Problems With My Alsation - German Shepherd Puppy

[triffid]

I bought my pup when it was less than 4 weeks old (I know this was wrong but I saw it while travelling and away from home and did it on impulse). It is now 6 weeks old. It is obvious to me that it has weak hind legs - but I was half expecting that this well-known alsation problem might crop up. More worrying to me is that its eyesight seems barely 50% (or less) of normal. In all other respects it seems healthy and spirited.

Is the weak eyesight normal at this age? If not, is there anything I can do to mitigate the problem?

Similarly is there anything I an do to strengthen as much as possible the hips/hind legs?

I will greatly appreciate any comments.

[David006]

Sorry don't know about eyesight issues but but the hip problems are very "shepherd" we had a cross shepherd/malamute in Cairns and she cost us 1200 Aus dollars for two ops (6 months apart)on her butt end (Hips)..par for the course it seems...

[pokoal2000]

I would not worry too much. Our GS has weak back legs, but now he is 10 months old and great. No problems.Give him calcium tablets, maybe milk if he likes it and he will probbably grow out of it.Eyes are always not so sharp when they are 6 weeks old. Just feed him good stuff and he will be OK.They are the best dogs you can have and once you get over the puppy stage they are tough.

[Ponti]

From my experience, It isn't easy to make sure from sight inspection if they have hip problem unless you x-ray them.

Some of my dogs have longer hock, normally they show weak legs when they were young and then they develop gradually when older.

You can do preliminary check with experienced vet at pet hospital in Bangkok or any university that teach vet in major city.

BTW, I have seen many dogs with hips problem can live and enjoy their activities.

Just give them good care and good quality fresh food and enough exercise.

[isanbirder]

Good luck with your puppy, Triffid. Don't worry about the eyesight... good or bad, he will learn to adjust.

For the legs, lots of calcium and milk, not too much (but enough) exercise. I've never had an Alsatian that young, but in my experience they can take pretty well whatever exercise you can give them. It's mainly when they get older that you have to worry about the hip problem.

[triffid]

Thank you for the encouraging comments.

Certainly I will give him good food - presently I am giving Hills dry food soaked in canned goat milk. I assume the goat milk will provide the extra calcium.

The eyesight on the other hand does worry me but I hope for the best as he grows. (I had hoped that someone would say that they actually saw a steady improvement in vision as a puppy got older, or even that there was a medical treatment that helped.)

I'll tke him along to be seen by someone at the Chiangmai university hospital once he's about 2 months old.

Is there a consensus by the way that fresh food is necessarily much better than a good brand dry food (eg Hills or Royal Canin) occasionally supplemented by fresh meat or bones etc.?

Edited February 25, 2011 by triffid

[isanbirder]

Thank you for the encouraging comments.

Certainly I will give him good food - presently I am giving Hills dry food soaked in canned goat milk. I assume the goat milk will provide the extra calcium.

The eyesight on the other hand does worry me but I hope for the best as he grows. (I had hoped that someone would say that they actually saw a steady improvement in vision as a puppy got older, or even that there was a medical treatment that helped.)

I'll tke him along to be seen by someone at the Chiangmai university hospital once he's about 2 months old.

Is there a consensus by the way that fresh food is necessarily much better than a good brand dry food (eg Hills or Royal Canin) occasionally supplemented by fresh meat or bones etc.?

One thing I would add to the diet is some tinned food... the cheaper varieties which, although they say Beef Flavour or Chicken Flavour, actually consist mainly of tuna scraps. The fish oil in this helps to give him a good healthy and glossy coat. I suspect it also tastes much better than the dry food!

[Nienke]

I've seen the puppy this morning and he looks gorgeous and healthy to me. His eyes are the eyes of a 6 weeks old. Still a bit of the bluish-greyness variety. I suspect it will change with age to the normal color. He didn't show any sign of abnormality with his eye sight.

