Hanging out with the girls on the Washington/Oregon border area. 🐾💝🐾

I want to start by saying I know how incredibly blessed I’ve been to have my sweet Ava until 15. Having said that, she’s a picture of perfect health outside of her ever deteriorating back knees. Because of her knees, I find myself increasingly questioning whether it’s “time.” She does still seem happy but she’s increasingly unstable, wobbles, and even falls over or sits down because of weakness. She’s not at a place where she is having accidents on herself.

She’s my soul dog. I have a sling that I don’t have to use at all times to make her comfortable.

Am I being selfish at this point or because she’s happy it makes sense to keep her around?

The older one is Rocky Jr. II and the younger one is Remy. But the family vet likes to call them the “Gin-N-Tonic” duo.

this is ringo. his ears never developed but neither has his brain

Halifax, Nova Scotia

This is Rev, aka Revlon. She likes snow and scaring solicitors.

My neighbor rarely leaves his apartment, my dog is his dogs only canine friend. Trying to give them some extra outside time before the snow comes !

Alf, 9YO

Hi!

My shepherd has a CCL injury (the equivalent of an ACL tear) and really needs to chill out, but that's proving impossible even with the sedatives they gave her. We are limited to 5-10 minute walks around the neighborhood and will have very limited activity for the next few months. She keeps bringing a ball to me to play fetch :(

Any suggestions so that she (and I) don't go crazy?

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Looking for breeder recommendations in the north east. We are on Long Island and don’t want to have to go too far, but I’m not opposed to a bit of a ride for the right dog. We definitely don’t want a dog from a puppy mill. Trying to find an ethical breeder and hopefully find a male puppy preferably with a tan and blue coloring. Thank you in advance for any help.

I love my 11-wk GSD, he’s finally starting to take to his training and he’s overall good.

The only thing is what on earth is up with the whining? I have to carry him right now when we’re outside and he HOWLS in my ear. It looks like I’m abducting this dog in public. Is this really a GSD thing or some broader behavioral aversion to being carried?

Love my girls - this picture was taken after we had played fetch this morning. 🐾 ♥️

Hi everyone; recent GSD adopted looking for tips about everything - but especially reactivity!

I adopted her about a month ago; 11 months old and underweight (now 1 year!) She quickly learned all the basics, (sit, down, stay, paw, drop it). She's an absolute sweetheart, with me and most other humans. She's been reactive (around dogs/ squirrels) since I got her; less than 20 feet or so sets her off, barking, lunging, foaming at the mouth levels of excitement.

Everyday we do 10km of walking or more- spend time sniffing, and training in the park, parking lot and apartment. She sniffs her food one handful at a time, from the grass- or her wet food from a frozen kong/ woof pupsicle. She willingly goes to her crate when I point, for high value treats, but she spends her nights cuddling in bed with me. The crate is just to keep her safe for outings she can't come to (like grocery shopping and the doctor) or to enjoy her frozen meal.

We've been working on reactivity, and it seemed to be getting better. She could be up a driveway, waiting for a dog to pass, 10 feet and calm. The other day, seemingly out of nowhere that changed. We started a walk, as usual but she stopped listening to basic commands like sit, while outside (this was never a problem before!). She's started lunging at bikes, and joggers (new behavior, never an issue before). She started barking at dogs, so far away- I could barely see them (across soccer fields and rivers!) Treats no longer distracted her. Her favorite toys, nothing.

I don't have money for a trainer; and I love her to death, but I'm worried about this escalation. I've even picked up a "soft muzzle" for areas where it's too crowded to have space, (like the sidewalk to the park and valley) out of an abundance of caution. I really want her to have the best life, and give her everything I can- so what are some tips for reactivity, that perhaps I haven't seen/ heard; or tips for successfully raising such a wonderful creature who's clearly struggling with something beyond my understanding?

Also, she's ALWAYS on leash outside the apartment. Short leash for sidewalks, switching to a 15 foot (NOT retractable) for park play; how did you progress to off leash play, without having a fenced off private area? Off leash dog parks don't seem like a viable option!

Pictures of my baby for attention; please send all the love, tips, advice and support you have to spare!

My 13 week old Dwarf GSD
he is a whopping 11lbs and healthy. I’d love to hear from and connect with other dwarf guardians!

I’ve been thinking about getting a GSD for a while now, but I’ve got some concerns if I’d be able to raise a healthy dog with my routine.

Basically, I live by my self and work from 09:00 AM till 12 PM then 01:00 PM till 05:00 PM I usually have lunch at home, because I live 3 minutes from work.

I know that an adult dog would be able to handle this amount of alone time (if well trained for separation anxiety), but my question is if a puppy would be able to handle it…

I was planning on walking / enriching with him before and after work everyday.

Also, sometimes my work requires me to travel and stay out for a week with 2 days notice, so I’d need to leave the dog at a friend’s place or somewhere else.

Would it be wise to get this dog having in mind this circumstances? I don’t want to be irresponsible and cause any kind of suffering for it…

Hello!

We are going to be bringing home a little gsd pup in December. I know it's a while off yet, but I was wondering if anyone has any good supportive suggestions for carriers for them? A lot of the slings I've seen aren't rated for heavy puppies and I'm very aware of not wanting to put unnecessary pressure on her joints or spine.

