Do Pet Greyhounds Need More Food Than Other Dogs?

[Dogsfevr]

Yep i agree our show greys who where around the 40-45 kg werent feed barf but a good dry plus raw mutton.

Although if your having bad issues get his thyroid checked

[Greytmate]

Piper is around 40 kilos, he gets either 1/2 a lamb flap, or 3 chicken carcass's (full ones from the butcher, not the skimpy things from the supermarket) or 3 or 4 cups of dry with extra's like sardines, eggs or Natures Gift tin food. Sometimes he has an extra meal of porridge.

Fern at 9 months and 30 kilos get the same as Piper except for the chicken carcass's, she only gets 2. Plus a few extra feeds of left overs, porridge etc over a week.

Main meal for both at the moment is the lamb flaps, get them at least 4 times a week.

Good grief! How tall are your guys???

My boy is about medium size for a male and barely hits 30kg. He looks good - we think. He looks like a racer - you can see his defined muscles, ribs and a few back bones. IMO how they are meant to look. ( have seen an overweight greyhound - can see no bones at all - it looked so wrong)

My girl is admittedly small for a female, and weighs in at between 21 & 22kg. Same condition as my boy.

Your two must be very tall!

My two get a cup and a half of eukanuba morning and night, plus leftovers if they are lucky. Also get chicken necks and roo tails occasionally. Euk is the only think i have found that doesnt go right through them - have tried all the expensive dry brands.

There can be quite a weight difference in different greyhounds, ex-racing males can range from about 25kg up to about 42kg and still be a very healthy weight. As well as height making a difference so does build, some are slender and some are quite boofy with broader chests and necks. There are slight differences in shape between Aussie racers, American racers and show greyhounds which will mean that three dogs of the same height can have very different weights and still be healthy.

Muscle weighs more than fat, so a dog can put on weight just through the muscle bulking up, and you can still see the last couple of ribs.

The amount a greyhound needs to eat depends not only on its size and but on the amount of energy that it uses. Our littlest greyhound eats way more than our bigger one, but she gets hard exercise so needs more food.

As a rough guide, we like to see three vertebrae and two ribs, and like to be able to just see the pin bones. As a dog ages, you will naturally see more vertebrae without the dog being underweight.

Another way to see if your male dog is at a healthy weight is to stand him in the late afternoon sunlight. You should be able to see the sunlight glowing through the skin between the dog's penis and its abdomen. If you can't then there is too much fat on the dog.

Imy, you should try this, and see if the diets are working.

[Rebanne]

Piper is around 40 kilos, he gets either 1/2 a lamb flap, or 3 chicken carcass's (full ones from the butcher, not the skimpy things from the supermarket) or 3 or 4 cups of dry with extra's like sardines, eggs or Natures Gift tin food. Sometimes he has an extra meal of porridge.

Fern at 9 months and 30 kilos get the same as Piper except for the chicken carcass's, she only gets 2. Plus a few extra feeds of left overs, porridge etc over a week.

Main meal for both at the moment is the lamb flaps, get them at least 4 times a week.

Good grief! How tall are your guys???

Your two must be very tall!

They are both tall, Piper is 75cms at the shoulder, Fern approx 70cms. Both a show bred greys. I have a friend with a racing grey who is the same height as Piper but looks best at 38 kilos. Most of Piper's ribs are just visible, if they are covered he is fat.

Fern's 30 kilo's was before she got more lamb flaps, all her ribs were showing a lot. I have been free running her at the track and forgot to up her feed. After 4 feeds of lamb flaps in a week hers ribs are now covered nicely. Oh and don't forget the porridge.

I only coat mine at night. It's very rare for me to coat them during the day as they are usually inside (they are inside at night but the heater is turned off) I will coat them if they go outside for any length of time.

[WreckitWhippet]

Talking weight, having show dogs I don;t really care what they weigh, I just go by the look of them. Greytmate what do you thibnk of the condition of this dog ?

We have just had three weeks of snow and ice, so he's a little underdone in the muscle department, due to a refusal to get off the lounge

Edited July 9, 2007 by Warley

[WreckitWhippet]

Same day but on the profile

[Greytmate]

He looks pretty good to me Warley. He could put on half a kg or so and still look good, but I think he is in really nice shape how he is. He is how a greyhound is supposed to look.

[WreckitWhippet]

He looks pretty good to me Warley. He could put on half a kg or so and still look good, but I think he is in really nice shape how he is. He is how a greyhound is supposed to look.

I'll keep doing what I'm doing. I hope to have this boy into the show ring soon It's a constant juggling act to keep the weight steady, they appear to be like the Pointers , they can drop weight and show rib over night