Puppy weight issues

leann.westman · 06-28-2010, 07:36 PM

HI everyone! I am new here! My name is Leann and my Basset's name is Maggie! She is 3 months old and full of energy!!!! I just adopted her from an adoption agency that I had a lot of health issues with.

In trying to keep everything short, I will just say that when I brought her home on 5/27/2010, she had Kennel Cough. She went to the vet and weighed in at 7.13lbs. They took her into quarantine for 10 days and when I got her back on the 6/7/2010, she STILL weighed 7.13lbs! 3 days later on 6/10/2010, she had a vet appointment where she weighed in at 9.35lbs. The vet told us to put her on a diet. (It's the adoption agencies vet who I HATE and I don't agree with!!! She also came out of quarantine with this vet with ear mites, coccidiosis and RINGWORM!!!) I don't think that at 11 weeks she should have weighed 9lbs!!! She is now 3 months old and weighing in at 13.2lbs.

Does anyone on here have any suggestions for putting some weight on her? She isn't anywhere as skinny as she was when I got her, but she is still "ribby" and I would like to have some more weight on her! Other than the health issues (which have been medically treated by MY vet) she is generally healthy and active. We are potty-training and leash training smoothly. I am just curious if someone might have some suggestions with getting weight on Basset's. Also, she is a "grazer" instead of a "horker" with her food. She would much rather nibble throughout the day than have specific feeding times. And, she LOVES treats..all kinds of treats, but that's just being a Basset!

I don't know if that helps or not.

All in all, if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it! And also, I would like to say hello to everyone and thanks for having us here!

Leann and Maggie (Westman's Rollynn in the Ryver)

Mikey T · 06-28-2010, 08:47 PM

Quote:

She isn't anywhere as skinny as she was when I got her, but she is still "ribby" and I would like to have some more weight on her! Other than the health

My quess is you have a very unrealistic Idea what the ideal whight of a puppy is. A puppy should be ribby. To much weight to soon can lead to a whole host of orthopeadic problems.

see

Dog Diet Do's and Don’t's

Quote:

According to Dr. Tony Buffington, Professor of Clinical Nutrition, Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, your puppy can be fed a regimen of specific caloric intake compared to his body condition score (BCS), using a simple one to five scale, from overly thin to obese. Using manufacturer feeding recommendations as an initial starting point, feed your puppy to a score of two and maintain this weight until he's fully grown. Feed whatever amount is necessary to maintain a BCS of two during the growth period, realizing that dogs have varying growth rates and activity levels. Once his adult stature is achieved, you may allow him to reach a score of three.

Feeding during growth & develop habits: Timing and training, watch the dog not the dish!

...

2 = Thin - Ribs easily palpated and may be visible with no palpable fat. Tops of lumbar vertebrae visible. Pelvic bones less prominent. Obvious waist and abdominal tuck.

Optimal feeding of large breed puppies

Quote:

the diet is one factor that every owner can control. Several orthopedic diseases of dogs can be precipitated by improper feeding practices during growth. Large breeds of dogs are predisposed to these problems because they have the genetic potential for excessively rapid growth. In rapidly growing, large breed puppies, maximal growth, and therefore increased body weight, can cause stress on the immature developing skeleton. Large breed dogs have decreased bone density compared to smaller breed dogs at this stage (Dammrich, 1991). Additionally, fast bone growth results in structural defects of bones that are in turn unable to accommodate an increased body weight (Dammrich, 1991).

...

In contrast to protein, excessive calories and inappropriate amounts of calcium have both been shown to negatively influence optimal skeletal development in puppies. While overnutrition in adult dogs leads to obesity and can lead to serious health problems such as cardiorespiratory disease, we recognize other problems in puppies that result from the same practice of overfeeding. It is necessary to feed the puppy enough to allow for controlled growth, but it is equally important to avoid overfeeding. Many people believe that a round puppy is a happy healthy puppy. However, maximal growth is not optimal growth. Adult size is principally influenced by genetics; however, the time

to reach adult size can and should be controlled by proper nutrition. Excess calories can predispose large breed puppies to developmental bone disease, including hypertrophic osteodystrophy (Dammrich, 1991).

