New DS owners - Kapena

[DaHawaiianDS]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I have a 3 month old blue DS named Kapena (we're Hawaiian and his name means Captain.). In addition, we have a 12 yr old dilute calico, Ember, and a 14 y/o Dachshund with IVDD named Shorty.

Kapena has been a wonderful addition to our family, we have had him since 5 weeks (I know it's very young to be seperated from mama, but I believe it was the right decision at the time.).

So far he has shown a hunger for learning, training and food! We slow feed him using a puppy Kong and his food bowl. He is crate and potty trained in fact he's very serious about keeping bathroom things in bathroom places and if he's tired tries to pivot upstairs to his crate.

We keep him tethered to us during the day inside, he has free reign over our enclosed sun porch area, and now that we have all our shots he LOVES walks to the docks and through the woods.

He's been very good about "no bite", and so far shows strong knowledge of sit, paw, laydown, speak, look, stay, and off. He is very good at killing toys and learned early on only the tough ones survive. We anticipate training more in obedience especially ones in the future to stave off any aggression he may show in the future. We are going to be working with a local no force trainer who is familiar with Dutch Shepherds.

He is very affectionate and we practice touching paws and ears and tail all the time so he isn't nippy towards a new experience. I dremmel his nails in short sessions while feeding him yummy chummies which are salmon snacks we use for training.

We also have a pool which we have just started introducing him to very slowly. He is incredibly fearful of the water at this point in time so any advice on that would be much appreciated!!

He's being socialized with our dachshund regularly, a pit bull pup, and a soft coated wheaten terrier as well as my neice and nephews under strong supervision. He also is comfortable using the gentle lead and a halter.

Glad to meet you all! Looking forward to hearing some awesome tips and advice!

[DaHawaiianDS]

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[DaHawaiianDS]

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[DaHawaiianDS]

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[centrop67]

Welcome - his markings/color is remarkable.

It almost looks like he was added to the photo using the CGI they use for movies.

[DaHawaiianDS]

Thanks! He sure is a pretty boy. We wanted a female, but chose him from the litter for his focus and even at a young age he would pick what humans told him over what he wanted to do. Female I came to look at was off chasing butterflies! Lol. It's just a plus that he's so handsome! This is him before all the pretty colors came out.

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[DaHawaiianDS]

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. He was listening to me tell him about walks and treats and toys. We just went for our first swim.

[Steve Gossmeyer]

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Feed him more! This is way too skinny

[DaHawaiianDS]

We give him 3 cups a day of Fromm's Large breed Puppy. That's for 30 lbs according to feeding chart and he's not quite 25 yet. I asked our vet last visit if he's too skinny for a 3 month old and he said no because growing pups tend to be kinda lanky and gawky.

What would you recommend?

[ralbucks]

Welcome. Is the calico ( Ember) dog supposed to be that skinny, I think that's what the previous post was referring to :geek:

[ralbucks]

Sorry , got the names wrong let me rephrase that. The picture of the dog FB_IMG_1499626264336.jpg he/ she looks very skinny, does not seem it is the same dog from the other pictures.

[DaHawaiianDS]

It's the same dog. It might just be a funny angle or something. He has gone to the vet regularly from the beginning and we feed him recommended amounts as I have previously stated. He does seem to sprout up overnight sometimes , but he sure does eat. Right now he gets fed twice a day for a total of three cups and he gets yummy chummies for training and bully sticks.

I appreciate your concern and I'd love any advice in respects to feeding him more than the recommended amount.

[ralbucks]

He's very pretty

[Joxgirl]

He's very handsome. Welcome to the board.

[Duke]

gorgeous dog, welcome

[DaHawaiianDS]

Thanks everyone!! We're excited to be here.