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Any German Shepherd keepers?
- Thread starter Weda737
- Start date
MysticExotics
(formerly NWHeather)
I do! I've been a die-hard GSD fan all of my life. My dad has had them since I a wee one.
The only other breed I like as much as the GSD is the Belgian Malinois, which I currently have a GSD/Mal mix.
Most of mine have been rescues. I have had both purebred and mixes.
Michelle, my initial thought on yours was GSD/Chow mix, but I could be wrong.
The only other breed I like as much as the GSD is the Belgian Malinois, which I currently have a GSD/Mal mix.
Most of mine have been rescues. I have had both purebred and mixes.
Michelle, my initial thought on yours was GSD/Chow mix, but I could be wrong.
AliCat37
Michelle's Candied Corns!
Aren't chows pretty big burly dogs? He only weighs about 35 pounds and isn't expected to grow too much more. I keep thinking a shiba mix. One day when I have money again I'll get a doggie DNA test. But those are pretty much a shot in the dark as well.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
MysticExotics
(formerly NWHeather)
Ah. He looks bigger in the pictures than that. LOL
I was looking at the fluffy coat and curly tail.
He sure is cute.
I was looking at the fluffy coat and curly tail.
He sure is cute.
Weda737
100% Soul free.
He looks a lot like my black wolf mix, He had enough chow in him though that he looked kinda squat and stiff legged. Whatever he is he's absolutely gorgeous. I still have skinny Sadie but she's not so skinny anymore. She is best friends with my GSD pup, she's 8 months old now I think, a black and tan named Kaya. I got a new memory card for my camera and I need to take some new pics.
Shiari
Blutterer
Chows are actually fairly small dogs. Most of the ones I've met at work have been around 30 to 40 lbs.
I had a pure GSD as a foster puppy for 24 hours. I got her when she was 2 hours old. Sadly, her sire damaged her lungs in the process of chewing off one of her hind legs (how I ended up with her as a surrender) so after that 24 hour mark she began having significant breathing difficulties. Her name was Holly Trinity and I'm still super sad to the point of tears about her even though it's been months and months. I was so looking forward to watching her grow up.
I had a pure GSD as a foster puppy for 24 hours. I got her when she was 2 hours old. Sadly, her sire damaged her lungs in the process of chewing off one of her hind legs (how I ended up with her as a surrender) so after that 24 hour mark she began having significant breathing difficulties. Her name was Holly Trinity and I'm still super sad to the point of tears about her even though it's been months and months. I was so looking forward to watching her grow up.
Weda737
100% Soul free.
okay, if this works, I'm just gonna link you to my facebook album, you can watch her grow up and read her story. There's a lot to it, I was bad and bought her from a backyard breeder, she was the last one and he had basically given up even trying to get rid of her. She was full of sticks and twigs and table scraps. Took me a while to get her on track. You can copy and paste it, I'm too tired and moody to get techy. https://www.facebook.com/rita.wood....01051277113.1073741829.100001516692373&type=3
MysticExotics
(formerly NWHeather)
She is beautiful and I loved seeing her smiling pics! 
Don't feel bad, my first GSD I purchased from a breeder that I *thought* I had researched. She turned out to be a backyard breeder who had a habit of picking up an moving to avoid getting in trouble.
My girl had a birth defect, and when I went to contact the breeder, she was gone, I was never able to track her down.
Don't feel bad, my first GSD I purchased from a breeder that I *thought* I had researched. She turned out to be a backyard breeder who had a habit of picking up an moving to avoid getting in trouble.
My girl had a birth defect, and when I went to contact the breeder, she was gone, I was never able to track her down.
Weda737
100% Soul free.
lol she is a big goober. Her big girl black and tan colors are coming in and she looks so ragged with tan splotches. What was your pup's birth defect if I may ask? I half didn't think Kaya was going to make it but I shelled out 200 just to get her out of there. I should have walked off with her without giving him a dime but he was a big intimidating kind of guy, his other dogs were pits and rotts.
MysticExotics
(formerly NWHeather)
It was a defect in the base of her spine. When she was between 2-3 yrs old, she started showing signs of a problem. I had her xrayed, afraind of hip dysplasia, but found out otherwise. The vet gave her 2 years, before I would have to put her down. Rimadyl was a new drug back then, and they didn't know how much it would help her. They also said we could try surgery, but didn't have much hope for recovery.
