What Is A German Shepherds Neck Size
Measuring your German Shepherds neck is important to help you find the perfect collar size to ensure that they are secure and comfortable.
To do this, use a measuring tape to measure loosely along the base of your puppys neck. Ensure that you can slide two fingers in between the tape and your puppys neck. The neck size of a German Shepherd is 18 24 inches
Week Old German Shepherd Puppy
At 2 weeks old, your German Shepherd puppy will still be with his mother. He should be reliant entirely on his mothers milk. These small pups will begin to open their eyes to take in the world, but otherwise will not be straying anywhere.
In larger litters, make sure that all of the puppies are growing and gaining well. Pups that dont seem to be getting enough milk might need to have formula supplemented to them in order to get their weight up to a healthy level. If you are worried about this at all, contact your veterinarian.
German Shepherd Ear Health
Like all other purebred dogs, German Shepherds are prone to certain genetic health problems. This breed doesnt suffer from any inherited ear problems, however German Shepherds that have allergies can experience recurring ear infections.
If this is the case, the most important thing is to discover the allergen and limit your dogs exposure to it. By doing so, you will also minimize the chance of painful ear infections.
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How Big Are German Shepherd Puppies
An average weight of German Shepherd puppies, according to a giant census study of dogs in Italy, is about 503 grams or 1.1 lbs at birth. They can range from 0.8 lbs-1.3 lbs grams at birth.
There are usually 6-8 puppies in a litter, and birth weight, as well as litter size, often depends on the mothers size as well as body shape.
Dont be surprised if their individual sizes begin to show at this point some small pups may overtake the larger ones even though they cant see or hear yet!
How Much Do German Shepherds Grow After Six Months
German Shepherds tend to be at around 70% of their adult size and weight at six months, which means they dont have much more growing to do.
At this age, they are reaching the end of their rapid growth period, and you will notice their growth slows down significantly after this milestone.
If you are considering adding a larger breed dog to your family, its good to have an understanding of how big they could potentially get. With German Shepherd size, there is quite a bit of variation depending on the type you have and what they were initially bred for. All this information can help you to anticipate their adult size, and our calculator can get you the rest of the way there.
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German Shepherd Puppies Vs Adults Guidelines
Our last topic involves the difference between a puppy and an adult.
This is an important subject as it will help you figure out the best way to take care of your dog depending on whether theyre an adult or a puppy.
The following are some of the facts that recent studies have proven:
- Puppies have higher energy levels than adults. This means they need to eat more than adult German shepherds.
- German shepherds will need higher protein and fat content in their early age. The amount of fat and protein will decrease as they grow older.
- Puppies cannot tolerate too many nutrients. Ingesting extra minerals and vitamins may lead to serious health disorders. Meanwhile, adults are only risking being overweight when taking in more than intended.
With this German shepherd feeding chart, you can now decide on your dogs feeding plan, However, Id suggest seeing your vet first so you can confirm if your plan is actually effective.
Many owners simply feed their German shepherds without second thoughts of the dogs needs. But since youve read this blog post, you are now aware of the needs of your German shepherd.
After talking about the feeding amount, frequency, and lengths of a German shepherd, you can now easily plan how much, how many times, and how long you feed your dog. You even learned how to hydrate your German shepherd the proper way.
After Your Puppy Has Gotten Used To Being Around Other Dogs Without Fear You Can Move On To Teaching Him Or Her The Proper Behavior When You Are Around Other People
For instance, you might want to let your four-month-old puppy go in with other children when you are not home. It is natural for a four-month-old puppy to be afraid of strangers, so allowing him or her to be in the presence of children might help your puppy learn the proper socialization patterns. when they are older. Just try taking him or her to the park or other places where people will be in the future.
Another one of the best four-month-old German Shepherd puppy tips that you can use is to make sure that you are playing with your puppy for long enough that they learn how to understand the difference between fun and playing with you, and playing to please you.
The most basic of dog training tips is to allow your puppy to play for ten minutes or longer without making you play any commands before you begin to yell at them.
When you are looking for the right dog training tips, you will soon find that some of the best ones will involve simple training techniques that you can incorporate into your daily schedule. These include a few quick tricks like using a tennis ball to help your puppy develop the basic obedience skills needed to be a good dog owner. Other tips include the use of a simple tool such as a clicker.
