German Shepherd Pup Under Weight

[persephone]

GSD pup CAN have white feet smile.gif

Oh- I have never seen any (not that I've seen heaps of GSD pups, tho )

Good for you. maf101... all seems to be going well

[lea]

Just a comment on the previous page with growing fast.

Sometimes you have no choice with feeding large quantities. Montu was growing stupidly quickly and I had to feed him enough to sustain his growth. If I had attempted to slow it down by feeding less he would be skin and bones.

I know you weren't suggesting that she stops feeding her dog when it grows but I just thought I should point out that if your dog starts growing faster then you MUST feed him more whilst he is in that growth spurt.

You always have a choice, its irresponsible to tell new puppy buyers its ok to feed large quantities of food.

Pups should only be feed the appropriate amount of food, especially in large breeds.

It can be irresponsible NOT to.

If the dog is growing at a fast rate then you MUST give them enough food to SUSTAIN the growth. Sure, you can let your dog turn to skin and bones if you want but I prefer to give my dogs their nutritional requirements even if that means I have to feed them 1.5-2kg a day.

Telling new owners never to feed large quantities of food is stupid advice.

How can good advice be stupid Midol?

Pups should not be feed large quantities of food, They should only ever be feed a reasonable and appropriate amount off food, over feeding has NO benefit

what so ever.

noone has said not to feed enough food to sustain the growth, the argument is not to over fed and give large quantities of food.

The only person here who gave that irresponsible advice is you.

Just how many large breeds of dogs have you had experience with feeding any way Midol?

[Andisa]

I don't think that we need to rub the age of the pup leaving home in to the OP any more - can't change what has happened. She came here after advice and hopefully she has received the advice she needs to help a tiny puppy thrive.

Plenty of pups do great when for what ever reason when they have had a crappy start in life. Plenty of pups are raised as orphans or singletons - not an ideal start in life but they can go on to live very healthy lives. In my situation last year - I had a litter of Rottweiler pups born a week early - resulting in most of them dying. They were born half the size they should have been and the 3 who survived are doing fantastic - thanks to some bloody wonderful advice that I received from many wonderful people on DOL.

So this little puppy is tiny - with propper care she has a much better chance of surviving - she obviously never received very good care before she left her mother so leaving early may well have saved her life. Luckily for this pup she has her litter brother for company.

Stick around Michelle - you will get a lot of help here and you will learn so much to help you raise your little puppy. Check out the training section later on when your ready, you will find a lot of helpful information there too.

Good luck and I hope all goes well.

[Erny]

Telling new owners never to feed large quantities of food is stupid advice.

Really? Thanks Midol - you've accused me of giving "stupid advice". In your opinion, perhaps. But feeding "large" quantities of food (beyond what the pup needs for nutritional purposes) can actually encourage faster growth spurts. I know with my own (current) pup. He was underweight/undernourished and within 3 days of coming here began to show verging severe carpal laxity syndrome. It was a very fine balance for me to feed the right amount for nutritional purposes as well as not to encourage too much of a growth spurt in order to give his bones and ligaments a chance of catching up with each other and to avoid potentially permanent bone structure problems later.

However, given that you say the advice I have given (which was to not over feed for the sake of weight gain only) is stupid, I'd be very interested to read from you of your dietary knowledge and the affects/effects on bone and ligament growth.

Edited April 7, 2009 by Erny

[Just Midol]

Large quantities & overfeeding are not the same thing though.

If someone is over cautious and reads that they should never feed large quantities of food and they believe it then they may refrain from feeding a dog the levels of food they require. You out of all people should know that some people will follow advice even if it appears that it is the wrong thing to do.

If the dog needs large quantities of food then you must give the dog large quantites of food. Feeding the dog less food because "more" might damage it whilst ignoring the nutritional requirements of the dog is dangerous. Underfeeding would result in just as many health issues as over feeding would.

Wouldn't it be better advice to simply advise people not to overfeed & to consult their vet if they are unsure how much food they should be feeding? What's a large amount of food anyway? 200grams? 400grams? 1kg? 1.5kg? 2kg? Is large simply more than the dog requires? If so, why not just say that rather than saying not to feed large quantities. The reason I think using "large" is poor advice is because it is too ambigious, it might not necessarily be stupid advice though if you make sure the "reader" actually understands what you mean.