She was 6yrs old when I had to put her down.
It was an incredibly hard decision, one I have had to make a couple times (the last one being the beginning of March, when I had to put my boy, Koda, down, due to cancer).
He was a rescue. He was supposed to be a temp, 4 day foster, but I fell in love and adopted him. I had him for 6 and a half years before I had to say goodbye.
I still miss him every day, but the pain of losing them does not compare to what they bring to your life.
Clearly, your girl is well loved, and she is happy.
Here is an old pic (about 17 years ago) of me and my first GSD.
Then my beloved boy, Koda.
And also my two girls, both GSD mixes. Rory, the black and tan is a GSD/Lab. Alexa, the tan one, is a GSD/Malinois mix.
I've had Rory since she was 12 weeks old. She will be 9yrs old in April. She came from a puppy rescue, who got the whole litter from eastern WA. The mom was a stray, found giving birth to the pups under a construction trailer. Rory was the only one who looked GSD, all the others looked Lab.
Alexa was pulled from a shelter in CA right before being euthanized due to lack of room.
She was brought to WA by one of the GSD rescues. I went to look at her a few weeks after I lost Koda. One of my friends who raises Mal's (she has three) recognized the Mal in her, and had it not been for that friend, I do not know that I could have known how to deal with her. She came with her own set of issues, from her previous owner, but we have worked through a lot, and I wouldn't trade her for anything!
She was 6yrs old when I had to put her down.
It was an incredibly hard decision, one I have had to make a couple times (the last one being the beginning of March, when I had to put my boy, Koda, down, due to cancer).
He was a rescue. He was supposed to be a temp, 4 day foster, but I fell in love and adopted him. I had him for 6 and a half years before I had to say goodbye.
I still miss him every day, but the pain of losing them does not compare to what they bring to your life.
Clearly, your girl is well loved, and she is happy.
Here is an old pic (about 17 years ago) of me and my first GSD.
Then my beloved boy, Koda.
And also my two girls, both GSD mixes. Rory, the black and tan is a GSD/Lab. Alexa, the tan one, is a GSD/Malinois mix.
I've had Rory since she was 12 weeks old. She will be 9yrs old in April. She came from a puppy rescue, who got the whole litter from eastern WA. The mom was a stray, found giving birth to the pups under a construction trailer. Rory was the only one who looked GSD, all the others looked Lab.
Alexa was pulled from a shelter in CA right before being euthanized due to lack of room.
She was brought to WA by one of the GSD rescues. I went to look at her a few weeks after I lost Koda. One of my friends who raises Mal's (she has three) recognized the Mal in her, and had it not been for that friend, I do not know that I could have known how to deal with her. She came with her own set of issues, from her previous owner, but we have worked through a lot, and I wouldn't trade her for anything!
Attachments
Weda737
100% Soul free.
My Aussie is on Rimadyl, we try not to use it often but for really bad days when she's stiff and groaning. She had arthritis really bad in her spine. She was down in her hind legs for a couple weeks. Feel like it was my fault. It was 3 am and I let her out to potty, I stood on the back porch and where I live it's safe for her to run supervised, it's just cow pasture and woods, there was a deer she was staring at standing at the edge of the trees, she looked at me and I told her to go ahead. It was so far and she's very obedient and won't leave the yard so I told her she could run. She did, she ran hard and threw her back out. She screamed and tumbled and I ran out there, carried her back to our bed and my fiance and I sat with her all night until the vet opened in the morning. She had feeling in both hind legs and one would move just a little. Two weeks and some rimadyl later she walks, runs and jumps. She's gimpy and weak, needs help up the stairs sometimes and her breaks aren't that good when she fetches, but she's doing really good for an old girl. I think she's 8 now.
Weda737
100% Soul free.
That's Hana, in my albums, the aussie. Since we switched to grain free kibble, I just can't afford raw or home cooked for this many pigg- um, puppies. But switching to grain free has helped Hana so much, lost the extra weight and now she's the one putting slimey toys all over me at all hours of the night wanting to fetch. Even the puppies, Sadie and Kaya, are crashed out when Hana wants to start games.
MysticExotics
(formerly NWHeather)
I'm personally not a fan of Rimadyl. I know it works for some, but it can have an adverse reaction on others. My boy Koda had a bad reaction. I was only giving him half doses, only when he really seemed like he needed it.
