holly

Alibear a pup I bought was raised on Eukanuba only and he ate rocks, rocks can block the bowl, thou it is normal for puppies, it is not necessarily healthy. I added meat in the form of brisket bone/chicken mince etc and the rock eating ceased. You need to make sure you do not exceed 1/4 meat to 3/4 biscuit. Puppy biscuit is high in fat and protein, so just be careful how much you feed. The rib test? The best way to explain it, is make a fist with one hand, open the palm of the other and move your fisted knuckles over the palm of your hand, that is what your puppy should feel like too, a light covering of fat over the ribs, if you have to dig to find ribs, than he is too tubby

I would stick with what your breeder has recommended for they know what works for their lines best. The chicken necks are good, you can also give large bones, bigger than your fist for him to chew on. Is it S.D puppy/growth? that you are feeding? If so I would not go over what you are feeding now, and do the 'rib test' you do not want the puppy fat whilst growing. My girl is nearing 9 months and at 4 months was on 3 cups of biscuit, but now she is starting to put weight on, so have dropped her back to 2 cups, with some bone/meat during the week as well and I do feed them table scraps ie; the vegies that we ahve left over. If the diet is working for your pup and they have good stool formation, why change it? the hunting for me is typical of puppies, they will eat anything at that age, even rocks, so don't worry your puppy is not starving, just has not learnt when enough is enough.

NOthing like good ol' fashion bones. I will sometimes give them a pigs ear at a show to munch on, but never those rawhide or nylabones, have seen dogs with these lodge in their gut. But above all else, mine get brisket bone at least twice a week and my Mini Foxy is happily muncing away at a Mutton flap as I write, they are all far cheaper and do not have artificial anything.

Get well Amy and our thoughts are with you and your family hugs Holly and crew

Although getting to the bottom of allergies is really important, I was speaking to an elderly friend yesterday. A bitch they bred, 7 years ago, has developed allergies, they are working through diet and enviroment still haven't worked out what has triggered the allergies, the skin under the belly went rough and black, their vet, to give the dog some relief, put them on human antihystamines, far more economical too than most vet meds, adn the dogs coat is growing back lovely and the skin looks just peachy. When I am next in town, I am going to try that as well as I am going to see my supplier about bulk fish and try a home made fish and potatoe diet, that the NZ friend said has made all the difference to their dog. Another has their GSD on Eagle Pack Holist Select http://www.eaglepack.com.au/sysPages/PageL....aspx?menu=M014 and they swear by the product, this dog is cronic. They said they can buy it for less than $80, for 13kg, shipped to their door, they forgot to bring the companies details yesterday, the only place in Qld I have found so far will sell at a discounted rate of $110 shipped to the door, does anyone know of another avenue I can try? Please PM if you do. As I would like to give this product a go on one dog, the rest of mine are doing great on Advance. Thanks HOlly

I am really sorry to hear about your cherished Luther, Rozzie, no words can really express how I am feeling for you. I hope the coming months will get easier for you. Rest in Peace Luther Holly and family

still fighting it PP, that is why I have not posted back, no closer to the cause, some days are worse than others, the kangaroo meat made no difference, the Fido's zippo, am giong to try the fish and potatoe next. if I do have an enviromental problem of grasses and weeds, I don't know where would start, as the two acres out the front that the dogs access, has all sorts of green things growing. I have not gotten to the vet yet ETA: I have been putting my dogs over in our next door yard, where our In laws live, to protect the dogs from the neighbour, to catch the in laws throughing food over their verandah, I have no idea what it was, but it took about 10 mins for 3 GSD to eat it, how long they have being doing this, I have no idea, so now have my allergy one in our yard 24/7 to be able to control at least what food they get.

Hi pesh it is easy to make your own BARF, do a search on DOL, you maybe able to find BARF patties at good pet shops, I haven't tried. Allergies are a real pain to work out, good luck and let us know how you go?

