Can chews replace brushing, and is 40 mins play enough for my GSD?

1. Rusty should not get bathed more than once a month unless he is very dirty. Bathing him too often will strip his skin of it's natural oils and dry it out. He can be brushed daily, and should have his ears and teeth cleaned daily. Cut his nails when they become too long. 2. He should get at least 45 minutes of exercise twice a day. GSDs are a high energy breed that need a lot of physical and mental stimulation. 3. You should leave water out for him all the time during the day so he can drink whenever he is thirsty. 4. Great question! Yearly check ups are recommended, but bring him into the vet whenever you have a health concern. I hope this helps :-)

As a GSD, Bruno really needs exercise twice a day at least 30-45 minutes at a time. That's because they are very high energy dogs that need lots of exercise to keep them healthy and their mind stimulated. If you have no time to play or walk Bruno, I would see about hiring a dog walked to give him that exercise. If you don't have time to play or exercise him, it may be best that you find him a home where he can get the play and daily exercise he needs, and you can get a breed of dog that's much more low maintenance in terms of exercise.

I'm very sorry that you may have to give Max away. As a GSD, he will need a lot of daily exercise. As a breed, they are very high energy dogs who require at least 45 minutes twice a day when fully grown, so he will need more exercise as he gets old. At his age, 30 minutes of exercise is fine, but he should get that twice a day. I would make an effort to get him more exercise in order to meet his needs.

To help keep him occupied when you aren't able to actively play with him, I recommend getting him a Kong toy. My GSD loved his. Also, to save you hands, you need to work with him on learning what is and is not acceptable when mouthing and chewing. When you play with your puppy, let him mouth on your hands. Continue play until he bites especially hard. When he does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause him to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when he startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore him for 10 to 20 seconds or, if he starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage him to play with you again. It’s important to teach him that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with your puppy until he bites hard again. When he does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require your puppy to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring your puppy or giving him a time-out for his hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all. Also, the help keep that busy little mind occupied and teach him appropriate behavior, get him involved in obedience training. Many places have puppy kindergarten classes (if you have a PetsMart nearby, ask about their classes) that will teach you to teach them basic obedience. If he shows an aptitude for it, continue with his training as far as you would like to go. Teach him tricks, teach him tasks, play fetch, whatever you can and need to do to keep his body well-exercised and tired and his mind occupied. A tired dog is a happy dog.

Thank you for your questions about Luke. I agree and would advise against stuffed toys as he will confuse them. Do keep the kids toys put away as he may think they are his anyway!!! Offer him a variety of toys. Nylabone makes a variety of chew toys for dogs. My only warning though is that the hard toys can break dog’s teeth if they are aggressive chewers. Some toys can break apart and you must always be vigilant to remove and replace these toys to prevent him from swallowing pieces as that could lead to intestinal obstruction. Experiment to find his favorite type of toys. Dogs like bully sticks but too much can make some of them sick to their stomachs. Same with something like a greenie. Always monitor him when he is chewing something because dogs can choke on these. I like to stuff a Kong with kibble, seal the opening with peanut butter (xylitol free) and then put it in the freezer for a few hours. I hope this answers your question and please feel free to post any additional questions.

The best method to keep her teeth in shape would be to brush her teeth at least every other day after having the teeth cleaned professionally at your veterinarian's office (under anesthesia). Yorkies are notorious for extremely bad teeth, so chewies will not do the job. Once the teeth are shiny bright and white after the professional cleaning , it is easy to just apply the enzymatic tooth paste on your dog's teeth and then brush , or not even brush as the enzymes will remove the bacterial film on the teeth.

Hello! I hope you are staying safe during these crazy times! Yes, this is enough chewing action to provide her with some protection, but you are doing the best things possible by brushing Chloe's teeth daily and getting yearly cleanings with the vet. That is amazing, and excellent pet ownership!