These are the most common questions I get and I hope they help answer your questions. BUT if they do not, you are welcome to email me at dennynsteph@aol.com, Call or text me at 619-777-4316

• I don’t know whether to choose a male or a female.

The answer to this is based on the most common differences between the two sexes. Keep in mind that BOTH sexes can exhibit some or all of these characteristics.

Males are usually more aloof or indifferent than females. Males tend to protect their property while females are more “pack” or “their people protective”. Males from any given litter are usually larger than the females. Females tend to be more nurturing and loving which makes them better for families with small children. “Please understand that there are plenty of males that are great with children.” Males can mark their territory and would have to be trained to not mark if they are inclined. Females have a heat cycle if they are not spayed that usually starts at 6-12 months and occur about two times a year. Most behavior problems come from males. So males can take more training and patience.

Regarding raw feeding:

• “I thought bones were bad for dogs because they splinter.”

Raw bones do not splinter; they are part of a dogs natural diet. COOKED bones splinter and can become lodged in dogs stomachs etc. More dogs die from chocking on dry dog food or other objects than from raw bones!

• “What about salmonella?”

While salmonella poisoning is possible, it is extremely rare and is usually the result of seriously tainted meat or an older dog who is not normally fed raw getting hold of raw. Puppies have enzymes to help them digest raw meat but will lose these enzymes if fed a kibble only diet. Then if raw is not introduced slowly when the dog is older, (such as a dog taking a chicken from the counter) they can get sick from the raw. I have been feeding my dogs raw since 2005 and have not had one dog get sick from human grade raw meat. Actually I have had the opposite effect from the raw diet. My dogs are thriving!

Please read my page on diet

Questions many people have before taking their puppy home:

• What kind of crate do I buy?

Personally I like recommend you start your puppy in a crate that has a divider so you can make the inside of the crate larger as your puppy grows. Plus when your puppy is learning to hold its bladder it will be less likely to go potty if its crate area is small.

• How do I potty train my puppy?

Please go to my page for potty training

After you take your puppy home:

• How do I stop my puppy from biting?

You first need to establish some respect. If your puppy is biting relentlessly, it does not respect you. My tried and proven method works wonders. Many problems with dogs are fixed by thinking like a dog and its pack. When a pup bites its mom too much or too hard she places her mouth over the pups snout or head and applies gentle but firm pressure until the pup lets out a little whine then she releases. It lets the pup know it has gone too far. So when a pup bites me disrespectfully, I place my hand over its muzzle the same way its mom does with her mouth and I squeeze just until I get a whine. When I release, the pup usually licks and plays with me respectfully. This technique usually has to be repeated many times as the pup grows up. Some pups have to be given even more stern correction like laying them down while applying pressure to the muzzle. Note: This is a method usually intended for strong minded breeds or dogs not expected to do IPO (Schutzhund) work.

Questions regarding growing

• My puppy is 4 months old and its ears are not standing. Should I be worried?

In most cases, no. We do not breed dogs that pass soft cartilage in our dogs ears and the larger the ears/dog the longer it can take for the ears to stand. What you want to look for are; as the puppy is teething, the ears will try to stand and then fall. Sometimes one will go up and then the other. Then sometimes they both stand and then fall which worries many puppy owners. This is a normal growing phase and as long as they are trying to stand, then they will eventually stand by 7 months in most cases. If your pups ears do not show promise of standing, please call me and let me know.

• My puppy is not interested in its food. What do I do?

Most likely you are over feeding your pup. If your pup has energy, normal stools and is not vomiting but turns its nose up at raw steak then your pup is over fed! However, if you are feeding the same dry kibble day after day and your pup shows disinterest and your pup looks a little too thin, then your pup needs some variety. Try adding some Life’s abundance canned food to the kibble. Better yet, try to feed at least one raw meal a day. Most puppies/dogs are overweight so most finickiness  is from over feeding.

• I just found out that my puppy has Pano. Have you dealt with this? My vet put my puppy on Rimadyl.

Pano short for Panosteitis is inflammation of the longbone that usually shows up in larger breeds between 4 months to 2 years. Even though it is classified as a disease, it is not thought of as a disease in the classical sense. It has no long term effect on your pup but can be very painful. Here is what really helps:

First do not give Rimady! It can be toxic. I don’t care what your vet says. You can give a baby ASPIRIN for pain but NEVER give Ibuprofen. Your puppy needs to be put on a diet of no higher than 25% protein and its weight needs to be kept at such a lean weight that you can see a couple of ribs. No your pup will not starve. The Pano will however get much better. I have also see a huge improvement with the use of NuVet plus AND Nujoint plus.Since Pano is from a compromised immune system as the underlying cause, NuVet supplements have natural freeze dried antioxidants that help your pups body fight free radicals. I give NuVet supplements to ALL of my dogs and my puppies are weaned onto these vitamins along with Life’s Abundance dry food and a 50% raw diet.

• My puppy is breathing really fast especially when sleeping; is something wrong?

Puppies breath faster than adult dogs and their hearts beat faster as well. This slows down as they grow.

• Our dog won’t stop jumping on people and is out of control. We have had trainers work with him/her but it is not working. (This goes for most dogs who are showing aggression as well)

First of all the “trainers” must either only understand small dogs OR they have no clue what they are doing. Large working dogs especially German Shepherds can have strong minds and if they do not feel any person in the home is alpha then the dog will take the position of alpha. It is highly unlikely that your dog could be fixed by my answering this question here as the techniques could be done wrong and therefore cause matters to become worse.