Upbringing
To raise sound puppies we have to have a dam, which has a sound character.
She should be able to trust us and we do treat her like a member of a family. For the
first three weeks we keep her together with the pups in our house. This is very important.
With the third week the pups begin to hear, see and start recognizing their littermates.
We are a big family with three children, always something is happening at our place.
The pups learn all different sounds, movement and most important of all get in close
contact with the humans in such an early age. With four weeks we take them outside
to a big kennel, with a big sand area. Usually the pups will stay inside together with
their dam for another week, although the gate to the sand area is always open. With
four weeks of age they are not so sure about themselves and their surroundings, but
this behavior changes rapidly one week later. With every day going by, they become
more secure and start their little adventures outside of the kennel. If something strange
comes up, they run fast back to the kennel, where they feel secure. As they get older
they will become more confident and start going outside by themselves. Pups by nature
at that age are very nosy. This will help them to overcome their fear of certain objects.
Especially if we give them this chance in an early stage. Also we make sure, that different
people come and play with them. We let them run around on grass, sand, in our court
yard on concrete etc. No matter how cold and warm it is, they will get out every day.
When it rains they go in their kennel by themselves, also if it is too hot. Then they
come out later on in the evening. Being able to go in and out of the kennel by themselves
gives the pups a chance to eliminate outside. Dogs are inherently clean animals. They
will leave their "nest" to eliminate as soon as they are old enough to do
so. If we give the pups this chance at such an early age, the new owner will have him
housebroken in no time. People, who have received a dog from us, confirmed this.
After the pups received their last feeding in the evening the children and myself play
with them for about an hour. Pups love to play right after they eat. At times it is
very hard to get the children away from them.
My 14 year old daughter helps with taking care of the pups. She does this every day
after she gets off from school. She hardly cannot wait to get to them.
Get to know the new owner
If someone is interested in a pup from our kennel we give him or her
the opportunity to visit us every week-end. This gives us a chance to get to know each
other, answer questions, which arise. These get-togethers are very important. It will
give the new owner an idea how his pups upbringing is like and also will give me the
opportunity to get to know more about that person, to whom I probably will sell a dog
to. During these conversations I usually give more information about the breed and
its needs. I do not recommend to purchase a dog just to keep him only outside. Family
contact should always be guaranteed. The German Shepherd is a very smart dog, he does
learn easy, but he wants to be around his "pack". At times he loves to be
outside, but not always. Keeping him in a pen or locked on a leash out in the back
yard is no life of a German Shepherd. Everybody should also know, that raising a puppy
is a lot of work and takes up a lot of time, patience and understanding. If it is done
right, you will have a dog, which will be your companion for life.
Copyright Dagmar Anderson 2001