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Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right spot to post this or not. So if not please move.
This Is Diek he is currently 6 months old, does he look to skinny? I feed him 4 cups a day, split up. I can see his ribcage. I know pups are supposed to be on the thinner side, I am just wondering if he is to thin. Thank you all! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2017...bfd97f23e8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2017...740eda4fca.jpg
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Oh goodness, yes your puppy is to thin. Puppies while growing should have a nice protective layer of fat under their skin, you should be able to feel the ribs with slight pressure, but not be able to see them from across the room. Bony prominences such as hips and spine should not be palpable either. 4 cups might not be enough right now during the fastest part of growth for male Labrador puppies, sometimes they need as much as 5-6 cups a day to keep up with the demands of a developing body. He needs extra nutrition to grow properly, then when he is full grown you can adjust his diet and take any extra weight off.
Ok thank you!! I will definitely up his food intake. It's just recently that I have thought he looks way to skinny. This is him just a couple weeks ago. It's becoming challenging keeping weight on him. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2017...7624edda13.jpg
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They are so active at this age they just burn it all off running around and playing. Welcome to the board!
Thanks! Ya he is my first lab, and super high energy lol. But I'll up his food intake and he'll hopefully put some weight on.
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Absolutely. I honestly don't worry too much about weight at this point since they are growing and usually super active. I don't really go for the "skinny puppy" thing, for me, since I show, the pups that seems to be kept light lose bone and end up being pretty weedy. At least that's my perspective when comparing littermates from 2 of my litters.
It also depends on what you are feeding. 4 cups of one food is not always equal to 4 cups of another food. And some 6 month old need 5-6 cups to keep meat on their bones.
He looks thin. Much thinner than I keep my dogs.
Bear, who is almost 6 months old, was eating over 6 cups of food/day when we switched him to an ALS food. Now he's down to 4 1/2 to 5, depending if he gets a kong or not.
Our boy Maverick, who is 2 1/2, never ate more than 3 cups/day. He's lean and close to the 90 pound mark. It all depends on your food and your puppy. I would say that he looks like he could use a little more.
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Why do we measure food unless it's necessary?
Try giving him all he'll eat at a meal. Did he walk away? He's full.
Now if you have an overweight dog, that's different.
I really hope you are kidding... because this is lousy advice, LOL!!! Allowing a typical Labrador to eat all they want is a great way to induce uncontrollable diarrhea. In fact the OP should slowly increase the food amount, not all at once, or they may get some undesirable side effects. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernie
Thank you all for the replies!
Just in average how much should a 6 month old lab weigh? I know they all vary and doing a search you can find "average" weight. But I am curious on your personal experiences with the breed.
I'm going to up his food intake. I feed Nature's Domain: the same food as my other 2. He also gets treats throughout the day (after training sessions) and coconut oil.
I measure his food because if I don't, he'll way overeat and I would hate for him to get sick. I know people free feed and I don't have any problems with that. It's just not for me.
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Thanks lol yes I plan on overtime up his food intake. I would hate for him to get diarrhea..Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelley
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OP, puppies grow quickly, so they can stand to be plush at this age. I don't believe in keeping puppies skinny anymore than I believe in putting infant children on diets. Pups can catch a bug fairly easily, because of their immature immune systems, so I'd prefer to err on the side of having a plump puppy vs. a skinny one. My now 8.5 month old was eating about 7 cups a day of fairly calorie heavy food at your puppy's age.
I agree with the others here...yes...your puppy is way too thin.
Are you feeding a "PUPPY formula to your puppy? If not, you should consider it because a puppy formula usually has more fat and calories than an adult formula.
I hope you can get some weight on him.
I'd guess my 6 month old is around 65 pounds.
I will say this. About two months ago he got horribly sick with a combo virus that's been going around here. It's a mix between canine influenza virus and kennel cough. He was in boiled rice and canned ID food for about a week. During a two week stretch of the illness he didn't lose any weight. However he had been gaining about 3 pounds a week. I really think that his stores helped sustain him when he was sick and I'm glad he had a little fluff to spare.
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You might consider a higher calorie food versus feeding the dog six or eight cups (which is a lot of food). Pro Plan Sport 30/20 is pretty high in calories and especially fat. I find it works too well and can't feed it to my adult dogs or else they pork out and I can't get a handle on it. I'm pretty sure you could feed it to farm animals when you're trying to plump them up before they are butchered (tongue in cheek -- but it does contain corn)!
