6-month German Shepherd: growth, training, and car sickness help?

Congratulations on your new puppy Daisy! Most puppies will out grow car sickness. There is a drug called Cerenia your vet can also prescribe that is given ahead of time and works very well. Please feel free to post any additional questions!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. In general I find German Shepherd's to be pretty physically tough but every dog is different. For the running - do remember that at 5 months, Sweety is an uncoordinated teenager who's legs are growing faster than she can keep up! It is natural for her to miss her steps sometimes while running and to scuff herself up in the process. I expect this to improve with age. As for the gums, she is about the right age to be losing the last of her puppy teeth which often come out during tug of war games and may have minimal bleeding for a few minutes. I am not very concerned about this. I do find German Shepherds to be a little overrepresented in terms of sensitive skin and stomachs. But regardless of breed, almost every dog who eats mud/rocks is going to vomit and/or have diarrhea. Sometimes this part will improve with age, sometimes the only solution is to prevent her eating those things either by keeping her indoors and under close supervision outside, or by means of something like a basket muzzle. All in all, Sweety sounds about normal for a dog of her age. Best of luck to you both!

Hello. Good care is all you can do for Kyra. At 2 months of age, she still has the potential to reach her potential maximum growth. Feed her the best large breed puppy food you can purchase. Do not supplement her with any vitamins or minerals. Deworm her based on a veterinarian's analysis of her stool & make sure she receives all appropriate vaccinations at the appropriate times. Treat her well & she will mature into a healthy, beautiful dog. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

She is a cutie. She likely is just a smaller framed GSD. Her weight looks appropriate for the breed here. You are feeding her a high quality food so you are doing what is needed to keep her weight ideal, which it is. As long as her stools are not soft, then there isn't much else to do about her smaller frame. It is just her genetics. It sounds like she is a timid dog. Take her to see more pets/people in smaller sessions. Take her to the dog park and to the pet store so that she is exposed to more people/pets. Also I would suggest enrolling her in doggy daycare so that she can learn how to be around other pets without being so timid and fearful. She will come around the more you expose her now while she is still a puppy and can be trained out of her fear. If push comes to shove, then its best to hire a dog trainer to work with her one-on-one. Here is more information on socializing puppies/kittens. --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8941891 Best of luck moving forward with your puppy Oggy and I hope that she gets over her fear soon! Take care.

Hi there! Sorry to hear that Luna is not feeling well. The clinical signs you describe are concerning when they occur in a puppy as they can be seen with serious gastrointestinal infections such as Parvovirus. Other possibilities include intestinal worms and dietary indiscretion, among other possibilities. The sooner these conditions are treated the better the outcome tends to be. For this reason, I recommend that you have Luna reevaluated since she has not improved to check for these possibilities and to start therapy based on findings. At the very least they can address dehydration if present and start her on anti-nausea medications. Good luck! Keeping my fingers crossed for your girl!

It is possible that Cookie has not hit a growth spurt yet and will increase her growth rate in another month or so. I would recommend a good deworming to make sure parasites are not a reason for slow growth. Also, I would make sure she has a good balanced puppy food. If she does not seem to like the puppy food you can always change the brand or even mix in wet food to help stimulate her appetite. Some shepherds are born with congenital defects but these are pretty rare. IF you feel she is not improving I would recommend taking her to your vet for a good exam.

I recommend to call your veterinarian. Puppies can vomit for many reasons but something like a vaccine reaction may be the cause and this needs to be treated. Your vet will make a recommendation based upon her exam yesterday. Just so you know, German Shepherds need to eat diets formulated for large breed puppies. This helps to ensure that they grow and develop properly. I recommend Royal Canin German Shepherd Puppy. It will ensure even, normal growth and is very easy to digest because the GSD can be prone to an upset stomach. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.