Just got a new dog and I'm a beginner

[Guest Anonymous]

Hello,

We stopped at a shelter today and was looking for a golden retriever mix that I seen on their website but when we got there she was already sold. So we looked at the dogs and fell in love with this sweet little shephard mix. She is 7months old. She was a stray and when they found her kind of a mess because she had fleas and is actually allergic to fleas. So she has no hair on her back but it's now growing in.

Anyway, this is our first pet ownership. I had a dog when I lived with my parents (a yorkie). I think they got him when I was about 15, and my husband had dogs and cats growing up but it was long ago.

Any advice on our dog? We already have a crate, and we went and bought some Nature's Miracle, a collar, a leash, dog bowls, a rope tug toy and a bone.

Tomorrow we are going to stop at our grocery store and buy the dog food (what kind do you recommend?) and treats. Also a grooming brush.

How often will I need to brush her? Aren't you suppose to brush their teeth too? How often?

Anything else I should absolutely know? I have three children as well (6,5 and 2) anything they should know?

[courtnek]

well first off, welcome to Dogo. :D

next, food is often a debated issue here. My bottom line is feed the best you can afford. Others here will have opinions and suggestions as well.

second...stay here with us. GSD's (German Shepherd Dogs), even mixes, can sometimes be a handful. This is a working dog, needs exercise, and DISCIPLINE. Your dog has guarding breed tendencies, you need to have a strong alpha presence and not let him/her get away with alot. Formal training is a good idea, at the very least basic obedience. This dog will be much happier in an environment where it has known rules, and a strong presence amongst his people. They are excellent dogs, but if not trained they can try to take over. Stubborn often applies here...Also, do not leave your kids alone with the dog. Besides the fact that they are very young and could be bowled over, its never a good idea to leave a large
dog with small children. An adult should always be there. The dog may be sweet as pie, but kids tend to prod, pull, tug and annoy dogs.

Lots of exercise, lots of training, lots of positive reinforcement for everything, and you'll have a dog you can truly treasure. Come here
if you need help. Theres a TON of experience here with all kinds of dogs and issues.

again, welcome aboard. I look forward to heating about your new family member.

:D :D

[kendalyn]

I would recommend you make an appointment at the vet so she can be looked over more carefully than the vet at the shelter did. And while you're at it you can set up the appointment for her spay (unless they already did it at the shelter).

Also, it would be good if you could find a place to take her for some obedience training. She's the perfect age to start teaching her good manners!

Good luck and be sure to post some pictures of her on here! :-)

[ESSlover]

Yes food is ALWAYS a bit talk here... feed the best that you can though! NOT Iams or Eukanuba (or however you spell it) though, i know that for sure! Hmmm... TDG?

[mouseatthebusstop]

[size=7][color=blue]WELCOME TO DOGO[/color][/size]did you ask the shelter what food they had her on her food must be changed slowly mixing the new food with the old. Other-wise she wil get a jippy tummy. Good idea to let your vet check her over

[AllAmericanPUP]

Try to stay away fom the foods at grocery stores.
like purina, pedigree, iams, alpo, etc.
but if grocery store food is the only thing you have access too, i reccommend Maxximum Nutrition.

but see if someone in your town/city sells a good food like innova, wellness, chicken soup for the dog lovers soul, pinnacle, etc.
they do cost more, but you feed less, and it is MUCH better for your dog than food like purina and pedigree.

here is a list of some of the best foods..

Amixx
Artemis
Azmira
Back to Basics
Bench & Field
Blue Buffalo
Burns
Canidae
California Natural
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Dr. Harvey's Canine Health
Eagle Pack Holistic
Evolve
Flint River Ranch
Fromm
Happy Dog Food
Healthwise
Holistic Blend
Innova
Know Better Dog Food
Karma Organic
Life's Abundance
Merrick
Monzies Muesli
Natural Balance
Natural Diet Foundation
Newmans Own Organics
Noah's Kingdon
Owen & Mandeville
Organix
Pet Guard
Pinnacle
Royal Canin
Sojourner Farms
Solid Gold
Spectrum
Spot's Stew
Steve's Real Food
The Honest Kitchen
Timberwolf Organics
Wellness
Wysong
VeRUS
Veterinary Nutritional Formula

[ed]

