Getting a GS pup. Can't wait!!!

[skyhigh]

I'm getting a German Shepherd pup this Saturday. I've been looking around for a while until I found this one. I had a look at her a week ago. She is turning 9 weeks tomorrow. We wanted her to stay a bit longer than 8 weeks with her brother. Also because we are still getting a the puppy goods. Her brother has been sold so we are picking her up this Saturday. She's a little cutie!! Does anyone have any suggestions for what I need for her home coming. They are a good two hours away so it'll be a long drive. Also, another question, what age is it safe for her to wear a collar? I had a kitten a long tme ago and i was told not to put a collar on till he was older. Is it the same with pups? Thanks

[beagle_lovergirl]

This should help as to what tobuy for the puppy
http://www.newjerseybeagles.net/page/page/1117849.
For the car ride, bring a box or crate for her. Stay by her side and talk to her. Bring something for her to chew on. You could even play classical music. And don't forget something to wipe up vomit, since it's likely she'll throw up. You could put a loose collar oh her so she gets used to the feeling.
Good Luck and Congratulations :)!:)

[skyhigh]

Thanks beagle lovergirl!! Classical music...I'll be right. lol. :p I'm looking at the petsmart website now. Sadly I'm not in America. It says i have to ring them if I want to place an order. But it seems like a great shop. You heard of it?

[beagle_lovergirl]

Yes, Petsmart is very famous around here. You could also try www.petco.com . They sell pretty much the same stuff. And you're welcome :)

[skyhigh]

Cool. Thanks again. Do any of those ship to Australia? I'm having a look at that site now. :)
Cya

[beagle_lovergirl]

I'm not sure but it looks like they don't. I might be able to help you though......

[skyhigh]

I like the prices from petmart. I think i can purchase from there by ringing them. Petco seem's a bit more expensive. I'll keep looking around these two. :) ...

[Raika's Mom]

When we brought Raika home, my boyfriend just held her on his lap. We brought a towel and a soft toy for her. She got restless about half the way home (it's about an hour away) and wandered to the back seat of the car, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. Congrats on your new puppy!! Enjoy!

[Adrienne]

My best advice for the car ride is to ask the breeder to hold off on giving any food for a few hours before you pick her up. My pup had just eaten recently and vomited numerous times on the ride home, it sucked! Hope all goes well with the trip and can't wait to see some puppy pics. I have a seven month old GSD named Gunnar, they are such a great breed and so smart you will just love that pup to pieces.

[Saje]

See if you can get a towel or blanket or something that the b!tch has been sleeping on for the puppy. that should help the transition

Why do you need to order from the US?

[tcreed]

Congrats on the GS puppy! I love them. Would recommend them!! Haha, I say that, but a lot of dogs I'd recommend!! Good luck!

[skyhigh]

Hey,
Thanks for all your replies. :) I just asked the breeder about the towel. She said yes. We've decided to just look around here in Perth a bit for all the accesories instead of ordering from petmart. Seem's like a great shop though. Anyway, we don't know if we're going to gether this weekend or the next. Because we just decided the other day that we're getting her after weeks of discussion. So we need a ;ittle bit more time to go buy all the things for her. Any suggestions what to get her? Eg: Type of toys and any other nessesaries? Thanks

Cya

[skyhigh]

I'm starting to make a little list together of what I need for her home coming. Any suggestions?

[Raika's Mom]

You should get a soft 'mom-like' toy-ours was a soft pink bear with a little rubber chew bone attached. Also, my puppy LOVES nylabones. She goes through those like they're going out of style. We also got a little pillow animal that you can heat up in the microwave so it feels like a warm body for her to go to sleep with. I've heard a lot of people use something with a heartbeat sound too.

[Fran27]

- Crate (in my opinion, if you have a totally safe room you can skip it though)
- Baby gate (same, if you have a puppy proof room, they prefer having a baby gate than a closed door)
- Leash
- Collar
- Food
- Food/Water bowls (metal is best)
- Treats (soft or that can be broken in small pieces)
- Toys
- Shampoo (I still use puppy shampoo)
- Puppy pee pads if you want to potty train that way
- nature's miracle to clean accidents
- bitter apple or no chew to put on things you don't want him to chew

For the toys, it really depends on the dog what kind of things they like... Depending on how many you want to buy, I would go for a rope toy for sure, a kong, and maybe a squeaky ball or something. I personally have probably 20 toys but they're spoiled rotten. Soft toys are great, but not for all dogs, mine destroy them in about 5 minutes.

They need things to chew too. Don't get rawhides, they can be dangerous. Edibles bones are really good (nylabone, booda), they just go through them too fast depending on the dog. Personally I bought some sterelized bone and never looked back - it's totally safe and they love it, and it's still intact after 4 weeks.

[Raika's Mom]

They need things to chew too. Don't get rawhides, they can be dangerous. Edibles bones are really good (nylabone, booda), they just go through them too fast depending on the dog. Personally I bought some sterelized bone and never looked back - it's totally safe and they love it, and it's still intact after 4 weeks.

