It is a myth to think a litter calms down a dog, that is not the reason to breed or not, you need to think of other things when making that decision, are there good homes available, are you selecting a sire that will improve the litter, are you ready for the work, etc. Vets all want you to spay right away, there are good arguments both ways, it comes down to your decision and what motivates you.

On the biting, substitution is the best, for example get a good tug in her mouth and play tug o war, right now she is still teething, she is not nipping just for fun, but it is turning into a behavior. I would grab her muzzle and firmly tell her “no biting” then try to get her to play a game of tug-o-war. Also be sure she has plenty of Dog chew stuff to chew on between play sessions. She is just now getting to the point where her muscles are capable of bladder control etc, so the housetraining should go quickly now. It’s not that she doesn’t know what you want, it’s that she doesn’t know how to plan ahead. Like my three year old girl who should potty before we leave for town but waits until we are ten minutes on the road to tell us she has to go right now! It is the same thing with your puppy. Regular visits outside, then come back in to play will help her get a schedule going. Stay is also kind of abstract to work on at this age without a partner, you need to have one “anchor” and one trainer, to help with stay, here and some other exercises. Sit and down can be worked on solo at any age.. If anyone posts some tips, I will forward them to you!

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve [mailto:steve@familydobes.com]
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 3:19 PM
To: blog@familydobes.com
Subject: Newsletter

This issue is coming out early because I did get some good feedback and good questions and wanted to be sure to address them all. Here is a letter I received:

How are you doing?  Well first off I would like to say I really appreciate

you putting together these newsletters.  And I do have a couple questions

for you.  Looks like I missed the newsletter about the dog foods you

recommend.  Our little Dobe Kane just hit 5 months a few days ago.  He was

40 pounds a week ago when he was in for his 6th and final set of shots.  Now

on that dog food subject, a couple people recommended the Nutro Max Puppy

for large breeds so that's what he's had.  And I am willing to pay for

better, but I just don't know if I should stay here for a while or change. 

I got a small bag of the premium edge, but he hasn't had much of that.

Another question I have, is about his dew claws.  I'm very unhappy with the

small family breeder in Idaho i purchased Kane from, she has been no help. 

So I thought I'd ask you, both of his dew claws on his front legs have grown

back in and two vets have said there is just no excuse for it and it was a

bad job.  So what do you recommend for them now?  Have them done again? 

I've been told is very painful for the dog so I'm afraid to just do it

again.

And one last question.  He bites at his rear legs, his tail, which is

docked, and his little boy part all the time when he is running around.  He

bites hard enough there are scratch marks and little bald scrapes.  One vet

said its like a play biting because he doesn't have fleas, but I know they

commonly have hip problems and I didn't know if something like that is a

sign.  Any idea?

Thanks again, I appreciate all the info.

Bryan

I recommend Royal Canine Large breed Maxi puppy until almost 6 years of age, it works great for Dobes, really well formulated here is an exceprt:

You can feed whatever you would like (keep in mind or health policy is only valid if you feed Royal Canine maxi puppy), but if you change diets, use the starter food to transition the dog slowly beginning with a 90/10 mixture (90% current diet, 10% new diet), for at least 3 days then 80/20 an so on. Puppy digestive systems are easily upset and radical diet changes cause Diarrhea which will quickly de-hydrate the dog and make it lose weight rapidly. We want your puppy to continue to grow and gain weight quickly. When it comes to pet food, you do get what you pay for. You just made a significant investment to acquire your new puppy, would you really feed generic low quality feed? Always read feed labels and come to understand what they mean, talk to other dog lovers and your veterinarian for their recommendations. I feed Royal Canine Maxi-Puppy to all my dogs regardless of age. It is the highest quality feed I can buy for the least amount of money. I just wish they would subsidize me for advertising for them! It has more protein and fat than any other diet which is essential for large breed dogs. The old philosophy was slow down their growth to protect joints. Why mess with mother nature? She got it right the first time! The way we add joint protection is to add Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate to the feed. This is the chemical makeup of the joint lubrication the occurs in healthy joints. In the wild dogs eat much bone and joint tissue from other critters, which satisfies the need mother natures way. We supplement letting the dog grow the way nature intended it. The dog will eat fewer pounds of a good feed like this than a big box store brand because good feeds are more digestible. Just think of corn, people don't digest corn any better than dogs do, yet corn has carbohydrates etc. If the dog is eating less, it means you are cleaning up less as well! you will in the long run spend just a few more dollars to feed a good feed, and have a healthier happier dog.

