Introduction
Normally, the young dogs appear at the house at age between 7-9 weeks. Now, when you German Shepherd puppy is 2-month old, what should you do? How to feed him? Can any training be done already? Let’s go through some of this problems together.
Average Size and Weight
According to German Shepherd growth chart, your puppy should weight now about 20 lbs. if male, or 16,5 lbs. if female. Obviously, the size and height of individual dog will also largely depend on his parents size and weight at birth. So if the puppy looks healthy and you don’t feel the ribs sharp under the skin – he is fine.
Food Diet
Until now he was getting 4 meals a day and 2 months is a good time to change his diet a little bit. You can give him food three times a day.
Milk-mix every meal and meat, starting from 4 oz. of soft jelly product, adding biscuits and bones when the puppy is ready to chew. Hard to say how much you should give him, try to figure it out from the pup himself. Normally, he’ll walk away from the dish when he’s full.
Biting
Many people complain that German Shepherds are biting them at this age. Well, there are two reasons for that:
- Teething
- Playing
Just like any baby when the dog is teething is feels itchy and unpleasant. So biting is the only way to give his gums a little scratch. What you have to do is to buy him special toys in the pet store, so he can use them for chewing. There are also some that you can put in the freezer overnight, so they will have even better cooling and soothing effect.
Then, of course, they might be biting you and other people. Sometimes also because of teething, sometimes just to play with you. There’s not much training the puppy can take at this age, but learning not to bite is one lesson you have to give him right now.
If he uses his teeth on you, grab his muzzle shut firmly, look him in the eyes and say “no teeth” in strong and serious tone. Then walk away. The puppy needs to know that if he bites he’s losing you company straight away.
Potty Training
Another essential training you can start immediately is housebreaking. You need to get him to learn as soon as possible that the house is absolutely not the place to poo and pee. Also you should socialize your puppy with people and other animals. But be careful a bit before 16 weeks’ shots, this is the period the puppy still can get some disease from other animals or their excrements.
So make sure you walk him in places he’s not too much in contact with potential dangers. Some owners actually prefer only taking out the dog at this age for potty training sessions. But even if you do just that, remember that the puppy has a lot of energy and should have enough time and space to play and release it even if kept mostly indoors.
