Overweight Pup?

lanena322 · Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject: Overweight Pup?

Hello everyone, I know I havent posted for a while but I have been so busy with my pups. Laika and Nana went on their first trip to the river this weekend and let me tell u was i surprised! When we got there Laika calmly tested te water with her paws (she is a VERY mellow pup) while Nana, who is terrified of baths jumped right in!! Go figure.

They both swam around for a while, loving every minute of it. I mean I expected Laika to like to swin, her being a retriever and all but I never would have expected for Nana to get in the water, let alone to be the first.

Well this is my question:
I was wondering if anyone know the normal weight for an 11 week old glden retriever? Laika's dad is a big boy, her mom falls into the retriever standard. Laika looks huge to me but i am not a very good judge since i have never owned a large breed dog before. She is already much bigger than Nana and has outweighed her for quite some time now. how will i know if shes overweight?

thanks!!

Jamiya · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 5593

What I have been told is to look at the dog - you should be able to feel the ribs easily, but not see them. The dog should also have a waistline if you look down from above (i.e. the body narrows at the waist). Some dogs have a smaller waist than others. Smile

Puppies generally have fat little tummies, but by 11 weeks I would think that would be going away. Also, I wonder if the fat little tummies are partly products of being fed too much, but everyone does it so we now think it is normal? Anyone know?

With a large breed puppy, lean is better than fat. I believe Goldens are supposed to be very easy to overfeed. Have you asked your breeder? And can you get in touch with a different Golden breeder - maybe on the web - and ask them?

Jamiya

lanena322 · Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 11:08 pm Post subject:

yea i definately think now she is getting to be overweight, i have also heard that goldens are very easy to overfeed. Would it be narrowing meals to once a day or Cutting down on food but still twice a day meals?

Weve got Nana on Vitamins to see if she'll gain some weight, I guess now we will also have to be more careful with Laika's weight

loonyluna · Member Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 24

I think you might want to ask your vet. 11 weeks is pretty young so you don't want to cut her food down too much. Pups at that age have lots of puppy fat and loose skin so they look roly poly. You should definitely keep feeding her 2x per day. Once isn't enough for a pup that young. I fed my lab 3x per day at that age and just followed the guidelines on the feed bag. Now that she is older, I feed her less than the guidelines and keep an eye on her waist & ribs.

charmedagain · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 2259 Location: uk

Hi at 11 weeks old she will look rather chubby this is normal.
For large breed puppies that are 8weeks old should be eating 4 meals per day my 6week old german shepherd puppies are on 4meals per day and they look like bulls.

My vet always told me aslong as the pup is breathing normal can exercise well without tiring quickly then all is well.

If in doubt you can take her to the vets who will weigh your puppy and tell you if you should cut back on her food and by how much.

It is very easy to over feed a puppy as for the first 6months of there lives they will eat and still beg for more and like the caring owners we are we give in thinking we are not feeding enough which then results in very fat puppys.

But unless there is any reason to be concerned then feeding whatever she is eating will be fine.
Also feeding alot of treats will make a puppy overweight.

The amount of food they eat during the 1st year of there lives will determine there weight in later life.

mike

Zekesmom · Member Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 80

My puppy ate a lot and was getting quite chubby in the tummy. It was suggested to add canned pumpkin to his diet-extra fiber without the calories. He loved it! He would eat that first and later, an hour, go back and finish the rest. It really helped. He is now four and has never had a problem with food or weight.

ilovemaltipoos · Posted: Wed May 05, 2004 5:59 pm Post subject:

That is true and if a small dog ,they tend to eat a bite ,run,eat a bite ,play ,eat a bite ...sleep .MY vet says the worst thing is people want to change the habbit and give meals twice a day too soon and puppies tend to get sick .Small dogs are very active and need almost constant nurishment .Too little too soon and you can have hypoglycimea and other things happen very quickly .
just make sure the vet has seen the puppy and he has been wormed ,other than that more than apt he is fine .

lanena322 · Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 3:28 pm Post subject:

Jamiya · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 5593

She is beautiful!! Man, I love Goldens. Smile

From what I can see in the pictures, she looks just fine!

Jamiya

ilovemaltipoos · Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 4:34 pm Post subject:

CUTE AS A BUTTON !!!!! Looks great to me ! Surprised

lanena322 · Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 4:49 pm Post subject:

why thank you! i think shes pretty cute also, but boy is she i handful!

Now would anyone mind letting me know why she will only wade in filthy mud filled puddles? lol she completely ignores the kiddie pool, she prefers to lay in the ppuddle under the car or the mud puddle in front of the house....weird Rolling Eyes

Jamiya · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 5593

Perhaps she thinks a mud pack makes her complexion more beautiful. Smile

Jamiya

GinaH · Super Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Posts: 1377

My dogs just love mud to it never fails when we go out to play they will get as dirty and muddy as possible we have several acres of land with two beautiful lakes on our property and also some icky stinky swamp land...Well guess where their fave place to swim and romp and play is?
The SWAMP I dont know why but they love it and I think they have a competition to see who can get the dirtiest!