I can't believe no one's mentioned this yet...you need kongs gallore! dogs, especially herders like a GSD, get bored easily and this toy is a gurantee to keep him/her busy for a little while. when your dog is 7 months, you are going to be praising me for lending you this idea. kongs are lifesavers, I should know I have a vizsla pup and that's the only toy that takes her more than 15 minutes to devour. as far as toys go, I would recommend a squeaky newspaper as well. many dogs eat them up in a second or dislike them, but my two can't get enough of them. it's your decision though.

brushing, during shedding season, I would say once every couple of days. unless you like having a carpet the colour of your dog's fur. 8) normally, I usually brush my two twice or more a week. some dogs love it. :) my roxy can't get enough of it, she cozies right up to me and will sit there for an hour. you've definitely gotta brush her teeth. as often as possible is my answer. some times when a dog dislikes having their teeth brushed, it makes it hard to do so. since I have two who dislike it very much, I brush them once a week.

children and dogs is some thing I could rant on about forever. never, under any circumstances, leave your children and dogs alone together. accidents happen and dogs are still animals...remember that. try to get them all introduced on neutral ground. I'm not sure of your situation, does your new bundle know how to sit? (at 7 months I would hope so...) if the answer is yes, have the dog sit while the kids pet him/her one at a time. having them all come at him/her at once will be overwhelming and a dog could feel caged and start to nip. did the shelter give you any advice on the dog's personality? did she/he say that the dog was good with kids? sorry I just need more to go on...good luck though.

[imported_Kat]

Welcome to Dogo! There are no simple answers and you will have many questions as you go along. You will learn a lot from being here and from owning a dog. Each dog is different :wink: First off the vet is your first stop. Shelters vary in how good they are wth vaccinations/worming/treatment.

For feeding Innova or Wellness are good choices but it will depend on what is available in your local area.

Watch her with the kids. she should never be left unattended even to answer the door/phone. Teach the kids to respect her especially as she has had a bit of a rough time with the flea allergy and let her go to the kids to start with on a lead so that she can gradually get used to them.

Stuffed kongs are great ideas for entertainment as are activity balls or cubes which will help stimulate her. You would also be wise to enrol in an obedience or behavioural course which will help you bond with her in addition to teaching her some good socialisation factors.

Brushing with a shepherd. Obviously be careful of the area where she had the flea allergy as the hair is just growing back. You should brush her every day as its a great bonding exercise in addition to a necessity as Sheps shed a great deal of hair especially with season changes.

Enjoy her! :wink:

[imported_Matty]

Another really good idea is to practice the NIFIL policy. Have every one including your kids practice this policy.

[imported_Debbie]

:angel: Congrats on your new pup !!!! How exciting !!! I can almost smell the wonderful puppy breath from here.......... :lol:
Boy, have you come to the right place !! There are so many knowledgeable people on here that will give you great advice !!

My name is Debbie, from N.Y and I have 2 Jacks and a Lab/Rott
I feed my Jacks "Nutro Natural Choice" and you can get that from a Pet Store.
Not so lucky with my Lab/Rott she requires Prescription food from the Vet (VERY pricey).
Good luck with your new baby and enjoy her !! :wink:

What's her name by the way ???

[Guest Mutts4Me]

[quote name='AllAmericanPUP']
like purina, pedigree, iams, alpo, etc.
but if grocery store food is the only thing you have access too, i reccommend Maxximum Nutrition.[/quote]

Are you talking about the stuff they sell at Wal-Mart?

If you look at any Maxximum Nutrition product and match it up to the same Purina One product, you'll find that they read exactly the same. I found that out when I was feeding feral kittens at the refuge in Arkansas this summer. Wal-Mart was the only store we had access to, so that's where we bought their food. Maxximum Nutrition is cheaper than Purina One, but I'm almost positive that they're the exact same thing.

[DogPaddle]

I like Wellness, Wysong, Innova, Solid Gold and of course Canidae. For those that absolutely can't get the above I suggest President's Choice New Zealand Lamb formulae. Its pretty good - for a grocery store brand. Go with one of the others though if you can though.

[courtnek]

I feed Purina One Lamb and Rice to both of mine and they're very healthy and stable. Maybe if its the same I'll check out the Maxximum stuff at WalMart.

