Skinny ribs and feeding amount

[Terri]

Hi,

Archie is the name of my scatty Vizsla..........he's 7 months old and
is on James Wellbeloved, he is still on 3 meals a day at the moment
and eating 3 quite large, full bowls of it, and finishes his meals
straight away.......yet you can still see ribs. (ive just posted some
photos of him on this site).

We dont feed him any scraps, he has the occasional pigs ear or dried
tripe treat (3 a week maybe).

Im not too concerned but he is certainly being fed more of this food
than is outlined on the bags,

what are your experiences of feeding pups ?

anyone near Buckden in Cambs ?

thanks, Terri

[Elaine Cannon]

Hi Terri

I'm not that far from Buckden, I live in Hitchin, N. Herts. I quite often
pass through Buckden either on my way to shows or on the road to my parents,
or other places north up the A1

I've not had a chance to look at the photo's but I wouldn't worry if you're
feeding Archie more than is specified on the bag, these are only guidelines
and you must judge your own dog by how he looks and how he is in himself,
however, not all food suit all dogs, I had to change food with my dog to get
some weight and body on him, yet my girls all did great on the food that
didn't suit Quinn. It's really horses for courses.

Elaine
Highforce Hungarian Vizslak, UK
www.freewebs.com/highforce

[Chrissie Gone West]

Hi Terri

Couldn't find any photos?

But just wanted to mention a few things briefly. Firstly, young dogs
require huge amounts of nutrients whilst they are growing. Not only
are they expending masses of energy physically (you say he's scatty,
so you clearly are seeing that), but what's going on internally in the
way of development also demands very high levels of nutrition. This is
why they can consume far greater amounts than at any other time in
their lives (pregnancy in females being the other time). Secondly,
guidelines on a packet are precisely that: guidelines! The person who
developed that food and put together the feeding recommendations
didn't know your dog, nor likely even our breed - they scientifically
compiled a guideline for the "average" dog in that age group and of
that breed type. So don't get hung up on what a packet tells you. It
is no more than, well, cleverly designed marketing with a few helpful
guidelines as per pet food manufacturers' labeling requirements.
Thirdly, Vizslas are (compared to many breeds) a "skinny" dog. The
subject of "everyone thinks I'm starving my dog" comes up over and
over again, because this is a breed that should look "lean and hard".
Now, puppies can vary from soft and podgy to scrawny and gangly,
depending on where they are with their development, so it's a time of
fairly rapid changes. Vizslas, in my experience, err on the side of
skinny and because they are meant to be an energetic, athletic
creature this is mostly OK. Please don't make the mistake I made and
turn your dog into a Lab! I had no other Vizslas around to compare my
Pash to when he was a pup and I was new to the breed and because I
hung out with a Lab and saw loads of them and my boy seems to act and
do much like a Lab does, well, I sort of fed him to portray that body
image. Oh dear .... BIG MISTAKE. I went to a HVC show with my darling
young pup and nearly died of embarrassment, meeting all those sleek,
slender dogs with my Mr Blobby. It took a very long time to correct
that and I am convinced that it contributed to his joint problems
later. So lean and hard is what you should aim for. If you are
concerned about your boy, get him looked at by some more experienced
Vizsla people who will confirm whether he's too skinny or perfectly
normal for a V.

Finally, we are long term raw feeders, so BARF or real raw food if you
like. How we came to try that initially stems from the fact that our
boy was not doing well on processed food. He wasn't ill per se, but he
was hyper, he did fluctuate between constipation and diarrhea and he
just wasn't a picture of glowing health. We went through many
different makes of food and were actually feeding JWB in the end. A
consultation with a holistic vet pinpointed the problem and it was,
for the most part, food! We were encouraged to try real food, nothing
processed, and the improvements we saw were huge. From that day on we
have never fed anything commercial. I love being able to feed natural
foods, being in control and able to adjust if necessary for each dog's
individual requirements and knowing that the diet is simple,
undenatured and full of goodness. So all I say is that if your dog
isn't doing well on processed dry food, then you might want to
consider trying bones and raw foods. It could be that your dog is not
assimilating the nutrients in the processed stuff, so it won't matter
how much you stuff into him, it will just pass through as waste (and
if his stools are soft and plentiful you've already hit this problem)
or worse still, start to irritate the gut, cause sensitivities and put
excessive load on the liver and kidneys.

