GSD, tracking, other jobs?

Question
Hey, I have a 4 month old german shepherd mix puppy. She's got an appointment to be spayed at the beginning of next month.

1. She's 45-50 pounds and my vet says she's gonna be HUGE. So my first question is, should I switch her to adult food? She's currently on Iams Large Breed Puppy food, but I've heard swithing them to adult food between 4-6 months is good as it slows growth and builds sturdier joints, is this true? Or would you suggest it?

2. She just started losing her baby teeth two days ago, she's lost her two bottom canines and a tooth towards the back. Should I add a bit of water to her food to make it softer or is she fine eating hard food?

3. She likes to use her nose a lot so I thought I'd put it to some use. We have a huge field and I was thinking about getting her into a sort of tracking. Not animals as I do hunt and I don't want her bringing back any local coons. Do you know how I could do this? I only want her to follow trails I lay.

I think that's it. Thanx for reading!

Answer
1. Dog Food. Large breed puppy foods are geared to the growth of large breed dogs. At this point, you are probably best to stick with a large breed puppy diet. The main goal of these diets is to allow proper growth of the body and supporting muscles and ligaments.

2. You could certainly add some water to the food if you wanted to, but you don't need to. One thing you could do is take some of her chew toys (think Nylabone or similar) and put them in the freezer. She can shew on these and that should soothe some of the teething issues. She will likely go through another chewing phase at about one year and you can do the frozen chew toys then too.

3. Tracking would be great fun for you and your dog. Where I live, there are tracking groups that help teach people. Check on the links below for tracking clubs and see what you can find and then go and watch to see if you like the training and the sport.

If you haven't all ready been to a puppy socialization class, that would be a great activity for the two of you. There are also places that offer puppy agility to help with socializing and confidence which is good for all pups.

Good Luck!


http://www.outlawchinooks.com/ Lots of articles here for training too.
http://www.ukcdogs.com/ United Kennel Club
http://www.akc.org/ American Kennel Club