[TDG]

as far as food issues go, there's a lot of information here:
[url]http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/[/url]
only one thing on that topic here: stay away from [b]any[/b] dog food sold at grocery stores.

armed with that it shouldn't be too hard to find a good food that's locally available. point to note: pet stores aren't necessarily the best place to look, especially not large chain stores. i've had better luck with feed stores.

other than that?
i highly recommend the book "the other end of the leash" by patricia mcconnell, [b]especially[/b] to people who don't have much dog experience. it explains in detail how people and dogs have completely different methods of communicating and how from that mistakes are made on both sides. if you avoid those common mistakes, your life with your dog will be much more enjoyable for both dog and humans.

sadly there are still too many sources recommending so called "old school" methods for dog training around, as well as so called "celebrity trainers" who are highly touted by media but don't have a real clue either.

a GSD mix is likely to be a fairly large dog and one that's been a stray might need a little more work with certain things than a pup that had an easier start in life. the best thing you can do is to enroll in an obedience class, not only for training but also for socialization. if you are in the US, [url]www.apdt.com[/url] is a good place to look for a knowledgeable trainer.

that's all i can think of right now :)

[Guest Mutts4Me]

[quote name='courtnek']I feed Purina One Lamb and Rice to both of mine and they're very healthy and stable. Maybe if its the same I'll check out the Maxximum stuff at WalMart.[/quote]

I'd take a look. I'm not sure how much cheaper it'd be, but cheaper is always nice.

Wal-Mart markets a lot of things under their own brands which are actually produced by other companies. This allows them to sell it for less. I noticed it for the first time when they were selling a specific kind of mini-aquarium under a different brand name.

I tried doing an internet search and only found one site that outright said that Maxximum Nutrition and Purina One were the same thing... Everyone else seems to regard it as something entirely different, to the point where (as happened here) someone would outright say "don't buy Purina," but suggest Maxximum Nutrition as an alternative.

I'd look and decide for yourself :)

[TDG]

it's important to judge a food not by its name, brand or packaging, but by its ingredients.

absolutely mind boggling how some poorer quality foods can be more expensive to feed overall than high quality ones.

just because they are "popular" also doesn't mean they are of particularly great quality.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm back. I had a hard time getting to the computer as the puppy was scared to come down the basement steps..lol. I got her up and down them today.

She was spayed early friday morning and we took her home that evening. She was miserable and even though she felt horrible she was so trusting with us, would want to sleep all the time next to us, and had only one accident when she first arrived home but went outside to eliminate the whole rest of the evening.

I took her to the vet monday and he said she looked more like 5 months old. We got some flea medicine and some medicine for her kennel cough.

She is probably the best dog I have ever met. She is wonderful. Already housebroken (we got her friday and I'm writing this Tuesday). She is so loving and sweet and boy is she happy to see us in the morning or when we come home from someplace. She has not done anything inappropriate at all. We have brand new white couches in our family room and she hasn't given them a second thought. She isn't real hyper at all but I got her running around our yard today. We take her on walks a lot and we do have a big privacy fenced in yard that she can go out whenever she wants. I walk her when I get the mail, and in the mornings when I walk the kids to the bus stop. Really can't say enough about her, she just loves attention! She just took no time at all in just loving us unconditionally.

I crate her when I leave and she cries and it breaks my heart. It makes me not want to go anywhere. Does it get any better? Also should she always be crated at night or can she eventually just sleep in our bedroom?

[imported_Debbie]

When my 3 were tiny pups, I'd crate them while house-breaking if I couldn't keep my eyes on them. As they got a little more reliable I'd gate them in the kitchen area if I had to leave the house.
Luckily for me I'm a stay at home Mom and Daycare provider (in-home).
Now, they have the run of the house when we leave and they're fine.
Mine have never slept in a crate.....they've always slept with me at night and still do. :wink:

[Guest Anonymous]

Well I tried to see what she would do with me at night. she slept for about 3 hours but then got up and walked down stairs and pooped on the steps..lol. So I put her in the crate. Will try again in a few weeks.

[imported_Kat]

it really depends on where you want her to sleep. If you want her in your room, then put the crate in your room and ignore her if she whines, so that she knows that she must sleep in the crate and that whining will get her no where. Work on the house training with her and make sure she is taken out immediately before bedtime. Dogs usually view a crate as a nice safe haven but it takes a little bit of work sometimes.

[imported_Debbie]

hollie, when I had mine sleep with me as tiny pups, I would put their leashes on them and have the end on my wrist........when I felt the pup stirring and moving about on the bed...that would be my cue to get up and take them outside !! It worked for me.......not saying it's for everyone, but it definitely worked for me !! :lol: