How much food for a 6 month old lab

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Annmarie Betts, Nov 2, 2018.

  1. Annmarie Betts

    Annmarie Betts Registered Users

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    Lola is a chubby black Labrador just coming up to 6 mths old and due to be spayed later this month on the vets advice.
    She has been to the vet today and she weighs 21.9k she has been on restrictive activities recently due to an elbow injury but she is very sedentary anyway. She is fed Hills Science Plan puppy food for large breeds but if I were to feed for her weight and age, she would be having over 450 grms but as she has been on restricted exercise due to her injury, I have only been feeding approx 360 grms and once she is spayed it has to be dropped more. The Vet said that they were only guidelines on packaging and that we should be able to feel her ribs a little more so I took it that she is a tad overweight already but how are you supposed to make an informed and correct decision so as to ensure she has enough to eat and nutrients sufficient for her continuing growing ......she is still fed 3 times a day and as that seems to suit her needs then I was proposing to leave her like that. Help and advice welcome.
     
  2. Jojo83

    Jojo83 Registered Users

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    Hi @Annmarie Betts - so sorry to hear of your girls elbow problems. My girl was diagnosed with elbow dysplasia at 8 months, operated on at 8/9 months but first started limping at 5 months old.
    Yoyr vet is 100% correct that keeping your girl slim will help with the elbows (and other joints) but slim is better for health in any event. A guide to assess your girl is that you shoud be able to feel the ribs when you run your hand over the body without applying any pressure. There should be a nice defined waist when viewed from above and a good 'tummy tuck' when viewed from the side. A good pictorial guide can be found on
    https://www.wsava.org>WSAVA>media
    or just search Google for "body condition chart for dogs" there are several available.

    At 6 months your girl has completed much of her growing so I wouldn't be too concerned about her not receiving sufficient nutrient. If she is on a complete, balanced food she will be receiving the correct levels of nutrients, and of course your vet wants your pup to reduce weight. The quantities quoted on packaging are for the 'average' puppy/dog but they are all different. So while she may require 'xx' calories per day (which is all the manufacturers are really telling you) according to a math formula, each dog is as individual as we are and some don't require as many calories/food - especially when on restricted exercise.
     
  3. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

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    I would really encourage you to reconsider spaying your dog. Neutered dogs are hugely at risk of obesity, which brings with it a host of health problems of its own and it sounds like your dog is already at high risk for this...

    I would not recommend Hills Science Plan food. It is high in carbs and grains, low in protein and meat, and contains carcinogenic preservatives like BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin. If you look it up on dogfoodadvisor.com you will see how low it rates...

    There are many papers emerging revealing that spaying and neutering have long-term detrimental effects for dogs - especially when carried out at a young age: https://www.avidog.com/research-on-the-effects-of-spaying-and-neutering/
     
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  4. Jojo83

    Jojo83 Registered Users

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    As a caninenutrition student I've had a quick look at the ingredients for the large puppy food on the Hills website and can't see these preservatives/anti oxidants listed. Can you provide the relevant link to these ingredients? Thank you
     
  5. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    I have a spayed bitch - it was the right thing to do for my dog, and for me. Although I think 6 months is very, very young to spay, and I'd think about leaving it longer if you can.

    To be honest, it doesn't really matter what food you are feeding in terms of keeping weight off a spayed dog that isn't all that active - you are going to have to cut it down to a scary extent. At least that's my experience, and I've tried everything from raw to the most expensive kibble on earth (and I'm really not joking about that!). :D

    By the way, I don't think there is much wrong with a mid range kibble that suits your budget. Your dog will most likely be fine on it. Stay away from seeking advice from google, or the internet in general, and if you want a good book, try Dog Food Logic by Linda Case. :)

    I feed my spayed bitch 50g of kibble a day. No, that's not a typo, 50g. The bag says 300g. So I feed my dog 1/6th of what it says on the packet. She gets a fair slug of good quality training treats in addition, and these make up at least 50% of her calories - so I pay close attention to what I use as treats. She gets mainly blended up fish as treats.

    And she's just doing fine. She has 0:0 hips, 0:0 elbows, amazing blood results, and has no health or behaviour problems whatsoever - her teeth are fabulous, her eyes, ears, coat, skin etc are brilliant and I think that's all down to genetics and not really much to do with what I feed her. She's the healthiest dog I've ever owned. So far, of course, anyway.
     
  6. Annmarie Betts

    Annmarie Betts Registered Users

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    Thanks for advice so what do you feed your puppies ?
     
  7. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

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    You got me there! It looks like they have changed their ingredients in recent years, to remove the BHA and BHT. It's still not a great food though: https://www.doglistener.co.uk/dog-food-review-royal-canin-hills-and-burns

    There are always examples of dogs here and there, who are fed poor quality foods, spayed at 8 weeks, and have 0/0 hips and elbows and live to be 22. Just like we all know the person who smoked 60 a day for 40 years and lived to be 100...

    This is called anecdotal evidence, and it's not very scientific.

    The point is that if you are making decisions about what medical procedures to put a dog through, you owe it to the dog to look at and examine the statistics and research. Because that's going to involve far more dogs than the one-off examples you will find online.

    Secondly, if you have already decided what to do and are just looking for evidence to convince you it's the right thing to still do, you will also always find that online too... If you want to instead find the The Right Thing (whatever that may be), then you will look deeper...
     

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