...
The goal is to keep growing puppies lean at about a body condition score of around 4 on a scale of 1-9 (a score of 1 is emaciated and 9 is grossly obese). You should be able to easily feel the ribs. Study drawings and complete descriptions of the desired body condition. A common body condition scoring system is provided at the following site: Understanding Your Dog's Body Condition | Purina.com. One very general suggestion is to provide an amount of food that the puppy can eat in 10 minutes three times a day.

Most individuals perceptions of what an ideal basset should look like is on of an overwieght to obese dog.

some examples of not over weight dog note coat density, lighting and positioning all have an effect on "visability of ribs" the first two photos show this dramatical

Do not Fixate on the ribs for acessing weight. They are only one aspect and on of the least effective areas to use to access weight. Personal I am deffenately over weight and my ribs are quite promenient. It takes the dog to be considerable overwight before palitable fat accumulates on the ribs.

see Corpulent Canines? for a more well raounded approach to accessing weight.

Purina® Study Confirms Link Between Body Fat and Chronic Health Conditions

Quote:

Other Purina research found that most owners couldn't accurately assess their dogs' body conditions. When owner and expert scores were compared, only 28 percent of owners characterized their pets as above ideal body condition, while 79 percent of the experts scored those same animals to be above ideal body condition. Dr. Larson says this gap is serious because pet owners are not likely to recognize that their pets are overweight and even moderate excess body fat can lead to problems.

elp Extend Your Dog's Healthy Years

CharlieSue · 06-28-2010, 09:47 PM

Charlie, our now 6 month old basset is petite like your Maggie. She currently weighs 21 pounds. At 11 weeks, Charlie actually weighed in less than Maggie.. only about 7.5 pounds. She was also pretty "skinny" at that time. Although, the vet said she was healthy! Even though you could see her ribs, she still looked healthy. She wasn't the best eater at that time either. We switched her food from Eukanuba to Iams and she just never really seemed to be excited to eat when we fed her Iams. (That is just her personal preference, ha! She is back on Eukanuba, but we are actually going to be switching her over to Fromm.. a local Wisconsin brand.) At that time, she sometimes skipped breakfast and when she did eat, she was very pokey about it. Now she is back too being very very excited when it comes to meal time. She also is filling out more or less. She isn't skinny but she doesn't really have much fat on her either if that makes sense. (You can check out pictures in the photo gallery).

I guess my encouragement to you is that I am sure Maggie is fine and I am sure she will catch up with her weight sometime soon. Maybe, though, there would be a food she may like better? Just a suggestion. I am sure she is just a joy and I am really glad to hear that you nursed her back to health.. even if your first vet couldn't do so!

Oh.. and the basset I grew up with was named Maggie. (Maggie May). I love that name for a basset

leann.westman · 06-28-2010, 10:13 PM

To Mikey_T....I don't think I am really overreacting. By "ribby" I mean, ALL ribs showing and hip bones protruding. She is skinnier than the dog in the top pic you provided. I have an appointment set up for July 1st for her 4th set of puppy shots and exam with MY vet. I am going to see what she says. I definitely don't want her obese but, I think she is seriously underweight!

leann.westman · 06-28-2010, 10:16 PM

We call her "Maggie May"..."Mag Pie"..."Maggie Moose/Monkey" but, right now, she is soooo rambunctious I think she thinks her name is "No-No".

LoveMaxwell · 06-28-2010, 10:49 PM

I don't have advice, but I just want to say that I'm glad Maggie is in a loving and caring home now. It sounds like you're right on top of everything and I'm sure she'll remain healthy. Maxwell sends his best howl and drool to Maggie!!

smitte21 · 06-28-2010, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlieSue

Charlie, our now 6 month old basset is petite like your Maggie. She currently weighs 21 pounds. At 11 weeks, Charlie actually weighed in less than Maggie.. only about 7.5 pounds. She was also pretty "skinny" at that time. Although, the vet said she was healthy! Even though you could see her ribs, she still looked healthy. She wasn't the best eater at that time either. We switched her food from Eukanuba to Iams and she just never really seemed to be excited to eat when we fed her Iams. (That is just her personal preference, ha! She is back on Eukanuba, but we are actually going to be switching her over to Fromm.. a local Wisconsin brand.) At that time, she sometimes skipped breakfast and when she did eat, she was very pokey about it. Now she is back too being very very excited when it comes to meal time. She also is filling out more or less. She isn't skinny but she doesn't really have much fat on her either if that makes sense. (You can check out pictures in the photo gallery).

