Your Large Dog Breed Needs Special Attention

Your pets are just like your children, you want the very best for them.

Are you giving the dog table scraps? Are you giving them the stimulation and exercise they crave?

Sometimes, in the hurry and stress of our lives, we forget our precious pets who rely on us - totally - for their very lives.

You will need to set up a food station that allows your large and extra large dog to eat without putting their head to the floor. You don't want the dog to end up with a twisted intestine.

39" x 30" travel bed

I can always tell when I have been neglecting my German Shepherds, they start to dig holes in the yard. I grew up with German Shepherds and know that they are working dogs. They are gentle giants unless called to protect their family or territory. This is my grand daughter who thinks the dogs are small ponies.

Duchess Willamina Elizabeth, better known as Bess is very gentle with the babies unless she is very excited and then she tends to just step on them. That tail has knocked them down more than once.

Bess is the smaller of my two Shepherds. You can see that her ears are not erect in the photograph. She is tolerating the baby sitting on her but she is not really happy about the whole thing. Bess is 5 years old now.

The babies came to live with us 2 years ago. Bess had to learn to tolerate babies that had not grown up in this house. She has done quite well but has not formed any bond with them. Kelsey, my older Shepherd just ignores the babies as best as she can.

They have not been allowed in the house very much for the last year. The youngest baby - Jaylan - is now walking and the dogs are allowed in more often. They are having to be reminded of proper house manners.

It is never a good idea to have large breed dogs around crawling babies. Sometimes the instincts just come out in the dog with tragic results. In ancient times, a small crawling whinny thing was food. Neither dog has ever attempted to harm the babies, but we are always in the same room with them and monitor what ever is going on.