A German breeder has edited for his buyers an informative note about the first months of the puppies. One of his puppies Asco, tells us about it.
This interesting idea shows that the after sales services are getting little by little more common in the ways of dog breeding. Actually, this is no revolution, but a logical evolution in an environment in which pure breed dogs still have to find their right position. Breeders should have a close look at the following lines. As for the future owners, maybe take it as their bedside book.
I'm called Asco, I'm a large dog. So far I’ve been brought up affectionately, my breeder was endeavoured to do so in a professional way. My breeder said the statement that “I am a dog” is particularly important. Too many humans compare us dogs with their own kind, and there the trouble begins in a dog’s life. In humans we see a member of the pack. I have left my mother, brothers and sisters heavy heartedly, in order to be a faithful and dear companion to you. I hope you have created the best conditions for me, so that I can develop magnificently. Favourably I would like to sleep with you in your bed, because I am still small. But later it would become unpleasant for you. And if you bring me outside then, I might resist you. In this argument the winner is not always certain. To keep me out in the fresh air is always good for me, but do not leave me locked up in the kennel all the time. That would not please you either, would it? My hut must be sufficiently large, be well isolated and protected against draft, and a roof should protect at least half of the kennel.
The run must guarantee sufficient movement for me, if you are not at home during the day. I love to sleep softly. The straw however has to be change frequently. The entrance to the hut should face, if possible, to the south. Sun is wonderful for me, but I need a shady place on hot days. I don’t like when rainwater forms large ponds inside my kennel. I also don’t like to have to run on sandy soil all of the time; it is not healthy for my paws.
Do not under any circumstances let me climb the stairs, because my tapes and bones are still very soft, it would harm my legs. And I’m sure that you want me to stand on straight legs. Honestly, x-legs do not please me either. If I should still cry at the night, do not forget that I am still longing for my mother, from whom you took me away; her closeness and warmth are missing now. Please do not pity me, let me deal with the problem alone. I have still the cloth, which smells of my brothers and sisters, thus I feel not quite so abandoned. If YOU are really good to me, I will have forgotten my earlier surroundings soon, and will grow accustomed to you quite rapidly. I however always keep some memories of my childhood, which you will understand I’m sure. You probably also like to think of your parents sometimes.
Please play with me as much as you can, so I can get familiar with humans and with my new environment. Please take me out of the kennel when you want to play with me. And visit me in my hut sometimes, which pleases me. Since I am still a baby, I also need, beside good food, lots of sleep for my further development, the same as the human babies. If I am fast asleep, then do not wake me up only because you have a desire to play with me. That could harm my development and my growth. If I am awake however, be there for me. Always after waking up, I will have the urge to go to the toilet. If I am inside the house you better hurry. Should YOU forget one time then it is no use to punish me for your omission, pay more attention to me in the future. You also should teach me soon, that I come to you on call. This is important for us both on later walks. After you had me vaccinated against distemper, you should take me on the road soon, so that I become acquainted with everything. Beforehand you must teach to me that I have to wear a collar. When I have learnt all that, then I still must get accustomed to the lead. Which is not that easy at all!
Once I know all about collars and leads there is nothing to stop our daily walks together. But do not over-exercise me I am still small! It will harm me! Increase the length of our walks with increasing age. On hot days do not strain me, allow me to rest in the shadow. If you taught to me to come to you on call, so let me of the lead on our first few walks. I learn faster to remain at your side. Nevertheless I am still so helpless! So do not think just because I am large compared to other dogs that I must be all grown up. On the contrary I need almost 2 years for that!! Let me enjoy my childhood it is so short anyway.
As long as I am under one year of age never let me jump. Once I am one year old, then I can take the 1m hurdles on the training area. Higher obstacles are not good for me, because I am once fully-grown, rather heavy. When I am 6 months old, I have learned to walk by your side on the lead. However I don’t know how to "heal" yet perfectly. I also have to still learn how to "sit" and "stand". But tracking, that you can practice with me already, that is play for me, particularly if I find then a sweet at the end of the track. How to sit, you should practice with me intensively once I am 6 months old. The command "down" is an obligation command. So please take your time, until I am 1 year old. But then we must practice it, even if it does not please me. It can save both of us. When I do it right, please never praise me; it is the only exercise, where praise would be wrong. It is favourable for us both, if do Obedience training with me. I am willing to learn and work diligently. You will be astonished, as to how smart I am. If you absolutely have to train me as a guard dog, then please take your time with the attack exercises. Wait until I am about 18 months old. It is better for my teeth, because during the change of my milk teeth, my new teeth are very soft. I am also not allowed to pull on rags, carpets etc. However I’d rather not have to do such biting exercises. Without these, I will still protect you later, perhaps even better. Why that so is, ask my breeders, they can explain that better to you than I could. My size alone fills people with respect, particularly if I come charging at them or erect myself on my hind legs. But please, do not think that I can master all situations alone already. I still have to learn a lot of things.
If I get myself into unexpected trouble, help me please. Praise me, if I was at least a little courageous. If you show the world in such a way to me, I will thank you later and be a courageous, good spirited and watchful dog. Have other humans touch me quite a lot, so I don’t become shy or frightened of people and start to bite. The majority of people are afraid of us because we are so large. Discussions about fight dogs do the rest. Please help to take this fear from people. The contact with other people does not keep me from being a good guard dog later in my life. I will defend my district!Later I wont let just anyone touch me anyway. I’d rather go away. One thing you have to teach me though, I am not allowed to take food of strangers. Unfortunately there are also people, who poison dogs. Surely you would like to protect me from that.