Rawhides are dangerous?? I didn't know that. I'll take Raika's away from her. I only got her rawhide bones because she did go through the nylabones so fast...I was giving my pocketbook a break. What kind of bone did you buy? Is it rubber?
I'm buying Raika a kong today. She's such a chewer!

[Renee750il]

You might find an adjustable harness very handy as you're teaching your pup to walk on a leash. GSD pups (and many other kinds of pups) are great escape artists when it comes to walking on a collar! Not a Halti or Gentle Leader harness, just a standard type that fits around the dog's chest and shoulders. I've found it much easier to teach my GSDs (and Filas) to walk politely without pulling using a harness.

You'll want a brush to groom your pup (there's a reason they're known as German Shedders, lol!)

And check out the thread on a first aid kit in the Health Forum.

Absolutely remember something to catch puppy puke in on the ride home. Shiva was a 2 1/2 hour drive, and she had just eaten . . . she was being fed raw . . . I didn't know a little puppy tummy could hold so much . . . :eek:

Don't pass up the opportunity you've got on the car ride home to start bonding to your puppy. Hold him or her quietly. Remember, this is a baby who has just been whisked away from everything it knows and is undergoing a very strange experience with people it knows nothing about. Make it feel safe and secure and LOVED on this first part of your journey together.

[skyhigh]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm going to take her to puppy school and maybe after that obedience school. Because these dogs get very big and I don't want knocking me over. :rolleyes: We're going shopping for all the stuff probably tomorrow. We are puppy proofing our laundry. She can stay in there for a while then when she's a bit older can start going outside. (The hottest it gets here is 40 degree's. So please don't say 'You let your dog outside?' thanks) I'll put all those things on my list. But with the kong, I've heard of it from the forums but not here in Australia. I'll have a look around for it. Just thought I'll post a picture of her.

[skyhigh]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/sandraAUS/pup1.jpg

Ok, maybe two

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/sandraAUS/Pup.jpg

And her dad

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/sandraAUS/web_format_Dimmi_SV_2-10-04.jpg

And last one- Her brother and her
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/sandraAUS/webformat_AD_pups_4wks_side_by_side.jpg

[stirder]

shes beautiful, as are her parents and brother. I agree with everything said so far. you can deffinetly put a collar on her, make sure you can rotate it around her neck, like a loose bracelette. the sooner she gets used to a collar the better, and leash as well. an easy way to get her used to the leash is let her drag it around a bit. I wouldnt mess with the leash untill she is settled into your home, maybe the 3rd day?
Im also going to send you a private message, with a site that will really help you as you raise her.

[Dakotah_2009]

Skyhigh where do you live Asutralia for it to be 40 degrees? Just asking, not trying to be mean.

[stirder]

dakotah, just a stupid little fact I learned from watching croc hunter...australia has a glacier that is surrounded by a tropical rainforest.

[luvmydogs]

could be 40 degrees celcius??????? its like 100 F

[skyhigh]

I was talking to other people in the rest of the world who have it there as like 100 degree's. People often put me off for me having my dog outside a bit. I was just saying that its not 100 degree's here, so dogs are ok living outside. :) Do you guys get what I mean? lol Strider, Croc Hunter puts a bad name to Australia. Anyway, if you guys have different opinons then well, ill be happy to talk about it. Let's not start a fight. By the way, I'm in Perth. Cya

[Fran27]

I still think it's not only a problem of weather to put dogs outside or not. My dogs would howl after 10 minutes, because they want to be with me.

[skyhigh]

lol Fran. My dog isn't so much people oriented. He likes exploring outside. We usually give him a nice juicy bone for him to knaw on. We have a little hill in our garden looking over the rest of the garden. My dog dug a hole in it and now it's his thrown. He hasn't dug any other holes, just this one. :) It's so cute when he ponder's over and rest's in it. He brings his toys there to. And he didn't dig it because he was hot, he would be inside in the air-con if it were hot. Cya

[Fran27]

Well it's fine if the dog is not people oriented, but you can't know if the GSD will be or not. What I mean is, make sure he doesn't mind being outside if you want to leave him there.

[skyhigh]

Yeh. We'll see about the pup. But at the moment the breeders have her outside. Lately my border collie has been in a lot. Sometimes he just sits at the door like he wants to go out. We open the door him, and he runs out. So he has a decision when he wants to come in and out. If he wants to come in he sits at the other side of the door. :) Cya

[stirder]

me and dakotah werent having a difference of opinion...just stating that fact. we actually get along pretty well. how does croc hunter give australia a bad name? just out of curiousity because some aussies on a german shepherd forum really love the guy. and I agree, if he rather be outside, cool. but most gsd's will not want to be outside very much without their people, even if they have a dog buddy out there with them.

[skyhigh]

Hey. Well, thats my dog at the moment. We'll see what the GSD likes. We'll see. It really depends. With the croc hunter... Well, in my opinon i don't like him. My brother said something about a show a while ago that he was being mean to Australia. that's where i got it from. Anywhoo, cya