German Shepherd Central

Help with your German Shepherd Dog

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Teach your German Shepherd to stand still for grooming

Is your German Shepherd difficult to brush? Above is a video of Jabber the wooly mammoth, demonstrating a grooming trick you can try, along with a training strategy for teaching your dog to stand for brushing.

German Shepherds blow their coats twice per year: in the spring and again in the fall.

First, note whether your dog has any problems or sensitivity when you handle the following areas:

  • Ears (Does your dog have a history of ear infections?)
  • Tail
  • Skirts (hind legs)
  • Legs and paws (Any bad experiences with nail trims, in the past?)
  • Reaching toward her collar
  • Collar
  • Head

If so, you’ll want to resolve any handling issues before you begin teaching your dog to stand for grooming. (If your dog is growling at you or otherwise behaving aggressively when you attempt to touch him, do not attempt to train him on your own — contact a qualified animal behavior consultant or veterinary behaviorist!)

Steps for teaching your dog to stand on a platform while grooming

  1. Start by clicking for two feet on a platform.
  2. Once your dog will stand for 30 seconds or more on the platform, introduce the brush or grooming rake by showing it to the dog while he is on the platform, then clicking (or saying “Good”) and feeding. Don’t touch your dog with the brush yet! Repeat 4-5 times, or at least until your dog stops moving off the platform when you pull out the brush.
  3. Brush in short bursts, 2-5 seconds long, then stop, and feed.*
  4. Continue brushing 2-5 more seconds, then feed and release your dog.
  5. Start again, this time making some brushing sessions a few seconds longer before you feed / release.

Be sure to start brushing your German Shepherd in the easy-to-handle places (usually her chest and back) before you move onto trickier areas such as tail or skirts. Eventually, you can use the release as a reward, along with brushing areas he or she likes (such as the chest) as rewards for brushing the harder areas.

*You can drop the clicker at this step, unless you happen to be great at holding treats and a clicker while you brush! I do not use a clicker in the video above when I get to the brushing step, and carry the treats in my pocket.

Five things to do before bringing your new puppy home

Those little balls of fluff are adorable, but life can become miserable without accomplishing at least these five tasks first:

  1. Buy a crate. A crate is an indispensable tool for house training, as well as keeping your belongings and your puppy safe while you are gone. Crate-training takes a few days if your breeder hasn’t already started it with your new puppy, but most puppies take to it quickly if you are diligent.
  2. Choose your vet. If you don’t already have a veterinarian for other pets, ask your friends, co-workers or breeder who they recommend. If possible, schedule a “well puppy” visit with your veterinarian for the day after you bring your puppy home. (Most breeders will require the puppy be examined by a vet within 48 to 72 hours of purchase for the health guarantee to be honored.) When shopping for a vet, don’t hesitate to ask about recommended vaccination schedules, costs, restraint methods, and whether the clinic offers any “extras,” such as boarding or microchipping.
  3. Enroll in a puppy kindergarten class. A training class for puppies aged 8 to 18 weeks is a vital component of your new puppy’s life. These classes will not only get you started on the basics of obedience training and house manners, but should also allow your puppy the opportunity to play with other puppies. This is a must if you plan for your puppy to interact with other dogs throughout its life. Again, ask friends, your vet and breeder for recommendations, and visit the class in advance of enrolling, when possible.
  4. Prepare the menu. Decide before you bring your puppy home what food you will feed. Kibble, raw, home cooked or frozen — the variety of choices at the moment is astounding, so take some time to research options before selecting a food or feeding method. The solution is to choose an option that meets your puppy’s nutrient requirements, and that you feel good about preparing and feeding.
  5. Get some toys. What’s life with a puppy without dog toys strewn about the house? Choose sturdy, easy-to-wash toys that appeal to your puppy’s desire to chew. Rope tug toys and “puppy” chew bones are fine, so long as your puppy is only playing with them while supervised. Do not allow a puppy to chew any toy not specifically labeled for chewing (especially rope or cloth toys). Buy enough toys that you can rotate a couple sets in and out of your puppy’s life — they’ll be like new again!

What to do when your German Shepherd blows his coat

German Shepherds have two coats: a longer, firm outer coat with coarse hairs that usually shed out as single hairs and a softer, fluffier undercoat that sheds in big clumps. The German Shepherd loses or “blows” his ample undercoat twice a year (more often for pregnant/nursing females or bitches coming out of season).

GSDs need regular grooming year-round, but the grooming that takes place during the time a German Shepherd blows his coat (usually in the late summer or early fall) needs to be more intensive than usual.

Check out how to train your German Shepherd to stand still for grooming.

You’ll notice your German Shepherd is blowing his coat when you start to see clumps of light-colored undercoat coming out when you brush him or her.

This is a good time to give your dog a once-over with the brush and run a warm bath. Warm water, as well as the skin massage that comes with a bath, helps to loosen the dead hair so it will fall out more easily. Use a large rubber grooming brush in a circular motion to both shampoo and rinse during the bath (this Grooma Original General Purpose Comb works well).

After the bath, towel your GSD thoroughly to remove excess water from her coat. If your pup will tolerate blow-drying, use a high-powered dryer or a hair dryer on the “cool” setting along with a pin brush or comb to blow out the loose hair as your dog dries. An easy way to clean up after the brushing process is to groom your dog while he’s standing on an old bedsheet — when you’re finished, simply pick up the sheet and dump the hair in the trash. Shake the sheet outside and it is ready to put in the washing machine.

