Norskgra

Thanks Allerzeit. When I saw the photo I was pretty sure that she wasn't a purebred. I also didn't believe about the markings.

Here is a photo of Windsor my daughter took on her camera last night. Looking at her photo she looks like a cross but I could be wrong. Apparently someone who breeds Rotti's told the new owner that if the pup has tan on its face and its bum, it is a purebred but I have never heard this before.

I know my daughter took some photos yesterday. She has only just woken up and I will get her to load some when she is in a better frame of mind. I know they won't add all the stuff that we do but I have given them a diet sheet that I give our puppy owners as a guide. I know they made a mistake getting the puppy the way they did but Idon't want to penalise the baby.

Thanks Pandii. I did tell them everything about worming, vaccinations, microchipping, desexing and everything else that they would have been told if they had bought her from a reputable breeder. My daughter had already told them about keeping her lean. She had also told them not to feed tinned food either. I did mention about chicken wings, carcasses, necks and other bones. My daughter's friend has been with us a few times when I have done our dogs food shopping and I have managed to get her to buy their other cross breed some 'good' bones and raw meat. They have another cross breed and I know that they won't feed one of the better dry foods to the pup. I wasn't sure if Supercoat had a Large Breed puppy variety. Thanks Gretel. I did actually suggest Optimum. My daughter mught have to go shopping with them to make sure they buy the pup the right sort of food.

My daughter rang me at work yesterday afternoon. Her best friend's sister in law has aquired a 7 week old Rotti (maybe x) pup. Apparently a guy came into the pub when she was there trying to get rid of them. If he didn't find homes for the pups he was going to drown them. My daughter's friend knows all about buying from Registered breeders but apparently her sister in law doesn't. My daughter wanted advice on feeding the pup for her friend. I haven't had any experience with Rotti's. I told her that as it was only 7 weeks old, I would feed it 4 times a day and only a handful of dry. My daughter gave her friend some of our Nutro Puppy dry and some puppy milk I had. My daughter went to her friends place with the food and puppy milk and fed the pup. From what my daughter said when she rang me back, it was starving and ate the Nutro and drank the puppy milk and wanted more. How much would you feed a 7 week old Rotti pup? I told my daughter that as it is supposed to be a Rotti, it would need Large Breed Puppy dry. I know that the owners won't spend the money and buy either a Super Premium or Premium brand. Is there a supermarket brand or a cheap brand available from Pet Warehouses that would be suitable? I also told her to tell her friend that it had to be microchipped and about worming and vaccinations and everything else that a breeder would tell the new owner.

Ours each get a tin of sardines in with their dry once a week and get fish oil capsules daily.

I tried mine on Royal Canin. Not all of mine would eat it but those that did eat it were not in nearly as good a condition as they are now. I have tried just about every brand of dry from the cheap supermarket brands to the expensive super premium trying to find one that all of my dogs will eat. I was given some sample of Nutro and even my most finicky girl loves it. They don't have shiny coats because of the type of coat they all have but they do not lose nearly as much fur and they actually have thicker coats, especially my male. My male can have a big coat dump and even his breeder can't see it because after his coat dump his coat looks like all the others before they dump their coat. I am waiting for my Hamilton pup to be old enough to come and live here and he/she will be raised on Nutro. His/her breeder also feeds their dogs on Nutro. I am pretty sure that his/her coat will be great and shiny with the Nutro. I know it will take a lot for me to change from Nutro because I am so happy with the results and all of my dogs love it and normally eat it without any hassles like we had before.

Nutro has a normal puppy and a large breed puppy food. Normal puppy with chicken or lamb and rice has 26% protien and the large breed puppy with chicken has 28% protein and large breed puppy with lamb and rice has 27% protien.

Nutro does make a puppy and I raised my youngest on it and will be raising all of my pups on it. You can just feed Nutro but I add sardines once a week and also they get chicken frames, turkey necks etc a couple of times a week.

I don't have any photos of the little princess who only lived for about 1 hour. There were also the 2 babies that were reabsorbed. :rolleyes: AT least they will have lots of playmates at the Rainbow Bridge.

I have received your pm and I must say that I do not appreciate you bitching to me in it about another DOL member. :rolleyes:

No need for both. Science Diet is chockers full of chemicals and fillers. BARF is a suitable diet for him to be on and he'll lose weight more effectively WITHOUT SD poisoning his system. Thanks Cordelia. I told the person to feed one or the other and to preferably feed BARF. She was only giving him half a cup of SD and the rest of his food is BARF.

