cazzaritch Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Hi All, After a trip to the vet for puppy check yesterday at which we were given the all clear, the vet said it's ok to start to intoduce variety in to their diet, 1 new thing at a time. They are currently on advance puppy growth, moving up to growth large breed over the next few weeks. So, we bought them some chicken necks and gave them one each yesterday and they were an instant hit!!! My question is - how much of their kibble should the chicken neck substitute? They are having 2.5 cups per day spread over 3 meals. Question 2 - they play really nicely together, but sometimes it gets a bit rough. The breeder said not to seperate them as they will be sorting out their pecking order. I am worried that if I don't seperate them when they are getting really rough, that one of them will get hurt. Am I just being an overprotective mummy? Any help Greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Well the thing about kibble is that anything you add will unbalance it. The instructions from our breeder (different breed to your puppy) was no more that a golf sized amount of mince. How old are your 2 dogs? Yeah they could get hurt. I don't let my adult play with puppy, well she won't anyway because he's too small and not fun yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 1. You will get lots of different ideas here. Ask about food on DOL and . Various "better quality" kibbles will be suggested, but consensus is that if your dog looks healthy with normal stools, keep up whatever you're doing. Not sure how many calories are in a chicken neck, but guess maybe 1/5 cup kibble (?). You might have to experiment a bit with the right amount of food for each dog, including any "extras". The recommendations on the bag of food are only a guide. Best indicator is your dog's appearance- they should have a "waist"- narrowing b4 hips- when you look side-on. You should be able to feel ribs easily (like corrugated iron) but not see them prominent, or see hip bones and vertebrae. Labs love their food, but you will be putting stress on their bones if you overfeed and make them overweight. Many people here feed a mix of raw and kibble. I don't believe a chicken neck a day will unbalance their diets at all. If you said fatty table scraps, not chicken necks, that's another story... 2. Some breeders advised me a major causes of puppy injuries were siblings playing rough. They'd be fine with time both together and time separate. Each should get used to a bit of time alone, so it's not a major stress later on. Start it for a short time, then a bit longer etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cazzaritch Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 Hi Sas, They are 8.5 weeks old at the moment, and when they play fight, they seem equally balance, neither of them is always 'winning'. They are very even is size and weight. I think I will try to leave them, as its just alot of noise at times and no damage. I think I am being a little over protective, we only got them on Friday. Hi Poodle Wrangler, Thank you for the advice about the kibble reduction. About 1/5 cup sounds good, I think I reduced a little more than that. After reading all of the great information on here about diet, I wouldn't feed a puppy table scraps and would even think twice about feeding them to an adult dog. Thank you both for the excellent advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niki schaef Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 congrats on your new babies as for the food i think the best thing to judge is their weight as poodle wrangler said. yep labs love their food :D i don't think theres anything wrong with a chicken neck or similar food as it gives the dogs some variety as well as being really good for their teeth :D and will keep them busy for a while!! i think speerating the pups for a bit is a good idea, as well as giving them a break it will save any seperation issues if they ever need to be seperated in the future (eg if ones injured/sick or training issues etc). good luck with the babies there will be a lot of fun times is the future!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 You have 2 x 8.5 weeks old puppies? Are you on drugs? LOL Well if one is not older or bigger than the other, they should be able to play together. They may hurt each other from time to time, I think that's a given. When you're feeding a high quality kibble putting anything else in it unbalances it, that's fact. Many people do mix the two, that doesn't make it right. I'd ultimately say that do your research and make your decision from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cazzaritch Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share Posted June 4, 2007 Thanks for all of the fab advice. They had another chicken neck each today and loved it. It oesnt seem to be affecting their poo and so i think i will continue with it. is giving them one every day too much though, even though i am reducing the kibble? They are pretty good at taking time out from each other, one will get in the crate and the other will stay in the garden. They spent their first full day by themselves (well while kids were at school) - no crying, little damage that i have found yet, so I am very pleased. Made me laugh as the minute the kids let them in the house, Andy ran in and promptly messed in the dining room - hehehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Seperating now is a great idea, I had 2 8 month olds (Ed we had from 8 weeks and we got Molly at 8 months, they are 1 day apart in age) and we never thought to seperate them, so we had a tough time later when we needed to and Molly stressed for him. They are fine now though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cazzaritch Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share Posted June 4, 2007 Seperating now is a great idea, I had 2 8 month olds (Ed we had from 8 weeks and we got Molly at 8 months, they are 1 day apart in age) and we never thought to seperate them, so we had a tough time later when we needed to and Molly stressed for him. They are fine now though How long will be enough for them? Will it be enough to walk them seperately, leaving the other one in the garden for say 10-15 minutes? We are not walking yet as waiting for second injection before we go too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Yeah or take one out in the car without the other one, etc, just to get them used to the idea of not always being with each other 24/7 When they are older, sometimes take one to training, or out somewhere without the other, so they also interact with other people and dogs without each other too My 2 are so silly, they play with each other when there are other dogs around as they just seem to love eachothers company! Its like the other dogs are fun for a bit but they always go back to each other! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cazzaritch Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share Posted June 4, 2007 thanks for that, i woudlnt want them worrying about each other if they did have to suddenly seperated, even though we bought them both to make sure they always had company, you never know what will happen down the track. We start pupy school on Wednesday night, so excited about it. They already sit to be fed, wonderful breeder's influence!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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