Keeping Your White German Shepherd Healthy

Once you have a Beautiful White Shepherd you must keep it healthy and in top condition. In order to have a good working dog, or just a nice family pet, you must have one that feels good. A sick dog or a dog that has to stop and scratch fleas will not be a productive worker nor make a enjoyable pet. Here are a few guidelines that we here at our training and breeding kennel go by. Always talk with your vet before you make any drastic changes with the health of your K-9

Food

• Use food with a high fat content when you're working the k-9 heavily, as fat is what gives them energy.
• Use food with high protein content for young, growing pups and less for the more mature dog.
• Watch for too much protein in food. This can bring on "hot spots" in the dog and even premature death due to kidney problems.
• Food with excessive calcium can cause problems such as reduced absorption of zinc, iron and phosphorus. It may also cause skeletal problems in the dog.
• Too much sodium or salt may cause hypertension, kidney or heart disease. Many feed companies put an excessive amount of salt into their feed to make it palatable. If your dog is drinking a large amount of water it is a good indication that the feed being used has too much sodium. A vet should be consulted if problems of excessive drinking persist after the sodium in the food has been reduced.
• Practice caution when using supplements. They should not be used unless recommended by your veterinarian, or you have done a lot of research on the subject, as they may be more harmful than beneficial. The "more is better" idea is a dangerous myth. We give supplements to our k-9s and that will be discussed later.

Fleas

• At our kennel we bathe the dogs every week using a mixture of 22 oz "Lemon Joy" dish soap and 2 oz. Eucalyptus oil to repel and kill fleas.
• Be cautious when using flea dips. Some dips on the market are thought to cause cancer and sometimes will burn the dogs skin. There are some flea dips that will recommend you wear gloves when using their product so you do not burn your skin, giving little or no regard for your dog's skin (think about it).

Bedding

• Your dogs bedding should consist of cedar chips, as cedar will repel fleas. The doghouse or pen you use should be free of any wind drafts and dry from the weather. A commercial plastic doghouse with a flap over the door works great. The main thing is so he can stay worm and dry.

Worming

• Worm your dog every six months. Don't wait until you see worms or worm eggs.(Please read below)
• Heartworms can kill your dog: Go to your vet and get the monthly heart guard wormier.

Natural Dips & Wormier

• What I am telling you here is what we use successfully at our training center. I suggest you talk to your vet before using any of the following. Ivermectin cattle and horse wormier has not been made legal to sell over the counter as a dog wormier but does work on the k-9s quite well. Ask your vet about using Ivermectin wormier. Hopefully he will tell you the truth about it. They may just tell you that it is not sold as a dog wormier and then change the subject on you. If he tries to put you off, tell him you sure would like an answer.  A big per cent of the vets use it on their own dogs but don’t really want you to know about it as it would cut into the sales of heart wormier and intestine wormier, which I am sure you know has a high price on them.
• Ivermectin cattle wormier is the most effective wormier you can use on your k-9s as well as cattle. My vet tells me it is the safest wormier on the market. It kills any blood-sucking parasite. It takes care of heart worms, ear mites, all the blood sucking internal worms, ticks, fleas, chiggers, mosquitoes or any other parasite that bits the k-9 and it is less expensive to us. You can purchase a 30-cc bottle of it for less than it would cost you to buy the other care products for one month.
• Give 1 cc for 100 lb dog, ½ cc for 50 lb dog, ¼ cc for a 25 lb dog by month to each k-9 and have no problems with any parasite except maybe roundworms, which is not a bloodsucker. They live on the feces of the k-9. If you see roundworms in the feces then you will need to doctor for them. You can get it over the counter at most any farm supply.
• One of the best items to kill fleas on your k-9 is to use Joy Dish soap with lemon in it to bath him in. You will see the fleas falling off of him as you give the bath. Joy dish soap kills the fleas instantly when the soap is used on them. 

Wounds and Cuts

These are probably the most common injury to dogs when working in salvage yards or around old houses where the windows has been broken out. Many times the k-9 will run over sharp stones when searching out side areas. If this happens, clean the wound with water or a disinfectant. Cut pads and paws will sometimes bleed heavily and can be quite deep. If this happens check that there are no shards of glass or sharp stones, still in the wound and then wrap the foot with gauze and apply pressure with a bandage. Try and wrap the whole paw with the bandage. If a piece of glass is deeply embedded in the wound do not try to remove it yourself as serious damage can be caused by pulling it out, seek medical advice immediately. NEVER use an elastic band or similar restrictive binding as these can cut off the blood supply. In most cases the dog should be seen by a veterinary surgeon as some wounds may require stitching and it is possible that the wound could be contaminated or infected in that case antibiotics would be necessary. If you can’t stop the bleeding the dog should be seen by a veterinary surgeon at once.

