Wife and I just had our first kid!

[Midorikawa]

His name's Mogli, he's a German Shepherd mix, and is about 1.5 years old (according to his teeth. He was a stray, so we don't know for sure.) He's smart, well behaved, and already has some training.

Unfortunately, he shows signs of being abused, which I stumbled upon by accident. I knocked my drink over and yelled in surprise, and he tucked his tail and ran in fear from me. :-(

He's also VERY skinny - you can see his ribs, even through all his fluffy winter coat he's working on losing. He's gained 2lbs since 2 days ago when we took him home, but still has a long way to go. He weighed 39lbs, and the vet said he should weigh about 50 or so.

Whoever got rid of this dog was a freaking idiot, but their loss, our gain. :-D

[Exaspera]

Awwww! He's a handsome guy! Just show him lots of love and hugs. It'll take awhile, but eventually you'll be great buddies. Good luck to you!

[phantasy]

Wow! He's so beautiful, I just wanna hug and cuddle him, and stick my face into that big fluffy coat!

The more he learns that you're not evil or mean, the more he'll trust you. But sometimes that process takes forever. It's nice that he's friendly though.

[Midorikawa]

The more he learns that you're not evil or mean, the more he'll trust you. But sometimes that process takes forever. It's nice that he's friendly though.

Exactly. He seems to be bonding to the wife and I in different and interesting ways that I've never seen before. He'll lay on the couch next to the wife, but won't do it to me. He won't sleep in his own bed, he'll lay on the floor on my side of the bed, as close to me as he can without being in the bed (We're sharing a full sized bed, and it's barely big enough for the 2 of us, much less a large breed dog.) He insists on following me around the house, but will insist on being in the bathroom with the wife, and will even turn the knob to open the door and get in.

He definitely knows we're not mean, and definitely knows we saved him from the shelter, but still has that initial reaction from back when he was with his previous owner. As we speak, he's laying next to me watching me type.

He seems to be really curious. He has to see what we're doing, and sniff out anything we pick up.

[Sliceanddice]

if it wasn't for the fact i know there no pug in that mix because i know what a pug german sheaprd mix looks like i would say you had a puglet!
my pug has to either sleep with you or near you, will follow me ever wear and must watch us women folk pee.

[Jangles the Moon Monkey]

I want! I had a German Shepherd cross before my current two and I'd love another. She was a rescue as are my current two. Sounds like he's settling in and knows he's in a good home now.

[Nurian]

Beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous dog. I'd like to find the jerk who abused him, though...

[draggar]

Cute pup and kudos for taking in a stray!

Lots and lots of socialization is important but let him make the decision if he wants to make friends (it's also good to have a "make friends' command - like with us we tell Zorro, Kiri, and Luna "go say hello" as a note that the person is OK. It's not something you can deliberately train but he'll learn. Train him with about 95% positive motiviation (rewards - food, toys, praise etc..) and at most 5% negative (for the really bad things - and I think you'll get away with just a harsh "NO" to him).

Skinny is easy to fix, good food (what to you plan on feeding him?) and DO NOT OVER-FEED!! People have a tendency to feed and feed the dog (2 large cans, 4-5 cups of food, etc, for a couch potato). The ribs shouldn't be visible but you should be able to feel them if you run your hands down his sides (with little to no pressure).

50 pounds sounds like a good weight, I'm assuming he's a little smaller than your average German shepherd (but he's still growing - he'll fill out with age until he's 2-2.5). He's also still a puppy.

Also, kudos (yes, another) on the NES.

Edit: Just showed this my wife.

He might not have been exposed to yelling which could give the same reaction as abuse (so he might not have been abused).

She also thinks he could be pure German shepherd. Many vets here in the USA think non-American line dogs are mixes (many think Kiri is a mix). She is positive your dog is working line - get that pup trained!! She also thinks it could be "Iron Curtain" (DDR (East German), Polish, or even Czech). This is where the most hard core working line dogs come from - you'll definitely need to train and work it. Being from this area chances are he has some wolf in him (don't worry, he's still a GSD).

[tropicsgoddess]

Such a cute dog and a real sweetheart!! Such a shame how some people can be so mean and cruel to such innocent creatures. Congrats on your new kid!

[Squeaksmyalias]

I 2nd what Dragger said, I'm agreeing with his wife too on him possibly being a pure bred. He is tall without the low back end? Trust me that's a good thing. He has that look of a working dog. From of the sounds of it he is going to be a smart guy.
Socialize him like crazy and start as soon as possible too, take him places, car rides anything to get him out and about and used to visiting and traveling. Even trips to the gas station are good to socialize and for bonding.
Please make sure to get him a seat belt. There are halter types and adapters that clip into your car's seat belt. I have both and they are one of the best things you can do for your dog. Keeps them safely in place but they can still move to look out the window.

Also what Dragger mentioned about feeding, don't over feed and check what the food is made out of. If the first ingredients are grains don't buy it. It's like feeding yourself, A lot of dogs I'm seeing are ending up with some sort of grain allergy. My dog ends up half naked from her grain allergy...
You can pm me if you need to, I do a lot with figuring out diets for dogs, I'll be glad to help.

Good luck with the new baby!

