German Shepherd Pup Under Weight

[puggy_puggy]

Yes please don't feed only normal mince as puppys/dogs need both meat & bone otherwise you can cause all sort of problems.

Find some puppy/dog mince which is minced chicken carcuss and feed this as your main other source of food if you are also feeding dry food.

You can find puppy mince at most Lenards. You have to ask for it because it is kept out the back.

[Dogsfevr]

goats milk to it. Do I heat up the milk/water?

You can give it cold or warm,

With our pups the night time is warm at other times the chill is taken out.

[FB Rescue_Adoption]

My uncle and I each bought a German Shepherd pup last week. We viewed both parents and their litter of 9 pups. The pup I choose was a bit smaller than the other pups but I liked her temperament. We were told they were 6 weeks old.

We took them to the vet today. They are both underweight. The male pup weighs 2.9kg and my female pup weighs only 1.96kg. He checked them for worms. The test came back clear. They were wormed and given their first needle.

The vet said they are barely 6 weeks old and believes they were 5 weeks old when we bought them.

I've been feeding my pup Bonnie puppy (kibble), Optimum puppy (tin), and fresh pet roll. I feed her 3 times a day. She has a healthy appetite. Before I bought her she was fed Pal puppy and Weet Bix. She weighed 0.9kg the day I brought her home.

The vet said she needs premium foods and suggested Advanced. Advance is available in Advance Puppy Growth and Advance Puppy Rehydratable. Which is best?

What do you recommend I feed her to help her gain weight and grow?

Chicken Wings, chicken wings and more chicken wings... I would start with one per day and increase by one or two per week. Sure fire way to stack on the pudding!

[FB Rescue_Adoption]

We didn't get papers. They are purebred.

The vet doesn't sell dog food. I asked what is best food to give her and he recommended Advance. He said it's better quality food and there's less waste.

Is Supercoat puppy much better than Bonnie? I have 40kg of Boonie.

Is there a specific type of yogurt or cheese I should buy? Do I feed it as a snack or a meal? Probably a silly question but what is goats milk?

I'll try giving her some raw chicken mince. She is still getting her teeth through so the softer foods are easier for her to chew. She loves the dog roll so she'll probably love fresh meat. Should I serve it raw? Do I mix anything into it?

Her coat is very soft and feels good. She's very energetic. She loves playing with her brother when my uncle visits with his pup.

You may also wish to read the Puppy Development Calendar which can be found at the top of the thread to learn about how important the first few months of a dogs life really is, being that the puppies are so young, they really should not have been allowed to leave their mother for another 3 weeks. Puppy to puppy interaction is very important at this stage as they learn about how to interact with eachother, what is acceptable behaviour and so on. I would suggest you allow your dog to play with his litter mate your uncle's pup as much as possible in the near term so that they learn these behaviours. All the best.

[maf101]

I'll buy some chicken mince from Lenard's tomorrow. I looked for it but I didn't ask if they have it out back.

I'll be brave and give her a chicken wing tomorrow morning. I'm scared she'll choke on it.

I bought the Advance rehydratable puppy food. I'll feed her some now and see if she eats it.

She and my uncle's pup play with each other almost daily. I take her to his house when I'm not home. They jump over each other, play chase and share food. It's cute. I'll take some photo's.

[Derharv GSD'S]

Some pups are smaller than others but under 2 kgs at that age is extremely small.

There is a supplement called Vitagest made by green pet which is just brilliant. They have a online store

I used it when I had a litter of 9 and 1 of the pups was 250grms at birth and everyone else was 700grms and it certainly helped her catch up to the others when she got on solids.

[persephone]

Oh.. and don't just chop&change food..... your little puppy's stomach is still not developed properly.. ...and she may well get a nasty case of the runs ... NOT what she needs.

they can go downhill very quickly, being small.

Just mix a tiny bit of the new food in... tomorrow add a tiny bit more... and so on.

better to be safe than sorry.

[stormie]

I'm finding it a little disturbing/odd a GSD pup was 900grams at 5-6wks old????

[Alyosha]

If you're not going to feed much kibble or chicken wings I suggest you add chicken pet mince to her diet now. It's made from minced carcasses and will contain lots of bone - an important source of calcium for a growing baby.

Second this!

Maf101 - make sure you get pet grade chicken mince - the stuff from Lenards is probably minced breast meat without the ground bones which will give them the calcium/phosphorus/magnesium that they will sorely need. Check with you local pet supplies or rural/produce store.

I'm finding it a little disturbing/odd a GSD pup was 900grams at 5-6wks old????

So am I!! I have been caring for some 7 week old rescued working bred kelpies which weigh in at just under 4kgs each!! I can't even imagine a GSD being so little!!

I'm really glad you're going all out too look after these little guys Maf101 - and are trying to give them the start that their breeder should have given them.

.

[poodlefan]

Leonards do have pet mince Nattylou.

[maf101]

I gave her a chicken wing. She's been biting it for the past 5 minutes. She hasn't eaten anything from it but she's having fun trying. It's stops her from trying to bite my feet!

She didn't eat much last night. I gave her the Advance soaked in goats milk. She tasted it and left it. I don't think she was hungry.

She hasn't had the runs yet. It still looks normal this morning.