I later talked to another vet who won't give Rimadyl to dogs over a certain age, because they tend to have the bad reactions.
The vet for the rescue gave me Rimadyl for Alexa after she got spayed, but I only gave it to her one day. I had a couple people tell me that Mal's ahve a higher metabolism and higher tolerance for pain, so I stopped giving it to her and she didn't seem to be bothered by not having any pain/anti inflammatory meds, so I never gave her any more.
I am glad to hear that your girl is doing well on it. It kills me to see a dog in pain.
I later talked to another vet who won't give Rimadyl to dogs over a certain age, because they tend to have the bad reactions.
The vet for the rescue gave me Rimadyl for Alexa after she got spayed, but I only gave it to her one day. I had a couple people tell me that Mal's ahve a higher metabolism and higher tolerance for pain, so I stopped giving it to her and she didn't seem to be bothered by not having any pain/anti inflammatory meds, so I never gave her any more.
I am glad to hear that your girl is doing well on it. It kills me to see a dog in pain.
MysticExotics
(formerly NWHeather)
I have fed commercial raw (Darwin-made here in the Seattle area) and I loved it, but it is very expensive.
I know you can feed raw on a much better buget, putting everything together on your own, but I don't have the time or the patience for that.
I feed Fromm Surf and Turf. It's the best kibble I could find. It can be hard to get, only two stores in my county sell it, but my dogs are doing very well on it (not quite as good as raw, but better than any other kibble I've tried).
You can order it online, but I just pick it up at one of the pet stores not too far from me.
Speaking of, my Maligator is "reminding" me that it's dinner time. Haha
I get nose nudges, and if I ignore her, nibbles, and paws.
I know you can feed raw on a much better buget, putting everything together on your own, but I don't have the time or the patience for that.
I feed Fromm Surf and Turf. It's the best kibble I could find. It can be hard to get, only two stores in my county sell it, but my dogs are doing very well on it (not quite as good as raw, but better than any other kibble I've tried).
You can order it online, but I just pick it up at one of the pet stores not too far from me.
Speaking of, my Maligator is "reminding" me that it's dinner time. Haha
I get nose nudges, and if I ignore her, nibbles, and paws.
Weda737
100% Soul free.
lol that is so cute. I use Sportmix wholesomes, mostly the fish and rice. It has no corn, wheat or soy. Full of omegas and that's always good. Never heard of Surf and Turf, I will definitely look into it. I always keep an open mind when it comes to caring for my critters. I pay about 32 dollars for 40 lbs of that sportmix. Can't find a better deal for that quality.
Hana typically only needs one every other month or so. lately in this cold and with an increase in her activity it's been about every couple weeks. I had her on cosequin for a long time, need to get another bottle. She eats my fish oil gels like they are candy too. The one issue I've been having is she has a lick granuloma on her hock that has been impossible to heal. She had one on that knee but finally left it alone enough to heal. The one on her hock keeps trying to heal and moving around. I guess it's from nerve damage or even restlessness when I have to work and no one is home.
Kaya is having a hard time leaving cats alone. She wants to chase them, hover over them and just put her giant horse feet on them. I know it's a shepherd thing to herd but its aggravating.
Hana typically only needs one every other month or so. lately in this cold and with an increase in her activity it's been about every couple weeks. I had her on cosequin for a long time, need to get another bottle. She eats my fish oil gels like they are candy too. The one issue I've been having is she has a lick granuloma on her hock that has been impossible to heal. She had one on that knee but finally left it alone enough to heal. The one on her hock keeps trying to heal and moving around. I guess it's from nerve damage or even restlessness when I have to work and no one is home.
Kaya is having a hard time leaving cats alone. She wants to chase them, hover over them and just put her giant horse feet on them. I know it's a shepherd thing to herd but its aggravating.
Michael823
New member
I've got me a German Shepherd, and she is nothing but quirky. She likes to throw things at me, bring me unwanted gifts, or pull my headphones off to get attention, she has a ritual every night, in which she becomes possessed by a demonic spaz and starts pouncing figure-8's in the middle of the living room floor (for an apparently good reason), and I once caught her up on the bathroom-sink-counter just sitting there for the heck of it.
But I love her. And she's awesome. I just wonder where she gets her crazy ideas from.
But I love her. And she's awesome. I just wonder where she gets her crazy ideas from.