I just think telling owners not to feed large quantities of food could be damaging in some circumstances. I was feeding Montu what was probably considered "large" quantities of food but since his training is active, and he was growing fast I had to. If I was a new dog owner & I had never had dogs before I could potentially have not fed the increased amount of food for fear of causing him troubles. In fact, even as an experienced dog owner I as worried and he dipped underweight at a stage as I wasn't feeding enough for fear of causing him to grow too quickly.

Edited April 7, 2009 by Just Midol

[Bow Wowy]

maf101, good on you for coming here and asking advice on the best way to look after your new pup. I hope the rest of the litter have gone to homes as responsible as you. A good quality Large Breed Puppy Food would be ideal for your little girl as this will give her everything she needs to grow correctly - Advance have a bonus bag out at the moment (33% free) which is good value. Good luck with your beautiful girl

[Erny]

Large quantities & overfeeding are not the same thing though.

I think you've split hairs over the "large quantities" -vs- "overfeeding" interpretation Midol. Either way, your words "feed large quantities" is very much open to interpretation by others as meaning "over feeding". That may not be your intention, but if you're going to criticise others for how they've written things and the chance of misunderstanding, then perhaps best that you also check your own sentence structure before you tell others they've given "stupid advice".

If someone told me to feed "large quantities" I would most likely do exactly that. And chances are that would most likely become akin to overfeeding.

Depending on context, I think it is relative. What I feed my boy may well be a "large quantity" compared to what someone else's dog needs. But for my boy, it's not. Although in another context, I might say to someone I go through a large quantity of food. But again - that's a 'relative' term. "Large quantity" .... compared to what.

So perhaps you should check yourself before you begin insulting and shouting down what others have said by calling it "stupid advice". And perhaps understand that the way you interpret what you write is not always the way other people interpret either. So perhaps watch for the pot/kettle syndrome, heh?

[Andisa]

Maf101 - Just wondering how you puppy is going - any new photos??

[SarasMum]

I hope your puppy is well now. You could also try some Biolac mixed in the with the dry, it does a similar job to the goats milk I think. Its what my GSD breeder recommended when I brought my pup home a few years ago. I was also feeding 3 times a day until 12 weeks then gradually dropped her down to 2. She was having a small brisket bone of a night time as well. I also added vitamin c to her diet once a day. At this age she was getting 250mg which was increased at around 12 weeks to 500mg.

Good luck with your girl.

[Miss B]

I expect I'll need advice in the future. I hope people don't mind if I stick and around these forums and ask for advice.

I hope you stick around Michelle :rolleyes:

My first pup came home at 5-6 weeks of age, back then I had no idea about the benefits of a pup remaining with his mother and littermates until at least 8 weeks. I purchased him sight unseen from a breeder who lived a long distance from me. In the photographs she sent he was a beautiful healthy looking animal. The actually pup that arrived was small, sickly and underweight. He came from a dodgy backyard breeder, who wasn't registered and most certainly didn't health test her dogs... hell, she didn't even worm them! The fact is we all have to start somewhere. Back then I had no clue about these sorts of things.

No-one is born knowing everything

[maf101]

I did as everyone suggested and waited until she was 8 weeks old to go out in public. We went to Shorncliffe at low tide.

She can Swim! I'm so excited. She wasn't bothered by the other dogs. I let her off the leach in the water. She didn't run off. She stayed with us.

We went for a walk between the pier and the beach. There was people riding bikes and skating. They scared her a bit. We don't see many people when we go for our 3km walks near home.

She met a lot of kids. At least 6 or 7 kids aged 3 to 8 sat down with her and patted her for half an hour.

We had a picnic lunch and Riley ate Advance puppy. It was great day.

Here's a couple of pics. She weights 5kg and is 9 weeks old this week.

[puggy_puggy]

I did as everyone suggested and waited until she was 8 weeks old to go out in public. We went to Shorncliffe at low tide.

You should wait till they are at least 16 weeks till you let them walk around in public. At 8 weeks they have only had one immunisation injection. With the usual vacciantion proticol they need another 2 with the last being at 16 weeks.

