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.

Shadow from 8 weeks till about 12 weeks

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.

Feeding Shadow

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

Following..

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.

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

We went for the Lagos walk and it was fun

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.

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

Cool name; shadow

cool diary

blasiangurl85:
Feeding Shadow

what is the tablet inside his food for

Hmmmm blainsgurl that was a long one...

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

bobbysaxy:
Hmmmm blainsgurl that was a long one...

Haha there's still more to come

Shadow Broke his leg

When Shadow was 9 months old he broke his leg. He had been limping for a few days and I took him to the vet. Initially they said it's probably just a sprain and put him on some painkillers and analgesic. It didn't get better so I decided to take him to another vet for a second opinion. He had an xray done and we found out it was a hairline fracture. It was a shock but also good news i guess because I thought it was elbow dysplasia or Hygroma. He probably fractured his leg while he was trying to escape his prison( where i lock him up if i have guests who are afraid of him). I had to keep him on lockdown for a month in order for the fracture to heal. No unnecessary movement and he had to have his leg casted. The first Robert Jones cast they put on him he destroyed completely so i had to take him to fit another one, this time they put a makeshift Elizabethan collar for him so he couldn't rip out the cast. It was one month of misery for Shadow because he was locked for the month and only released to eat and poo. Luckily he was better just before the Royal Canin Dog walk in December and we went there, had fun and also won a bag of dog food yay!!!!!!

Nice and detailed write-up. The pictures do him no justice, that boy is HUGE!

The father of that dog is TITAN...he is the tallest gsd in my kennel...he is a slant back gsd....the mother is a straight back gsd...am not suprised he took after his DAD......nice feeding.....the dog is still going to grow bigger than that

Shadow in his prison and not happy about his leg being all bandaged up

DidiLove1:
Nice and detailed write-up. The pictures do him no justice, that boy is HUGE!

Thanks, yes the pictures really don't do justice. I wanted to show people having a locally bred dog can be just as good as an imported dog.

There is an avaiilable male of 3months for any intrested buyer...but he is a slant

Royal Canin walk. I was so excited to win the bag of dog food. First time I'm winning anything ever! Shadow really had fun

It's really been a challenge finding the perfect toy for shadow. Most of them he's destroyed in a day. Even tug ropes. He finds a way to unravel everything. The only one that lasted a bit longer was a large tennis ball I found at shoprite. I have bought about 6 of them so far. Someone suggested I get him a wooden ball another person said iron ball he really lives up to his name as the DESTROYER

bobbysaxy:
There is an avaiilable male of 3months for any intrested buyer...but he is a slant

Don't derail please.

I am now officially Shadow's fan... I guess this is what the Pet section should be about afterall... Bruno's dairy Loading..

Shadow is becoming over popular....lol

Hello blasiangurl85,

My guess as to who can put up the advert: "extremely excellent German Shepherd puppies for sale" - Bobbysaxy!

When I saw the advert: "U Will Shout HALLELUYAH Wen U See The Female Caucasian Puppies...for Sale" on nairaland, I was extremely inquisitive but ignored the advert. I later checked out the pups and the person that placed the advert - Bobbysaxy. The pups were excellent. Less than a week later, I lost my 7 months old female Cauc which was a blow to my family and I. Finally got in touch with Bobbysaxy on the remaining pup of that advert and he told me I would thank him when I receive the pup if I bought her. My family and friends were wowed by the pup when it arrived - super excellent Cauc. I quickly put a call across to him to thank him. I don't think I shouted Hallelujah though! That's meant to be an Heavenly language.

Anyway, your GSD is really cute. Keep up the good work.

loveson200:
Hello blasiangurl85,

My guess as to who can put up the advert: "extremely excellent German Shepherd puppies for sale" - Bobbysaxy!

When I saw the advert: "U Will Shout HALLELUYAH Wen U See The Female Caucasian Puppies...for Sale" on nairaland, I was extremely inquisitive but ignored the advert. I later checked out the pups and the person that placed the advert - Bobbysaxy. The pups were excellent. Less than a week later, I lost my 7 months old female Cauc which was a blow to my family and I. Finally got in touch with Bobbysaxy on the remaining pup of that advert and he told me I would thank him when I receive the pup if I bought her. My family and friends were wowed by the pup when it arrived - super excellent Cauc. I quickly put a call across to him to thank him. I don't think I shouted Hallelujah though! That's meant to be an Heavenly language.

Anyway, your GSD is really cute. Keep up the good work.

Hahaha yes you are right. It's Bobbysaxy. Sorry about your dog. But I'm sure the new addition will help everyone get over the loss a bit quicker. You have to admit his adverts are catchy. And he is very confident about his dogs.

rodmann:
I am now officially Shadow's fan... I guess this is what the Pet section should be about afterall... Bruno's dairy Loading..

I'm also a fan of Bruno. Can't wait to read his diary

Tick fever

I travelled for Christmas and Prodeegee graciously agreed to keep Shadow and Babydog(Nina) till I got back. You can read about his holiday diary: https://www.nairaland.com/2813075/shadows-holiday-diary

After I came back from holiday, I got shadow back from Prodeegee( once again thanks for keeping him while I was away). I also decided to adopt/foster a little tiny samoyed or American Eskimo( I don't really know what breed she is but definitely one of them)we now call "sheep". Unfortunately sheep also came with ticks and infected both Shadow and Babydog(formerly known as nina). They both got ticks and I immediately took them for tick bath. I was also treating sheep for ticks as well. I noticed shadows appetite had reduced and he wasn't as active as he used to be. I decided to watch him for a few days until I saw the same thing happen to babydog as well. They were both eating but just not as much. I didn't really worry too much because I thought maybe it was the weather affecting them, or because I was giving them dry food instead of Chicken. It wasn't until I noticed babydog was constipated that i knew it was serious. I immediately took her to the vet where they checked her temperature and it was over 40 degrees Celsius. They immediately gave her something for her temperature and proceeded to do an enema for her to try to flush out the blockage. On getting home I saw shadow moving round in circles and then he pooped a watery green poo. I panicked and rushed him to the vet straight away. After explaining everything to the vet, they checked him and concluded it was tick fever based on the symptoms I told them and what they observed. His temperature was also over 40 degrees. They gave me so many drugs to give shadow, even till now i still don't know how i managed to get him to take all those drugs. In total he had to take 15 tablets a day. That night was really tough, shadow's breathing was very abnormal, he was so weak, he didn't eat anything. I kept going to see him and i would offer him food but he didn't eat anything. Not chicken, not beef, nothing. Infact as soon as he saw me with food he would get up and walk away. He was like this for some days, At one point i thought he might die because he wasn't eating anymore. Only drinking water. It was really scary. My Shadow the Destroyer had become so skinny, he was a shadow of himself(haha). And the funny thing is none of the dogs where seriously infested with ticks. Just a few. But it seems it only takes a few to transmit the tick fever. All dogs are now 100% tick free and Shadow is on the road to recovery. He's more active now, almost back to normal and is gaining the weight he lost. His current weight now is 35kg so we still have 7kg to go. Im sure in 2 months he'll be back to his normal weight. I still can't believe my dogs got tick fever. Ive had dogs all my life and they've all had ticks at one point or another but none of them ever had tick fever. Even though its just been about 10 months I've had him he has really become a part of the family. Everyone was so concerned. I'm really so happy he's better now and back to his destructive behaviour, it's funny how you miss the things that you were complaining about.