Supplies and Equipment I need for bringing home a German Shepherd puppy?

Ricochet_Chloe

Hi all, I just want to know what I will need and what I have to do when bringing home my new GSD puppy..

*What I have to do the first thing I bring him home
*What kind of food would be the best
*When and how to introduce him to the crate
*When to start walks
*How to train him to walk on a leash
*ECT.

Thanks,
Chloe.

aonb

Not kissing and cuddling that cutie 24/7 will be the first thing!

How old is he? Have you had a dog before? Is he going to be a family pet or to work?

Ricochet_Chloe

aonb wrote: »

Not kissing and cuddling that cutie 24/7 will be the first thing!

How old is he? Have you had a dog before? Is he going to be a family pet or to work?

haha ! I don't have him yet :P ! he is going to be a family pet and to maybe guard the house I'm looking for a good companion in him:) and yes I've had dogs before

angelfire9

Dogs will automatically guard their territory IMHO they don't need training for that
I'd concentrate on the basic training first personally
But I don't have a dog at the moment living like a crazy cat lady these days :rolleyes:

The Sweeper

First thing when you bring he or she (are we assuming a him?) home, in my eyes, would be to settle the dog in a single place - like the kitchen. Wherever their bed, food and water bowls are going to be. Get them used to a single indoor space first, and then gradually introduce them to the rest of the house over days - it's pretty overwhelming being a new pup. /edited to say: I believe in creating a 'safe space' for pets when they're introduced into a house. That could be a crate, but I don't know because I've never used one - I just use a large bed and that performs as the 'safe space'. It's out of the way, in a corner, and it's where the dog goes for quiet time. I do the same for cats - set up a safe space which is pet-ground-zero. Once the pet has accepted that space, I work outwards from there. Just to be clear, because the next thing I suggest is socialisation, which may sound like it contradicts 'start in one place and move gradually to the rest of the house'.

Socialise, socialise, socialise. Every day your pup should meet a new man, a new woman, a new boy, a new girl, see a new place, sniff a new thing, hear a new noise. Vacuum cleaner, doorbell, television, washing machine, car horn, reversing truck, other dogs, cats, horses, cows, sheep. Take your pup EVERYWHERE. People will tolerate a puppy the way they will NEVER tolerate an adult dog. If you miss the opportunity to socialise a pup, you never get that time or that chance back.

I'm sure DBB will weigh in on the vaccination versus socialisation - I'd be in the camp that says don't keep your dog indoors for the first 16 weeks of its life because its vaccinations aren't finished, because I think you miss absolutely vital socialisation time. Don't be taking your unvaccinated puppy to the dog park, but don't restrict this vital socialisation period because of vaccine worries. There's a happy medium.

The rule for walks is 5 mins per month of life, so you work up to a 30 min walk per day aged 6 months. Saying that you can socialise your dog without pounding the pavements for hours with your pup. Socialisation for a shepherd pup is absolutely vital, I can't stress that enough.

I'll leave someone else to address crate training, because on a purely personal, unscientific level, it freaks me out a bit and I'm not a fan.

Train from day one - absolutely day one. Toilet train from the moment you get home. Your pup should have sit and drop within a week (seriously there's no reason for it not to), and teach a release word - like 'okay'. That means the pup does the command until you release them with 'okay'. (Otherwise, what does 'sit' mean? Sit for a second? Graze the ground with your arse and then keep going? If you teach sit, okay, and lie down or drop, and okay, the pup should remain in a sit or drop position until released. This is very important - and it also means you never really have to teach a short term 'stay'.)

Food wise, feed your pup whatever the breeder was feeding the pup. A change can cause an upset stomach. Investigate the food you want to feed, and then introduce that over time, but start off with whatever the pup has been eating all along.

DBB

Loads of vital info on puppy rearing (and indeed, the fallacy of pack leadership, as you mentioned this in another thread) to be had at http://www.dogstardaily.com. Lots of info about setting up an appropriate puppy den, a model I have to admit to preferring, because like The Sweeper, I'm a little bit lukewarm about crates... I prefer playpens. That is purely a personal opinion, based on having used both crates ans playpens many, many times with different dogs.
More info about the fallacy of pack leadership as a model to approach dog training here: http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/
I'm on my phone so can't like to PDFs, but if you Google "Merial puppy vaccination and socialisation", you'll quickly find links to a PDF from Merial, the vaccination company, about appropriate socialisation before vaccinations are complete.

fenris

You need consistency above all with a GSD, they pick thinks up in approx. 7 repetitions, that contrasts with other breeds where the figure can be as high as 70.
This means that the pup will learn quickly, the downside is it will not take long for someone to undo that good work especially in the early days., e.g. you say "sit", you mum says "sit,sit sit" and your dad says "sit down", the dog doesn't understand english, they just pick out the sounds and all of the above are different commands as far as the dog is concerned.

