small pup? - Page 2

Did find the site and i would like to thank all that helped me out on this.Got to say i've been checking out this site for sometime now and you people are honest and direct and i like that in a person.Ok one more question.How much hamburg should i be feeding her? Oh and maybe a few names of good dog food to see if i can find in my area.See i live in northern Maine nothing but woods.lol And if was to order online cost have the price of the food to ship but if thats what i have to do then thats what i will do. again thanks on all the advise......Steve

zigzag, I know this will get lots of flack, but personally I don't have a problem with higher protein in puppies diet.If you can look back at some of the threads on this site that deal with puppy diet, you will see a number of dog food company's that routinely come up. As far as hamburger I like to put in about an ounce or so in dinner feeding. I put it in hot water so it will break down and become soupy, then thouroughly mix it in. That way they wont pick it out.Since you say she is a good eater then you should not have problems with plain food the other meals. Personally, I would still talk to the breeder. DDR lines notoriously mature slower, but if she has good bone and her size is up to what it should be then I don't understand the wieght being so low. Actually you didn't say what her size is like? It is always better to work through these things and gain some good knowledge, so keep investigating. I think most will say 28% is too high but again, I personally don't think so. Just my opinion though.

Zigzag, While not an expert by any means some of the more knowledgeable people here have helped me out with a few of the better dog foods names you might consider... These are all dry: Natural Balance Ultra Premium Timberwolf Organics Wild and Natural Royal Canin GS 24/Royal Canin Babydog 30 Innova Solid Gold Canidae All stages and or chicken and rice Of course there are plenty more out there to choose from but after doing lots of research as well as listening to some of the people here on the board... (most of whom are good solid people) These are the choices I've narrowed the list down to as far as PREMIUM DOG FOODS are concerned, Iams is not anywhere as good as the ones I've mentioned... Now if you really want some good information about dog foods check out this site: www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ Hope this helps and does not add to the confusion, I'm sure there will be plenty of others with more advise. some will include raw...The choices are all yours to make or not... Rob

zigzag, Rob lists some good foods. Keep in mind that you will get alot of opinions, everyone swearing their dog food is the best. If they didn't think that, they would be using something else. The point is that there are many good foods and I doubt you would go wrong with any of the top foods. Each dog will respond a little differently to each food. Some will do great with one and not the other. As Rob said, it's up to you. Just find the food that your dog #1 likes, #2 has good firm stools,#3 appears to produce good coat,health, freedom from problems. In the end it is what works best for your dog as long as it is premium, quality food. You can go nuts trying to get the perfect food, especially if you pup is undersize, but you are on the right track.

Thank you olskoolgsds, whatever it is I know I know because most of the people on this board have educated me in more ways than one...The food thing is just part of the information I've gotten here that has worked out for me with feeding GSDs... I consider you to be one of the people who in the past has kindly offered up some good advise about almost anything I've ever asked about...If I have questions I ask them and I know at times some people have had "issues" with me but you can never please everyone all the time...My intentions are/were never to hurt anyone, let alone be hurt... My thanks to you and all the others out there who know much more than I did/do but had no problem sharing and not making me feel like a newbie...I have had GSDs most of my life and know a little something also... For the most part I like coming here very much and will continue to ask any questions I might have in the future... There was 1 person here who took a lot of time with me regarding feeding GSDs and that was Bob O...Thanks to you all once again... Rob mrarebe@netscape.net

32 lbs. at four months is only slightly below average for a female (suggesting a final weight around 60), but only gaining 3 pounds from 4 to 5 months old suggests something may be wrong. She should have gained 5-8 pounds during her fifth month. (A big male gains as much as ten pounds that month.) If the vet isn't worried, I would feed her her favorite foods for awhile -- don't be tight, just give in. See if she can gain at least five pounds in a month. Good luck.

How much??? As much as she can eat until she gains some weight! I had a bitch who was skeletal until I gave in and started feeding ground turkey. By one year she was gorgeous and healthy and I have long since cut out the turkey, and she remains fine.

To what age will the GSD keep growing? The female I bought last July (she had just turned one year old) weighed 53 lbs and nine months later now weighs a pound or two over 60. I've been feeding her Iams with a variety of meats, eggs, cottage cheese, fish and veggies mixed in. (Basically whatever I have on hand that day.)

I had a lab/GSD/husky mix once that was only 58 pounds at one year. She was very active, always on the go with me and my bike plus I had her on cheap Sam's Club Sportsman's Choice. When I met my boyfriend he convinced me more expensive was higher quality and I alternated between Nutro Max and Iams. She gained eight or nine pounds one winter at age four on Nutro Max then I found out she was allergic to lamb in it and switched permanently to Iams. She was very small at one year but grew alot in the next six months and when she died last year at age eight she averaged 65 pounds at annual checkups.

Here, are a couple of things I use as guidelines for buying dog foods. The first three ingredients will help solve 90% of the challenge when trying to figure out what is a good for or not. The first 2 ingredients should always consist of the main meat sources. For example: Chicken, chicken meal Lamb, lamb meal The meal is actually a hiher concentration of the meat source, because it does not have all of the water weight and fat in its calculations. Remember the ingredients are listed in order, from the most to the least. The third ingredient is "usually" the carbohydrate source. For example: Chicken, chicken meal, ground brown rice I Personally would never feed my dogs with these ingredients in the first three. 1 Ground yellow corn 2 wheat , wheat gluten