German Shepherd Dog Training

german shepherd dog food recipes
Which Brand of dog food is better for my 4 dogs?

I own 2 pitbulls 1 pitbull mix and 1 german shepherd all 1 year and older which brand of dog food is best out of these 2
Nature’s Recipe or Nutro Max
i think i want nutro max but im not shure what do you think??
they like both brands the same
I can only aford 2 spend 60 dollors on 2 30 pound bags a month and i have 2 buy 2 30 pound bags just to get through a month so it realy is the best choices i can go for right now its better then what my mom fed them which was ol’ roy
also i live in redding california so some brands i cant get

Neither, as neither are high quality dog foods.

Not all pet food is made equally. A lot of it is full of corn, by-products, dyes, unhealthy preservatives, filler grains and all sorts of nasty stuff. A lot of pet food companies are perfectly happy to the dump cheap leftovers and things that aren’t safe for human consumption (from human food processing plants) into their foods. Will it kill your dog? No, it has to be nutritionally complete and safe to even be marketed. Is it healthy? Not by a long shot.

Corn is a low quality ingredient you never want to see in your pet food. Corn and low quality grains are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to food allergies in our pets.

Thankfully, there are some excellent dog foods being made these days that include organic, human grade ingredients rather than trash not fit for human consumption.

Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Pedigree, Kibbles n’ Bits, Beneful, Ol’Roy.

Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Canidae All Life Stages, Fromm Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature’s Variety Prairie, Nature’s Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix, Timberwolf Organics.

Although the high quality foods are more expensive, you’re getting what you’re paying for. Less filler material and higher quality ingredients means more concentrated nutrients… this means you typically need to feed far less of the high quality food than you would of the low quality one. Which also means less poop!

Seriously on a budget? Two of the most affordable of the higher quality foods would be Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul and Canidae All Life Stages.

Before following your vet’s food recommendation, keep in mind that vets get /very/ little nutritional training during their schooling. Besides that, what training they /do/ get is usually sponsored or taught by… you guessed it, the crappy pet food companies! They also often get kickbacks from the companies for pushing these products at their clinics (Science Diet, Royal Canin etc.)

A great option is to go with an entirely grain-free diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grain-free formulas. Some good grain-free diets include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Orijen, Horizon Legacy, Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now!, GO Natural Grain Free, Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Ziwipeak, and Taste of the Wild.

Some pretty decent foods can even be found in common pet stores. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo products (such as the excellent grain free diet Blue Wilderness). Petco carries Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo.

If you can’t find a food, most of the high quality dog food brands have websites with store locators on them that will help you find the store closest to you which supplies their products. Simply type the dog food brand’s name into Google, go to their website, and type your zip code into their store locator.

Another option, if you can’t find anywhere around you that sells good foods, is to order your pet food online. Here’s an excellent place to do so: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/

Remember that foods should be switched gradually (mixing the new slowly in with the old over the period of about week or so), especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies. For example:
Days 1 & 2: 75% old food, 25% new food
Days 3 & 4: 50% old food, 50% new food
Days 5 & 6: 25% old food, 75% new food
Day 7: 0% old food, 100% new food

Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:
http://www.rawfed.com/ (RawFed)
http://www.rawlearning.com/ (Jane Anderson’s Raw Learning Site)
http://rawfeddogs.net/ (Raw Fed Dogs)
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ (Raw Meaty Bones)
http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html (Raw Prey Model Diet Vs. BARF Diet)
http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile/ (Raw Dogs Livejournal Community, excellent raw feeding information on the profile page and overall helpful community for raw feeding questions)
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html (Myths About Raw Feeding)

Also remember that freefeeding (leaving food down) is the fast lane to canine obesity. Make sure to have scheduled feeding times loosely based on the feeding guidelines on your dog’s food. Adult dogs are typically fed two meals a day.

More on dog food:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main (Learn how to determine the quality of your dog’s food.)
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ (Dog food reviews. Four stars is a decent food, five stars is a great food, and six stars is an excellent food.)

Darksong~

Natural Dog Food Recipes for GSD with Allergies?

Does anyone have any recipes or a free link to recipes for dogs with allergies? My 8 month old German Shepherd is on “itching medication” right now for his allergies and they don’t seem to be working. The vet said he might have food allergies, so I was going to try out some homemade foods to make him. Please help!

It’s terrific that you want to get away from junky processed food! Here is my blanket answer for dog food questions:

Dogs can technically live on an omnivorous diet, but any dog that lives wild, whether it is a feral dog or the dog’s cousin, the wolf, will eat meat, fat and bones every chance it gets. A wild dog’s diet is comprised of muscle and organ meats, bones, fat, and they will possibly ingest some fibrous vegetable matter if they eat any stomach or intestine contents, which they usually avoid. Aside from munching grass to help them throw up, dogs do NOT eat vegetables, grains or fruits – and most importantly, their digestive system is an extrememly harsh, short one, which breaks down meat, bone and fat beautifully but doesn’t break down those fibrous vegetables and grains.