[draggar]

Food suggestions:

Taste of the Wild (very good stuff but it's $40 for a 30 pound bag here)
Royal Canin - the German Shepherd forumula (great stuff)

Maybe 1.5-2 cups a day, a little more (2.5-3) if he's active a lot. Watch his weight and adjust the amount of food accordingly. Less food if you're training him and are using a lot of treats (cut up hot dogs (or cheese dogs) make good treats. If you want to make your own - cut some thin strips of chicken and put them in a dehydrator (until they're very dry - almost brittle). Dogs love them, they're very high in protien and healthy plus you can eat them, too!

Raw food once a week will help kep his teeth clean. 2-4 chicken backs from a regular grocery store or 1-2 if they're "full" backs (both sides and the neck) from a butcher. Soak them in very hot water to clean them (as if you were going to cook it yourself) then serve raw. He may or may not take to the raw food, our dogs LOVE it. Never ever give them cooked chicken bones. That can snap and cause major digestive issues. Raw bones are soft and won't splinter and get digested easier.

Get some molasses - I'm sure he'll have some loose stool - it'll help with it plus our dogs seem to like it (it is sweet, we're not the only species that enjoys sweets!).

[Mishi]

He's sooo gorgeous!
With the yelling - that's how my Hailie reacted when I first got her, but she's an ex-breeding bitch, show-dog and was a kennel dog. I found that a "Hey, you're here and you're part of my pack" pat when I walked past her or when she was near me really helped to get rid of Hailie's anxiety. It did take a long time for her to think of it as normal, because she simply wasn't used to frequent human contact. Both our dogs are very submissive so they find the casual touching/patting reassuring.

[Squeaksmyalias]

Frozen veggies make good treats too or banana frozen, dehydrated or fresh seem to be a favorite of some dogs.

I hit costo once a month and pick up what ever is good on sale as far as meat goes. Better then canned food and I ended up tossing it all a big pan to cook and then freezing it since she doesn't like raw meat. It's good since she is active and it keeps her from loosing her coat as does adding veggie or olive oil to her food. Makes it nice and soft. Actually I've noticed it ends up being cheaper that way, dog food is expensive.


Taste of the wild is a very good food, it's hard to find for me so I end up with eukanuba naturally wild, not everyone is a eukanuba fan so I've gotten lectures about using it. It works for my dog and lasts a LONG time since she at most gets a handful of dry food a day. I'm not crazy about royal canin that's mostly due to seeing dogs being over fed on it. That seems to be a favorite for over feeding.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Aw, he looks so sweet.

[Midorikawa]

Lots and lots of socialization is important but let him make the decision if he wants to make friends. Train him with about 95% positive motiviation (rewards - food, toys, praise etc..) and at most 5% negative (for the really bad things - and I think you'll get away with just a harsh "NO" to him).

That's how I train, and he's already really social, I just need to get him away from the bad habit of "OOO PEOPLE! *Mad dash*" We live in a halfway below ground condo unit, Our patio is a concrete box about 5.5' below ground. He saw someone he wanted to say hi to, and jumped up to ground level from almost a standstill.

Skinny is easy to fix, good food (what to you plan on feeding him?) and DO NOT OVER-FEED!! People have a tendency to feed and feed the dog (2 large cans, 4-5 cups of food, etc, for a couch potato). The ribs shouldn't be visible but you should be able to feel them if you run your hands down his sides (with little to no pressure).

I actually grew up with dogs, as did the wife, so we know how to feed a dog, and what the dog's weight should be. He's really active, so he'll need more food. We've bought a brand that I can't remember offhand, but it was a vet recommendation for him.

Also, kudos (yes, another) on the NES.

That's the NES I got for christmas when I was 6. I love it to death, and the wife and I play it regularly. :-D

He might not have been exposed to yelling which could give the same reaction as abuse (so he might not have been abused).

He has what looks like scars from a sharp implement around his ears. I'll have to see if I can photograph it, but he won't let you near his ears, so I probably couldn't hold him still long enough to get a photo.

I also grabbed him by the scruff of the neck to get him out from under my desk (I have 3 servers under there, and LOTS of wiring he could get caught in. Don't want him getting caught it cables and damaging one of my servers, or worse, hurting himself trying to free himself.), and he freaked, dropped to the ground and gave that "don't hurt me" look.

She also thinks he could be pure German shepherd.

I went based on what the shelter listed him as. Either way, I do know I can't tell what else he could be, if anything at all, so that sounds probable.

She is positive your dog is working line - get that pup trained!! She also thinks it could be "Iron Curtain" (DDR (East German), Polish, or even Czech).

I've trained 2 dogs since my parents bought a pure bred black lab when I was a kid. I've walked the wife through what we'll have to do for training, and we've picked out commands for him to learn as we do. Working on "give" at the moment, as he only drops the ball for you if you have something he wants, and forces you to fight him for the ball otherwise.

Raw food once a week will help kep his teeth clean. 2-4 chicken backs from a regular grocery store or 1-2 if they're "full" backs (both sides and the neck) from a butcher. Soak them in very hot water to clean them (as if you were going to cook it yourself) then serve raw. He may or may not take to the raw food, our dogs LOVE it. Never ever give them cooked chicken bones. That can snap and cause major digestive issues. Raw bones are soft and won't splinter and get digested easier.

As a Texan, meat is abundant in my home. Since I already share food with him (not a lot, but I do share the last bite of my sammich, or the gristly bits of whatever meat we're eating that night with him.)