As for the hips. Also there he shows the normal wobbliness of a 6 weeks old. I would just continue giving him a good diet, and be extremely careful with over-supplementing of calcium and over-vaccination (vaccines can cause bone deformation and, in general, GSD's are already susceptible to that).

[LeCharivari]

Weak eyesight is not normal at 6 weeks, triffid. Most puppies' eyesight is full developed by four weeks, around 10 days after their eyes open. A few have fully developed eyesight as young as three weeks while a very, very few take longer.

I would suggest that there is little to be gained by waiting a fortnight to take him to see a properly trained and qualified vet - why wait?

Artificial puppy milk such as Lactol is readily available and is preferable to goat's milk. Although goat's milk is better than cow's, a dog's milk has double the fat content, and double the albumin and casein (proteins) and around 25% less sugar than goat's milk. Other potential problems depend on how the goat's milk has (or hasn't) been treated.

If there is an eye problem then there is probably little that can be done about it directly but it is something that you should be aware of as you will have to allow for it in his training and general care.

Vaccinations are the subject of a considerable amount of debate; if you aren't convinced one way or the other read some of the papers written by specialists qualified in this particular field. If you decide to minimise on the vaccinations, for whatever reason, then at least get a full blood test done - this will also give a good indication of what supplements, if any, you should be giving..

You obviously know the implications of removing a puppy from the mother before they are weaned, so to minimise those you need to get the diet as correct as you can and to have the dog properly checked by an experienced small animal vet. There is no reason to wait, as long as you keep him isolated from other animals, and every reason to have him properly checked as soon as possible.

[bina]

socialization, there is always the problem of diseases, vx. puppy socializing by other dogs which is the most important part of the 6-8 week age stage in a puppy's life. a puppy that young really needs the socializing of adults around it for making it a better balanced dog, but barring that, it just means u will have to work a bit harder later, after vaccines, around dogs, etc; as 4-8 weeks is basically when a pup learns its place in the hierarchy of the pack, gets growled at by its elders (mom usually), flipped over, knocked over, pushed around, licked etc... so the young age removal does have implications in training later in life, not just physical ramifications.

the legs, stay away from having the pup on slippery flat floors (like tile floors); dirt, or rough flooring is better, allowing the feet to 'grip' and the pup to stand properly and not splayed legged due to slipperiness...

bina

israel

ponti is a GSD breeder so he is pretty qualified when it comes to ideas and suggestions for your pup.

[tracker1]

socialization, there is always the problem of diseases, vx. puppy socializing by other dogs which is the most important part of the 6-8 week age stage in a puppy's life. a puppy that young really needs the socializing of adults around it for making it a better balanced dog, but barring that, it just means u will have to work a bit harder later, after vaccines, around dogs, etc; as 4-8 weeks is basically when a pup learns its place in the hierarchy of the pack, gets growled at by its elders (mom usually), flipped over, knocked over, pushed around, licked etc... so the young age removal does have implications in training later in life, not just physical ramifications.

the legs, stay away from having the pup on slippery flat floors (like tile floors); dirt, or rough flooring is better, allowing the feet to 'grip' and the pup to stand properly and not splayed legged due to slipperiness...

bina

israel

ponti is a GSD breeder so he is pretty qualified when it comes to ideas and suggestions for your pup.

[tracker1]

Totaly agree with bina's comments . I have given my pups Pentovite in their food its a mineral supplement for children and eggs no cows milk corn flakes, cod liver oil,tinned fish and never had 1 perish all turned out good dogs and served the community well in their working life.

[Cuban]

Puppies that are taken from other puppies too soon loose the socialization phase that teaches them how to behave in play, the lack of learned socialisation with other puppies surfaces in later life with behavior problems in the adult dog.

After weaning from mother's milk (a source of the anti bodies that prime and build the immune system which goat milk will not provide) a BARF diet is better than biscuits and tinned jelly, which is mostly water with 10% animal by-products.