So think about all that. Is he really skinny or just lean? Get someone
else with experience to asses and help you out there. If there are any
signs of him not digesting or assimilating his food well, then change
that. There are a few other things that might come into the picture,
but until you've got those points clarified, I don't think you need to
panic. Enjoy your pup!

Chrissie

[Ros Leighton]

And I'm not promoting any brand of dog food, ... :-)
This is quite a useful chart for assessing your dog's weight a bit more
objectively.
Cheers
Ros
http://www.purina.com/dogs/health/bodycondition.aspx

[randomapricot]

Great link Ros, but whats your understanding of Purina's use of the
term "palpable"?

[Olliebobs]

HI Terri - I also have a skinny, lanky, 7 mth old boy (Ollie), so its
good to know im not the only one! I was concerned his ribs were a bit
too visible but have been assured by many that he is a healthy looking
dog and that i shouldnt feed him more than twice a day. I have
brought him up on JWB. HAving said that, he is currently having tummy
troubles and am due to go back to the vet. He is a holistic vet so
hopefully we will get to the route of the problem quickly. Chrissie,
thanks for your input on that, very helpful and interesting. I doubt
his skinny frame is anything to do with his current problems, i think
he will always be on the lean side, so dont worry Terri, you are not
alone!

Lisa

[Ros Leighton]

Oh... how long is a piece of string? :-)

I think I like to be able to run my fingers down my girl's side and feel my
fingers rise and dip a little as they go over the last ribs.. I suspect that
Purina don't want you to have to 'go digging' for the ribs, but to feel them
easily.. I don't think there is 'hard and fast' it's a general guide to
average dog weights.

Cheers
Ros

[Moreteyne]

In Thorney Cambs, go to Hitchin every few weeks so pass your part of
the world quite a bit.

I have 6 girl all different sizes shapes , fatties and leanies. I
always strive for dogs that are lean but not over thin. To see the
silhouette of their rib cage when they run is ideal, but not when
stationary. If no rib cage is visible whilst running I call them
fatties and restrict their diet.

Hope you have lots of fun Archie and don't let it worry you too much
he will put on good weight when he stops growing.

Moreteyne

On Feb 8, 6:18 pm, Terri <terri-padg...@o2.co.uk> wrote:

[neishajane]

hi terri,

i am no expert but i looked at the photos and he is handsome. when we
got oscar now 13 months we worried that he was skinny all ribs and
legs. Tia who is 8 has never been a skinny but she is better
recently. Alfie was always big due to his problems so we really
worried that he wasn't eating enough. oscar is big and in the last 3
months has filled out to about 31kgs which the vet says is ok but he
isnt ribby anymore, when he runs he does look sleek but i'm no expert.
because we have a boy and girl on the large side we were taken aback
at the vizsla walks as to how tall our dogs were.Oscar is 24 inches to
the shoulder already and Tia stands at 23in i have also put photos on
the site. all i would say is be careful as they start to fill out
quickly and getting a dogs weight back down is harder.

good luck with your handsome boy
Neisha, Tia and Oscar

[Terri]

thanks everyone................its reasurred me that you have to go
with your instincts to a certain extent, dogs are always quite greedy
but Im happy were feeding him enought but not too much. Its
interesting about the raw and barf diets, not nice to talk about the
detail I know but whilst Archies first 'no 2'of the day is okay the
2-3 he has after tend to be quite runny. He does enjoy his kibble
thought and as I say does eat it straight off. I have fed him the
occasional raw chicken thight/leg which he really loves !

thanks again for all your replies