Skinny dog

Discussion in 'General chat' started by TT, May 2, 2008.

  1. TT

    TT Junior Member

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    Hello,

    I have owned Dobermann dogs for the last 15 years and I currently own a very skinny bitch. I have her on "natural" diet of rice, vegies, raw beef/roo, eggs, some fish, table scraps etc. no commerical dog food. I have read the Pat Coleby pet book, but I did not get any ideas. She eats 2 big meals a day. She is 2 years old and very active (there is also another dog is the yard to play with). She is also wormed monthly and I have copper tube in her water (for internal parasites). It is possible that she is lacking something in her diet, but I am not sure what. Has anyone ever tried to bulk up a thin dog? She maybe just too active. I would like to hear people from this forum oppinions.
    She is also due for yearly check up in the next few months, so I will also ask the vet.

    Thanks,
    Paul.
     
  2. .Macca

    .Macca Junior Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    Copper poisoning? We had to remove a copper fountain from a fish pond as it quite rapidly killed every batch of fish we put in it.
     
  3. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    TT,

    Is she purebred?

    I have never seen an obese doberman. It may be more genetic than environmental. Is the other dog carrying excess weight? The diet sounds excellent.

    Years ago I had a South Australian Kangaroo Dog, a bit smaller and similar looking to a deerhound, which I used for spotlighting foxes and rabbits. She was also a handy stock dog for cattle,sheep and pigs. Anyway, I mentioned to the farmer I worked for that I couldnt keep weight on her and she was a bit lethargic. His reply was 'when was the last time that poor dog had a day off and a good night's sleep?' :D It only took a few weeks of decent rest and she bulked up quite nicely. I had naievely been overworking the poor thing.

    I took to tying her up and not taking her to work all the time. Maybe you could tie both dogs up during the day for a couple of weeks, your dobie may be running it off by playing all day.

    cheers,
     
  4. TT

    TT Junior Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    Macca, the copper tube is a recent addition to the water. There is 2 water bowls, one with copper and one without.

    Ho hum, yes she is a pure bred (I have owned a few). I too think she is over active. The other dog is a terrier cross and together they do a lot of running, patrolling etc. I am not sure if I could tie her up - she can be a bit of a barker at time (well she is a guard dog!). Thanks for the advice.

    Paul.
     
  5. helenlee

    helenlee Junior Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    The suggestion that she could be running it off is worth investigating. I had a purebred doberman bitch on a 4000 acre property. She had been dumped or lost in the bush not far from me & I ended up with her. She never stopped running, day or night, & was always very thin (although muscled), despite being fed a good diet. After an accident involving a ute, she stopped the continual running. (I don't know why, as she seemed completely recovered.) However, with the lower activity level, she put on weight & blossomed.
    I also have a kelpie short haired collie cross dog who is 5 years old & has always been very thin since he was weaned. I have his litter brother, who always looks very well covered. Rogan looks like an RSPCA poster & Dozer looks like a dog on the front of a birthday card. Extensive vet tests didn't show anything. He does look better & put on weight if I add vegetable oil or animal fat (dripping/lard etc) to his diet every day. The only thing I can add is that he's a very nervous, shy sort of dog & his plumper brother is an easy going, not a care in the world sort of dog.
    I rug my dogs at night in winter & they have good weather proof lined kennels. Cold weather burns up calories.
     
  6. Loris

    Loris Junior Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    We had working dogs who were very active and hard to keep good condition on. The secret is that they have to have fat in their diet. In nature, dogs who are killing other animals (natural diet) are consuming a lot of fat, mainly off the internal organs. Commercial dog food which is formulated for working dogs has higher protien and much higher fat levels than food for pet dogs.

    I suggest that roo is very lean and she might need fatty bones or even fat added to the diet. Then even the most active dog should be heavy chested and not able to see the backbone and shiny fur. This might help?
     
  7. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    So Loris,

    What is the recipe you have for dogs?

    cheers,
     
  8. TT

    TT Junior Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    Thanks for the advice. What and how much are you guys feeding a wroking dog? Even though she is a house dog she is probably runs kilometers every day. She has a really shiny coat and bright eyes - she apperas to be happy and healthy, just very lean.

    Paul.
     
  9. Loris

    Loris Junior Member

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    Re: Skinny dog

    Don't really have a recipe - I make sure that I buy working dog formula dog bits and I ask the butcher for fatty bones for them. When we were on the property and had lots of sheep, there was always some poor unfortunate sick or lame sheep that was killed for dog meat and they were mostly fatty bits as a treat for them. I'm a great believer in milk for larger dogs. They grow so fast and need to build bones very quickly and lay down muscle mass so I make sure they get lots of milk until about 12 months old. I know this is a bit frowned on but my puppies do love me.

    From about six months, they only have one feed a day, no treats and if I miss a day I don't panic because in nature, the dog is a feast and famine animal whose system is geared to gorging and then fasting. Maybe they are like people where if they fast a bit it triggers their metabolism to slow and store calories.

    And in the end, some dogs are thin. We had two dogs full siblings out of the same litter. One was so fat that it impeded her breeding and one was always a very thin dog that we really couldn't put condition on. They were both very hard workers and ran miles because they were wide casting paddock dogs. So sometimes its just that way.
     

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