Tomorrow Benson is 5 months old..so we weighed him tonight and he came in at 18.3kgs. Well I sort of expected him to be a bit more purely because he is predominately from show bench lines, and from what I gather these types end up naturally a bit heavier? I recognise this may be a misconception on my part. His diet is Burns Original Puppy, and they advise 200-350g (weaning up to 6 months) and we feed 2 meals of around 280g per day (split over 2 meals )plus a Kong of approx 30g of BobandLush wet food with a bit of cheese, all his training treats are bob and lush or Lillys kitchen. So very good quality. He will do ANYTHING for bob and lush venison sausage! ;D I do think however, he may have more exercise than is recommended..he has the run of the farm land during the day, plus we take him out daily over the fields to wander, probably for around 30mins. I noticed he looks a bit lean and more muscular that I would have expected a 5 month old puppy. Overall he seems in excellent health..and his poos well generally seem very firm, not soft at all. He doesn't seem overly tired and will pop himself to bed in his crate happily around 10pm. I will take some photos tomorrow..and hopefully that will give a better picture! Maybe I am worrying about nothing?? Overall he seems a calm natured and well adjusted puppy. I am sure however that teenage naughtiness is just around the corner!
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? He sounds in good shape to me But photos would be really helpful. Personally, I ignore measurements (both food quantity and dog weight) and go by the dog's appearance. Even show lines won't fill out till they are older (and some lines take longer than others). A slightly lanky look is to be expected for a while. My boy stopped growing vertically at about 10 months (he still looked pretty light at that age) but kept putting on muscle for another year and now has a more solid look at 2 years of age.
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Thank you, will take some photos tomorrow, his coat is looking a bit scruffy..my ancient vacuum cleaner is seriously challenged at the moment! :
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Photos would be good . Harley is from working lines and is 20.8kg at 7 months old. She looks in proportion. I also don't feed the full recommended amount of food......I go on her appearance and stools
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? My Penny is 1 year old and weighs 18.8kg, she is from working lines so is meant to be small and lightweight. I wouldn't worry about what he weighs too mic, you can get a bit obsessed with numbers! As long as he is happy and well and doesn't look skinny, then he's fine. You should be able to feel the ribs but not see them or the hip bones sticking out. At 5 months old he's just reaching the lanky stage... Think of it as a teenager having a growth spurt - they grow up before they grow outwards so it will take a while for him to fill out a bit. If you are that worried you can always get a check up with your vet. Personally I think he sounds fine. There are far too many obese Labradors out there nowadays. Also especially as a puppy you want to avoid him being too heavy so as not to place unnecessary strain on developing joints. I never go by the measurement of food on the packets. If I have Penny what the bag recommends she would be morbidly obese in a week!!
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Burns does have a tendency to keep dogs very lean, although this isn't always a bad thing, especially with lines which are prone to easily laying down fat, as many show lines are. I'm another who never goes by a feeding guide, I just feed by eye. If they look a bit too lean, they get more in their bowls, if they start to look plump, they get less. At 5 months old all of mine have looked gangly and many have been a bit Bum High too. I liken this stage to human teenagers, when nothing seems to fit together quite right .
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Now Charlie has stopped growing upwards, I weigh him every week. I do of course look at what he looks like too, but I find weighing him is a much better indication of whether he is having too much food. He puts on weight incredibly quickly, and it's hard to shift. So I try to avoid him putting any weight on in the first place (rather than feed, looks too heavy, cut back). I cut back if his weight varies upwards by 0.5kg - and I can't see this on him, hence I find weighing is better. If he starts to look thin, I'll adjust his target weight up a bit (to allow for the fact he'll still be bulking out in his second year) - but that hasn't happened yet.
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Thanks for the reassuring posts. It is common sense to feed your dog by the way it looks, but when you are dealing with a puppy there is such a responsibility to get it right for their future well being Molly is just coming up for 6 months and 'only' weighs 17 kilos, however she is a ball of muscular energy. Looking at her lineage she clearly comes from Field lines and we chose the smallest one. I call her the Leggy Blonde as she is just like a teenager. She is on Royal Canin Lab mix Junior. You are supposed to feed them by the eventual weight of the dog, only they didn't include a crystal ball in the sack so how am I to know!! I have opted to feed her from the middle of the suggested range and she looks about right on it. She only has very small meals, to keep some structure to the day. She has to work for most of her food, treat balls, Buster cubes, Kongs and training. I wonder if this affects the way they assimilate food?
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? I don't think it matters, from an energy perspective, if everything is fed at once or spaced out. But spacing it out definitely gives you a lot more training and doggie entertainment opportunities It sounds to me like you're doing a great job with Molly
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Sounds fine to me. Our Nero is 5 months and is just over 21kgs and also from show lines. Sounds a lot but he doesnt look overweight but he is a very big dog and very muscly! He eats around 400g of arden grange puppy large breed per day...and thats without treats! He loves his food!
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Thank you so much for all your reassuring posts...I think Molly you have hit the nail on the head..Benson now 5 months old, I feel so responsible for his future health and fitness, not just physically but psychologically too! I think my inexperience doesn't help..and the internet? Well that is just a minefield of confusing and conflicting information.So glad I found this forum! Will take some photos later, when the fog eventually dissipates right now I can barely see the end of the garden!
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? [quote author=Beanwood link=topic=4856.msg60579#msg60579 date=1394709393] Thank you so much for all your reassuring posts...I think Molly you have hit the nail on the head..Benson now 5 months old, I feel so responsible for his future health and fitness, not just physically but psychologically too! I think my inexperience doesn't help..and the internet? Well that is just a minefield of confusing and conflicting information.So glad I found this forum! Will take some photos later, when the fog eventually dissipates right now I can barely see the end of the garden! [/quote] I totally hear you....and that whole shebang about feeding your dog based on their fully grown weight had me perplexed too.You really do start to get your confidence though ,but I probably didn't trust myself until Dexter stopped growing upwards....the heaviest he has been was 25 kgs when he was 11 months....(we'd been away for 2 weeks and it was 50 degrees outside ,so he hadn't had the excercise he gets with me) he looked tubby to me then.i love him at 22.5 kgs,I think he just looks perfect but he drops it off so quickly with his sensitive tum I'm working my way up to 24 kgs with him having an extra 'lunch' meal so he has a bit of fat in the bank if he has to have a day or 2 on rice and chicken x
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Haven't managed photos..just so foggy outside! We did have a visit from a dog walker. They are fab and are going to help out when I go back to work, I don't work long hours and hubby works from home anyway 2 days a week, I work roughly 2 half days at home, but still we want to make sure he is not home alone for more than 4 hours in total a day. The walkers also have their own labs, and have paired up Benson with a young dog to walk with. They will bring the other dog to the farm and walk them together around the land and footpaths which is perfect for us. They spent ages with Benson and said he was a lovely fit and healthy dog, agreed he was very, very slightly on the lean side but that I shouldn't worry about it,it was completely normal for a pup of his age to go up and down a little. Increase his food slightly maybe through an extra Kong during the day as opposed to increasing his kibble. Not to pay any attention to charts or food guides but to trust my eye, as it is a much better guide to feel and watch the dog.
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? He looks just right and very stunning I gave up looking at the food packets and took the good advise given to me on this forum to just look and feel my dogs and it works out really well Sounds like a great set up for Benson
Re: 5 months old and maybe paranoid about weight? Oh he's gorgeous!i think he looks perfect.Love that you have taken Heidrun's advice (!always a good move ) and bought him one of those funny balls ;D x