Injuries to Claws

One of the most painful injuries a dog can suffer and they tend to become infected very quickly they are usually accompanied by heavy bleeding. Dogs will lick them constantly which can add to the damage. If possible apply a bandage or at least cover the injured paw with a clean sock or wrap with gauze to prevent the dog from getting an infection from dirt in the injury toe. If the bleeding is heavy get to a vet as quickly as possible. Always have the injury checked by a veterinary as soon as possible as infections are common and often the claw will need to be clipped under sedation or anesthetic. A word of caution. Do not make hides on old radiators or on auto doors where there is broken glass.

Stings and Insect Bites

Normally the first sign of an insect sting is a swollen muzzle or paw. Check to see if the sting is still present and try to remove it wherever possible. A word of caution here if the dog has been stung by a bee the poison stinger containing the bee venom is still attached to the sting and continues to pump venom into the wound for several seconds to minutes after being ripped from the bee’s body. If you try and pull the sting out with tweezers you may inject more venom into the wound. The best way to remove a bee sting is to scrape it out with either your fingernail or a penknife at the same time trying to avoid squeezing the poison sac on the stinger. If the swelling is severe and around the nose, mouth or throat it can cause breathing problems and a vet should be consulted. Otherwise, keep the dog quiet and cool and bathe the area with ice-cold compresses.  Something to remember is if a k-9 gets stung while in training or working, it can deter him from wanting to search in that type of area again. If it happens to be a wasp nest, kill the wasp out with gasoline, then take the k-9 back to the same place and do a search again. If you don’t do this the k-9 may quite working for you.  Try to never quite training or searching when any accident happens unless it is bad enough to require a vet and then get to the vet as soon as possible.

Vomiting and Diarrhea

In most cases when you change dog feed, you will cause the dog to have an unset stomach and diarrheas unless you change them over slowly mixing the new food with the old food will prevent that from happening. If they do have diarrhea, then we mix the new food with thick gravy for a couple feedings. As a rule this will take care of the problem. Do not give ANY solid foods at all for a couple days but make sure the dog has plenty of fresh, clean water. Then after the couple feedings with thick gravy start the dog off on small quantities of food 3 or 4 times a day until his stool is back to normal. If the problem persists get him into the vet for a check up.

Heat Stroke

This problem occurs in the summer months particularly with long - haired dogs or dogs are running and playing in the hot sun. Heat stroke typically happens when the K-9 has been taken to a warmer climate and he not been activated to the warmer climate or when they can’t get to a shady place where they can keep cool. Most k-9s will dig a hole in a shady place and keep cool by lying in the hole they have dug. Signs to watch for are, they will just be panting excessively with their tongue hanging out, but that can progress quickly to collapse, breathing difficulties and even seizures. When you are working your k-9 in hot weather watch his tongue and breathing closely. Treatment consists of getting the dog out of the sun, keep him calm give him a cold bath or wrap the dog in cold wet towels. Ideally, provide a breeze, naturally or with a fan. Try and get the dog to drink small amounts of cold water. If your dog won’t calm down, and is having breathing problems or has started convulsing, it should he should be taken to a vet as quickly as possible. If you have no place to put the k-9 to cool him down, then put him in the seat of an air conditioned auto with the air conditioner running on high.

Poisoning

Unfortunately, dogs like nothing better that to eat toxic substances such as rat poison, slug bait, plain chocolate (yes, plain chocolate can be toxic to dogs) human tablet like Neurofen in nice shiny foil and our biggest enemy hidden narcotics. In most cases it is best to make the dog vomit as soon as possible. Most poisons take a couple of hours to be fully absorbed into the stomach so inducing vomiting is useful up to two hours after ingestion. I am not a vet and so I will not try to tell you how to save the poisoned k-9. Talk to your vet and be prepared in case he does get poisoned. In all cases, contact the vet with details of the poison and in what quantity it has been taken. Keep any tablets, packaging or whatever can be recovered and take it with you to the vet’s surgery. They can check with the national Poison Center to see what treatment is necessary. If you are doing a search for illegal drugs in a building, vehicle or an outside stash or drugs that may have been dumped by a fleeing criminal –

I suggest you go talk to your vet and have him or her prepare a first aid kit for you to use on your k-9. Remember prevention is better than cure!

Ear Mites

• Get a good ear mite medicine to keep ears free from mites.
• Use it every three months.
• We use a 50/50 mix of camphoric and mineral oil. One application kills the earmites
• Ear mite medicine can be obtained through your veterinarian or it can be bought over-the-counter. If you're not positive your dog has ear mites, consult your veterinarian before administering ear mite medicine.

It is also important to talk to a vet and have him set you up with all the ingredients necessary for keeping your dog in top condition. Remember, when you have your white German Shepherd Dog trained, he is no longer an average animal, but an investment valued at several thousand dollars!

Email Cindy at capri57@suddenlink.net or call 479-966-7654