Hi, My pup is now almost 4 months old. I exercise her every morning for almost 2 hours by going on long walks and playing ball in the sand and climbing rocks (I didnt know the GSD liked to climb rocks so much). Anyway my questions are as follows:

1)As the rainly weather approaches is it ok to take my pup out in the rain? Do i need to get some type of protection gear for her? Is there such a thing?

2)I am having a real problem with her not eating. I have fed her everything and even the recommended raw diet food my vet suggested. She ate it for 2 days and now wont eat it anymore. However if i put raw hamburger down she will eat it. Is this a normal thing for puppies not to eat. Could she really be this picky? Should i just leave the food down until she is hungry enough to eat it.. HOw long can I leave this raw stuff out??

3)We have started puppy training and she is doing really well. She is very shy though and timid. But I think she is almost the best in the class. When we are at our house or out walking and i call her she comes sometimes, like when she wants to. I know the question that will be asked "is she on leash". Well when we go to the park/beach and there is absolutely no one in site i will let her off lead. She runs, jumps and plays. Ill call her and she will come and sometimes not. I think that command is the most important. Advice on how to make her come when i say come?? Or is she still young for this? Or as my husband always says "KEEP HER ON HER LEASH". The other nite we were out walking and we saw this very large newfindlin (?) running and about a qtr mile back was his owner, running after the dog WITH NO LEASH ON. The dog came to me and i grabbed her collar and waited for the owner. He said he had taken her off leash about a mile ago to play on the beach. He ran a mile to get her back.
Could happen to me.

Thanks .. s

 Quote: susan brandi smith

1)As the rainly weather approaches is it ok to take my pup out in the rain? Do i need to get some type of protection gear for her? Is there such a thing?

She should be just fine in the rain. Make sure to dry her off good when she comes inside.

 Quote: susan brandi smith

2)I am having a real problem with her not eating. I have fed her everything and even the recommended raw diet food my vet suggested. She ate it for 2 days and now wont eat it anymore. However if i put raw hamburger down she will eat it. Is this a normal thing for puppies not to eat. Could she really be this picky? Should i just leave the food down until she is hungry enough to eat it.. HOw long can I leave this raw stuff out??

What is "everything" and has she been checked out by the vet for any illness?
What did you feed her in the last two days?

 Quote: susan brandi smith

3) Or as my husband always says "KEEP HER ON HER LEASH".

Keep her on a long line right now, no matter where she is at....(a 6 foot lead in the house is fine)

Make her coming to you the FUNNEST thing in the world....use treats (her favorite) or her favorite toy and make it a big game.
If she won't come to you, go the other way....do not chase after her, she will think that is a great game and run from you.

Make sure that you are within reach of the long line so that if she takes off you can pick it up so that she does not run into traffic and such.

There are several articles on Ed's site that talk about pack behavior and working with your puppy.

http://leerburg.com/puppytraining.htm
This whole page is great!!!

What a cutie!

If you can stand to be out in the weather, trust me she's fine. Her coat is a lot more weather proofed then your skin!

On the rare occassion my dogs don't eat their food I take it up after about 20 minutes and refeed at the next scheduled feeding time. Are you giving her a lot of treats? Even training treats can add up fast.

How is your instructor teaching the recall? I am very cautious until I have a reliable recall and if they are off leash I have a tug or someothing to direct them back towards me if needed.

Thanks for the responses. This forum is the best thing...
In the last 2 days I have put down the raw food which consists of beef, rice, corn, (cant remember the rest of whats in it) but my vet says its very good for the dog. When I first gave it to the dog she ate it up for 2 days straight at every feeding. Now, she just walks away from it. I did put chicken liver in there to. Before the raw food I tried:
Innova, Chicken Soup, Canidae, Felidae, California Natural, Wellness, all wet foods. She wont even touch dry. I have been seeing my vet a lot due to a problem with Cherry Eye my dog has. I tell my vet that she doesnt eat all the time and the vet says not really to worry about it, puppys goes thru stages like this.
Here is another question: What do you think about Accupunture for animals. My vet wants to do this for my dogs cherry eye and also says she can work on her shyness and her not eating.. qwak or not? Oh, and she is really picky about treats to. Sometimes she will take them sometimes not.

As we have only been to class 2 times now, we have only worked on heeling, sitting, down and sit and stay.

Thanks again.

What raw food IS this??? Corn and rice?

Is this a purchased thing? I mean, you are not cooking up corn and rice, right?

Where are the RMBs?

P.S. How is the puppy's weight?

Accupunture will work for some things. I have used it to shrink a lump on my wrist. Is she planning to put the needle in the membrane/cherry? That may shrink it.
I don't have enough experience to say if it will help behavior problems. It could be that if you think the behavior will improve from a treatment that you will unconsciously reinforce the good behavior and the treatments themselves don't actually make the difference.
If the vet is recommending a food with rice and corn (dogs don't need it, especially the corn) I would question the nutrition expertise of that vet. As Connie says most vets are not nutrition experts.
When you saw raw food, what exactly is it?
Will the pup eat raw meat every time you offer it?

The raw food i get is from a meat shop. They make up a special pkg for canines. I unfortunately dont have the pkg label because i split it up for individual meals and freeze it. It is frozen when i buy it but comes in 3+lb chunks. Also, my mistake, its not corn, its carrots and rice and beef and other stuff i cant remember. If I buy this again ill write down whats in it. My pup was eating this raw stuff when i 1st bought it, about a week or so, but has just stopped. I added some chicken liver in there and she ate just the liver. She will eat hamburger (raw) anytime i put that down. The vet puts the needels around the eye not in the membrane. My pup is extremely shy/afraid, and i dont know why. My vet is trying to work on that also, accupuncture. Im going to visit an animal nutritionist on friday. The owner specializes in GSD. So maybe she can help.
Puppy continues to gain weight. She is almost 4 months and weighs ~ 33 lbs. Im going to an animal nutrition place on friday. The owner specializes in GSD. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

 Quote: Susan Brandi Smith

The raw food i get is from a meat shop. They make up a special pkg for canines. I unfortunately dont have the pkg label because i split it up for individual meals and freeze it. It is frozen when i buy it but comes in 3+lb chunks. Also, my mistake, its not corn, its carrots and rice and beef and other stuff i cant remember. If I buy this again ill write down whats in it. My pup was eating this raw stuff when i 1st bought it, about a week or so, but has just stopped. I added some chicken liver in there and she ate just the liver. She will eat hamburger (raw) anytime i put that down. The vet puts the needels around the eye not in the membrane. My pup is extremely shy/afraid, and i dont know why. My vet is trying to work on that also, accupuncture. Im going to visit an animal nutritionist on friday. The owner specializes in GSD. So maybe she can help.
Puppy continues to gain weight. She is almost 4 months and weighs ~ 33 lbs. Im going to an animal nutrition place on friday. The owner specializes in GSD. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

You will get much better (and more) replies if you address one issue in one post.

The food: Is the nutritionist a holistic vet?