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What Kind Of Food Should I Feed My German Shepherd Puppy
At four months, your puppy is post-weaning and should start taking puppy food. Usually, puppy food contains essential nutrients and minerals that puppies require for their growth, and it is different from adult dog food.
You should feed a 4-month old German shepherd different types of food like wet, dry, soft, and hard food. For example:
- Wet dog food
- Soft treats like
- Hard treats like bones.
At four months old, your GSD puppy has a full set of teeth, and may have built a chewing obsession. He may be chewing anything and everything. When serving him chew bones, trim any fats or meat to avoid choking hazards. The chew bones help clean their teeth as they chew on the bone!
Avoid feeding 4 month old German Shepherds chocolate since it contains methylxanthines, which can be toxic to dogs if consumed in large amounts
German Shepherd Weight Range And Growth Chart
Below you will find a chart that breaks down the overview above into more specific heights and weights, also including growth as a percentage to indicate how far along your German Shepherd is towards becoming a full grown adult.
This chart is a guideline, and as long as your GSD reaches the goals set forth in it, it doesnt matter if they are reached a bit sooner or a bit later as long as they are healthy during the process.
If you are concerned that your dog is gaining too much weight too quickly, or its growth seems to have halted, you should take your German Shepherd to a veterinarian to be checked out.
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Best Healthy Dog Foods
Hence, we have personally collated a list of dog food brands that we sincerely consider as healthy and would not hesitate to recommend dog owners to give them a go.
These food brands are not your typical corporate pet food manufacturers.
These are pet food startups fueled by the passion from their pet enthusiasts founders who only want the best for all dogs under the sky. Each of them have came up with their own unique formula that will surely satisfy your dogs’ taste buds without compromising their health.
Click here or the button below to learn more about these bespoke food brands.
How To Help My German Shepherd Lose Weight If He Is Overweight
Excessive weight can lead to health complications in your German Shepherd puppy. If your German Shepherd is overweight, the following ways can help them lose weight:
- Reduce calories first, you need to know the right number of daily calories your German Shepherd should be eating according to their age. Reducing between 10% and 20% is recommended, but you should seek advice and help from your vet when reducing the numbers.
- Reduce meals if you are free-feeding your German Shepherd puppy, you should start feeding them at scheduled mealtimes. If you feed your puppy several times per day, ensure that you reduce the amount you are feeding them. Use measuring cups and evenly space mealtimes.
- Exercising ensure that your German Shepherd is getting at least 1 hour of exercise every day then progress to 2 hours. Walking and jogging are some of the good exercises for your German Shepherd.
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Can You Potty Train A 4 Month Old Puppy
It typically takes 4-6 months for a puppy to be fully house trained, but some puppies may take up to a year. Size can be a predictor. For instance, smaller breeds have smaller bladders and higher metabolisms and require more frequent trips outside. Your puppys previous living conditions are another predictor.
How Much Does A 4 Month Old German Shepherd Puppy Weigh
Weight, Size and Food Diet Depending on many predictable conditions, the weight of your puppy may or may not be different from other dogs. But for 4 months old male German shepherds, the average weight is 25 kg and the height is 49 cm . For female dogs its 23 kg , the height is pretty much the same.
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German Shepherd Puppy Feeding Guide: 12 Weeks To 6 Months
After approximately 12 weeks of age, puppies can be trained to eat fewer meals a day, at set times, and with set amounts. While you still dont want to limit their food too much at this age, its also not a good idea to just let them pig out whenever they want.
Large breed puppies have a tendency to overeat, and concerned puppy parents often give in to their pups cries for more. This sets your German Shepherd up for obesity, heart problems, liver issues, joint pain, and a host of other medical conditions.
Instead of letting your puppy have a free-for-all on a bag of kibble, ask your vet what they recommend. Theyll look at your German Shepherd puppy as an individual as well as considering the breed as a whole.
The vet will also consider the pups overall health, activity level, and metabolism.
While your vets recommendation should overrule anything you read online, here is a decent middle ground feeding guide for most German Shepherd puppies.
This potbelly baby stage means she is not quite mature enough for reduced feedings.
Watch her body composition, shape, and weight. When she starts to look more like an older puppy and the potbelly is slimming down, you can reduce the feedings to 3 per day.
Have You Been Scheduling Your Dog’s Meal Time Wrongly
Scheduling your dog’s meal time will tune their stomach to become hungry only at their meal times.
Combining this with the right amount of dog food given to them, it will keep your dogs from becoming hungry out of meal hours.