I guess my encouragement to you is that I am sure Maggie is fine and I am sure she will catch up with her weight sometime soon. Maybe, though, there would be a food she may like better? Just a suggestion. I am sure she is just a joy and I am really glad to hear that you nursed her back to health.. even if your first vet couldn't do so!

Oh.. and the basset I grew up with was named Maggie. (Maggie May). I love that name for a basset

Just a side note... if you are considering Fromm... which by the way is an excellent food. You may also want to consider American Natural Premium. It's made at the same plant as Fromm from the same ingredient (give or take a few depending on what formula you're looking at) and is at a much more reasonable price. I just say this because before we got our girl Roxie we were spending an outrageous amount on EVO which is a great food but at over $50 per 30# bag it was pretty pricey. Our breeder turned us on to ANP and since Roxie has been on it since she was pretty much on solid food she has had a gorgeous coat. Just a thought since you are in the same area. Hello neighbor by the way... we live not too far from about half way between you and Milwaukee.

leann.westman · 06-29-2010, 12:50 AM

I am glad she is with us too! She had a rough start at life but now she has a loving forever home! She has two kitties to chase (one being a 1 year old Savannah kitty and 1 a fat old regular calico house cat) and 2 guinea pigs to adore. She really is the icing to the cake that makes our family (until my hubby and I decide to have kids). I would get Maggie to send a howl and a drool back but, luckily, she hasn't figured out how to howl yet!

leann.westman · 06-29-2010, 12:51 AM

Are you "hi neighboring" me or CharlieSue?

I am in Louisiana!

Mikey T · 06-29-2010, 02:08 AM

Quote:

I don't think I am really overreacting. By "ribby" I mean, ALL ribs showing and hip bones protruding.

I would hope so all three dogs are a 3 on a one to five system which is fine for an adult dog but a bit heavy for a puppy. The only difference between the three dogs is the Top dog has a ligher (in color and density no Undercoat) so the ribs and bones are more easily seen,

Royal Canin 1-5 Body condition chart

Quote:

Ribs, Spine Pevic bone visable. obvious waist, minimal amount of fat.

A puppy should be thin, thinner than an adult dog.

One thing you didn't mention was the protein content of the food you are feeding. IMHO i would look at 26% absolute min more ideal 28-32% with reduce calories coming at the expense of carbs and fat. On reason a recommend a Larger breed puppy formula for bassets. What you may be noticing is a lack of muscle mass not a lack of wieght. A diet that is too low in protein will retard muscle development along with the illnesses you sighted a delay in building muscle mass but you don't want to put weight on the dog for the sake of weight you want to build muscle which takes time and protein. Higher protein food are general more pallitble (tastier) to dogs so this also can turn a gazer into a Horker as well.

The growth of large and giant breed puppies

if you look at the puppy growth chart on page 10 infering the values for 3 month and a large breed puppy put the adult weight of a 13.2 lb 3 month old at ~45 to 53# which is certainly not abnormal for a basset hound.

Quote:

she is a "grazer" instead of a "horker" with her food. She would much rather nibble throughout the day than have specific feeding times.

Grazer are made not born and the same can be said for "horker" Feed three or four times a day at a consitent time and pick-up the food after 10-15 minutes and in short order you turn a grazer into a "horker"

There are benefits to both but I tend toward the horker size. smaller meal size reduces the risk of bloat but Bloat is an older dog problem. Grazing makes it impossible to put feeding, and water consumption on a schedule making potty training exponentially harder. When feeding is on a schedule elimination is on a schedule making preventing accidents a whole lot easier. While some bassets can freed feed as they get older and not become overweight it is exceedingly few. Bassets and all scent hounds don't appear to have the same mechanisms that other breeds have that tell them they are full. This becomes more of problem when adults because there stomach can hold so much more and the longer GI track insuring it get digested instead of passing through.