As far as dew claws, yes it is unacceptable that they came back in, it was likely done by the breeder instead of a vet. I used to do my own, but on all my show puppies I have an AKC judge/Vet do them, then they are perfect At this point it really is quite invasive to try to redo them, I would leave them alone if it were me. Most of my import Dogs have them as that is the style over there, and we haven't yet had an injury.

His biting could be behavior, but if he is biting that hard, it is likely to be some kind of irritation, could be skin mites, allergies (food allergies too) or irritation from his bedding etc. dogs just don't do that for fun... Not likely to be hips though, hip problems won't show up until much later., thanks for asking! If your Vet seems unable to determine the cause, it is time for another opinion.

And another:

Congrats on your new arrivals!!!  I love puppies, but those girls sure look like they have it all!!! 

How about a newsletter on how to keep a puppy from biting the heck out of you??  It's always good to hear other people's methods.  Obviously with schutzhund prospect I don't want to be overly corrective, but sometimes it's hard not to!!  Pinches hurt more than bites... well not really, but they do hurt!!

                       

Great Question, I like substitution meaning give something to the pup that he should chew on, hopefully with dental cleansing something or others, remember they are teething, and just need some help to get those baby teeth out and break gums on the adult teeth. Yes on a schutzhund pup you want to get good bite behavior which means, use tug toys and leather chamois etc that will mimic future equipment, and encourage a good deep bite and hold, not a chew, you want them to not release for as long as you can keep them going, then when they release give them the out command. They start to get it very quickly. Also realize when you start them using leather tugs etc, they don’t differentiate between that and leather wallets, shoes, etc. Rawhide can have the same effect so don’t expect puppy’s to understand this abstract concept right away.

On another note... the feed.  While Royal Canin is a good dog food, if you look on alot of breed dogsites, they talk alot about good foods.  There are many others that rate  just as well.  www.springtimeinc.com http:>http://www.springtimeinc.com/ I use some of their products for my horses, too... and probably really should for me as I get on up there in age!

Anyway, have a great weekend... I've enjoyed looking at your pictures of the schutzhund training I keep finding on your pages!!  You must be having alot of fun with that!!

Julie

I have looked at many of these feeds, and I think the evaluation is pretty good. One thing I like to see as well are digestibility tests. It is hard to find those results though. With all the food recalls it almost equates to becoming a RAW feeder which is a great diet, I will send a letter on just that next week. Here is another E-mail on feed from this morning:

Hi Steve,
 
Thanks for the nice newsletters. Speaking of food, I was curious to get your opinion on the food that I am feeding my dobes.  It's called Go! Natural Grain Free and the link is here: http://www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=44. They seem to be doing really well on it so far.
 
Tamara

RE: I looked it over, it has a very good Protien and fat content, good ingredients other than I don’t like that much potato, the only thing I think it is missing is glucosomine and chondroitin.

Thanks.  So you recommend glucosomine and chondroitin as preventative then? Maybe I will take some for myself as well
 
I am attaching a pic of my boy red.
 
FYI, I really like your dobe bloodlines from Europe.  If, down the road, I were to get a puppy from you, at what age do you release the puppies, and is it difficult to drive back across the border when purchasing puppies (I am from Canada)?  What do you usually do when selling pups to another country?

RE: Good looking boy! Yes glucosomine is good for you too! We do fly pups into Canada from time to time, they can be imported just by flying, on your end there will be Duty to clear customs, but it is fairly simple thing.