sozima87:
what is the tablet inside his food for

It's his multivitamins. I haven't been so regular with it but I give him whenever I remember

Shadow at 6 months, the second pic was too funny I had to take it before removing the box from his head

Shadow's Temperament

I believe anyone who has a German Shepherd will agree that they are one of the most hyper dogs. His nickname is Shadow the Destroyer. He has destroyed clothes,umbrellas, plants, shoes. We used to plant a few things in our garden but he destroyed them all. His energy level is so much, i would take him out for an hour long walk sometimes and he would still come home and run around. What I do like about Shadow is his confidence. He isn't scared of anything(so far). His confidence is always mistaken for aggression and I think he's beginning to enjoy scaring people though. He has learned that when he barks someone screams and runs away and is beginning to test himself. I never want my dog to be aggressive because i don't want a dog i cannot control. Dogs generally will protect their space if they feel threatened and that is how shadow is. If you are confident he will test you but back down if you don't flinch. But the moment you scream or run he will chase after you. Shadow has never really attacked anyone but I can say he has come close. I don't know if he would have really attacked the person because I held him down.
There's one thing I see often here, people wanting an aggressive dog. Now this is just my opinion, most times people want dogs that are aggressive but aren't ready to invest the time to train and bond with the dog properly. I see no point in someone having a dog so aggressive that they can't even control the dog. I'm going to derail a bit here but i remember growing up I had this neighbour who had this dog so aggressive that once it was released from it's cage no one could come out of the house. I don't see why one would put themselves in such a situation. So what if there was an emergency and they all needed to rush out? At the time I had a little lhasa called baby and she was so protective over me that if anyone yelled at me or even playfully tapped me she would immediately try to protect me. Even anyone in my family. To me that is the true form of protection. Not a vicious dog that won't differentiate between friend or foe. For me i don't believe an aggressive dog equals a good guard dog. I've read so many stories of dogs risking their lives to protect their owners and none of these dogs where guard dogs. They were all family owned pets. If you really want your dog to protect you, let the dog become part of the family. Just like a wolf pack they will always protect their own.

We went for the Lagos walk and it was fun

Stancrus:
nice write up no doubt shadow is gonna grow into a very big boy even faster than you aspect just be more careful when you doing business online especially on OLX the website is filled with thieves i can testify to that Goodluck with your boy shadow

Thanks. Shadow is actually a year old now. I've been wanting to do this post for a while but never really had the time. I'll post pictures of him all grown up soon

Training Shadow
Toilet training Shadow i have to say was the easiest thing ever. In a week he knew where to go do his business and has never had an incident where he pee'd or pooped where he's not supposed to. I think what also helped is that i have always fed him on a schedule right from the day i got him. It just makes things easier and more predictable.
His other training didn't go so well, i guess I'm partly to blame for that. I did try my best but gave up after a few failures. It always looks so easy when you watch the training video on YouTube and the dog gets it only after one try. Then you do the exact same thing and your dog just looks at you like "what the hell are you trying to do?" At least he knows the basic "sit", "shake", "down". I tried and failed woefully on "stay" command. I never trained him on the "jump" command because the dog was always jumping on everyone, it would be like I'm encouraging him to do something we all wanted him to stop. Even till now he has a way of jumping and giving you a bear hug. It's actually cute but when you have a dog over 40kg jumping on you, you have to make sure you are well balanced or else you'll fall down. I'll be honest I've nearly fallen down several times.
I also succeeded in training him to sit and wait until i give him his food. I think it's also really important to make sure your dog isn't food aggressive. From day one I would always put my hands in his food bowl while he eats and even as big as he is now i can put my hand and even take food out of his mouth and he won't do anything.

Feeding Shadow

Shadow from 8 weeks till...