Flycow, for my dogs Nutro was like a 'miracle' food. It is the only dry food that all of mine will eat happily. Every dog is different and what works for one may not work for another. I know that I will never change from Nutro. My dogs and their coats have never been in better condition. I have tried just about every other brand on the market from the cheapest to the dearest and not all of my dogs would eat the other foods I bought nor were they in as good a condition. I have never said that the other brands were rubbish but my dogs did not do as well on them. I have nothing what so ever to do with Nutro. I am just a very happy convert. I don't believe that the testimonials that pop up here are rubbish as you say for any of the brands of dog food that people are happy to feed their dogs. They are only what people have actually experienced and they have nothing to gain by saying what they truely believe in. I really can't see what your problem is and why you have targeted those that feed their dogs Nutro and not any of the other brands.

The best thing is that her caring is being returned. She told me that she has never had a dog as affectionate or loving as this gentleman. That is very typical of Elkies. They are all very loving and affectionate.

I agree. It takes a special type of person to adopt a dog like this and to really care that they are doing the right thing. Especially an older dog.

If you are talking about the Elkhound, it came from s shelter in WA somewhere.

She takes him to the vets for regular weigh ins. The Vte put the dog on Science Diet RD. He is also being fed BARF. The initial amount of weight loss was also due to him now getting a little exercise and not being kept in his kennel at the shelter and not getting exercise. The Vet is not concerned at theamount of weight he has lost.

I agree totally, Shek. She appears to be a very caring person and the poor dog is so lucky to have found her. Waschaf - She has only had him for just over a week and he has lost approximately 6kg all ready.

I agree Arby, that Elkie was being killed through being overloved. Elkhounds are very keen eaters which is why most of the owners I know watch and measure what their dogs eat. I spoke to the President of our club and she was horrified as well. I have asked the person who adopted him to send me a photo as I can't imagine an Elkie that overweight.

I know. Just so you get a better idea of how overweight he is, the ideal height for a male Elkhound is 52cm. The person who adopted him seems really concerned that they are doing the correct thing with him.

I was so happy that they did contact me. He has lost 6kg in just over a week. She was doing everything almost right but just needed a little guidance on the breed and what will work with them. They also wanted to know the best 'tools' to use to groom his coat.

I also feed my Elkhounds and Afghan on Nutro and I will be feeding my new Hamilton pup Nutro as well when it arrives. Two of my Elkhounds were very finicky on what they would eat. Nutro is the only dry food that all of my dogs will happily eat. They wouldn't eat their BARF diet easily. Since I switched them to Nutro, their coat has improved to the extent that none of the other Elkhound owners believe me when I tell them that my male has blown his coat. Even when he has a total coat dump like he is having at the moment, he still has more coat than theirs do. It is the same with my girls as well. They have never been in better condition. They have less and smaller stools which don't smell nearly as much as they used to. Their weight is much easier to control and I don't have to feed them as much as I had to of other dry foods. I don't have to feed them as much as it says on the bags either.

I am Secretary of our breed club and I have just received a disturbing email from a person in another state seeking advice. The sender adopted a 10 year old Elkhound from their local pound. The person is an angel for taking this elderly gentleman on. The ideal weight for male Norwegian Elkhounds is 23kgs. What was disturbing was that this dog weighed 46kgs which is twice what it should weigh. The person who emailed me has him on a very sensible diet and excise program. Apparently the pound was feeding him 4 to 5 cups of whatever dry food that they were donated. Mine get a maximum of 2 cups of Nutro a day. They have also spent 4 days to shed out all the excess hair as he is obviously blowing his coat, but this hair was all matted and obviously had not been brushed for ages, as he also had 5 abscesses due to grass seeds imbeded in the skin. It is not hard to keep an Elkhounds coat in good condition. How could someone let him get so obese and let his coat get so bad? This person wanted advice on his diet, exercise and how to get his coat back into condition. As I have said, this person is an angel and I cannot thank them enough for taking this gentleman on even though they have never owned an Elkhound before.

I just feed them whole. The dogs come running as soon as they hear me rattle the container.

I feed mine human quality fish oil capsules without any problems. I normally feed them either Natures Own or Blackmores, which ever is on special.