For real fun and bonding look up clicker training, GSD's love that stuff and it makes you think about what exactly you are teaching, it is often not your intended topic!

Unfortunately the attitude of most people towards GSD's mean that you have to be absolutely above reproach with regard to dog behaviour, a lab having a sniff is cute but most people think a GSD is trying to eat them, fortunately most GSDs are well up for obedience after the brain fairy visits (sometimes in installments, small installments). Plan on getting a good solid down in place and use it a lot in public e.g. when meeting people, it gives the impression of a calm and under control dog.

As far as gear goes:
- a Halti, it looks enough like a muzzle to satisfy most people
- a puppy kong, its a chew toy and he will need it, lots of good chew toys
- an old item of you clothing that smells like you for in his bed (it will probably get ripped up when you are not around, he is trying to surround himself with your smell for security not demonstrating pissed offness, it will save your shoes, well some of them)
- a ball or something that you only play with for training
- a good size water bowl and a food bowl
- a bed, non chewable
- a good lead, most people use a long leather lead for GSD's, their bodies are quite long and it saves you tripping over them if you decide to let them walk ahead, personally I always keep my dogs in close and don't let them forge ahead very often.
- ear plugs for your parents for the first while especially at night.
- pooper scooper and bags.
- you may want to try a harness as depending on the proportions of your dog as he grows, collars can sometimes slip off and head collars get too close to his eyes.
-name tag, with just your number on it.

Don't get too hung up on gadgets, he is a dog and wants to be with you, so your time and attention are the important things.

Also plan on getting pet insurance sorted early, anything that happens or comes to light before you put it in place can be argued as a pre-existing condition excluded from coverage.

Food wise, start with whatever the breeder was using, then figure it out from there, changing dogs food can result in messy poo if you do it too quickly.

Do whatever you need to do to secure your back garden before the dog arrives and have a few bits and pieces ready to block up the bits that you missed or thought were too small.

Decide on the rules regarding sofas, beds, feeding etc. up front, they are hard to change later, when the cult little ball of fluff is now 45kg of muscle and bone but still wants to snuggle up like a puppy.

fatmammycat

Fenris has pretty much covered everything I would have said, except biting. GSDs are referred to as 'Land sharks' on one site I frequent, and can be really nibbly and nippy as pups. Redirect as much as possible and do not get frustrated when they think your hands and feet are the most fascinating thing of all time. It's a stage and it passes. Puppies explore with their mouths and play with their mouths so keep cool, even though puppy teeth are like needles :rolleyes:
Also, with my guy, I found actual games made him tired and happy when he was young, GSDs love pulling games, so keep that in mind. A lenght of rope can be the MOST useful toy of all time, as long as you're prepared to hang on the to the other. It's a cheap toy, but my god my lad still gets endless entertainment out of it, and he's 19 months.
Most important thing is be patient, don't expect too much from a puppy. Everything you put into them will stand to you later their lives. Best of luck.

LucyBliss

We crate trained from the start and it became their safe place to hang out when they needed a nap. After a year, I was able to leave them at night with the crate door open and after a year and a half, I was able to only have to use the crates when my grandmother's home help would come in during the day and we were able to go out. They were only crated so that nobody would open a door and they'd come a running out.
Now that she has passed away, we don't use the crates at all. I can see why people would not like them but to us, they were invaluable for the situation we were in.

To introduce them, we put their beds in and let them sniff around it and then come out again. Then we'd entice them in with treats and pet them while they were there. Then they'd come out again and then later we'd put them in, close the door and then leave for about five minutes. It was a work in progress but we were lucky because we had two pups and they were quite happy to go in there and snooze together at any time which made easier at night.

The only thing I'd add about a GSD and you probably know this already, is that they are smart dogs. So they need direction and things to do. They also (and you probably know this already too) will choose one person as their One & Only in the family, usually the person who puts in the most work training them. They are happiest when that person is around and will be quite tolerable of others in the family, who of course will be interacting with them and helping with training, but once the One & Only comes home, it's "whatever dudes, I'm off to hang with my Pal!" So if the dog is always going to one person for their needs or watching them to see what's up, that's why.

It always amused me with our GSD that I'd be at home with her and playing with her and whatnot and as soon as my Dad walked in the door, she'd drop me like a bad habit!