[Xena]

I just adopted a two year old female German shepherd from the shelter a couple of days back. I spent some time with her before I decided to bring her home. She seemed normal. As soon as I had taken her out of the shelter I brought her immediately to my vet to have her rabies shot done. About an hour after I brought her home she seemed to be getting sick (and don't worry I already have a vet appointment set up for her to get checked out) I just want some opinions on what could be wrong with her maybe calm my nerves a little bit. She has a really bad runny nose and she is sneezing a lot. It sounds like her sinuses may be congested. I talked to a few of my friends and they have owned german shepherds before and they said that they tend to get runny noses a lot, I don't know because I have never owned one before. I also thought maybe she had had a bad reaction to the vaccine.

Question two is kind of a behavior problem. Like I said I got her from them shelter and she is twenty pounds under weight. We have tried different dog foods on her already but she doesn't seeem interested in eating any of it. She only wants people food, I don't want to give it to her because it isn't good for her. What can I do to get her to eat her food? She desperately needs to put weight on.

[Marc]

I answered your other post with these questions, but you hadn't mentioned the underweight issue. This will certainly take some more effort on your part. Buy the smallest sample bags of several brands/types of food (one or two at a time) and just test them all until you find what works. Also, do a forum search on the raw diet to see if that's something you're willing to do. It's a little effort, but dogs go crazy for it.

Another trick I've seen is very popular is mixing some puppy food in with the adult food. Try a mix of large breed adult and large breed puppy foods.

You can also try home-cooked food like rice, quinoa, chicken, veggies (NO POTATOES!), salmon, yogurt, pumpkin puree, berries, tuna and beef.

Read Corky/Max's post on vegetables for you dog - it's full of information on what is good and what's bad.

About Feeding Fruits & Vegetables

[cigwyllt]

If she was my dog I would give a little lee way for the next day or so until you have had her checked by the vet (sorry, I know nothing about GSD's) but if she is given a clean bill of health you really need to take charge of the feeding issue or you could find she runs rings around you and has you rushing to the store for a different food each day.

My dogs have the best quality dry food I can afford. If I am giving a food I haven't given them before I will sometimes put a teaspoon of raw, frozen mince in the bottom of the bowl and that can be enough for them to stick their noses in and start eating.

You might want to make sure that there is nothing scaring her away from her bowl - is in shiny and metallic so she is scared by her reflection? Has the tag from her collar banged against the bowl and scared her? Can you try putting her bowl in a different part of the room in case something is scaring her?

[Xena]

it is a ceramic glass bowl. I watched from a far last night she was purposely tipping her food and water bowls she ate a little bit last which is a surprize since she showed no interest in anything the day before. she seemed to like the Purina dog chow and she will only eat at night when nobody is looking and the other dogs are asleep. but she is just nibbling

[aksdgff]

have you tried putting warm water in with the food? how about peanut butter or other treats? also try to buy some wet dog food, the "stew" kind works best. my dog has the same problems with eating but when i mix in these things, he eats it right up. also like said previously, try different types of dog foods. i highly recommend blue buffalo. i recognize every ingredient on the bag, so i feel confident feeding it to him, and he loves the flavor. but talk to the vet about it. he/she will always know what's best for your dog. gl and keep us posted.

[CorkyMax]

Another thread you might be interested in is this: Foods that are hazardous to a dog It is a long thread but well worth the read.

Also --Did you know German Shepherds can have an issue with being able to digest their food for proper nutrition? Here is a thread on that: Attention-german shepherd/and gs mixes A raw food diet is especially helpful to this breed. You can find much on the net on this diet. Words in browser like: Dogs/raw feeding. Here is a good site about this: BARF for Beginners - Most Frequently Asked Questions

It would not surprise me if your dog was ill because of the d*mn rabies shot! Check on the net--Put adverse reactions/rabies vaccination in your browser.

Make sure that ceramic bowl is not from a foreign country like India, China, Japan or other countries---Could have lead in it---dangerous. Back in the 70's there was a big warning on this problem--for humans at the time! I prefer stainless steel bowls--just not any galvanized metal in it--This is zinc and is poison to your dog (or human)

Originally Posted by Xena

it is a ceramic glass bowl. I watched from a far last night she was purposely tipping her food and water bowls she ate a little bit last which is a surprize since she showed no interest in anything the day before. she seemed to like the Purina dog chow and she will only eat at night when nobody is looking and the other dogs are asleep. but she is just nibbling

Purina is not a very good dog food--esp. for a German Shepherd (or mix)--a breed that does not digest their food well! Raw would be better but you would have to study it well to do the right ratios and to get the necessary nutrition.

[Yogi]

This may sound strange but in actuality large breed dogs if under weight and will not eat dog food to gain, giving them left overs does not harm them. In fact this has been a misconception for years. Human food groups that we are taught to eat ie: meat, greens etc. are a common for helping dogs underweight gain weight. I have been doing this with dogs for over 50 years. The last was a Mal/Wolf that at 6 months was only 30lbs when he should have been over 50. We mixed left overs with his meals and over the next year he grew to 105lbs. For his mix breed he was back on schedule with his growth. Human food is not bad for dogs, it is just a matter of finding out what they can and cannot eat.
There are many books and sites that will tell you which foods not to give dogs.
Check into them. But I can attest from dealing with several dog and animal nutritionists over the years that in fact human food (left overs) in proportion is totally safe and fine.

[Lunareclipse]

We give our dogs our leftovers. I think leftovers are good way of giving the dogs nutrients that dog food is lacking without making the obese.