Have you taken your pup to the vet to ensure that he is healthy and parasite free?
Welcome to the board.
If the additional food doesn't seem to put weight on him in a noticeable way fairly quickly, I'd go to the vet. As Labradorks mentioned, parasites could be at work here (no offense, the nasty critters can be picked up so easily). Hope he just needs more food. Comparing the earlier photo to the two more recent, I'd be prone to thinking that he just had a growth spurt that his food intake didn't take into consideration...but his coat looks a bit dryer/duller to me in the most recent ones, too, (could be just the lighting) and that could possibly be something else (could also be not enough food/protein especially).
[I had tried a new food with my two and shortly after Dan started looking a bit dull and actually had a few tiny flakes forming...I checked and the new food was a lower protein. I went back to mixing the foods and the dullness/flakes were gone in about a week. I won't be switching foods.]
Wasn't kidding at all. Seems many get hung up on the guidelines printed on bag. So everyone here that said "give him more food", left lousy advice huh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelley
I own a book on puppies; selecting, housing, feeding,socialising, etc. and he advises "feed puppy all he'll eat 3 times a day, pick up bowl after 15 minutes or so", this authors advice has shown to be accurate the many times I've used it.
No offense taken- yes we have been to the vets recently; and he's had a full checkup. He unfortunately broke his back leg, so we are getting over that, and doing some therapy work.
I think it was the lighting in the picture. It definitely was not the best, in person his coat is pretty shiny :)
I will look into the fat contents more tho; he may need more of a fatty foods because he is a very fast growing boy! He did just go through a growth spurt to. And I didn't even think of upping his food intake 🙈
I really hope just a bit of extra food will do the trick tho.
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I tend to keep my guys on the thinner side than many here, and even I think he is too thin in that first set of pictures. Where he looked a few weeks ago looked good to me, so I’m guessing growth spurt.
I’ve never had to feed a dog more than 4 cups a day though (and that was my big male - the girls topped out at 3), so I would suggest looking into a higher calorie food for him, at least for the next 6 months or so until his growth slows down - all I can think about 5-6 cups of food a day is how much poop will be generated!
Just be sure to continually check in on him as their growth will start slowing down by about 9-12 months and you don’t want to let him get too heavy at that point either - it’s not good for his joints.
Yeah there seems to be a fine line of where he needs to be.. I'm definitely looking into a decent higher caloried food for him for the next few months. Then hopefully will be able to switch him back to the food the other 2 are eating.. even with my German Shepherd I've had the opposite problem - and had to always watch out for them getting to heavy. But completly different dog breed here lol
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Agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Annette47
All pups are different, all owners are different, certainly we should monitor, and modify as needed.
Rocco is 26 months old, eats all he wants, gets snacks and people food, weighs 80 lbs. and has stayed right there for the last year or more. His doctor is very happy with his appearance and weight. If he starts to gain weight as he gets older, I'll not give him so much junk food.
The OP has the opposite problem and higher calorie food is a good suggestion, I didn't think of that. Maybe some roast beef or fried bacon wouldn't hurt too.
:)
Yeah, I didn't even think of a higher caloried food.. And that's why I came here! ☺ lol yes, Maybe he'll get a little fried bacon and some eggs lol
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I'd recommend against bacon. Google pancreatitis.
There are lots of healthier options for caloric add-ins for the puppy. Pancreatitis is always a worry with fatty treats and toppers, as mentioned above. I know more than one person whose dogs have gotten pancreatitis from really fatty treats. Not saying every once in a while you can't break off a small piece of bacon from your plate to use as a treat, but I don't think that's the best food additive in this case. Eggs, my dogs get a raw one sometimes on days when they eat homecooked or raw. A crock pot is a good resource for making toppers -- buy stew beef and put that into the crock pot with a little water and carrots; lean ground beef is often on sale so I stock up and freeze it, then cook it unseasoned for my dogs.
Every puppy and every line of Labs is different. If you have a good breeder to rely on, that's a start to get info about how they raise their puppies and to get benchmarks on weight and feeding. If you don't have a good breeder, then you'll definitely have to eyeball the puppy and add/remove food as applicable. Male Labrador puppies often eat way more than you would think when they hit a growth phase. The male Labs I have at home arrived at 8 weeks (2 months old) weighing roughly between 17-21 lbs. They've all been around 10 lbs/for every month of age give or take a few pounds -- 30 lbs @ 3 months, 40 lbs. @ 4 months, and so forth. The two adults are now holding at 80 lbs and 90 lbs respectively.