Pesh, the best foods I found for allergies in GSD's was BARF adn have spoken to a Kiwi penfriend they are feeding fish and potatoe to their GSD and it is working a treat. Depending on the Bonnie food, it may contain red or wheat, which are the two number one no no's. I have had good/great results using Advance large breed, the Turkey and Rice made no difference. Grasses, well that is tough one, Koza, esp if you 101 varieties in your yard.

Thank you everyone for your kind words, they are much appreciated. Tybrax, I am sure Zac and Brax are there together watching over us all Hugs from Holly and family

Hi all, I can not let this boy go unnoticed, he was a dear and treasured friend who put a paw of love into everyones heart he met. Jaola Dashing Boy 'A' C.D, 'Zac' passed away from lung cancer. Zac was the guardian of the kids, attended advanced obedience classes with my daughter when she was just 5 y.o, the pair shamed many an adult with his loyalty and obedience to her, being mindful of those little fingers holding the lead. Was in for play when need be as well as posing an awesome figure at the gate, he was a great dog. Rest In Peace big boy, you will always be remembered. Holly and family

Tiffany, some have great success with Supercoat Puppy, I find it too rich and my pups adn dogs get diarrohea on it, especially if they also get meat in the diet, just keep an eye on your pup and if you find the poos get soft and do not improve then this food may not agree with them.

:rolleyes: I make too many typo's Kitkat, my fingers type faster then my brain :rolleyes: at least that is my excuse. the 50% thing? Well my pups dam is 31kg and she at 6.5 months weighs just over 20kg, does have a bit more than norm in rib coverage. It is a guide only, I have never thought about this before this thread, so was doing some net searching. I don't weigh my pups, apart from at time of worming, what I do is the look and feel, if they are looking fat, scrawny, too lean I will adjust their diet and their volume to improve. Friends, religously weigh every few days from birth, which I also do not do, when they are babies, I do a pinch test on the top of the neck, if the skin drops quickly they are hydrated adn if their bellies are round, they are getting enough food

Yes, Kitkat, you are right, that is my literacy skills (or lack of) coming to the fore once again :rolleyes: We WORM regularly.... :rolleyes:

HI Tiffany if you are truely concerned about your puppy not being heavy enough, what I would suggest is changing the puppy food you are feeding. Pal Puppy biscuits number 1 ingredient is wheat, which is a filler product and does not have much nutritional value. We use Advance large breed growth and my 6.5 month old puppy is on 2 c of biscuit and 1/4 c of mince a day and is excellent condition. Advance's number 1 ingredient is poultry, with a protein level of 28.0% compared to 21% for Pal puppy, the fat content, the nutrient that gives the puppy energy and fat stores is not less than 16% in Advance and 12% in Pal puppy. Thou Advance, 15kg bag can set you back $75, you will feed less to get better results. I have my large dog on just 3 c of this biscuit a day and nothing else, the others have some meat added, my choice and all are doing great, with the mature ones having the same food amount as the puppy and some less, as they put on too much weight. I would switch to a premium dog biscuit, you may find you will save yourself a lot in long the run, not too mention less stress and worry. HOlly

thou this is for adult dogs, it can help you to work out the rib test, it has a discription of what to do and how a dog of correct weight should look: http://www.purina.ca/dogs/nutrition.asp?article=286

Does this help Tiffany: MAXI Breeds The term ‘Maxi’ breeds includes dogs weighing from 26 to 44 kg when adult. "During the first stage of intensive growth, the Maxi puppy builds his skeleton. He gains 130 g per day on average, reaching 50% of his adult weight in only 5 months." NB; THE GSD bitch usually weighs 24 -32 kg, averages about 29kg at maturity, if you were to use this guide, a 29kg animal, at 6 months would be 14.5kg. When looking at the weight of pups adn dogs, you need to look at their constitution, big boned animals will weigh more than a lighter boned pup, I have had 6 week old pups weigh 7kg and others from teh same litter weigh 5kg, doesn't mean they are ill, just that they are growing slower and for large breeds, like GSD's you want them to grow slow, runts that we have bought and even raised, turned out to be above medium to large sized, with strong bone. If you can do the rib test and feel the rib and a light coverage of fat over the ribs, the pup is just right, if you can see the pins of the hip pointing out under the skin, too skinny and if you have to dig to find a rib, too fat. If your vet has given your pup a clean bill of health, how about posting a side view and a view above the pup, so we can see the waist of the puppy. You could also, if you do not live far, join a GSDCAust club, I found them invaluable when I started out and saved me some very sleepless nights. Holly

