Puppys Front Feet

[shekhina]

sometimes caused by not keeping the dogs front nails trimmed...

Never even thought of that!

I have started Daegon on both vitamin C and zinc which were both recommended to me, will update here with how he goes. Should have taken before and after shots :p

Edited August 24, 2006 by shekhina

[shekhina]

Before and after photos so far

Before, as a pup...feet were slightly worse than this just before I started giving him the Vitamin C and Zinc:

And 4 days after starting the vitamins:

Those nails need clipping

Will keep updating for those interested in seeing results

[kaywoman68]

Never even thought of that!

I have started Daegon on both vitamin C and zinc which were both recommended to me, will update here with how he goes. Should have taken before and after shots

Is it just normal (human) vitamin C and zinc?

[shekhina]

Yep, human variety

[shekhina]

Well Daegon has been getting Vitamin C and Zinc for the last 4 weeks and it's given fantastic results for knuckling his front feet up. I wish I had taken a proper before photo to show you how splayed and messy they were.

This is how they are now, huge difference from the beginning

[persephone]

for a vit.C supplement..I use calcium ascorbate..non acidic..and calcium based.You can buy it as powder or tablets.

[Skipy]

Wow, this was so educational for me. Thank you everyone, especially Steve!

Why zinc and Vit C, especially, what do they do? Also, how much of each.

[shekhina]

I think the Vitamin C helps the body to absorb the calcium in their diet. The zinc I am giving for other reasons, nothing to do with his feet

[Skipy]

Thanks shekhina, so the bottom line is that its lack of Ca absorption. OK, so if I am giving Ca supplements, would I need to worry about phosphorus? My problem is that I do feed meat, that is not necessarily meaty bones (like heart, liver, etc) but I also do feed meaty bones (including chicken necks).

I find that my dogs feet do go a bit sideways and I wonder if that is just his developmental stage, cos I think its like his wrists are not strong enough......

Is that ever a problem in larger breeds when it comes to feet, that muscles there might develop slower. His feet are like that when we lift him (not just standing) but he often also bends them when he is lying etc., ie. they are very bendable....

and it really looks like they are just not strong enough. He does stand normally (on his front feet, maybe a bit laid back), although it does look a bit like your dogs feet shekhina prior vit C.

[Steve]

The vitamin C helps many minerals to assimilate properly including collegen which is really important for joints.

BUT Now you have the results you have to consider why the dog needed the vitamin C in the first place. Ideally the dog will make enough vitamin C in a form that wont hurt him if he has the other nutrients going in to be able to do it.

So its a good idea to look at how you may be able to change the diet without the need for suppliments to prevent any long term problems arising in other areas. Remember you saw one side effect of the deficiency but much more is going on you dont see until its too late. Even better you can have the best of both worlds and give him vitamin C in the form of a fresh orange every few days which also gives him a miriad of the things needed to digest and assimilate them all.

[shekhina]

I will get some oranges and see if he'll eat them, pears are more his thing though

I just can't believe the difference in the knuckling of his feet. It hasn't correct the 'east west' but that's been passed down from his dad too, but the knuckling is a huge improvement.

[Steve]

These nutrients are in organges so you can clearly see how much better it will be to add a little of these than a one off suppliment [ I hope] You can make your self and your family healthier at the same time as well. We juice the orange , then we drink the juice and add the pulp into the dog's dinner.

Calcium

Fluorine

Magnesium

Silicon

Vitamin E

Biotin

Chlorine

Iron

Phosphorous

Zinc

Vitamin K

Folic acid

Copper

Manganese

Potassium

Vitamins B 1,2 and 6

Bioflavoids

inostol

[Skipy]

That is the thing, if I am missing something in his diet I have no idea what it is. He gets meat, veges (any green leafy stuff that I find), does eat rice also, rarely fish, and egg yolk whenever I remember.

I have another Q that has been bugging me for a while: how does dog's body know that the amount of calcium to phosphorus is off in the food that they get. If they get enough of both, shouldnt that be sufficinet?

Edited September 20, 2006 by Skipy

[Muttaburra]

What a gorgeous puppy!

The cabriole legs are in a major part genetic

My female JRT (short legged) has the cabriole legs too. And she looks like Daisy Duck from behind.

Steve, thanks heaps for that diet info, it makes a lot of sense what you say.

[Steve]

That is the thing, if I am missing something in his diet I have no idea what it is. He gets meat, veges (any green leafy stuff that I find), does eat rice also, rarely fish, and egg yolk whenever I remember.

I have another Q that has been bugging me for a while: how does dog's body know that the amount of calcium to phosphorus is off in the food that they get. If they get enough of both, shouldnt that be sufficinet?

O.K. So lets really check it out for say 2 to 4 weeks. Feed raw chicken pet mince .Add an omega 3 and 6 fatty acid pill, the juice of an orange and some [ but not lots ] of table scraps.No commercial dog food at all and no carbo hydrates . If its diet related this will show you .

How does the dogs body know the amount of calcium to phosphorous is off in the food they get.?

O.K. If you have water its made up of hydrogen and oxegen and its great for putting out fires but if you separate them and have hydrogen and nitrogen separately each has the potential of igniting huge fires.

When you have the right mix of nutrients they all work together ,With some if you put too much in over time the body can store it but others need to use each other to get from one end to the other and circulate through the blood steam.

If you have consistently more calcium than you need for the phosphorous to do its job there's too much clacium left in the joints and bones if you dont have enough the phosphorous needs to go looking for calcium to be able to assimilate and it will leech it from the bones until over time you begin to see the results. Some things such as carbo hydrates can also impact on how these types of nutrients are processed so if you add something that blocks the ability for one to absorb you will need more of it to do the job.

Every one knows you cant put every thing you need in exactly the right combination when you feed a person. We know we have to try to balance the diet over the period of about a week and that we need to eat lots of variety to be able to do that. Fact is its the same for our dogs .The danger lies in feeding the same foods too often .

[Skipy]

Steve thanks!

O.K. So lets really check it out for say 2 to 4 weeks. Feed raw chicken pet mince .Add an omega 3 and 6 fatty acid pill, the juice of an orange and some [ but not lots ] of table scraps.No commercial dog food at all and no carbo hydrates . If its diet related this will show you .

Yep, I already feed him all of that (except orange juice). I will include orange juice into his food also.

[Collie_lover]

This problem is not to do with diet. It is to do with breeding/confirmation. its a forequater fault, its called having an "east-west" front. The legs are narrow and pitched at elbows and chest causing feet to turn out.

Edited June 28, 2007 by Collie_lover