[Mikey T]

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

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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!

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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

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).

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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).

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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

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

 

[Mikey T]

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

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.

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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.​

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.​

 

[Mikey T]

went after the feeding chart on the food bag and even feed less than that

I have never owned a dog that would not have been overweight if fed the minimium reccomend on a dog food bag. The only way to to judge the wight of the dog is by body condition below are a number of articles/charts/methods

​

Dog Diet Do's and Don’t's

​

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.

...

　
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.
3 = Moderate - Ribs palpable without excess fat covering. Abdomen tucked up when viewed from side.​

Corpulent Canines?

have assessed the weight on hundreds of dogs of a variety of breeds over the past year at seminars all over the country and a conservative estimate is that about 50% of the dogs that I see are overweight; approximately 25% are actually obese. These are not couch potato dogs. These are dogs whose owners expect them to jump in obedience, to run over rough ground in retrieving tests, and to perform in agility

...People don't know how to determine the correct weight for their dogs. Dogs vary in height, bone structure, and muscularity, so there is no one correct weight for a dog of any given breed. The best way to determine whether a dog is overweight is to test 3 different parts of the body: the neck, the ribs, and the hips.

1. <LI type=a>To check the neck, press your thumb and index finger deep into the side of the neck just ahead of the shoulder, and pinch them together. If your fingers are more than 1/2" apart, the dog is overweight. (Note: this is where old dogs tend to carry most of their excess fat, and they may actually be thin in other locations.) <LI type=a>To check the ribs, stand with your dog beside you, facing his butt. Place your thumb on the middle of his spine half way down the back and spread your fingers out over his last few ribs. Then run your fingers up and down along his skin. You should be able to feel the bumps of his ribs without pressing in.
2. To check the hips, run your hand over your dog's croup. You should be able to feel the bumps of his two pelvic bones without pressing down.

Some of you may be reading this and thinking, "I would never want my dog to be that skinny!" Think about the Olympic athletes. If you want your dog to be an athlete then it is only fair that you do what you can to help him achieve the body that he will need to perform and stay healthy and injury free for many years.

Understanding your Dog's Body Condition includes purina body condition chart.

4. Ribs easily palpable, with minimal fat covering. Waist easily noted, viewed from above. Abdominal tuck evident.
5. Ribs palpable without excess fat covering. Waist observed behind ribs when viewed from above. Abdomen tucked up when viewed.

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

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.