When I got shadow I was told he was 8 weeks. I took him to the vet after a few days and they did a parvo test on him to make sure he didn't have parvo. He was given his first vaccination, dewormed and thoroughly examined. He weighed 5kg at 8 weeks. When I did my research, I saw the average weight for an 8 week GSD was between 8-10 kg so at 5kg he was lagging behind. He didn't look skinny or underfed he just looked smaller than he should at 2 months old. The vet instructed me to feed him 6 times a day. I honestly didn't keep up with that because of work. I broke it down to 4 times a day. Feeding shadow was really tough. That dog is sooooooooooooo picky. It took me a while before i could get him to eat what he was meant to eat for a day. I did so much research in order to know how much in terms of quantity he should eat in a day. I started him on pedigree dry food mixed with canned food. He didn't like it at all. I think i tried basically all the different types of canned dog food available. I remember buying one particular brand that was so expensive and he didn't eat it. I was so angry, thank goodness for my cats. They were always ready to eat whatever shadow didn't like. After experimenting with practically all the different brands of dog food available i decided to switch to arion puppy food( I think it was someone on nairaland that suggested it). He seemed to like it better, but i had to mix it with canned fish and that really did the job. Finally he would actually lick his plate clean. The only downside i can say for arion dog food is his poo was super duper smelly. Gosh! Once he poops you can be a mile away but you can still smell it. His weight gain was also impressive, he would gain an average of 2-3kg every 2 weeks.
As he got older i started introducing chicken into his food. I get chicken Necks and chicken back from the butchers. I tried feeding him raw but he didn't like it so i would boil it for a bit and mix it with his dry food. Adding more protein to his dry food really helped with his weight gain. Dogs are carnivores and are meant to eat mostly protein. Most dry dog food contain only about 20-40% protein and the rest are just fillers. By 6 months I reduced his feeding to 3 times a day. Now giving him more chicken and less dry food. Even with chicken Shadow would get tired. So i tried mixing it up, getting beef scraps and chicken. He seemed to like this new combo(for now). When he was 9 months I switched to only chicken (and beef whenever I could get it). Based on raw food calculator he was meant to be eating about 900g/1kg a day. So I split it to 2 feedings of 500g each. At his heaviest Shadow was 42kg around 10 months old. I believe the benefits of giving a dog high protein diet is the dog grows really big but isn't fat.

Shadow from 8 weeks till about 12 weeks

I've always had pets while growing up. Dogs, cats, at one time a rabbit. I gave away my two male lhasa apso's after i had my son. They were always fighting, my best guess is both wanted to be alpha and no one was ready to back down. It got so bad that we had to keep them separate and the fighting would sometimes breakout when my baby was crawling or very close to him. It was a hard decision but they are both in good homes and still see eachother once in a while (and still fight when they do).
Anyway fast forward and after a while i felt i was ready to have another dog plus the house just felt so empty without a dog. So i started my search for my new puppy. I knew i wanted a big breed this time. I did some research and narrowed my choice to either a German Shepherd or a pitbull. I chose German Shepherd because of all the research i did, the breed just seemed to be an all rounder.
I had called a few people on olx ( biggest mistake, i got scammed but luckily only 3k). And then I somehow found nairaland and the pet section. Thats when I saw the advert, i'll never forget what it said, "extremely excellent German Shepherd puppies for sale". I'm sure any regular in the pet section can guess who's advert that is. I sent him a message via WhatsApp and we made arrangements. I told him i wasn't gonna pay a dime till i saw the puppy and if i felt the puppy wasn't pure i wouldn't accept it. He agreed to my terms and I got shadow on the 8th of April 2015.
I remember seeing him for the first time, he was so small and cute. Black face, big paws and he was crying in his basket. I took him home and gave him a little water and some dry food i already bought in preparation for his coming. He ate a little.
So he was nameless for a few days because i couldn't think of a name for him. Eventually i settled for shadow. ( based on the fact that he was mostly black. I didn't know German Shepherd's change colour,but I'm happy i chose that name). I guess this is going to be a diary of Shadow or maybe I should say "The Chronicles of Shadow" from when i got him till now.

There is a Nigeria SPCA. Don't know how effective they are. 08037226279 that's the number. Hopefully they can do something.

