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Subject: 2 Quick ??? - Shedding and Weight

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GSPVT

Posts:17

04/02/2008 6:02 PM
We've got a 5 month old GSP. Very recently we have noticed that he is shedding a ton. I'm thinking that this has to do with the time of year but have others seen this? Also He seems kind of skinny to us, he's 31 pounds. Is this about average for a 5 month old pup. He's very active and we are feeding him a bit more than recommended to keep up with with output.

KDTsGSPs

MH
Posts:206

04/02/2008 6:24 PM
What kind of food do you feed? Are you free feeding or on a schedule? How much do you feed? Has he been checked for worms? Is he holding his food down? How active is he? Can you see his ribcage or hip bones? Is he just losing hair like shedding or is it in patches? I have a ton of VERY informative links on my website that could be helpful to you. Feel free to take a look at any of them. That's what they're there for. You can also email me privately if you'd like to with any questions.

Rebecca KDTs GSPs where the history making GSP (AM/CAN CH, UKC UWPS UWPCHX GRCH KDT's Blazin' Bleugras JH RN CGC) lives! The 1st GSP to ever get weight pull titles!

GSPVT

Posts:17

04/03/2008 4:42 AM
We feed him on a schedule twice a day. We are feeding him 2 3/4 cups to 3 cups right now. You can see his ribs, hip bones no. He is at a dpggy day care at least 3 days a week for 8 or 9 hours. He is shedding uniformly, no patches. We are feeding him Purina 1 pupppy chow but are slowly switching to California Natural. Recently he has been on antibiotics for a cut he had behind one of his teeth. Bad breath triggerd the vet visit. 3 days ago his stool was tested and negative. What is your website?

mit

Harleysville, PA

MH
Posts:599

04/03/2008 5:00 AM
If he's in doggy day care he's an active pup. When my dog goes to doggy day care he usually eats more because he's been running most of the day. You may want to give him some more food on the days he's at day care. It's that time of year when they start to shed. Just keep an eye on him.

KDTsGSPs

MH
Posts:206

04/03/2008 8:59 AM
I have a male at home right now that has a higher metabolism than the others so has to eat more. I feed him 2 times a day & each time he is getting 3 cups, so actually gets 6 cups per day. If you can't see his hip bones, that is a good thing for starters. Getting him on the better food is good too. You want to make sure that the food you're feeding doesn't have a lot of fillers in it, such as corn & bi-products. One thing that helps put weight on a dog is sweet potatoes & they usually love them. Another thing that can help put wait on your dog is to add a little bit of instant potato flakes to his food every day. Are you putting water in his food? If not, you should start because it'll not only help mix up the potato flakes but helps the food swell before it goes down so it's not swelling afterwards, making him think he's full when he's not. Is he a good eater? My website is below if you'd like to take a look at some of those links. www.kdtgermanshorthairs.com

Rebecca KDTs GSPs where the history making GSP (AM/CAN CH, UKC UWPS UWPCHX GRCH KDT's Blazin' Bleugras JH RN CGC) lives! The 1st GSP to ever get weight pull titles!

prairiefire User is Offline

Western Wisconsin

MH
Posts:409

04/03/2008 9:37 AM
I've always had the same weight issue with Otto. We were feeding a high quality performance feed--as much as he could possibly eat--and he was still ribby (still is). Now that he's back from the trainer's, I'm switching him to another feed to see if he fares better on this one. Some dogs will just always run on the lean side (oh, how I wish I had this problem!). Definitely don't be afraid to switch to a different food if your dog isn't thriving on the one he's already on. And remember that the recommendations on the back of the bag are just that--recommendations. Feed to your dog's condition. When Otto was 5 months (which is their gangly teenager stage anyway), he was eating almost twice the recommended amount. Had I been feeding him according to the bag, he would have blown away in the wind!

Diamond

Southwestern Ontario

MH
Posts:349

04/04/2008 10:35 AM
At five months he's still growing and his appetite may vary. My pup is a little younger than yours but some days he'll eat 2.5-3 cups and other days he wants close to 5 cups! He doesn't have parasites, he isn't a rail but he's not FAT . It just all depends whether or not he really needs more that day or not. I try to let him be the judge of what he needs, so if he licks his bowl clean then I will put just a little more food in his dish...if he doesn't eat it that's fine and I know he's had enough. Now that all depends on the dog...mine I know isn't going to eat just to eat so he's not going to over do it at all. As far as the shedding I don't think there's anything to worry about it's amazing how much hair can come out in the spring...and that they still have hair when your done a 1/2 hr brushing

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