Advice Page

I welcome queries from all German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts. I hope that I can help you find the right dog – whether buying from Tracelyn or not.

I can offer guidance and inform you of what to look for.

It is important when looking for a puppy or older dog that you know what purpose the dog is intended to serve.

What do you want your dog to be?

A companion dog.
A breeding dog.
A guard dog.
A show dog.
A therapy dog.
A competitive dog for sports i.e. obedience, trials, schutzhund, flyball, agility.

You can see that the choice is endless. Many owners will want the dog to be a combination of some of these things.

I can help you decide and advise you what to look for.

When you have your dog, you may need advice on the correct rearing including feeding, exercise, training and many other things.

Just ask via this page or send me an email and I will do my best:

Your Questions

Query:

I have a black GSD and I was wondering at what age they start breeding. Richard John

Response:

Both dogs and bitches need to have their hips scored or graded when adult. If the result is okay, then males can be bred provided they are really excellent animals. Bear in mind that you need to have the dog known successfully in some area of dogdom before people will want to use him at stud, i.e. show or work. Bitches should be approaching or about 2 years old before being bred and they too should be outstanding specimens if they are going to breed excellent puppies. If you wish to produce all blacks, then both parents must carry the gene for this colour. Margaret

Query:	We own a 10 month old GSD bitch. She has recently started losing a lot more hair than usual. You can pull actual tufts out. Is this normal, she is perfectly fit and healthy? Many thanks, Stella
Response:	It is quite normal for shepherds to cast their coats at this time of the year. The tufts are your puppy's undercoat and she does not need so much now that summer is approaching. She may also be coming on season. Bathing your puppy will help to loosen the coat and make combing it out easier. Margaret

Query:

We have a 17 month GSD bitch and feel that she needs a companion, but are unsure as to what breed to get. My husband and I only live in a terraced house and think that 2 GSD's may be too much. Can you suggest anything?

Response:

This is a difficult one. I wonder why you think that your Shepherd needs a companion, after all she has both of you - unless that is, she is alone for long periods. Another shepherd may take up room, but not much more, for providing the dogs have sufficient exercise and training, then they will just lie down most of the time indoors. However, other breeds which fit in well with shepherds are Corgis and Shelties. This I know from first hand experience. Margaret

Query:	Is it better to have a dog or a bitch as a family pet - I have young children? Ann
Response:	In my opinion, bitches are slightly better as they have a 'mothering' instinct and are often gentler. That is not to say that a male dog would be unsuitable - just that they can be a little more dominant. this usually commences around the age of 5 to 6 months of age, Provided that your puppy is having obedience and control lessons throughout this period then everything will be okay. Margaret

Query:

Dear Mrs Crispin, I am having terrible trouble with my 4 month old GSD bitch chewing. She only seems to do it when we pop out and leave her for a short while. We come home and find the carpet shredded and any paper she can find/. We are at our wits end. We do love her so but she is destroying our house. Can you suggest anything? Pearl Beating.

Response:

Dear Pearl, Your puppy does not like being left alone which is perfectly understandable. You have 2 choices. Either take her with you or leave her where she cannot destroy anything. The obvious answer is a purpose built dog crate. Most large pet stores sell them Get her used to it gradually. Feed her in her crate, leave her toys in it. At night and when you go out, close the door. You can leave her with something to chew, a strong kong stuffed with fat and biscuits is ideal occasionally or a raw beefbone. Do make sure that she has toileted herself before leaving her and all will soon be okay.

She will grow to love her crate, it will be her own bed and you will find that she will often choose to lie down in her crate when tired, even when you are there! Margaret

Query:

Dear Margaret, We have a new puppy. He is lovely but we cannot get him to eat the food which his breeder recommended. He only seems to like those shape biscuits and I think that he is losing weight. The vet says he is healthy enough but that he does seem rather thin. Ann Matthews.

Response

Dear Ann, This is a very common problem. Your puppy is missing his mum, his breeder, his litter mates. He is in a strange place and he doesn’t know why. He is lacking the competition that he used to have when eating his food. There are no siblings trying to eat faster than him! Please do not think that he doesn’t ‘like’ the food that he was reared on, it is just that his emotions are playing up.

He will settle and eat normally but this takes time. Please do not offer the shape biscuits as a treat. Just offer him the correct food at the correct time but only half shares to start with. Allow him 5 minutes to eat and then lift the bow and make him wait until his next feed is due. Just leave water. His appetite will return if you are strict about his feeding habits. The problem should correct itself within a day or so but please contact me again if not. Remember that if your puppy was reared outdoors and is now a housepet, that he will need less food intake. Margaret

Query:

Hope you can help. I have adopted a 5 year old, the sweetest dog in the world from a shelter. In less than 2 weeks, he has become completely attached to me, which I love but although I am feeding him the same food as he had at the shelter, he refuses to eat. I have been sprinling a little chicken broth on his dry dogfood and he just picks. I dont want him to continue doing this. Please tell me what to do. Thank you so much, Grace.

Response:

Hi Grace. You have a big problem here and you may not like my reply. First check with your vet that he has no health problem. Providing all is okay, you MUST allow him to become hungry. No healthy dog will starve himself for long. Feed a dry premium dogfood with high fat content (look on the bag) as the dog needs far less of this sort of product. Offer half rations. Lift dish after 5 minutes even if nothing has been eaten. Continue this on a daily basis. I had one dog that I had just acquired and he went 4 days without eating but on the 5th day, he ate the lot and after 2 weeks, he had put weight on and was in better condition that when he arrived! Margaret

Query:

I am a life-long owner of GSD's. here's my problem.
I have 2 6-yr old GSD's. 1M & 1F. For the past 2 yrs, they get diarrhoea 4-5 times a year. They are strictly indoor dogs. no table scraps. have tried a couple different dry food - diarrhoea does not co-incide with their food

Response:

Hi - I will try to help but it is difficult. I have been a GSD breeder
since 1965 so have much experience of problems and I am a veterinary nurse. This problem has many causes. One is stress, dogs can have bowel problems during times of stress just as we can.

Another is bacterial problems. Try giving a teaspoon of live, natural yoghurt to each dog daily.

Do they both have the problem at the same time? Then stress or food may be the cause. If you are using the same make of food every day, that doesn't mean their diet is the same daily. Some products, in fact most products have different contents depending on market prices. That is, if one type of cereal for instance is cheaper when the manufacturer is buying the basic ingredients - then he will buy it. The percentage of carbohydrate in the food will remain the same BUT the ingredients that make up this can change according to market prices of the raw ingredients. If you have dogs with sensitive stomachs, then they will take awhile to get used to the new formula! The answer to this is to buy a product with a FIXED formula - just ask the makers.

Hope this helps. Margaret

Visitors are welcome at Tracelyn by appointment. For further information, contact:
Margaret Crispin
Tracelyn, Creigiau Bach, Llandrygan
Anglesey LL71 7AW, United Kingdom
email: shepherdite2002@yahoo.co.uk
Tel : +44 (0) 1407 720706

Holiday in Wales! Small stone-built cottage, adjacent to Creigiau bach to rent. Well behaved dogs welcome. Click for further details.

Last updated June, 2007