I only discovered nairaland last year March. And when I saw there was a pet section I was really excited. But now it's only mostly adverts I see. There's nothing wrong in adverts but I really do think there needs to be sub-sections. And the fact that the mod of the pet section puts out the strangest topics on the front page. I think he does it on purpose just to get people to comment rubbish. I don't think the pet section really needs any topic on the front page. Anyone who is a genuine animal lover will find the pet section.

iPopAlomo:
I would assume you're educated... does these cats look like the cats to kill a human even at night...?! now you shamelessly parade them on nairaland... you'll def get Frontpage... I hope you're happy now...

People neglects the roles these cats play in the ecosystem... get rid of all the cats... then see how rats population would sky rocket...

I wonder how people can get tired of goat meat, cow meat, fish, chicken and Turkey... only to start eating endangered species and they think they are savvy...

It would have been lovely... if you educated the hunters... but again... what do you know...?!

Couldn't have said it better.

Bukiminaj:


i really envy her. I will soon get there,maybe when i get a place of my own,i'll get the cats out of their prying eyes.

Blasiangurl85,come here i wan ask you something

Hey, don't mind people who think you are a witch or your cat is a witch it's just stupid. Thanks to my cats my house is roach and rat free. plus they are the easiest animals to take care of. Always had cats since I was little and will always have them.

knyte:

You can't tally blame their myopic reasoning, it all boils down to culture. Blasiangurl85 has 6cats and am sure she isn't a witch, abeg be proud of urself nd ur cat

Hehehe

Prodeegee:
another shadow in the making cc: blasiangurl85

Wow! I think he will be bigger than Shadow. Lovely Dog

wunmi590:
First my profound gratitude goes to the founder of this forum, in person of (Seun Osewa), for giving us this great platform to express and gain more knowledge, and for also creating this pet section.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you merry christmas and a glorious new year in advance.

Further more, I would like to acknowledge prodeegee, who I got inspiration from on how to love pets (dogs), raise and take care of them, you have never brag when it comes to teaching newbies about dog. You are indeed a genius.

I also wish you fun fill merry christmas and success filled new year in advance.

lastly, I would also like to wish people who have inspired me on this section, such as deeptesting, knyte, kuzee, blasiangurl85, chucky234, magpies, kolajoo, mckandre, kolokolobi, arcbay, barcaboi, jado93, eveezy, apitch.

I also say merry Christmas and a prosperous new year in advance.

Zara my lovely pet also wish every petlander merry christmas and fun filled new year.

Cc: fynestboi

Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy new year. Zara is really looking good. You've done a great job.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy new year from me, Shadow, Lily(formerly known as Nina)

Prodeegee:
walking shadow was shitty at first. alot of pulling and all. but yesterday and today we had 4 walks each day. pulling has reduced. and blasiangurl85 said shadow does shakara with his food...loool...he tried that for 2 days but i guess it didnt work. he eats well now.

Shadow is really having fun and I'm very happy. I'm really surprised with the feeding, it has always been my biggest challenge with him. I'm really missing him and all his antics

Prodeegee:
had a very busy day, just got home this night. Shadow keeps trying to hump all other dogs..even the 9wks pregnant dog.

Hahahahahahahahaha he's definitely having fun. Thanks again for having him. Really appreciate

Prodeegee:
cc: blasiangurl85

I'm missing him so much already
Took that pic just as we were about to leave.

I always say the easiest way to make a dog your best friend is through food. It's worked for me all the time. Try feeding it more often. If possible you should be the only one feeding the dog. After a while you'll see the dog will start to look forward to your visits knowing that you are bringing food. And try to spend time with him. Not playing. Just in its presence. Even if you don't become best of friends he will definitely see you in a positive way.

barcaboi:
I agree.....she really is in good hands. now I hv no problems with u selling her..... blasiangurl85 wch shampoo do you use

Right now I'm using a brand called hertz, that's what I've been using for Shadow, but for Nina I know there's a brand called magic coat which is specifically for white coat. So that's what I'll get. I'll post pics when I get it.

