German Shepherd
Popularity: №4
Origin: Germany
full info about breed >>
9 Weeks Old
If you’ve got a German Shepherd puppy that is around 9 weeks old, then there are many concerns you need to care for. There’s the problem of biting, correct feeding, and training.
Apart from that, your dog should very soon (if not already) separate from its mother’s care and live its own life. This also means that you will have to care for the puppy even more than ever.
Proper medical attention, regular walks, etc. At that age, your puppy’s ears will probably stand up and get more rigid. And, as said, correct feeding is key for your pet’s development. But how exactly do you care for such a puppy?
Weight and Size
First of all, at the age of 2 months, a dog will already be at around 20% of full adult growth. The weight of a male German Shepherd increases at a very high rate, about 1 kg (2 lbs) per week, and thus at the age of 9 weeks, it would weigh 9 to 10 kg (18 – 20 lbs).
As for the female counterpart, the weight is slightly smaller (by 2 kg, or 4 lbs). At this point, both dog genders should be 12 to 15 inches in height. Though it is fine if the dog is a bit too light/overweight, the development speed is quite different and varies from one German Shepherd to another.
With that said, a puppy that weighs 3 to 4 kg (6 to 8 lbs) less than expected is probably not fed correctly, the same goes for the other side. Perhaps you are feeding it incorrectly/inconsistently, or the food is not nutritious enough?
Training
If you are wondering, you indeed can train such a young puppy, although it can learn much fewer tricks than an adult dog would. Mainly what you want to focus on is bite inhibition, as random biting is an extremely often problem throughout all individual German Shepherds.
Other tricks may include:
- The give paw command. Quite easy to teach and simple to learn, especially for a German Shepherd.
- Sit down/stand up. It would be a good idea to teach a puppy these tricks, as they may be necessary for further training in the future.
Care
We’ve already stated above how important it is to care for 9 week old puppy. The puppy has probably left his mother’s lair or just doesn’t require her care. It is obvious, that leaving a dog without care would be equal to abandoning it. So, it is fully up to you to feed, groom, heal and play with that German Shepherd of yours.
On the bright side of things, the said puppy is much more independent than before and will help you care for itself. It also doesn’t require as much energy as before, because the growth process is gradually slowing down, resulting in a lower amount of food distributed to the dog every day.
Conclusion
Concluding everything above, the “age of separation” (from the parents) for a German Shepherd requires a lot of responsibility from you and the dog itself. The amount of things you have to worry about is increased. If earlier most of the things were done by the mother, then now you have to play her role in the puppy’s development.
Nonetheless – the most important thing separating wild and/or homeless dogs from a domestic ones – is care. Without it, you can’t really know what an adult German Shepherd would end up being.
Additionally, the pet at this point actively learns from its environment. If it’s raised up in bad and “evil” conditions, it will be bad and evil. And, on the contrary, if the conditions are good, kind, and comfortable, the dog will correctly measure the situation and definitely won’t bite a random stranger that doesn’t mean any harm to you and your close ones.
And, finally, good luck with your 9 week old German Shepherd, and thank you for reading!
