Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Hi all I posted this in another thread but was advised to create my own to get better / more responses, so here it is again! My dog is a GSD I feed my dog raw, mornings is generally raw chicken, chicken pet mince (generally just mulched bone) and offal in the mornings, at night mince, wings, vit b, e and fish oil. I have noticed she is lower on energy as of late, not all of a sudden as in overnight, but over the last month or so. Don't get me wrong still goes nuts every now and then in the house, so i thought she needed more exercise. She doesn't last very long while playing fetch, maybe 15 minutes going all out. I have started taking her for runs on Wednesday arvo, and 2 times on Saturday and sunday (only just started this past weekend, before i would take her to play fetch at least 2 times on the weekend). Every other day she gets walked. She usually has her balls with her every day too, so i have taken these away so while we are at work she gets other toys but not balls, to see if this will make her more keen for the ball on rope when playing tug. She will still chase the ball down playing fetch no problem. She is 2 years old now, eating about 850 - 950 grams of raw split into 2, some kibble in a toy. I would put her at weighing around 33 - 35kgs. Any ideas, diet lacking? will the increased exercise help ? I notice she is very calm after the running sessions, her drive seems to be lower now too, than what it was before. Over thinking maybe ? Any tips welcome!! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Has she had a thorough vet check lately ? does she seem as if she is 'favouring' any legs, or even the front or back half of her body? Do you know the health history of her family ..is her breeder any help? Any sign of neck/head discomfort/stiffness? Obviously this is a tricky thing to discuss online. I would suggest a thorough vet check .. mentioning what you have posted , plus anything you spot . if everything is clear ... then maybe start looking at behavioural stuff ? perhaps she has matured ..or is bored with tug ..or .....or .... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 (edited) Has she had a thorough vet check lately ? does she seem as if she is 'favouring' any legs, or even the front or back half of her body? Do you know the health history of her family ..is her breeder any help? Any sign of neck/head discomfort/stiffness? Obviously this is a tricky thing to discuss online. I would suggest a thorough vet check .. mentioning what you have posted , plus anything you spot . if everything is clear ... then maybe start looking at behavioural stuff ? perhaps she has matured ..or is bored with tug ..or .....or .... :) No favoring of legs, stiffness or anything of that sort, she has had a vet check in the last few months but not since i have noticed this. Breeder is not at all helpful unfortunately. Is there anything dietary that i can either increase or include to test first? Yesterday after our morning jog in the AM, i put her on the fitpaws peanut in the PM, she did well on it, no flex issues or anything of that, she was going pretty well for about 10 minutes and got puffed out. Edited October 28, 2013 by Vurd2BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 She is eating a lot of chicken. Does she get any red meat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 (edited) She get's about 200 or so grams of red meat with the second meal, Edited October 28, 2013 by Vurd2BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Vet check first .. they may help find out why she gets puffed - then you can manage whatever ... It's not much use experimenting without knowing exactly what needs changing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Should i be looking at getting any specific tests or just a general check up ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasareina Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I'm following this thread with interest.. I have noticed that Juno seems to be a lot calmer/low energy lately. She still has wild zoomie moments and goes flat chat for as long as we let her at the park but she also spends a lot of time lying around looking a bit listless when at home with nothing much going on. She seems very healthy - coat, eyes,teeth, weight etc all great ... perhaps she has just started calming down and maturing? She's only 9 mths so this seems a bit early. I have just received my first tub of VAN Health Booster today, to make sure I'm not missing out any vital nutrients/vitamins in her raw diet so I will see if this makes any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Sara is pretty much the same, when looking at her she looks in perfect health, if i was to run with her for 24 hours, jogging that is i would say she would have no problems doing that, the limiting factor is me haha. But when chasing down the ball, she is going alot faster and does not last that long, i am also hoping with the added jogs she perks up again, i was also thinking that all the sudden increase in exercise she is not too used to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodoggies2001 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 She get's about 200 or so grams of red meat with the second meal, What about organ meat as in liver or kidney. I think even if she doesn't have a medical problem, she needs to have more of a variety of protein, not just mainly chicken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Yup for breakie she gets pet mince, chicken, about 20 - 30 g liver, 50 - 70 grams of mixed organ meat (not including liver) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vehs Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 When was she desexed? Is it getting warmer where you are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 When was she desexed? Is it getting warmer where you are? Desexed at about 6 months, it is definitely getting warmer, gone from 18ish - 23c, to now 25 - 35c + I live near where the Blue mountains bush fires have been, about 30 minutes from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 With Vets all natural, do you still need to give fish oil, vit b, e etc ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasareina Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I only got the VAN today so I am probably the furtherest thing from an expert you will find but ... I think it includes all the vitamens and minerals they need however they sell a separate omega oils product so I am thinking that you would still want to add in the fish oil... Vehs, my girl got desexed a couple of months ago which would tie in with when she started to "calm down" ... would you suggest that this might be a factor? I hadn't really connected the dots between the two events before lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Let me know how you go with the booster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasareina Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 will do - I think there are lots of people on this forum who use it already, and I've only really seen good reviews so I am hoping my dogs do well on it. It is more a "peace of mind" thing for me ... I don't to be inadvertently depriving the pups of anything they need in my attempt to feed them a healthy raw diet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I would get a vet check done, esp bloods. It is probably not anything, just maturing and the weather a bit warmer. But when my Belgian Shepherd developed IMHA the first sign was decreased exercise tolerance, so for peace of mind I would do a blood profile. If it shows nothing you will have established a baseline for the future anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 I will definitely get a check up. But a good sign after the weekend and having a full day to rest while i was at work, i got back and she was beaming with energy, even got to play tug, kept it very short, 3 minutes or so, she ran around the yard a little, she did some light panting for a bit. I'm not worried about that as always with her any slight hint of heat she would be panting anyway. I am also thinking the doubling the exercise each day on the weekend was a shock to her and she isn't used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vurd2BB Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Sorry IMHA ? She isn't very good with needles and vets, just getting her vaccination was a challenge, which was a single shot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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