If you want to give your dog the best diet possible, either feed him raw muscle and organ meats with raw bones, or at least get him a dry food that is meat-based (check out Eagle Pack, Blue Buffalo, Diamond, Innova, or any of the other great natural and organic foods out there) and supplement this dry food diet with raw bones and fresh (or cooked, if you must) meat and eggs. A healthy dog will have no “doggy” breath, very minimal fecal matter (because his body is using what he’s eating), healthy skin, a shiny coat and eyes, and will not come down with diet-related diseases down the road. Food truly is the best medicine, and is far easier on your wallet than expensive medicines, tonics and surgeries that you’ll buy from your vet to fix the problem after it’s too far gone.

Take a peek at this great website for unbiased dog food information: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Also take a peek at http://www.barfworld.com for more information on feeding raw food.

Unfortunately, I’ve been searching high and low for a recipe WITHOUT vegetables or grains, because a dog’s digestive system cannot properly process them. I have yet to find one, so here is a link with some good information:

http://www.healinghope.net/downloads/canine_raw_food_diet_basics.pdf

HOWEVER, in my research I found that nuts, especially macadamia, are toxic to dogs, just like onions, grapes and theobromine in chocolates, so I’m not sure why nuts are included on the list. The rest of the information does look sound to me, so that’s why I’ve included it.

I hope this is helpful to you, and I wish you the best of luck! : )

Cooking Dinner Gone Wrong! May 6, 2010

german shepherd puppy food
10 week german shepherd puppy?

I have 10 weeks german shepherd puppy. Yesterday I noticed that his poop is normal but dark green in color. He is acting and eating normal and I do not see any signs of illness. Two days ago I switched to eucanuba puppy food, and i give it to him wet, not dry. Any suggestions for this situation?

It’s because he’s only a puppy, he does not have many dead red blood cells, so his poop comes out green. It’s the same with babies

German Shepherd Housebreaking

Miecke and the potty training

Having had multiple dogs before, we knew we had to potty train our adorable German shepherd puppy right away. We always use the same method. We use the crate. So it was a no-brainer that we would have to use the same method on Miecke. Of course, nothing comes easy with Miecke. As adorable and lovable she is, she can be twice as hard-headed. As she HATES to be confined.

The crate system of potty training is simple. During the day, you take them outside shortly after they eat and drink and you praise them extravagantly when they do their business outside. Occasional accidents inside are to be expected. Puppies do not like sitting or sleeping in their own mess. When you put them into their crate at night, you leave them just enough space to lie down. In relatively short period of time they will hold it until they can go out.

Of course Miecke was different. She hated the crate with passion. She cried all night and the mess she made was indescribable. We figured it would pass. After some time, and some sleepless nights, we were ready to throw in the towel. We tried everything. We placed the crate closer to us, far away from us, we limited food and water intake before bedtime, nothing worked. It seemed that Miecke had a special storage in her body where she saved the urine and fecal matter. She decided that we will not be in crate unless we suffer too. We didn’t know what to do.

All of a sudden, she stopped. Out of nowhere. I think that we were just a little more stubborn than she was. What did I learn? That no matter how difficult it seems to train your puppy, it can be done. It takes lots of patience, some sleepless nights, but it must be done. Because if you don’t train your puppy right away, it will never become the kind of dog you really want around your family.

More adventures of Miecke, our German Shepherd, can be found at http://gsd-training.blogspot.com

More information about care and training of German Shepherds is here: http://www.squidoo.com/taking-care-of-a-german-shepherd

About the Author

Researcher and observer of all the things that are good in life.

German Shepherd puppies trying first food – Ash x Greta 2008

Royal Canin Dry Dog Food, German Shepherd Puppy 30 Formula, 30-Pound Bag NEW FRE $92.73

Royal Canin MAXI German Shepherd Puppy Dry Dog Food $60.41

NEW Royal Canin Dry Dog Food German Shepherd Puppy 30 Formula 30 Pound Bag $62.12

german shepherd food recipes
Homemade Dog Food Recipes ?

I am looking to start making my two dogs food at home. I have a Siberian Husky and a German Shepherd. I want whatever I feed them to include all of the nutrients they need. They are both active. Any recipes or links to actually healthy recipes would be great. Thanks

Not every recipe fit every dog or owner. Age and activity level count too. To make your own food is much more expensive. I think my 2 dogs are worth it. Check with your vet for his advice before starting on this.Don’t feed any of the foods that dogs shouldn’t have. I model ours after the BARF, but I don’t do raw meat or bones. All fruit and vegetables are blenderized.I use kelp,calcium powder,pro-biotics, and salmon oil too.

how to make Homemade dog food?

Hi have you any homemade dog food recipes or sites for a German Shepherd, i have heard all the things that are bad for dogs (mushrooms, garlic etc) need some simple recipes for her

Here’s a whole bunch of really great recipes for treats, meals, special occasions. They are are healthy and vet approved so there’s no need to worry about ingredients and safety! There’s also tons of info on feeding your dog a homemade dog food diet, supplementing their diet, things to avoid…etc.

http://www.organic-pet-digest.com/homemade-dog-food-recipes.html

Here’s info on feeding raw foods if you are interested in this – http://www.organic-pet-digest.com/raw-natural-dog-food.html

Have fun!

The Horrific Truth About Dog Food: Is Your Dog Food Killing Your Dog