My old boss jusitfied the dearer price at the clinic, as his time is worth around $70 per hour and his vet nurse around $25 per, to have one of this trained persons giving advise on a product instead of doing what they are there for, they put their professional fee on top. It does make sense, considering, they give accurate advise, whereas our local produce store told one client, that "yes you can bath your dog and put Frontline on straight away" which is not correct. The produce store was $5 cheaper and using the Frontline like they instructed, you may as well have put it down the loo, as you need to wait at least 24, but preferrably 48 hours before or after applying, to allow your dog to have a bath, Advantage you can wash your dog an hour before applying, but the store doesn't supply Advantage.

If you are feeding 1.5 c of biscuit and 1/2 can of puppy food a meal x 3 meals per day, that equates to 6 c of food per day, I haven't bought Pal Puppy biscuit for ages, but I think even if you looked at the bag of the bag, it would not advise feeding that much. If you overfeed fast growing puppies, like GSD's, you run the risk of getting them fat, growing them too fast and it can lead to bone and joint problems. Feeding that much in one day, the puppy is probably doing a lot of poos too? Even a 10 month old pup would not be fed any more than 3 c of Pal Puppy and 1/4 c of meat per day, unless they are very active, than it would be raised by no more than 1 c. My 40kg male is on 3-4 c of Advance and that is his lot. I would get a correct measuring cup and measure the puppies food accurately, would drop the food by at least half, if you feel guilty, you can buy 4 x 4 biscuits at most produce stores, they are great teethers and will keep your puppy occupied, or even large brisket and thigh bones to gnaw on.

thanks KitKat, it would work out better now with V.P.D as they also have a rewards system, various products bought gives you $ credit, it saved me $7 on my last purchase.

hI Tiffany Kitkat asked a good question, I thought you were feeding 1.5c per day. we give ours no more than 2 cups per day of dry with no more than 1/c meat at that age. we use chicken mince, red meat, sardines etc, we dont cook the meat, but warm regularly, every 4 weeks at 12 weeks of age

the puppy dry is fine, but the can has about 9% protein, not enough for a growing puppy, also has a lot of water in it. We use to use 3/4 Puppy dry adn 1/4 meat. but for the age 1.5 c of dry is what I would be feeding, plus the 1/4 meat. did her breeder give you a diet sheet? Does she look skinny to you or just right? I don't weigh my pups/dogs, only when being wormed, I go on feel and look adn adjust if they are loosing or gaining too much weight.

Tiffany different breeding produces different weights, depending on how big her bone is, this is quite normal weight. What and how much does her diet consist of?

I buy mine at Vetproductsdirect.com.au and there is another someone here has posted before Pet something, I believe they are cheaper. Having quite a few large breed dogs, on the recommendation from my own vet, I buy the Extra Large and split the dose, the boy gets a full one thou as he is 40kg+ depending on what treats the kids have fed him Splitting the pack, using a syringe is safe adn saves a ton of money, I buy 6month packs.

I have found Advance the best for mine, nice coats, enhances their coats and they generally look really good, I use Large Breed Growth, as they are active dogs, also give them some fresh mince, bones and vegies occassionally, I also like BARF. Out of all the Supercoat lines, I liked the Performance best, but found some would get hot spots from time to time. Did try Puppy on my young ones, they would get diarrohea after awhile, the same too with the others, I ended throwing in the bin, near full bags. I think now they have changed ingredients too and fillers (wheat/rice etc) is the number 1 ingredient? Don't touch it any longer.