Central Coast German Shepherds Feeding and Grooming Schedule
Crates, Toys, X Pens, Kuranda Beds and More.......
DIET: Did you know Hip & Elbow Dysplaysia can be caused by feeding a poor diet? Only 20% of Hip Dysplaysia is from Genetics. The other causes are environmental! FEED A QUALITY FOOD to your German Shepherd! For more info on Hip Dysplaysia and causes, refer to the "Hip Dysplaysia" & "Life Saving Info" page under the "Health Risks" tab above.
We are proud to announce that we are feeding Life's Abundance for the health of our puppies and dogs. Life's Abundance...Enriching Life One Product at a Time®Scroll to the bottom for ordering direct from our site.
We feed and recommend Life's Abundance Puppy food until 15 months of age! Then transition to Life's Abundance All Stages. Due to the quality of Life's Abundance, you will feed smaller portions at each meal than a lesser quality food. You can order your dog and puppy food in different size packaging but we recommend the large bag 40 lb size for Adults and 35 lbs for Puppy. Most dog and puppy foods that you will find locally are typically 26 - 30lb bags. Although we don't recommend it, if you should decide to put your puppy on an alternative diet, it is very important that you do not make this change drastically. You must mix the current diet with the new diet to avoid diarrhea and gradually reduce the amount of current diet each feeding. It is best if you purchase your puppy food prior to bringing your puppy home. There are many great dog foods on the market and many more very poor quality foods. It is important that you feed your new puppy a high quality food to help him grow properly. Poor diet can have an impact on the increased chance of environmental Hip Dysplasia. EPI is a autoimmune disorder sometimes found in German Shepherds and a poor quality diet may be a strong contributing factor since lack of quality nutritional support is known to weaken the immune system. Play it safe, feed your new puppy a quality diet of Life's Abundance Puppy Food until 15 MONTHS and then All Stages Life's Abundance.
IS YOUR DOG/PUPPY CONTINUALLY SCRATCHING? First of all, check for fleas. Your Central Coast German Shepherd Puppy will be free from pests and worms when he goes home with you. If you notice your dog or puppy scratching and you have looked closely at their coat and body by spreading the hair to see the skin and there is no evidence of fleas then your dog may have allergies. The best course of action is take a look at what you are feeding. You should not have allergies with a high quality diet however, we have found that a small amount of COLD PRESSED Coconut Oil (start with a 1/2 tsp & work up to a full tsp. within 3-4 days) mixed into their food daily will assist with a dry coat. Any dietary changes will take several weeks to get results, be patient.
If you cannot commit to having your food and supplements sent directly to your doorstep, if you have allergy issues or there is some other reason you are unable to feed the quality diet of Life's Abundance the following are some ALTERNATE Food Options:
LIfe's Abundance Puppy until 15 months of age
Life's Abundance All Stages from 16 months on
Fromm Puppy - In the Pink Bag (AS AN ALTERNATE DIET feed the pink bag for all ages. This diet nutritionally supports the energy needs of our German Shepherds
Orijen ~ Adult
Taste of the Wild Puppy ~ High Prarie Grain Free
Taste of the Wild ~ Sierra Mountain Grain Free (this is an adult diet)
SUPPLEMENTS:
We supplement our puppies and adult dogs with Pro-Pets hyperbiotics. This is an excellent Probiotic for your puppies intestinal health. German Shepherds have very sensitive intestinal tracks. You can order the Pro-pets from Amazon for about $20.00. Please don't rotate your dog foods!
We also supplement our ADULT dogs with Dasuquin with MSM for Joint Health. This can also be purchased on Amazon or through Chewy.com
Your puppy is on a strict feeding schedule. This is the feeding schedule as of 8 weeks of age. Ideally, food quantity should be based on the growth curve of your breed of dog. Overfeeding can cause excess weight gain, diarrhea, obesity in adulthood and joint and bone issues in the large breed puppy. Be sure to review the feeding guidelines recommended on the packaging of your puppy food formula and measure each serving accordingly. As your puppy gets older and bigger, you have to adjust the volume of food. NOTE: These feeding guidelines on the packages are suggestions! An 8 week old puppy from our kennel eats 3 times daily and has plenty of fresh water at all times. Having your puppy on a schedule will assist in house training too by making it more predictable when your puppy will need to eliminate. Just like children need structure, your puppy does too. Your puppy is currently on the following feeding schedule:
**** 7:30 a.m. Breakfast ~ 12:30 Lunch 4:30 p.m. Dinner ****
Your puppy is growing rapidly at this time. By 8 weeks of age he should be eating approx. 3 cups per day ( 1 cups at each feeding) and so on. Your puppies digestive system is very sensitive. Overfeeding can cause diarrhea. Remember to adjust the amount you feed him as he grows! If you choose a different food, read the recommended amount to feed for the weight of your puppy on the back of the food bag. Be careful, your puppy can dehydrate very quickly if you overfeed him and he gets diarrhea. Feel free to adjust your feeding schedule to work within your schedule but he should eat 3 times a day until he is 15 months old. Just try to be consistent. Plan your feeding times with the time needed for play and elimination. By feeding your puppy 3 times a day he will have better nutritional absorption of the nutrients than if you are feeding only twice daily. If your puppy gets Pano (growing pains) you may have to feed 4 times a day (smaller meals). This has been found to spread the energy he gets from his diet further throughout the day allowing for slower growth. Pano can cause significant growing pains when the bones grow too fast. It also puts stress on the bones. If your puppy gets growing pains, contact us immediately and refer to the Health pages on this site that explain Pano.