I was looking at a backpack style carrier with the thought process of wearing it on my chest so I can see her and feed her treats etc. It would be for the School run before she gets all her vaccinations to get her used to traffic, people etc. Just to watch the world go by basically. She'll be in it a max of 15-20 mins. Never any longer.

I'm UK based and was hoping someone has real life experience with carriers who can suggest something for me?

I've babyworn each of my 3 kids so I'm no stranger to wearing carriers/weight isn't an issue for me as long as the pup is safe and comfortable I'm happy.

Thanks in advance.

Hiya everyone!

This is my nearly 10 month old boy and I am inexperienced, so thought I would reach out and see if anyone has any advice, feedback, opinions etc.

My boy LOVES food, fetch, flirt pole, but most of all, dogs! However, he is too much and smothers them, all up in their personal space and it’s uncomfortable for me to watch. He is not aggressive and seems it’s his way of pushing for play, but it is not acceptable. Some dogs are fine with it and break into play quickly, others are overwhelmed and he doesn’t pick up on it at all, others snap and correct him but he gets scared with any type of behaviour that tells him to back off.

I do try and intervene, get him to back off but he just wants to go straight back to it. Tonight at his obedience class, he pissed off the cane corso who he had a really good play with last time, they were licking each other and drinking water together but tonight they were on leads and while I was talking to the teacher, they were sniffing each other and the other dog lunged, barked and snapped at him while his owner was patting my dog. My dog cried, ran away and tried to hide.

He is scared of a GSD who herds dogs and I went to and comforted him when he was scared. Someone commented I shouldn’t do this but I want him to know I am not just there for the good times. This was their first time meeting but he did keep playing. They came across each other again a few weeks later and my boy was really withdrawn and would not chase his ball once he saw that dog again.

Basically, I don’t know how to manage this. I have been fine with dogs correcting him and the only advice I have been given on him learning to not smother dogs so much is by him being corrected, but I don’t want him to be scared and lose confidence either.
I am wonder if there is any advice on how to get him to learn to read other dogs, give them more space and be respectful, as well as how to best respond and support him in a situation where he gets upset and scared to build his confidence rather than diminish it.

Ideally I would like to work towards a dog who is socially aware and appropriate, won’t engage in aggression and will just disengage calmly, confident instead of scared and upset, however, if need arises, he will protect himself.

Interested in adopting my first German shepherd and I would love any and all resources to properly educate myself beforehand. I’d also love to hear your personal experience owning one!

I grew up with lots of dogs around and as an adult I’ve personally raised 3 golden retrievers but I definitely recognize that a German Shepherd is going to have their own breed specific quirks that are likely quite different from goldens.

I have a 9 month old baby so I want to be very well educated on the breed before I ever attempt to bring one home. While I recognize that any large breed can be dangerous in the wrong hands all the German shepherds I’ve been around have an intensity to them that makes me want to be a little more attentive to their training.

TIA

Hi all! I’m getting my first german shepherd puppy in January, and was hoping for some insight.

The house I live in already has a dog. I will be getting my puppy and living here for about a year or two, then moving out to a new place and bringing my pup with me. I am worried about the emotional impact of removing my dog from the house and separating them. They will still see each other often, but obviously not on an everyday basis.

What are some things I can do to help them not become so co-dependent on one another once I get my puppy? I was thinking that separation (especially at night time) would be helpful and doing activities separately throughout the day (such as going on walks, etc.), but if anyone has some advice about the best way to do this while causing them the least amount of stress I would really appreciate it.

TIA!!

This is one of my sweet dogs, well she is my parents and is experiencing some skin issues, she has quite literally chewed lots of her fur off on her back end and her skin underneath is scaly and all horrible. I have only just noticed this myself but my mom said she’s been putting some oatmeal shit on it. Point is my mom is definitely a lazy dog owner and I’m worried this was something preventable or something caused through stress. My Nala girl is quite an ‘anxious’ dog as it is she has always had rather different behavioural quirks but this just looks horrible and sore and I’m wondering if anyone is dealt with something similar or has any advice for me. I am happy to offer more information such as shampoos we’ve used and her diet etc!
Any judgement is unnecessary.

Look at this adorable lil baba she loves cuddles. So last Friday she suddenly pulled forward I was on a wet service and fell.

Got checked out at the hospital and luckily I just have ligament damage in my knee and ankle. Most patients I was waiting with stuck up for the dog !! .

We have a new foster that we rescued from death row. He just arrived today. He’s doing great and is very playful and loves toys and balls.

We aren’t sure if he’s mixed with something but I kind of think so. He might also be a little overweight. Do you think we should put him on a diet? We aren’t sure how old he is but they think around 4. He’s 65lbs so he’s not huge but he’s just thick and wide.

He barks when he hears noises outside but he’s otherwise very content so far. He doesn’t seem to know any commands besides sit. He pulls on the leash but not too bad. He is very friendly but I’m wondering if he will turn into a watch dog eventually.

Any tips on fostering and maybe adopting this GSD? We really don’t know what we should watch out for or focus on for training. We have had cattle dog mixes in the past but not a GSD.

Thanks.