[Turkish]

Dont get me wrong shes a wonderfull puppy but....

Kodi is a 5 month old purebred german shepherd. Supposedly of German ancestry (according to her breeder, who has since gotten a divorce and moved to an unkown location and has cut off her cell phone)

So I was assured no hip or elbow dysplasia in her bloodline and this was backed with a lifetime warranty on her health (which is now rendered useless because where is the breeder to back it up hunh)

Other than that shes growing like a weed, doesn't bark like every other dog along the back alley. Only things she barks at is a dog that she doesnt like and horrible things like brooms/mops/vacums. I've had more trouble getting her to come into the house that outside. Shes already figured out that she needs to do her 'business' outdoors and not in the house or garage. Other than that shes lovable, affectionate and has the attention span of a fruit fly!

The bad has been the chewing thing. I picked her up the day after I moved into my house so I've been trying to puppy proof the place as I go. However seeing as way back when an old creek ran through my backyard (that has dried up years ago) my yard is full of rocks of all sizes which she loves to chew on. Thankfully she hasn't eaten any she cant pass through. I know that becuase she did eat some gyproc a little over a month ago and threw it up. Or so I thought, I tool her to the vet knowing something was wrong. Ended up being a chunk of gyproc stuck at the entrance to her intestines and she had a tonne of gas building up. So surgery to get that out and while she was open she got spaded too.

So tonight I'm having a nap after work and she desides she going to escape (First time) She weasels her way through a crack by the house and cuts up a front leg on a eavestrough. Shes now resting after I bandaged her up with cotton netting and duct tape.

In short (after this biblicaly long story) I'm going crazy and broke at the same time.

And I tried to add a pic but its not showing YAY

[Pepper]

She's 5 months, she's still a baby =P

Can you enroll in training classes, those help strengthen the bond between you two.

Get rid of the rocks, shovel them or something, because she could die from that. Give her toys to play with, when you see her chewing on something she is not supposed to, tell her no and give her a toy to play with.

Also, a dog should never be left alone outside, especially a 5 month old puppy, especially with loose rocks and places she can escape too, I suggest keeping her inside with you and giving her supervised time outside.

[Turkish]

Hiya Pepper,

She picks up on what I'm telling her easy enough so I don't think classes are a must. I'm still working on getting her to listen when she gets away without a leash and there are distractions around. As for bonding, she follows me around wherever I go already and when something scares her shes under my legs instantly.

As for the rocks... without excavating the entire yard the rocks are there to stay as, like I said its an old dried up creek bed so they are being pushed up from underground always.

And shes not left alone outside all the time. When I'm not home, shes in the garage, her crate is in there along with her dishes. Right now shes spending the night inside the house but shes kept out during the day. She still has stitches in from the surgery and shes just finished her antibiotic prescription this morning.

I do think I'm going to pick up some more kong toys for her though and start keeping a collection in the freezer.

[winniec777]

I have to agree with Pepper's suggestion for classes. It's not just to improve your relationship with your dog or to teach simple things like sit, stay, come. It's to help give your dog confidence around other dogs and people so that she is better socialized and remains non-aggressive to dogs and people. I've seen too many cases of dogs that were too isolated and became unmanageable as a result.

RE the rocks, you've already seen that they're a problem for your dog. Aside from the intestinal issues (which are severe and can lead to death), chewing rocks is terrible for your dog's teeth. We kept our dog from accessing things she wasn't supposed to by putting up temporary fencing around the things we wanted to keep her out of. It's kind of expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than permanent fencing or vet surgery bills. Well worth the expense. We still use it when we can't be there to supervise her 100%. You can buy several of these exercise pens and hook them together to fence off an area.

http://www.petco.com/product/13909/M...cise-Pens.aspx

Another idea -- buy a dog kennel to put her in when you can't be there to watch. I would suggest posting on this forum to ask members how they've set up their kennels so that they're safe and effective (with a large breed dog like a shepherd, you need to take precautions, esp. since she's already shown herself to be a bit of an escape artist).

Good luck!

[Turkish]

Update.

As of this post Kodi is a 6 months and a bit old. Shes turning into mans best friend for sure. The rock chewing is over, shes moved onto bigger and more tastier things. For some reason she still likes chewing on pieces of concrete. That happens extremely rarely as the yard has been gone over with a fine tooth comb.

I've read and heard about the dreaded vet surgery for things swallowed. And guess what, this dogs undergone the knife already. Turns out the sheetrock she got into shortly after I had picked her up wasn't all thrown up. She had a piece stuck in her intestines and there was a pile of gas building up in her insides. I had taken her in thinking it was something else she had gotten into about a month later. All is well now though.

Biggest issues now are the breeder I got her off of has dissapeared and I still have no reg papers. I mailed out the protest forms to the CKC last week so we'll see what happens now.

The first day of snow here was interesting. Took 5 minutes to get her out the garage door and another five to get her off the deck onto the grass. Very comical. She came back in with half an inch of snow on her nose from having the nose to the ground all the way around the yard. That was a week ago and with the twice dialy walk/runs she would rather be outside now than inside.

hehe as I finish this I hear her barking in her sleep in the other room
Heres a pic...