My current puppy was eating about 7 cups of ProPlan 30/20 at 6 months old. That is not unusual for his breeding. There was nothing crazy about his bathroom schedule eating that amount (3 times a day; normal, firm stools). You can see what he looks like below at 1 day shy of 6 months when he was eating the amount noted above. Feeding guidelines on bags are a starting point, but you definitely have to feed the dog in front of you. There will be time to cut back later when he's no longer growing. A good probiotic also can be helpful to balance immature gut flora and help the puppy digest food.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-BqVb94s-M.jpg
My current gurls were eating 6 cups a day of Pro Plan 30/20 at the height of their growth and they didn't have loose stools, or even exceptionally large stools. I also give them a good quality probiotic from weaning into adulthood, so that most likely helps their stools stay firm. They grew nice and evenly, and had some extra padding so when they had a growth spurt they weren't thin. One is now on a little over a maintenance volume of food, while the other puppy is still eating 4 cups a day to maintain her weight.
Boys are a whole different ball game, they burn through calories! Males from my lines eat 5-6-7 cups a day when they are growing the most. When they eat this much volume, I encourage 3 meals a day to break it up a little.
Please try not to worry, your pup will catch up, just feed him more, good quality kibble, and good quality leftovers, like lean meat and vegetables. I look at my dogs daily, and if one looks a little chubby, or one looks a little thin, I adjust their meals to match their needs. Labradors do tend to become obese if one isn't careful, so when they stop growing, all of a sudden they are fat! So watch him closely as he matures and slows down a little over the next year.
Gorgeous! He looks great and his weight was just right for his age.Quote:
Originally Posted by dxboon
Thanks! He's a good boy! :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelley
He is a gorgeous boy!
And I know bacon is not a good every day type thing, I wouldn't feed him it everyday but maybe every once in awhile. I am feeding him coconut oil and a raw egg, veggies and some fruits- it should help him gain a little weight.
A good probiotic; what do you guys think about The Missing Link? Would that be something to add to his food to help with digeston, skin and coat health etc?
And ok so males normally eat way more the females. My German Shepherd is a female and I've always had to watch her weight so she didn't get to chubby lol. She's the only large breed dog I have to kinda compare to.
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Good points about probiotics, also prebiotics might not be a bad option in your pup's case. He probably needs to grab all the nutrients he can get from his food given that he might have a higher than usual metabolism. I always use a plant-based pre and probiotic and also get them for people versus dogs as it's less expensive but made of the same ingredients.
Great to know! Thanks for the tip about getting it for people vs dogs!
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Thanks. I've never used Missing Link, so can't speak to that. I use Dogzymes Complete, which was formerly called Newf Warrior. It was developed by a Newfoundland breeder originally as a supplement for her puppy families. I use dog probiotics vs human probiotics, because while we share some strains of gut bacteria with dogs, they also carry other bacteria specific to canines. If you run a forum search for probiotics I'm guessing you'll get a ton of results. I know there have been threads discussing the topic.Quote:
Originally Posted by BreeNicholas
Thank God for Google!Quote:
Originally Posted by SunDance
My dog won't eat eggs, but he likes deer poop, I hope that's low in fat.Quote:
Originally Posted by dxboon
I hear bunny poop tastes great as well!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernie
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I use either Probios powder (the gel for neonates), or FortiFlora for a probiotic.
Just wanted to give you a suggestion, I also routinely feed Natures Domain and its definately a food that you dont want to feed a growing pup who has some trouble keeping weight on. I have a little yellow female who is a little over 1 now and the amount she would need to eat to maintain a decent weight is ridiculous. She does much better on something more calorie dense and with grains. I recommended since you are at costco anyway for the Natures Domain, pick up a bag of the kirklands puppy food. I bet he does much better on that foodQuote:
Originally Posted by BreeNicholas
My older black lab does great on the Natures Domain, so does my corgi, it just doesnt work for my high energy, field bred yellow lab
lol!Quote:
Originally Posted by meeps83
Diek looks alot like my Onyx. I always thought Onyx was too thin. But he's a lab mixed (unknown with what) so he never put on the weight I was expecting him to have. He's now 2 years old and 62 pounds. The vet says he's a healthy weight. He still looks thin to me, but whenever you take Diek to the vet I'm sure he or she will tell you if you need to be concerned.