Prodeegee:
nina is now owned by blasiangurl85....im happy shes in good hands. ill miss her.

She misses you too. I'm so happy she's now part of the family. Everyone (including Shadow) is in love with her. She's settling in just fine.

Richybang:
babe what the name of that your dog again i have forgotten well i sent you a message on fb but no reply will he be ready for mating on 25th of December

Shadow. Really?! Never got any message. He's only 8 months now. So by December he'll just be 10 months. Don't know if he will be able to "perform". But trust me once he's old enough I'm sure he'll be a super stud. he's already 42kg and still growing

Since you doesn't have the picture of the stud, I suggest you find one to clear yourself. But regardless of that I don't really know if those pups are gsd and rott mix because my dog looked similar to his puppies when I got him. And he is a gsd. He had the similar black face with the brownish dot and was all black all over apart from his legs.

adjoviomole:

So u got a cat too. N ppl will b acting like dey are evil. I dnt blame dem tho, too much yoruba movies

I have 6, love them all. Nothing evil about them. Hahahahaha yes probably too much yoruba movies.

Cute cat and kittens. Looks like one of my cats. Happy sales. All the cat lovers who've been requesting for cats please come and buy

I don't have experience with orphan puppies but I've handled several orphaned kittens but I'm pretty sure the process will be the same. Before I was able to get puppy milk from the vet(Yes I used puppy milk for them) I searched online for home made formula recipes. The one I was able to make was with evaporated milk mixed with raw eggs. I made about 50cl of that and fed every 2 hours (even at night). I used a 10cc syringe to feed them the milk as I didn't have and feeding bottle. Because they couldn't regulate their body temperature, I made a hot water bottle (just hot-not boiling water). And put it in a corner of the box. And place a towel over it. They naturally went to the source of heat and when they felt warm enough they moved away from the bottle. It's important to make sure the hot water bottle is at the corner so they can move away if they feel too hot. Once I got the puppy milk and feeding bottle it was easier. As they got older I reduced feeding to 6 times a day until they were able to eat on their own which was from about 3-4 weeks.
I know it's not dogs but I believe the same process can be done on orphan pups

Eveezy:
prodeegee, blasaingurl, knyte and apitch come see my goy now ooo, at 4 month now, he is much bigger physically dan in dis pics as i didnt snap him well. and prodeegee tanks for d advice, his ears are starting to stand well now, he has huge paws and large ears, his paws are almost as large as some adult dogs

I am so in love with this dog. I love black GSD's and he is so handsome. I understand what you mean about the pics. They never really look as big as they really are in pictures. I hope to meet Drake one day. He really looks well taken care of. Thumbs up

CassieV:

I read somewhere that cat's scratches and bites can be dangerous, how true is this? Have you been in a situation where one of your cats bit or scratched you?

It's only dangerous if the cat is infected, but most cats aren't. As long as your cats don't eat rats and even if it does it has to have eaten an infected rat. Like I said I've had cats for about 25 years I have definitely been scratched a lot but never bitten. Nothing ever happened to me. And all my cats are strays cats.

Bukiminaj:


probably he wnt leave since he has a companion.they ddnt attack each other

when do they feeling like sex?

Yes he won't. Since there is a female cat around now. He would probably want to mate around 6 months or so.

Deolaw:
I hate cats. Sorry if I sound cruel but the fact is I hate them. Well, a cat was always jumping into our compound and. I have been finding how to stop it without hurting it. Sad thing is that it gave birth in our compound and the babies can hide more than Osama.
One morning I perceived a foul smell and lo and behold there at a corner the mother was dead. We don't know the cause of it's death.

1. Should I sell off the babies
2. Or kill them

Here are some pics.
1st... the dead mother cat
2nd... a baby cat

Please don't kill those kittens. Do you stay in lagos? I will gladly take them if you do. The mother must have eaten something poisonous.