In turn, this will maintain their metabolism rate and utilize all the food they consume fully and appropriately.
As a bonus, regular meal time will also discourage them from scavenging around the house like little vacuum cleaners as they grow accustomed to the amount of food they are given and to be used for the intervals between meal times.
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German Shepherd Size Charts And Growth Patterns
Like most other dogs, German Shepherds have their most significant growth period in the first 6 months of their lives, achieving more than two-thirds of their adult height by this time.
As is common to larger breeds, their growth will significantly slow after that. They will reach their adult height a little before their adult weight. Our interactive puppy growth chart and calculator has more information on that.
Additionally, this is why its particularly important that your German Shepherd puppy gets the correct nourishment he needs to grow that adorable little body into a healthy adult one. Check out these guides on best dog food for puppies here.
Other Juvenile Period Physical And Behavioral Developments
During the juvenile or ranking period, German Shepherd puppies start to understand and learn about dominance and submission within a pack.
They can begin proper obedience training towards the end of this period, but you need to bear in mind that your puppys attention span is still quite short.
At around 4 months, they also go through a chewing phase as they start to lose their baby teeth, and they can enter another fear phase.
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German Shepherd Puppy Feeding Guide: Birth To 12 Weeks
All dogs should stay with their mother for no less than eight weeks, ideally up to ten weeks. During this time, the mother will nurse the pups until they are old enough to begin eating puppy mush.
Puppy mush is usually regular dog kibble thats been soaked in water, formula, or homemade puppy milk made with human-grade ingredients.
After the puppies are fully weaned from their mothers milk, they will get all of their nutrition either from puppy mushmade progressively drier every few daysor other puppy-safe foods.
Its important to continue feeding your puppy whatever the breeder started them on, at least for the first few weeks. This will help prevent gastrointestinal distress.
Also, be certain it is food intended for puppies and not adults or senior dogs. Adult dog foods do not have the proper nutrients to support a growing puppy.
Once your German Shepherd puppy is homebetween 8 and 12 weeksyou may begin weaning them off of the breeders food and introducing their new foodif youve decided to switch, that is.
Over the course of the next few weeks slowly introduce the puppys new food into her old food, adding more of the new food each day.
Start with ¾ of the serving of the old food and ¼ of the new food. After a few days, make it half and half. After the first week or so, make it ¾ the new food and ¼ the old food. Then by two to three weeks, your pup should be fully on her new food.
German Shepherd Puppy Growth Chart For Male Gsds
For a male German Shepherd puppy, the weight range in adulthood typically varies between 65 pounds and 90 pounds. Puppies will be between 24 to 26 inches tall on average.
This growth chart timeline is courtesy of Von Geliebten Haus GSD breeders. It uses an average German Shepherd that weighs 64 pounds at one year of age.
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What If My German Shepherd Isnt The Right Weight
If your German Shepherd is diagnosed by a veterinarian as underweight or overweight for their age, then the first thing you should do is ask him or her to help you figure out the underlying cause of the problem. This will determine what should be done next.
For underweight German Shepherds, you may need to:
- Feed them larger meals more frequently
- Switch to a high-quality dog food
- Treat for parasites
- Create a treatment plan for diabetes
- Have their teeth cleaned and any mouth conditions treated
- Treat another disease that may be causing low body weight
For overweight German Shepherds, you may need to:
- Feed them less food less often
- Cut out treats
Average Size And Height
First, lets talk about your puppy health. Many owners are worried if their dog is reaching the proper average size and height. Usually the puppy will be about 21-25 inches by now, but if hes not there yet there could be reasons for that.
Most importantly, check the parents, maybe they are a bit smaller than average than you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, check with the vet that his diet has all the nutrients he needs. Remember, that too fast growth at this age is also not that good for the dog as it weakens the bones.
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Things To Keep In Mind When Exercising A Young Gsd
- Spread activity throughout the day Bruce Lee once said, I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. When you make a single session small enough, you can afford to repeat the session throughout the day with enough consistency to make an impact. Add steps to your little puppys day without making it a Rocky training montage.
- Avoid high places The growth plates section makes it self-evident that you should keep your dog from jumping. So definitely no skipping rope for your chubby best friend.
- Play seeking gamesDetection exercises allow you to sneak in extra steps while also helping your GSD develop better cognition. Interestingly, such games also decrease running speed as dogs are more deliberate in processing where the hidden prize is.