Gun Dog Forum

I have a (now 6 month old) Brit pup. I had her on Victor and now looking back I feel I was simply over feeding her as several of you suggested in a previous post(solid stool just several per day). However, I did switch to Dimond ( 24/14 335 Kcal/cup) (1-1/3 cup per day) and she has had mostly lose stool ever since (I have gone through almost 2 large bags). I am thinking of going back to Victor (33/16 397kcal/cup) and see how she does on it again. My concern is about intake calories per day. If I go by what I read she needs about 900 calories per day so I would be back at 2 plus cups per day? I am only able to excercise her (4-7 miles of running) 2-3 times per week right now due to short days. I want her to continue to develop as a pup but not get over weight either. My guess is her adult weight will be about 35lbs. She is at 22.5 now.

Any insight is appreciated.

Greg

4-7 miles 2-3 times a week for a six-month old pups seems excessive. And for that matter, if you have loose stools and the pup is healthy (i.e you've ruled out other possibilities), it's a sign that you should definitely change foods. Don't worry about calories; pay attention to good weight and good health.

Steve007 wrote:4-7 miles 2-3 times a week for a six-month old pups seems excessive. And for that matter, if you have loose stools and the pup is healthy (i.e you've ruled out other possibilities), it's a sign that you should definitely change foods. Don't worry about calories; pay attention to good weight and good health.

Thanks
The distancs she runs is not a forced run just out in the desert. This is all at her pace with me just following along based on how much time I have.

Feed her a quality food and don't worry about the calorie intake. Feed her an amount that maintains a good healthy weight. Each dog is different in what they require as to the amount of food and/or calories. You might have two pups out of the same litter, one may require 3-4 cups to maintain weight and the other gets fat on 2 cups. Go figure, but it's just the way it is. With the problem of loose stools I'd switch foods or back to what you were feeding. If they continue a trip to the vet with a stool sample might be in order.

Keep it simple. Don’t worry about the number of calories - it’s more accurate to go by her condition. Too heavy, cut back . Too thin, add a bit more. Use whatever food you feel like she does best on.

FWIW, I had a dog who had loose stool a lot and didn’t matter what or how much I fed. Fecal checks were negative for parasites. My vet put him on a course of metronidazole and it firmed things right up. My vet said that sometimes dogs get an overgrowth of the wrong bacteria in their upper guts that messes up their digestion, and the drug kills off the baddies and allows the good bacteria to dominate. Over the course of his lifetime(13 yrs) he had to repeat the treatment a couple times but it was cheap and easy.

Consider adding a pre-biotic to pup's food.


A rule of thumb for excercise from my old my old vet: 5 minutes of running or vigorous exercise per month of age- i.e. 6mo pup gets 30min.

Good luck.

It's actually a Probiotic. Like what is in many yogurts.

Actually there are both pre and pro biotics

My pup gets a little goat milk kefir with meals, it seems to counteract the effects of eating rabbit poop.

Puppies have a digestive system akin to a sausage maker. Stuff comes out the back end when stuff goes in the top. The more active any animal is the more frequently they will poop. Ask any cross country runner.

However, I would try Dr. Tim's, get a good quality food. What you have been feeding is not.

And tell us how you determine a quality dog food? I would guess you might have to get a copy of their formulas and check the results.

ezzy333 wrote:And tell us how you determine a quality dog food? I would guess you might have to get a copy of their formulas and check the results.

Price is always a good way to start judging quality, granted just one factor but I can promise you that free lunches are few and far between.

ezzy333 wrote:And tell us how you determine a quality dog food? I would guess you might have to get a copy of their formulas and check the results.

I just rely on ezzy.

MonsterDad wrote:Price is always a good way to start judging quality...

As in “If you love ‘em like family, then feed ‘em like family? LOL. Mostly high price reflects good marketing to dog food snobs or people guilted into thinking that if they feed middle of the road stuff, they’re killing their dogs.

Come on guys. It isn't that difficult to differentiate between a quality dog food and the poorer quality ones. Just look at the top 4 or five ingredients and the guarantied analysis. That will tell you a lot. And for the most part, us that have been feeding dogs for 40 years or so pretty much know what the better brands are without breaking the bank.

Nmhuntr wrote:I have a (now 6 month old) Brit pup. I had her on Victor and now looking back I feel I was simply over feeding her as several of you suggested in a previous post(solid stool just several per day). However, I did switch to Dimond ( 24/14 335 Kcal/cup) (1-1/3 cup per day) and she has had mostly lose stool ever since (I have gone through almost 2 large bags). I am thinking of going back to Victor (33/16 397kcal/cup) and see how she does on it again. My concern is about intake calories per day. If I go by what I read she needs about 900 calories per day so I would be back at 2 plus cups per day? I am only able to excercise her (4-7 miles of running) 2-3 times per week right now due to short days. I want her to continue to develop as a pup but not get over weight either. My guess is her adult weight will be about 35lbs. She is at 22.5 now.

Any insight is appreciated.

Greg

Yea . I think you are overthinking it .
It ain't a machine . If it eats everything in the bowl that will be enough. If some is left or it slows up at the end of the bowl it's too much. If it gets overweight when you follow this rule ..something is wrong (and 99.99%) of the time it ain't what manufacturer's food label is the cause!
If it looses weight when you follow this rule ..something is wrong (99.99%) of the time it ain't what manufacturers food label is the cause !
Maybe you should read less and just play with the pup more .

Urban_Redneck wrote:Consider adding a pre-biotic to pup's food.

A rule of thumb for excercise from my old my old vet: 5 minutes of running or vigorous exercise per month of age- i.e. 6mo pup gets 30min.

Good luck.

Can't agree with your old vet. 8 month old should get 40 minutes?? If I had used that measurement my dogs would have driven me crazy in the house.

Sharon wrote:

Urban_Redneck wrote:Consider adding a pre-biotic to pup's food.

A rule of thumb for excercise from my old my old vet: 5 minutes of running or vigorous exercise per month of age- i.e. 6mo pup gets 30min.

Good luck.

Can't agree with your old vet. 8 month old should get 40 minutes?? If I had used that measurement my dogs would have driven me crazy in the house.

I agree
My Britt is high energy. She runs and plays in the desert and if she gets tired she slows down and we go to the house. 1 hour after I get her home and you would never know she had been running:)

Sharon wrote:

Urban_Redneck wrote:Consider adding a pre-biotic to pup's food.

A rule of thumb for excercise from my old my old vet: 5 minutes of running or vigorous exercise per month of age- i.e. 6mo pup gets 30min.

Good luck.

Can't agree with your old vet. 8 month old should get 40 minutes?? If I had used that measurement my dogs would have driven me crazy in the house.

Has it really come that critical to Minutes ?.....surely not ! ..10 minutes running up a hill is like heck compared to 40 minutes walking down one . Believe me ..Having spent 12 years in the services and often with 55lbs on my back carrying a rifle and the possibility of being shot dead ...that makes a whole lot of difference to what 10 minutes mean and what the terrain can do to your legs and fitness, lol

Just a rule of thumb for straight running, bird dogging puppy hood involves stopping to evacuate and sniffing around- adjust accordingly

I think we all overthink their dog food a bit, at least the first dog or so...

If the dog likes the food, has energy like you'd expect, a decent coat, normal stools, you probably don't need to think much beyond that assuming your buying a generally good quality food.

If the dog is having trouble keeping on weight or has the runs or something, it might merit changing food.