Might be lack of water. I do not think it is pests. Some of my roses are doing that right now - huge amount of new growth, then flopping. Water solved most of them, but one or two do it each day even after lots of water. I realized they only do it in the hot afternoon sun. Then they recuperate overnight. So, it might just be the new growth being heat stressed - you could try water and also some shade cloth if it is very hot there. As they mature it should stop happening. Jackie

I live on the Chesapeake! Have a 100 ft pier with 2 Martin houses on each end piling 12 ft in the air. One day I looked out and saw a 6 ft Blacksnake on EACH 12 ft pipe!! They can smell a baby bird at incredible distances. They wound up residing belly up in my crab holding box!! Allan, Annapolis, Maryland

GSD's are known for a few things. A sensitive stomach, having a hard head and allergies, all sorts of them, (food, air born, you name it). They are without a doubt my favorite dog, very guarding, loyal, and basically a "one person dog". It is nothing unusual for puppies to experience what you describe. Their little systems are developing, just like that of a two legged infant. That said, pups need to be monitored carefully for at least the first 5-6 months. What might seem "normal" for a puppy, can rapidly turn into a real mess, literally and figuratively. Make sure you keep your vet informed about what is going on. Research everything that happens to your pup and what vets prescribes and says. Consider making a daily chart of the dogs habits so you can have something to refer to if you run into issues you need to deal with (you will, trust me). There are lots of people who have different opinions about what to feed their dogs. What you experienced may have been part of the problem, maybe not. Who really knows. Given that you are starting to have issues with the ears and stomach, I would just not take a chance and switch to a hypo allergic food (I think venison and potato is best). This is a top quality food you can get only by prescription. Ive used it for 17 years with great success. My old girl who was Lab/Shepard had a corn allergy, it took care of that and Im convinced helped her to live to be 14, even though she had at least three other very serious health issues. I now have two dogs on it, one because of a wheat allergy, the other a Shepard/Hound has the same thing plus a history of UTI that has been under control since September 07 (thank you Sirius God Dog). You mention poop eating and supervision. Your pup should have every second supervision, with a leash when not crated, until she has: Teething and chewing under control, and is house trained, with no accidents for 9 months (aside from illness). Without having these very basic behavior issues under control, she is just not ready for unsupervised freedom. Good luck! SG

Reprogram it immediately for 3x per week and about 25% more time. The goal here is to reach once a week watering, a full inch at a time (if nature hasn't delivered it). For that reason, I'm not a fan of auto-programmed timers unless they've also got an integrated moisture monitor or ET (evapotranspiration) sensor. Every two to three weeks, remove 1 of the weekly waterings and increase the time appropriately. Also, measure the amount of water going down by putting used tuna cans on the lawn (tuna cans happen to be almost exactly an inch, so you can get a good visual guide). If it rains, it counts, and if I have to irrigate I often try to time it with a rainfall (the neighbors think I'm insane) to bring the total up to 1". Watering excessively tends to encourage thin, weak roots and (ta da!) fungal diseases. Plus excess weeds, insect problems, and so on. In southern Minnesota, you're going to be able to get away with less than once a week through most of the season, but probably not in July and August. Here in eastern Pennsylvania, I last irrigated in May. The lawn looks great, but we've had a fair amount of rain through June and July, and while August is drier, we're getting enough to hold the lawn with no issues.