First Eight Weeks
The puppies are born indoors and kept there in our laundry room until they are about 3-4 weeks old. Once their eyes opened and are walking, they are moved to an enclosed concrete chain link kennel with a roof and its own septic system. The kennel is sanitized three times a day. It is scrubbed down with chlorine bleach, an antiseptic, then rinsed with a pressure washer, dried with an industrial squeegee, and a blower. The pups are kept in a covered area beneath the roof in a holding pen during this time. During their initial 8 weeks under our care the puppies are never exposed to dirt or grass. We at NicholBridge Shepherds take the utmost pride in providing our pups and dogs with the healthiest and safest living environment possible.
We seperate the pups from mom around week 5-6 and begin feeding them solid food. We start with a mixture of evaporated milk, baby cereal, karo syrup, and ground up dry puppy food. Over the course of about a week and a half we decrease the additives while increasing the dry puppy food, grinding it up less and less until they are eating solely dry food. Our goal is to have them eating regular dry puppy food by week 7 so their digestive system and eating habits are adjusted to that by week 8 when they go to new homes. During the seperation process we will put Sierra (our oldest) in with the pups. Even though she is done breeding and up there in age, she can’t wait to get in there… she acts like one of them. She lays on her back (she sleeps like that too) and loves for the pups to climb all over her. Whether it’s Jasmine or Hannah, once mom is done with the pups, Sierra is always there to accommodate their playful needs. We feel this also aids in the socialization process as they have an opportunity to interact with another dog besides mom.
NicholBridge Shepherds
Feeding
Agenda
The moment the pups are born the time is documented on a data sheet. They are weighed, inspected, and identified with a specific color ribbon. The ribbons and data sheets allow us to monitor each pup individually from birth to 8 weeks. We record each puppy’s progress on their individual data sheets. This includes date of pigmentation, eyes opened, teeth erupted, walked, and their weekly weight progression. These sheets also include the program of all scheduled preventative worming, vet visits (fecal examinations), and veterinarian recommended regimen of preventative medications. We provide a copy of this to you at time of placement in addition to the state certified health certificate that lists all vaccinations given by the veterinarian at 8 weeks.
CARE AND TRAINING
There are multitudes of publications and free information on the web in regards to training your puppy. We strongly suggest that you take the time to research this topic, particularly if you do not have much experience raising a pup. German Shepherds are widely considered the most intelligent of all dogs. White German Shepherds are considered to have a softer more mellow personality that the traditional black/tan shepherd. Many people feel that this softer personality leads to a more trainable dog with better intelligence. Experience has taught us at NicholBridge Shepherds that a WGS loves to learn. This quality is apparent even in older dogs. We got Jasmine just as she turned 2 years old, and she is just as receptive, if not more, to being taught and it is clearly evident the pleasure they get from being good, learning what pleases you, and being educated. It is never too soon to teach your pup the 2 basic commands that will not only allow you to teach the pup everything else they should know, but also be somewhat responsible for their own safety. Sit and Stay. Sit must be taught first. This is a simple task that is easy to teach and learn. Some breeders do not recommend the use of treats, we are not one of them. I see no harm in using treats to help a new confused puppy differentiate a positive and negative reaction from its owner. Treats, if used, should always be accompanied by plenty of verbal praise. Please always use the same word, or short phrase of words, and tone when the pup does something correct. Use their name often during praise, be consistent and repetitive with training and praise. You will be amazed at how quickly they learn, and how much they enjoy it. If you feel as though they are being distracted, or bored, take a break with a walk or play with a toy. They do have a short attention span as pups, so training should be in 5-10 minute segments for this reason. Stay, in my opinion, is the most important command and could potentially save your dogs life one day. Once they have learned to sit, and will do it without a treat, you must teach them to stay. This is a little harder for the pup to learn, and will take considerable more time than being taught to sit. This will be a work in progress and should be worked on until the pup will stay in a doorway or gateway at your command and will not come until given the proper command. This may save your dogs life someday as we have all heard of or experienced a story about a dog who got out and got hit by a car running across the street, or chasing another animal. In my opinion, stay is the most important thing your dog can learn, and once they learn that, you can teach them ANYTHING. Once your dog understands stay, you know have a dog that is a pleasure to own, to be around, and is trustworthy. There are different methods for teaching stay. Once again this can be researched, or I will be happy to elaborate on the methods we have used if you would like to contact us. Try NOT to use their name when correcting them for a wrongdoing. A stern “no” projected in a much different tone than you use for praise, will make it evident and clear to the pup what he is supposed to do and what he is not supposed to do. Chewing is evident in all pups. They will chew on things at least until they lose their puppy teeth, and sometimes long after. It is relatively easy to teach your pup what they are allowed to chew on, and what is off limits. First, they must have certain toys that are designated only for them. We recommend balls, squeaky chew toys, and rawhides. Let them know what their toys are, and we strongly recommend you do not use shoes or anything else that may resemble something you do not want them to chew. Don’t make it harder on the pup by confusing him that one shoe is OK to chew on but another isn’t. Some say rawhides interfere with the digestive system, this may be true, but I have never experienced this problem, and we let the dogs have a rawhide bone when they come inside. Make sure the pup has a designated area that belongs to them, a crate, or doggy bed, whatever you choose to use, and that is where their toys should be kept. They will make this distinction of what belongs to them and where their area is rather quickly. If you catch your pup chewing on something they should not be, this is easily corrected by just taking the item they are chewing on, verbally correct them, and AT THE SAME TIME replace it with what you want them to chew on. Make sure you verbally correct them when taking the item from them, and verbally praise them when replacing it with your item of choice, and tell them how good they are. This is important because you don’t want to confuse them by making them think they cannot chew at all, you just want to let them know they have boundaries. If you use this method, you should only have to do this a few times before they learn what’s mine and what’s off limits. These methods certainly are not exclusive to German Shepherds. In my opinion, all dogs are as smart as their owners. Any dog can be taught these and many other things, and I think all dogs want to learn. If you have a dog that is starved for attention (which we consider abuse), hasn’t had the proper training, or only interacted with during feeding time, you will get what you deserve. An unruly dog, that is not socialized, and does not have a purpose and is an embarrassment. It infuriates me when people keep the dog tied up in the backyard with little or no attention, or did not give it a chance by teaching them right from wrong, and then have the nerve to say their dog isn’t good, or isn’t smart. It is the owner that isn’t good, or isn’t smart and is showing their ignorance by making a statement like that. Just like children, our pets are a reflection on us and can only be as good as we make them to be. It is not fair to the animal, no matter what type of pet it is, to just let them exist. They need education, care, love, attention, and plenty of affection. They should be part of your family.