Just when you thought you were finished, the real fun is about to begin. An undercoat grooming rake will be the key to getting the rest of the undercoat that’s falling out. Use this tool lightly over your dog’s shoulders, flanks and tail, and not at all on the face, legs or ears.

You’ll want to brush until you’re tired for this first brushing (shouldn’t take long as there will be so much coat to pull); then wait a couple of days and brush another 5-10 minutes. You might do one to two more brushings about a week later with the grooming rake, then use it as a maintenance tool about once per month the rest of the year. If overused, the rake can remove too much undercoat, which is your German Shepherd’s protection against the elements. Use a regular pin brush for your dog’s weekly grooming sessions.

Photo Credit: spencerdax via Compfight cc

What is Canine Hip Dysplasia?

Canine Hip Dysplasia is a hereditary, degenerative disease common in many large breed dogs and large mixed breed dogs that can cause crippling arthritis in the hips. This disease is especially prevalent in German Shepherds; the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals notes that one in five German Shepherds whose hips are x-rayed and reported to the OFA show signs of the disease.

Normal hip joints function with a “ball-and-socket” construction; the head of the femur, or thigh bone, fits tightly within a circular inlet in the pelvis.

Normal Hips
Source: Gulf Cost Veterinary Specialists

In dogs who are suffering from hip dysplasia, the ball does not fit snugly within the socket; the head of the femur can be shaped incorrectly, or be a loose fit with the pelvis, or both. This condition causes unusually heavy friction on the joint as the dog moves, which in turn can lead to osteoarthritis, a painful inflammation of the joint.

Hip Dysplasia
Source: Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists

Hip dysplasia is rated by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals as mild, moderate or severe (there is also a “borderline” category, which indicates the dog is capable of developing hip dysplasia). Dogs with hip dysplasia can show few symptoms, or become incapacitated, depending on the severity of the dysplasia, the progression of arthritis, and environmental factors such as weight and exercise level. Although surgical options are available for severely affected dogs, these are often expensive and are accompanied by a long recovery period.

Hip dysplasia is almost always evident by the time a dog is 18-24 months old. There is no way to declare a dog free from hip dysplasia, or diagnose hip dysplasia, without hip x-rays.

The most common visible signs of hip dysplasia include difficulty rising, stiffness or soreness following heavy exercise, a distinct gait in which the back legs move together rather than independently, and reduced muscle mass around the hips and thighs. Some severely affected puppies will develop a limp before they’re five months old; to the untrained eye, this limp appears to be on a forelimb, rather than hind, as might be suspected with pain in the hip joints.

Maintaining a dog with hip dysplasia requires attention to nutrition, weight, exercise and activity levels. Check with your veterinarian regarding medical options, including surgery or anti-inflammatory drugs.

For more information, see:

Five reasons to avoid invisible fencing for your dog

Reasons I discourage boundary training any dog using an invisible fence, especially a German Shepherd:

    • You still have to train the dog. Many people assume an invisible or underground fence is “plug ‘n’ play” — that is, you simply install it, plop the collar on your dog, and let him play to his heart’s content. This is not the case (as the reputable underground fence dealers will tell you). The dog still must be trained to accept the fence’s boundaries. But the assumption that it is an “easy” way to contain a dog makes me question whether the potential owner is really willing to put effort into the dog’s care and training (i.e., regular walks, obedience), as well as make sacrifices (e.g., increased cost and imperfect landscaping) to accommodate the dog.
    • Electric shock. As far as I know, all varieties of invisible fencing operate on the premise that the dog wears a collar which produces electric shock when the boundary line is approached. Some dogs are so determined to make it through the fence that the shock level must be turned up unusually high. I have seen instances in which a dog wearing a fence collar was inadvertently shocked by the owner’s television, computer or vacuum. (Think of how healthy this is for the poor dog’s mental state!) I have also heard horror stories and seen pictures of third-degree burns caused by fence collars that have malfunctioned. Beware of the underground fencing dealer who tells you this can’t/won’t happen — after all, he’s there to sell you something, not to look out for your dog’s well-being. That’s your job.
    • Dogs can — and will — go through an invisible fence. And once they do, guess what? They won’t come back into the yard for fear of getting shocked; they aren’t stupid. They’re simply willing to take the shock the first time through to get whatever they’re after. And once they’re through, they’re free to chase other animals, get into fights, get hit by cars, be shot at, picked up by animal control, etc.
    • Underground fencing does not keep anyone from entering your property. Therefore, children, cats, other dogs, wild animals and the like are free to come onto your property and tease or terrorize your dog. And dog thieves find underground fencing absolutely delightful — all they have to do is take the collar off the dog and go!
    • This study linking use of or malfunctioning of underground fencing to serious biting incidents. Do we really need to make our dogs more subject to lawsuits and breed-specific legislation? Further reading: “Train With Your Brain” — Green Acres Kennel

Keep in mind this is my reasoning, and there are plenty of responsible rescuers/breeders who will place dogs in homes with invisible fencing. Also understand that a “real” fence can be a hallmark of lazy or irresponsible dog ownership and is certainly not a cure-all. But given the fact that regular exercise can eliminate the need for a fenced yard (a luxury) and given the variety of fencing options available, I’m inclined to turn down prospective homes who insist on invisible fencing, for the reasons listed above.