I'll make sure I ask for 'pet' chicken mince.

[persephone]

She hasn't eaten anything from it but she's having fun trying. It's stops her from trying to bite my feet!

That's good!

[puggy_puggy]

I gave her a chicken wing. She's been biting it for the past 5 minutes. She hasn't eaten anything from it but she's having fun trying. It's stops her from trying to bite my feet!

The last young pups I had would take about an hour to eat their little lamb bones so don't worry if she takes ages to get through the chicken wing.

[luvsdogs]

My son brought home a pup back in 2000 Sooty, when she was only 5 weeks 5 days old. Can't really remember how much she weighed, about 3 kg. She did well at the time & I could see her growing every couple of days. She's now 30 kg. And I think she had all her puppy teeth.

As someone said you don't want to grow her too fast. Being a large breed dog you want to grow her slowly to prevent bone & joint problems. Eating raw meaty bones will give her all the exercise she needs at this stage plus plenty of play with her brother.

The next thing to read up on is the importance of socialisation. She & her brother will need to meet lots of different ppl, men & children in particular. Get them used to everything you can think of that they will come into contact with for the rest of their lives. Look into enrolling into a good positive puppy pre school.

Check out www.dogstardaily.com You can download for free the book 'Before You Get Your Puppy' by Dr Ian Dunbar. It gives you the stages a puppy goes through & what they should be up to at each stage. There's also exerts from 'After You get Your Puppy'. You can watch videos on training methods plus whatever you wanted to know about puppy/dog training.

And where's those pics.

Edited April 2, 2009 by luvsdogs

[Erny]

The one thing is though dont rush to feed up,do it slowly & steadily otherwise you will end up with a pup that has the runs.

Agree with the above, for bone structure reasons too.

Getting the weight on will take time.

Agree again. Slow and steady wins the race IMO. Don't concentrate on weight gain to the exclusion of bone growth and development. Sudden/fast weight gain on young bones is not a good thing. So long as your pup is steadily gaining weight and is sufficiently nourished, being on the leaner side is more desirable than soft growing bones having to bear the sudden onset of weight gain.

I also agree about the goats' milk too. Wish I'd known about it earlier when my recent fellow (RR) was a baby pup (also underfed/undernourished - only 3.5kgs at 8wo). He's 9mo now but in his case the recent introduction of goats' milk is helping alot with other matters. Cottage cheese and yogurt is also something I now include in his diet, amongst other things.

I also feed Eagle Pack as I have done from early days with him and have seen him do very well on it. Go for the puppy large/giant breed variety. I use the holistic select.

Your pup has been removed from his mum and litter mates very early it seems. Don't forget to give consideration towards making up for the socialisation he'd normally be receiving from them. If you haven't already, look around for a really reputable dog school who will have people that can guide you in appropriate socialisation measures.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Erny

[Pepper and Jax]

Your pup has been removed from his mum and litter mates very early it seems. Don't forget to give consideration towards making up for the socialisation he'd normally be receiving from them. If you haven't already, look around for a really reputable dog school who will have people that can guide you in appropriate socialisation measures.

In addition to this, perhaps you can make sure your pup and your uncle's pup continue to spend lots of time together, especially while they're so young.

[joelle]

Chicken necks and wings. tucker time also goes down well ! My JRT was small (ish) and I fed him ......(need help here) ....some kind of mince balls, they had mince, veg oats, honey, if anyone can remember the name or recipe (was it satin balls)? please post it because I found Jake loved them and they helped bulk him up.

[maf101]

She's sick. Her breathing sounds like she has a stuffy nose. She's not eating much. She ate one meal at lunch and about half her dinner. She has drank over 1/2 a litre of goats milk today. I would have taken her the vet but I had to take my mother to the hospital emergency department (which took all day). If she's ill tomorrow she's going to the vet.

She has gained 0.4kg since Tuesday. She now weighs 2.3kg instead of 1.9kg. I've had few people tell me she's grown quiet a bit since last week!

She likes the pet mince from Lenard's.

I plan on taking her to the Ipswich Dog Obedience Club. She has to be 4 months old. Is there any good puppy classes she can attend without waiting until June in the Ipswich/Brisbane area? I have a couple of training books but they've not helping.

She plays tugs-a-war with my shoes laces, bites electrical leads and she tries to bite my toes and ankles every morning when she's hungry. I've tried yelping to say 'you're hurting me' and leaving the room but she still bites. She has stopped whinging at night.

Both pups went for a walk at the Sunday farmers market last weekend. They met a lot of people. I was going to take them to the beach this weekend but I'll wait until her cold is better. I want her to be active and sociable.

The pups spend a lot of time together.

I've told my uncle everything you guys have said here and he is taking your advice. He owned a German Shepherd a long time ago and he wants the best for his little guy.

[huski]

maf101, I am all for early socialisation but I would be very careful about taking her out before she has had her first vaccination. I would wait for eight weeks before taking them out and about - and I would avoid areas were lots of other dogs go like parks and dog beaches.

Hope she feels better soon, poor little love. Sounds like you are taking good care of her!

Edited April 3, 2009 by huski

[persephone]

Hope she doesn't get worse overnight

A vet visit tomorrow sounds a very good plan!!