily different spelling ha....."
hehehe... yalor. Thank God it's a different spelling!
Well, that pic was taken when he's about 7 months old. Now, he's coming to 11 months. He's quite big according to some. But I do not think he's that big wut.... compared to some show dogs I've seen........Anyway, whenever I take him for a walk around my neighbourhood, people will try to avoid walking in the same direction as I m! I guess maybe b'coz I'm quite short and that makes him look even bigger, I think!!!
Well, he's very obedient & very 'teh' (in cantonese) So not like a GSD! And male some more!!!
glad u join the gsd group...ahhahaa..u know its like kena loteri when we have another gsd join in..ahahahhaa...its just so few in here and during gathering u can even count it with one hand..haha usually serene n me r the only gsds owner there....what's ur furkids name??? he looks beautiful...i have one gsd now at 6 months..is a girl...hehe..used to have another one but passed away last month due to old age...anyway hope to see ya in the next gathering as we really neeed more gsds!!!! or else we will always fall into the DLL ( dan lain lain) group when photo session..hahahaha... Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
Hi to all GSD owners ; My GSD had been neutered yesterday (16/02/04). Soo pity looking at him ... wearing collar that make him uneasy to eat and drink. The vet gave me a lotion and a liquid solution for cleaning the stitches - daily. The problem is my GSD does not allow me to check/touch the stitches area (a large and strong dog is not easy to hold on). Any experience owner here that can give me an advise on how to administer the lotion and clean the stitches area? Thanks
Yeah, I can see that there r only a handful GSD owners in this site. So sad.....
Thanks for your compliment. I actually don't have any experience having a GSD. He's my first. His name is Pongo. So let me know when is the next photo session...I'll try to b there, to make up the numbers!!
I'm so sorry to hear about your Richieboy. Like they always said, all dogs go to heaven....So, don't feel too sad ya... I know how it feels. I lost my dog too(a poodle X terrier) when I was still schooling. How old was your Ritchieboy?
well well great to hear from ya...my ritchieboy was 8+ ...never expected him to go so fast as he has been healthy all these while...anyway....where do u stay by the way? maybe we can organize a gsd get together..ahahhaa...how old is ur gsd now??? is he friendly?? Lots of love to my beloved Ritchieboy who has left us on Jan 11 2004..May god bless him
eelooooooo, Well, well we could definitely have a gathering somewhere... Serene lives in Klg (right?) u r in Kemuning and I'm in USJ.
Pongo is going to b 11 months old this coming Feb 26. He's quite friendly at the moment. I'm just afraid he's gonna b too friendly....he doesn't bark at strangers. he just stare at them. I'm afraid that he might not able to guard the house.....
Keano is super active and every time he see me, he will try to jump. I am worry on the stitches. Till now I am not yet administer the lotion on the wound/stitches ... hope that he will recover fast .
An ooo yaaa... he is a little bit hot temper and like to barks stranger and other dogs at the moment. I wonder why?
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I guess maybe b'coz I'm quite short and that makes him look even bigger, I think!!!
usually serene n me r the only gsds owner there....what's ur furkids name??? he looks beautiful...i have one gsd now at 6 months..is a girl...hehe..used to have another one but passed away last month due to old age...
anyway hope to see ya in the next gathering as we really neeed more gsds!!!! or else we will always fall into the DLL ( dan lain lain) group when photo session..hahahaha... 
