You picked German Shepherd to be your perfect pet? Very good choice, I must say. When should you take a puppy home and what to expect raising it? I’ll tell you what I know about it.
7 Weeks of Age
The best period to adopt the new puppy is 7-9 weeks, this is a perfect time to socialize a dog. But we’ll come back to this. First, you have to choose your breeder.
One thing you have to keep in mind is that the Americans mostly breed the puppies for their looks while Germans do it for the specific breed qualities. So if you’re in need of perfect working dog, get in contact with European standards breeders.
How Much Pictures Puppies?
When you wait for your puppy to grow up enough to be brought to your home, it’s very important to know if it’s raised indoors of mostly outside. It’s vital how much the dog is used to the common household sounds if it’s planned to be living inside your house (and it should) as family pet.
Ask your breeder for the pictures or, even better, for a visit between 3-5 weeks. This is a start of socialization period and you need to pay attention that the puppy gets to meet new people at this time and plays enough with his brothers or other pets.
Biting Puppy Training
If everything is good, you bring your puppy home around 7 weeks old. At this age they need immediately to get proper potty training. With their intelligence this dogs can be trained for any work and adopt almost any behavior.
So, from the young age you should start to work on the barking and biting, that will be the first of his lessons together with good toilet habits.
Feeding Puppies and Food Diet
You might have questions about the feeding of your pet. Usually the adult dogs need 3-4 cups of dry food a day, depending of their size.
For the puppy the important part is to keep their diet high-quality but low-calorie (22% protein and 15% fat) between four and seven months, when their growth is very rapid. This diet will not let them grow too fast and will help them not to develop bone disorders tat they are prone to at this age.
Big Weight 7 Weeks
Gaining too much weigh it really unhealthy for the German Shepherd at any age. Big part of keeping your puppy fit and healthy is giving him enough exercise. This dog, that was bred as a working animal and not a home pet, has high level of energy.
If you ignore their need to burn it, you’re getting yourself in a lot of trouble. Bored puppy will bite and chew, dig and destroy everything that is on its way.
So let them run and play to blow of their steam and make enough other trainings to let them use that big brain they have. Then you will have a pet of your dreams!