When I turned 9 months you can teach me slowly how to run along the bicycle. But please remember that the both of us still don’t have any experience with that. I wouldn’t like for you to descend from the bike via the handlebar. That wouldn’t be fun for either of us. It would be better, if you only pushed the bike on our first attempt. Remember that you do not ask too far distances of me. You can go on long biking tours with me once I have turned 15 months. You will find then, that you can no longer get me exhausted. For now 5 - 10 minutes are enough for me. Later I will have to run trot regularly, to train my correct gate. Just look at those Great Danes that have never learnt how to run properly!Don’t let me trot on asphalt all the only, that could hurt my tapes and front paws. It is quite important that you feed me with the correct food. I am a natural carnivore. The meat you give to me can be raw, but under no circumstances should you feed pork to me. By cooking the meat many trace elements are destroyed, as well as salts. I need it however urgently. Cooking is recommended only if you don’t know of the origin of the meat. Should you come across people that "know-it-all", who tell you I will grow up to be aggressive when fed with raw meat, smile at them with confidence. Do you start biting other people when you’ve had Tatar? I do not expect steak or expensive cuts of meat from you. Worthless however is lung meat to me. Keep strongly flavoured sausage or meat conserves away from me. Bones do not qualify as dog food. Give bones to me sometimes more like dessert. As long as I am still young, such a calf bone is something delicious. Not suitable for me are cooked bones; they can hurt my teeth, or poultry bones. When I am old, about 5 - 6 years old, limit the provision of bones. It could give me intestinal blockages. A special delicacy is unwashed, green stomach. That smells so wonderful. You however call that stink. Also add a little liver to my meat meals but not too much. Beside the meat I also take different kinds of supplements. Vegetable, fruit (banana, apple, peach, strawberries etc.) taste good to me. Avoid cabbage, peas, lentils and beans, for obvious reasons. All food that you give to me should be fresh and well prepared. Potatoes are also no dog food. They overload my stomach, and lead to hanging bulgy bellies and soft backs. At a later age I would be unattractive. How you feed me, carries loads to my development, health and later appearance. I do not want to be fed unnatural things; so no cream, sugar or spices, smoked or salted meat.
Please feed me with my food dish always elevated so I stand straight, on completely stretched legs while I am eating. That is just as important for straight front legs and cat paws, as preventing me from climbing the stairs.Please feed me with your "eyes", because my appearance reflects my feeding habits. I may still have baby fat as a puppy, but later one must be able to see my last ribs clearly.The droppings after the meals show whether you fed me correctly. I will have poop once after each meal, thus after 16 - 18 hours. If you feed too much food, or feed me to often then the food will not be utilized. Pulpy, numerous emptying will be the result. The droppings, if you feed meat, are normal coloured when they appear black-brown, with too much spleen and lung black, with too much cereal, dog biscuits and flakes gold-yellow, with to much fat whitish and usually badly smelling.Bubbles on my droppings show fermentation or spoiled food.Cooked milk is a laxative.Blood in my droppings suggest diseased and possible poisoning.Emptying that accrues too frequent is not good either. Clean my kennel daily. I like to have it clean and it gives you the opportunity to check up on my health.
Avoid it to over-feed me. Pay attention as to what amount of vitamin and mineral you give to me. Vitamin A and D are important, but too much is harmful. It can lead calcifications, kidney failure, malformation of the bones, deformations of the head and teeth. So don’t give me too much of it, but neither too little. If you feed dry kibble to me, pay special attention to the package label, not all manufacturers give the correct dosage!! Dry kibble should be soaked in warm water for about 15 minutes; otherwise I need too much water afterwards and load stomach unnecessarily. Fresh water however must always be attainable for me.
Torsion of the stomach is dangerous for me! Lethal!!! Therefore let me rest for 2 hours after feeding, even when I’m all grown up. Then, it is even more important, you don’t want me to die cruelly of a torsion stomach within fewer hours, a painful death to suffer? Unfortunately there is hardly any assistance you could offer me. Should my stomach twist you only have a few minutes to get me to a veterinarian surgeon who will have to open my stomach similar to a caesarean. Even after a successful operation I do not triumph in the fight against death yet. That still takes weeks.Save us both the bitter experience; let me become old with you!!! Feeding me twice daily is better, since the stomach is not getting overloaded. There is yet another endangered part of my body, my tail. When I am happy, I will wag it back and forth with quite some force. You will have felt the strength already. During this joyful excitation it occurs rather often that I break open my tail. Often the healing of such injury is very slow. Please think for me in this matter and let me be joyful in a place where no items become a danger.Please clean my ears regularly with a cellulose tissue. With un-cropped ears a lot of dirt can build up and I also sweat more rapidly.
Dear new owner, if you consider these notes, I will develop magnificently and you will greatly enjoy my companionship. Please visit my breeder from time to time, which is a joyful event for us all. They want to see naturally, how magnificently I developed in your care and you probably also want to show me off to them. During the growth period it would be nice, if you presented me about every 8-10 weeks. The breeders can perhaps still give you also some pieces of advice, if you don’t have much experience with my breed. My breeders are always pleased to see me again and are gladly offer you advise if you have questions. A good contact between you both would make me happy. But now enough of the writing, soon there will be no more difficulties standing in the way of our life together. I look forward to my new at home!
Yours Asco
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