06-28-2010, 07:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
leann.westman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 9	Puppy weight issues HI everyone! I am new here! My name is Leann and my Basset's name is Maggie! She is 3 months old and full of energy!!!! I just adopted her from an adoption agency that I had a lot of health issues with. In trying to keep everything short, I will just say that when I brought her home on 5/27/2010, she had Kennel Cough. She went to the vet and weighed in at 7.13lbs. They took her into quarantine for 10 days and when I got her back on the 6/7/2010, she STILL weighed 7.13lbs! 3 days later on 6/10/2010, she had a vet appointment where she weighed in at 9.35lbs. The vet told us to put her on a diet. (It's the adoption agencies vet who I HATE and I don't agree with!!! She also came out of quarantine with this vet with ear mites, coccidiosis and RINGWORM!!!) I don't think that at 11 weeks she should have weighed 9lbs!!! She is now 3 months old and weighing in at 13.2lbs. Does anyone on here have any suggestions for putting some weight on her? She isn't anywhere as skinny as she was when I got her, but she is still "ribby" and I would like to have some more weight on her! Other than the health issues (which have been medically treated by MY vet) she is generally healthy and active. We are potty-training and leash training smoothly. I am just curious if someone might have some suggestions with getting weight on Basset's. Also, she is a "grazer" instead of a "horker" with her food. She would much rather nibble throughout the day than have specific feeding times. And, she LOVES treats..all kinds of treats, but that's just being a Basset! I don't know if that helps or not. All in all, if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it! And also, I would like to say hello to everyone and thanks for having us here! Leann and Maggie (Westman's Rollynn in the Ryver)

06-28-2010, 10:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
leann.westman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 9	puppy weight issues To Mikey_T....I don't think I am really overreacting. By "ribby" I mean, ALL ribs showing and hip bones protruding. She is skinnier than the dog in the top pic you provided. I have an appointment set up for July 1st for her 4th set of puppy shots and exam with MY vet. I am going to see what she says. I definitely don't want her obese but, I think she is seriously underweight!

06-28-2010, 09:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
CharlieSue Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 78	Charlie, our now 6 month old basset is petite like your Maggie. She currently weighs 21 pounds. At 11 weeks, Charlie actually weighed in less than Maggie.. only about 7.5 pounds. She was also pretty "skinny" at that time. Although, the vet said she was healthy! Even though you could see her ribs, she still looked healthy. She wasn't the best eater at that time either. We switched her food from Eukanuba to Iams and she just never really seemed to be excited to eat when we fed her Iams. (That is just her personal preference, ha! She is back on Eukanuba, but we are actually going to be switching her over to Fromm.. a local Wisconsin brand.) At that time, she sometimes skipped breakfast and when she did eat, she was very pokey about it. Now she is back too being very very excited when it comes to meal time. She also is filling out more or less. She isn't skinny but she doesn't really have much fat on her either if that makes sense. (You can check out pictures in the photo gallery). I guess my encouragement to you is that I am sure Maggie is fine and I am sure she will catch up with her weight sometime soon. Maybe, though, there would be a food she may like better? Just a suggestion. I am sure she is just a joy and I am really glad to hear that you nursed her back to health.. even if your first vet couldn't do so! Oh.. and the basset I grew up with was named Maggie. (Maggie May). I love that name for a basset

06-28-2010, 10:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
leann.westman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 9	We call her "Maggie May"..."Mag Pie"..."Maggie Moose/Monkey" but, right now, she is soooo rambunctious I think she thinks her name is "No-No".

06-28-2010, 10:49 PM	#6 (permalink)
LoveMaxwell Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 46	I don't have advice, but I just want to say that I'm glad Maggie is in a loving and caring home now. It sounds like you're right on top of everything and I'm sure she'll remain healthy. Maxwell sends his best howl and drool to Maggie!!

06-29-2010, 12:50 AM	#8 (permalink)
leann.westman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 9	I am glad she is with us too! She had a rough start at life but now she has a loving forever home! She has two kitties to chase (one being a 1 year old Savannah kitty and 1 a fat old regular calico house cat) and 2 guinea pigs to adore. She really is the icing to the cake that makes our family (until my hubby and I decide to have kids). I would get Maggie to send a howl and a drool back but, luckily, she hasn't figured out how to howl yet!

06-29-2010, 12:51 AM	#9 (permalink)
leann.westman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 9	Are you "hi neighboring" me or CharlieSue? I am in Louisiana!

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