HOUSE TRAINING: Do not leave your puppy loose in your home and expect him to know where to go. Your puppy will always need to eliminate immediately when waking up from a nap, 30-45 (usually closer to the 45) minutes after eating and 30 minutes or so after playing. There are many great books on training your new puppy that you can find at your local pet stores or library. You can also refer to the House training page on this website. We have litter trained your puppy! What this means is when your puppy has been CONFINED in an X pen in our home ( kept in a controlled space) he's been provided a place to potty. He has been provided a similar place to potty outside and is taken there immediately after waking up in the morning, after eating, after playtime to encourage potty place is outside. They have been transitioned from the litter box to the front lawn for elimination however, still offered the litter pan.
GROOMING: We love our Furminator. German Shepherds have a double coat, some Long Hair German Shepherds have a single coat and have less shedding while other long hair coats will still have a double coat. They will generally shed their entire under coat twice a year (the first 6 months of the year and the second six months of the year....LOL) Actually, once in the spring and again in the fall. You will know when they are shedding their coat as you will see lots of extra hair around. We use the Furminator during shedding seasons and once a month, all year long. In between the furminator, we use a Furminator brand soft bristle brush to keep our dogs well groomed and healthy. We clip their nails bi-weekly and bath our dogs every 6 - 8 weeks or more frequently, if needed. If you are brushing regularly, your german shepherd will not need frequent bathing. There are many great shampoo products on the market. Be careful about Oatmeal shampoos if your dog has allergies as oatmeal can also dry the skin. Brushing will bring the natural oils into the coat. Be sure to brush and comb your dog PRIOR to bathing as well as after the bath. Too much bathing takes the natural oils out of their coat. We use a once a month flea control and heart wormer. Frontline is our preferred. We DO NOT USE ADVANTAGE FLEA AND TICK! It is also important to clean your dog or puppies ears regularly. Simply gently put 8-10 drops of Ear Cleaner into each ear and massage at the base of the ears to loosen wax and dirt in the ear. When you release the head they will shake. Take a tissue or cotton ball to wipe the ear clean. Do not stick anything down into the inner ear such as a cotton swab. Simply wipe the outer ear and your done.
SOME OF OUR FAVORITE GROOMING PRODUCTS:
Eco Ears by Vet Organics ~ $20 on Amazon $18-20 on Chewy.com Excellent for everyday ear care after bathing, playing in the water or just to clean your dogs ears. Great for ear infections too!
Shampoo, Conditioner: San Juan Ranch, Santa Cruz Animal Health ~ $18 on Amazon UltraCruz Canine Shampoo and Conditioner are amazing products
OUR FAVORITE TOYS: Chewy.com has some of the best prices on toys! The Kong Toys, The Fire Hydrant Treat Holder and the Peanut Butter Filled Bones from Lemos (peanut butter only!). Some dogs are gentler than others. Some will play gentle and others will tear every toy you have up and then some. We like these toys for all of our dogs and puppies. They cant destroy them and we provide plenty of them so they learn what is theirs. If you have problems with your puppy chewing on things that he is not supposed to...be sure he is getting plenty of exercise. We don't allow our dogs to rough play in the house. If you do it today, they think it's o.k. all the time. If you don't want your dogs on the furniture later, don't invite him up on the couch while he is a puppy! Create good habits that you can all live with and be happy for many years to come.
TREATS: NO RAWHIDE OR GREENIES. Rawhide can swell in the intestines and can kill your dog. Feed natural treats only. We also use our dog food kibbles as treats during training. We always train on an empty stomach to make the treats more attractive.
If you are going to use other treats, try to use All Natural Treats. Please read the labels on treats!
If you wish to order Life's Abundance Puppy Food, Dog Food, Treats and more just click on the link below. If you wish to purchase wholesale, just choose autoship at checkout. You can change or cancel your autoship anytime.
Click the link above to shop ALL Life's Abundance Products OR for quick shopping, just click the QUICK LINKS below to go direct to some of our favorite Life's Abundance products:
Bath Mist is great for in-between bathing. Just spritz onto your puppies brush and brush it into the coat.
Furminator Dual Brush for regular grooming throughout the week. |
Use to Nourish skin irritations
Natural Deodorizer excellent for cleaning your puppy crates, beds etc.
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Kong Wubba Kong Ball & Rope Everlasting Fire Hydrandt
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Advantek Exercise Pen ~ Medium Size . These are our favorite X Pens. We use these as playpens in the yard or in the house when we can't keep an eye on our puppies/dogs. We have a lot of predators here in the country. The roof keeps the hawks and owls from snatching up our puppies when outside. If your puppy learns to be in a crate or playpen when you can't be watching them, these pens are great. If you don't introduce them to X Pens when they are young, you will not keep them in this when they get older. Your German Shepherd could easily get out of this pen. All of our dogs are trained when they are little to use them so, we could leave the tops off and our dogs won't jump out of them, even though they easily could however, we have to secure the door latch as most of our dogs can open the gates! These pens can be purchased on Amazon for about $160.
KURANDA BEDS. Not all beds are created equally! These are guaranteed for a full year. We have one yet to be destroyed! They keep your puppy off the floor which allows for air circulation around your puppy and supports good joint health. We have tried other beds similar to Kuranda and they don't last. These are awesome beds and our puppies and dogs love them as much as we do. Don't buy a little bed, your puppy will grow quickly.
5% of your purchase will be donated to: Warrior Canine Connection by Placing your order using the link below. Warrior Canine Connection enlists recovering Warriors in a therapeutic mission to train service dogs for their fellow veterans. Through mission based Trauma Recovery, 1 dog can assist in the recovery to as many as 60 veterans recover from the stress of combat.
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