Underweight spaniel

Discussion in 'Labrador Chat' started by AnnaBanana, Sep 26, 2016.

  1. AnnaBanana

    AnnaBanana Registered Users

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    Hello everyone,

    It's been a while since I posted, though I do read a bit from time to time. Since I was last around, Lola has matured so much in to a really lovely dog and companion. An awful lot of that is down to the writing and advice of Pippa and all of you on the forum, so massive thanks to you all!
    Of course, life getting easier couldn't last long(!) and we've now taken on a friend's ESS for the next few months whilst she's studying and unable to look after him.

    He's been here for a week now and on the whole, he's a lovely dog, friendly, nice temperament, but we are coming up against a few challenges. Before he was with us, he was being looked after by a friend of a friend of his owner, so we don't have much idea of what he was used to.
    The first of which is that he seems fairly underweight - his ribs are pretty visible and definitely feel more under a sheet than a blanket. He weighed in at 14.1kg and his owner reckons he should be around 16kg. These are the best photos I've managed to get so far.

    [​IMG]WP_20160923_19_27_32_Pro by Anna Mullens, on Flickr

    [​IMG]WP_20160923_11_07_05_Pro by Anna Mullens, on Flickr

    [​IMG]WP_20160921_18_16_39_Pro 1 by Anna Mullens, on Flickr

    He wasn't at all interested in food when he arrived and had to be coaxed in to eating at all, but from his behaviour we reckon that he was regularly being fed bits of human food whilst they were cooking and eating, so possibly he was shunning dog food in favour of that? He's eating much more enthusiastically after a week of no titbits and regular meals. He's currently on symply sensitive tummy, but we're moving him on to skinners duck and rice and we've been feeding him the top end of the amount for his weight spit in to three meals. Any tips on how to put a bit more weight on him?

    The other issues we've got all centre round the fact that he has massive amounts of energy and struggles to relax. We take him out a couple of times a day and he just runs for an hour straight, he's difficult on the lead, constantly running figure-of-eights, and he whines and barks when he's not in the same room as people at home. Trying to put a training plan together for this, but just finding him so different to my laid back lab!
     
  2. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    Hi Anna, it's hard to tell with Spaniels because of their longer coats. Int he last picture, I wouldn't say he looks too skinny, but in the one above, maybe his waist is a bit too pronounced.
    If you want to get weight on to animals that aren't massively keen on eating, you need to feed calorie-dense foods. That is, they have lots of calories for a small volume. I've heard that Skinners isn't very calorie dense, and it can cause some dogs to lose weight, so keep an eye on that. Maybe give him the odd whole egg, and a tin of sardines with his breakfast. That should do the job of making him more keen on eating, and also increase the calorie content with appropriate foods.
    Good luck, and let us know how you get on with him. I'm sure the other spaniel owners will be along to give you some ideas on training. I know they can have their own set of challenges :)
     
  3. Snowshoe

    Snowshoe Registered Users

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    He looks field bred (the best, ours was too :) ) and they have tons, TONS, of energy. It can be hard to keep weight on them. Is he a rescue? Sort of? OUr girl was and she was starved and made up for her lack of food by eating anything when we got her so I've not had that problem. Just partial to field bred ESS who need a good home and glad he's got one now, or is he going back? Only a week, maybe it's some separation anxiety?
     
  4. AnnaBanana

    AnnaBanana Registered Users

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    Hi,
    Firstly thanks @snowbunny and @Snowshoe for your replies many months ago! So sorry I never got around to writing back to you.

    We've had an interesting 5 months or so with him! He's remained very much on the skinny side, we managed to get his weight up a few times, but as soon as he gets a slightly upset stomach it drops straight back off. However, he's healthy and full of energy, so I guess he's just built that way! He's a very anxious dog, which coupled with springer energy has proved quite challenging, but we've ploughed on and made it work for the most part.

    However, our circumstances have changed and with ill family members and mounting work commitments, we really aren't able to look after him in addition to Lola any more. His owner thought she'd found someone else who was able to take him for a few months until she can have him back and he was due to go on Wednesday, but they've just let her down, so we're back to square one.

    Does anyone have any bright ideas on organisations or anything like that who may be able to provide or put her in contact with someone/where who'd be able to look after him for the next couple of months? She is able to pay for his upkeep, but just not able to have him with her as she is living in central London and studying long hours. We're busy asking around everyone we know, but so far nothing.


    This whole situation came about after her mother passed away suddenly just after she'd started her course. She's managed through nearly two years and is so close to being able to have him back with her, but currently he has nowhere to go.
     
  5. Boogie

    Boogie Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    I had two spaniels - on gannet and one sparrow! Callum was hard to keep slim, Gavin was always underweight. I found the answer with Gavin was raw food - he loved it. I always had to feed them separately as he took half an hour to eat his dinner and Callum took half a second.



    :rolleyes:
     
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  6. bbrown

    bbrown Moderator Forum Supporter

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    There are dedicated Springer Spaniel rescues all over the UK.

    @heidrun can you offer any advice?
     
