Putting weight on puppies - Page 1

Hello everyone, I have a 13 week old female puppy from showlines. I took her to the vet three days ago and she weighed 22lbs. From looking at other photos of other puppies around her age on this website she doesn't seem to be as big or as full as they are and a couple of people have said that she looks a little thin. I compare her to Laguardia Ando Legend's 13 wk old picture in the Newest Dog Gallery. The vet, however didnt say anything about her weight. I thought that her weight was fine as I want to be careful as not to put too much weight on her so that her hips and elbows can support her weight and still be okay while they grow. So my question is what is a good way to put weight on my puppy so that she looks full but not be too heavy. I feed her Eukanuba large breed puppy food and I mix it with the Pedigree little champions wet dog food. And every now again I give her a raw chicken wing and put an egg in her dish. You can view her and her pedigree on the database at: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/480324.html What are your thoughts

Hi again, No, she looks fine in her photos. A lot of people in the US overfeed their puppies, hence, the larger, rounder, fuller, and FATTER puppies. People expect puppies and dogs in general to be fatter, but that is not healthy, especially in the large breed dogs. I would suggest stopping the puppy food, and switch to something that has 26% protein or LESS, to avoid the pano/HD/ED issues. At 12 weeks, my pups usually eat 2.5 to 3 cups per day of one of the following: Solid Gold Mmillennium (beef and barley), Eagle Pack (Original Adult, or holistic, depends on what I am currently feeding), Canidae (All Life Stages), or AvoDerm (Chicken and Rice). They also get raw meat occasionally, and canned food every couple of days. So far, so good! I like Royal Canin, but I don't usually feed it to pups after 12-16 weeks, and then will start feeding it again after they are 12 months old. This has worked very well for me, after a huge problem with Eukanuba, Science Diet Large Breed, and Iams. (see my post on panosteitus) Keep us posted on how she progresses. Good luck!

Hi Gimme10mins, your pup looks just fine. I like to see my puppies just that way. One way i try to figure out if they need more, is i watch them eating. If the bowl gets empty in a steady way and they start "digging" in the bowl for more, i will increase the amount of food a little. If they seem to be fiddeling around with the food i decrease the amount. This works pretty fine for me. As to the food you are feeding, i see no harm done. I do not byfeed eggs too often, because i believe the kibblefood has everything in it what is needed. If you watch the stool of the pup and that is ok, if the coat is shiny you are doing the wright thing. Your pup will grow in the pace that it was given by nature. As Felsenhof mentioned, we can try to manipulate the growing by switching to less rich food. But if the genetics tells that pup to grow, it will, no matter what we do. One mayor thing to support the health of hipps & ellbows is to prevent the pup running up & down stairs, jumping in & out of cars ! Esspecially out of cars or down the stairs, this is something i always tell my puppybuyers to avoid as long as they could. The only thing i byfeed regular is a product that supports and strenghtens the joints, tissue and ligaments. I think you have a very nice pup & i wish a lot of fun with it. Kind Regards Ulli Dresbach

Your pup looks just fine... Also since you are showing her I've been told that they prefer pups to be very lean in the showring. IMO as long as her ribs aren't prominent and hip points arent showing she's at the right weight.

Sorry... HE

She looks fine. As mentioned before, people in the US are used to overweight dogs and rolly polly puppies. A little lean the first year is much safer then rolly polly. We were accused in a very nasty way of starving our Chesapeake female many years ago. She was 8-months old and very lean. What people didn't realize was she had free choice food (I know, would never do that now) and was a goose hunting machine. She picked her own weight. I would rather be told by the uninformed my dogs are too thin then risk health problems from overweight animals.

She looks a little overweight to me! : ) Please don't expect her to look any fuller than she does now at this age. She is in great condition, from what I can tell in the picture. If she was my puppy, I wouldn't give her "Pedigree", but would mix in some quality adult food (vomFelsenHof has excellent food choice suggestions)

she looks super.......... but every friday i go to my country butcher and dig out beef bones and beef trimmed fat from his scrap bins for my pups to fatten up. stools are grey for a day but the they become chubby in a hurry . peter cadman www.germanshepherddog.tv