Please refrain from walking her in places that you have no idea of the other dogs that have been ther and letting her socialise with other dogs that you have no idea of their vacciantion records.

At 8 weeks your pup is prime target for Parvo.

[Starkehre]

Hi Maf101.

Thanks for the update on how Riley is going. She is growing nicely and the photos are gorgeous.

Perhaps I misunderstood your post, and if I did, I do apologise... but are you saying that Riley is going for 3km walks?

If that is the case, perhaps no one has explained to you that it is much healthier for Riley's joints and bones that while she is young, she should not be doing any or perhaps very little "forced walking." Forced walking is a term used to describe popping a lead on your dog and taking it out for a walk. That is not to say that you have forced Riley to walk. She may love her walks with you. But with puppies this young, and particularly large breeds, need time for their bodies to develop properly first. Typically speaking, natural play in the yard, (ensuring jumping on and off objects is kept minimal if not eliminated) very short walks to visit areas where you are socialising and trips in the car or in your arms are terrific for now.

She is still such a baby. She does not require walking exercise at her age. Mental stimuli will be of tremendous benefit and is what you can be working on, and of course some on lead training at home... in the house and in the yard.

I would be waiting until she was atleast 4-5 months old before doing any walking, and even then, just a very slow stroll for a very short distance, most to see new things.

Real excercise can wait until she is 12 months old. Of course others may have differing opinions, and this is just mine.

I am not going to mention vacccinations and safety periods again as others have addressed this.

She really is a sweety.

[huski]

Maf.... I don't want to sound harsh so apologies if this comes across as such But I recall suggesting that you only take her out sensibly and not anywhere other dogs frequent - I used the dog beach as a specific example. I take my dogs out and about from the first day they get home at 8 weeks but I keep in mind that they don't have full immunity yet and you need to be sensible with it. I carry them around most places. Just be careful where you take her before she has full immunity

Edited April 20, 2009 by huski

[Kyra]

I'm not gonna get involved in the argument but just wanted to say your pup is gorgeous

Hope all goes well with her.

[EISHUND]

A good quality Large Breed Puppy Food would be ideal for your little girl as this will give her everything she needs to grow correctly -

GSD's are a MEDIUM breed, not a large breed Bow Wow.

[maf101]

I shouldn't be walking her? We've been walking to the park almost daily. It's only 3kms there and back. Not many people walk their dogs around our suburb because it's hilly. I didn't know it can hurt her joints. I'll stop walking her until she's 4-5 months old as you suggest.

What kind of places is it safe to take her? We usually visit my uncles so she can play with his pup. Is that enough until she's had all her needles?

[Pockets]

3KM's for an 8 week old puppy

Please do not take a puppy on such long walks, as stated forced walking at that age is not what a puppy needs as stated she may enjoy her walks, but puppies will instinctivly try and keep up with you, whereas free exercise a puppy can go and go and then will stop and sleep, on a walk a puppy does not have this oppotunity

For a GSD puppy, I would refrain from any sort of walking on lead to parks etc, free play is the best way to go for a growing puppy

I would wait until at least she is 8 days clear of her second vaccination before venturing out to public places too places like beaches and parks where dogs frequent I would avoid at this stage But thats my opinion

My GSD pup is 4months old now, I take him down to the park, but he is off lead so he can go at his own pace and he will stop when he is tired

[BellaEvie]

Good luck with your pup.

Maybe when you take her out you can carry her for most of the walk and let her have a small play before returning home.

As it has been said, long walks and lots of exercise can be bad for a puppys joints.

You have done a great job with her, keep up the great work

[luvsdogs]

I got Tilba at nearly 12 weeks old & she had had her 2nd shot a few days b4 I got her. I used to carry her to puppy preschool & I didn't walk her in our neighbourhood until she'd had her 3rd shot. I also took her out to socialise at my obedience club & took her to a dog show. But I carried her. I learned about 10 yrs ago when I bought the book "Give your dog a bone" bt Dr Ian Billinghurst, that the only exercise a pup needs is play & eating raw meaty bones. Exercising her brain is more important at this stage & your lucky she can play with her brother.

Once she's had her shots & you take her out for walks, & you don't want her to be a puller, the stop start method of walking will teach her not to pull & you won't get very far & will be walking at a slow pace.