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  7. bbrown

    bbrown Moderator Forum Supporter

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    Oh and tripe can be great for adding weight. I keep a bag of frozen tripe mince for adding to meals if needed.
     
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  8. heidrun

    heidrun Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    This is a tricky one. I do some voluntary work for English Springer Spaniel Welfare, a charity that will rehome springers. But as far as I am aware they will only rehome on a permanent basis. I have never heard of a dog just coming in for a period of time and then going back to its owner. Sorry, I can't be of any more help.
     
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  9. AnnaBanana

    AnnaBanana Registered Users

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    Thanks for the reply - this is the problem, I think she's going to contact some rescues to see if they can help, but as it's not really their 'thing' and I know how pushed some are to find fosters for rescue dogs, it doesn't seem right to 'use up' any with a dog who ultimately does have an owner.
     
  10. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    It may be a long shot, but I wonder if something like Borrow My Doggy would open the door to find someone? There may be someone on there who can take care of a dog for a couple of months, but who couldn't commit to a lifetime?
     
  11. Jojo83

    Jojo83 Registered Users

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    Borrow my doggy aims to put dog owners in contact with local people who would like the opportunity to walk/spend time with a dog but are unable to have a dog due to their personal circumstances. It is only intended to cover a few hours of a day. I joined up some time ago but have never used the service as I came to the conclusion I simply didn't trust anyone with my furry family. :)
     
  12. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    Yes, I know how it's intended to be used, I just wondered if there was any way that it could be used to find a solution. I've never looked at their website to see how it works, since I don't live in the UK.
     
  13. blackandwhitedog

    blackandwhitedog Registered Users

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    Your poor friend, that's a difficult situation. This probably sounds silly, but have you mentioned the situation to everyone that you know? Do you have a local community of dog-owners/walkers? Dog-walking group? This situation reminds me a bit of someone in my area who thought they might have to give up their dog. It was quite a topic of discussion among others who walk in that park and I think several of us would have considered taking the dog for a short period of time, particularly if the owner could pay for its upkeep.

    I would potentially be willing to foster a dog short-term but would be much more likely to do it if I knew the dog and could gauge how much work it would be and how it would get along with my dog. Another possibility for fostering might be dogwalkers (i.e. people who do it for a business). Again it would depend on your friend being able to pay for Lola's upkeep, but you could ask dog-walkers whether they would consider fostering a dog for a month or two and see how much it would cost. Maybe I'm being totally unrealistic but I wonder if a dogwalker who has lots of space might accept £200 or so per month to look after an extra dog. That's quite a lot of hourly walks!

    But these options are all much more feasible if you have a relationship with the people already, and I imagine you've already considered everyone you know!
     
  14. blackandwhitedog

    blackandwhitedog Registered Users

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    oops - just realised it's not Lola that's looking for a home! What's the name of the spaniel?! Couldn't see it above.
     
  15. Jojo83

    Jojo83 Registered Users

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    I know some dog walkers, and trainers, do offer boarding services but they are not a cheap solution. A trainer I know charges £150 per week which does not include food but does include some training sessions each day. So in reality not a lot of money for their time, care and extra insurance costs but not a cheap solution for more than a week or two.
     
  16. blackandwhitedog

    blackandwhitedog Registered Users

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    Yes, at purely commercial rates I am sure that's true. I was wondering if it might be possible to find someone who would treat it as a part-rescue situation: short-term fostering to allow someone to keep their dog.
     
  17. AnnaBanana

    AnnaBanana Registered Users

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    Borrow My Doggy had come to mind as a possible way of finding someone, but I've had a look and it seems like you can't have much of a look without creating a public profile and/or paying the subscription fee, which is annoying.

    Yep, been chatting to lots of people on our walks, though we don't always walk in the same place so don't really have much of a community in that sense. Lots of facebook posts going out as well! We've found a few people who are willing in principle, but either work or day of have a cat or can't have a dog where they're living at the moment.

    We've asked our home boarding people if they know of anyone, but I hadn't thought of asking any other dogwalkers - I may fire off some emails and see if any of them can help or know anyone who might, thanks for the suggestion!
     
  18. AnnaBanana

    AnnaBanana Registered Users

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    Oh and the spaniels name in Malachy (great fun at the vets :p)
     
  19. charlie

    charlie Registered Users

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    I wonder if Malachy's breeder would take him for a while to help out? :) x
     
  20. AnnaBanana

    AnnaBanana Registered Users

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    Unfortunately his breeder wasn't great, so she wasn't particularly keen for him to go back there.

    However, we have had some success! Today I took the train up to London with Malachy and his owner to meet a friend of hers who does some dog walking alongside being a student. It's not a long term solution as it's going to involve calling in lots of favours from various people to look after him when this friend is studying, but it should give her a couple of weeks to find something else. I think in the short term he'll be absolutely doted on and there's a great big park round the corner so he should get the exercise he needs.
    He was a complete star on the trains, despite crowded trains due to football and rugby games today and it's lovely to see people cheered up and smiling from seeing him.

    I think Lola will miss him - he's been her constant companion for the last 5 months - but I'm quite glad to be back to a one-dog household and to be able to spend a bit more time with her doing some training and such.
     
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