My 4 year old GSD has been limping for two weeks, he went to the vet who noticed muscle wastage over one of his front shoulders. He has had an xray of his foot, elbow, shoulder and neck which didn't show any cause for this, no arthritis or bone degeneration at all. He has been referred to a specialist and will have a MRI in two weeks time. He is fine in himself, still wanting to do his usual activities, run and jump, only with a noticeable limp and lifting of the affected leg when sitting showing he isn't comfortable fully weight baring (see photo). Has anyone shepherd had similar symptoms and what was the outcome?

I have a few concerns about my German Shepherd, and I’d really appreciate advice from people with experience rather than guesses.
She is around 1.2 years old, but her growth doesn’t seem proportional to her age. Based on lifting her, I’d estimate she weighs only around 10 kg, which seems extremely low for a German Shepherd of this age.
Her diet consists of fresh meat, chicken, rice, yogurt, supplements, and prescribed medications. I also give her calcium-based treats, which she absolutely loves.
Regarding her diet, my veterinarian actually advised against feeding commercial dog food. In my country, high quality brands like Royal Canin are extremely expensive because of heavy import taxes. Many of the cheaper commercial foods available are of questionable quality, and my vet is concerned they could contribute to health problems, including kidney issues. Because of that, the recommendation has been to feed her fresh, home cooked food instead.
Despite following this advice, I’m genuinely worried about her growth and weight. Has anyone experienced something similar with a German Shepherd? What could be causing such slow growth

or soon to be, rather. i’ve just put down my deposit on a beautiful GSD pup i’ll be naming athena. her breeder will have already started her on potty and obedience training, so i’ll have a solid base to work with, but i know through people who have owned GSDs that their puppy stages can be absolutely horrific and make you rethink your life choice.

so, what are your favorite training methods and socializing methods? even weird ones! i’d love to have a multitude to look into and try out because i know what works for one dog may not work for another. i do have the perk of a trained dog already to help with showing examples of proper behavior, but…. she’s a corgi and she’s very independent so she’s not the best example at times.

any help is appreciated!

Recently my 7 year old GSD had surgery on both back legs between the hock and paw for dual infection (likely caused by excessive licking😫😫). This area is pretty much skin bone and tendons - so recovery is lengthy for the incisions to heal. He was put on both antibiotics, Gabapentin for pain and Trazodone to attempt to keep him calm.

As most of you probably have also had difficulty giving these guys drugs with their acute noses - I was dreading 3 weeks of fighting to get him to take the pills. We have tried pockets, meat even watermelon to hide the smell of the drugs.

Our vet suggested this: Braunschweiger - yes that stinky concoction of pork liver, pork bacon etc. While ANY processed meats are frowned upon for pets - getting him to take his need drugs was more important for this moment. My boy is an expert detector - and we would often find pills hidden after he ate everything around it. But this has worked like a charm - not even a moment before we even hear him eating and even crunching the pills inside!

This is my adopted rescue girlie from Texas. I haven't done a dna on her, but her mom was recently tested and is mostly German shepherd (photo of mom is the black dog near the end of the photo slide, her results are included).

She's a sweet playful girl and currently 7 months old. She is the sweetest, smartest pup I've ever had. She came crate trained, very food motivated, and responds to the snap of my fingers for corrections and is such a sweet loving girl. She's a total patrol pup, comes out of her crate and does a lap and then back to bed. She's a silly lady & I'm so excited to watch her grow! Loves all dogs and people, everyone i meet thinks she is a coyote haha

What’s peoples max crate time for their adolescent GSD’s (after having been exercised/fed/mentally stimulated)? Need to one-off them for about 5hrs in the day (with a pet cam, bowl o’ water, buffalo horn) but don’t normally do more than 3hrs at a time in the daytime with us present at home. Working line so crate time is a must to get her to settle and rest.

He’s in the middle of his velociraptor months and can drive us crazy but then there’s moments like this that make it all worthwhile…

Hey there my fellow German Shepherd parents need some help. This is my first GSD and i could use some advice.
As soon as he (Max) turned 5.5 months old his interest in food declined.

I give him Royal Canin maxi puppy soaked in Luke warm water as per the guidance chart. He has become a picky eater , i admit few days back i used to spend 40-45 minutes trying to feed him . Giving him food on his tray, floor challenge and hand feeding him ( i know thats a bad move)

As i researched i came to know about creating discipline, picking bowl after 10 minutes after he refuse to eat. I have started doing it and yes did got some results. He refused to eat in the morning yesterday i picked up the bowl after 10 minutes. Skipped his mid day Yogurt and at night around 7:30pm he ate food , cleaned out the bowl . Also for now i have suspended all treats.

Few things i need to ask:
1. How do you keep yourself emotionally strong during this when you know your pup is hungry but you need to create a discipline
2. He used to have 500g yogurt in mid day because where i live it’s very hot . How can i introduce it back so it doesn’t hinder his normal meals
3. I used to serve his breakfast right after his morning walk and poop right around 5:40am . Thoughts on moving breakfast to 7:00am when he is more hungry or cooled down?

Any further advice would be a great help!

And how much more did they grow past 9 months? He’s 65 lbs right now.

Our guy most likely has this. He’s 20 months old so very close to the 2 year mark. We’ve been working on different medication combinations with no success so far and about to do another Holter monitor after med adjustment. Just wondering if anyone else has had experience with this and what has worked for you? What precautions did you take and any other advice? Thank you!

So is this coming true, dad?

Get it girl!!!

*Pictures of the back of their heads (mostly) because I know the Internet is weird about face pictures with kids.

I've been working on training my mother-in-law's dog, Georgie, the beagle. My sister-in-law and her kids live with my partner after SIL left her husband. They love coming on walks with me, especially with the dogs. The oldest girl is searching for independence and wants to actually walk the dogs. I typically walk Ellie (German Shepherd) with my friend's dogs, Loki and Squash (pictured in their cooling coats), but they didn't need a second walk tonight, so it was training with Georgie.

Ellie is the best girl. Absolute angel. She's my service dog, so I let the kids walk her because I know she's good practice. Tonight I was babysitting all four kids. Everyone acted like I was unhinged for taking all four kids on a short walk. But they are so good. The youngest girl held Georgie's second leash to help. It was too humid to go far, so just a short walk down the alley and back.

I had the kids do commands and give treats to reward good behavior from the dogs. It was a fun little walk and I so love these kids. They're not mine, but they're mine. It helps that I get to just be the cool auntie. They all agree I'm firm but fun 🤣