Is our pup too skinny?

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

I'm going to expres my opinion even if I'm newby here.
4 times a day 1/4 of a cup equals 2 cups a day, against the sugested 31/2 to 4 cups a day.
My puppy Kimba at that age was fed 4 cups a day.
The second set of pictures she looks better, but I still would bring the total amount for a day to 31/2 - 4 cups a day and rather get it wrong on the plus side seeing the situation (that means 4 cups a day) until totally recovered a normal look.

Eddy

Eddy, Your opinion is of course welcomed and appreciated. Regarding the feeding equation though, I mentioned above that I was unclear on the amount we feed her per day because I put the parentheses in the wrong spot which made it confusing. The "1/4 cup" per day was in reference to the amount we feed her randomly throughout the day for training/rewards. I mistakenly left out the amount we feed her in her bowl per day, which is 1/2 cup every time we feed her from her bowl.

 

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

The second set of pics are different than the first. Whatever you're doing in the second set, keep it up. The first your pup was very underweight to me.

Side note: I WANT YOUR PUPPY! SO ADORABLE! /endcutenesrage

I agree that they are DRASTICALLY different. That's literally the change that we're dealing with per day. The first set of pics are from one of her "skinnier" days, whereas the second set of pics were from days that she's more normal.
Her body look changes so much, which is why we're so confused. Some days she'll be extremely skinny, emaciated-like even, and then other days she looks completely normal. Today for instance she is really skinny, and she ate at 8 AM, 11:30AM, and 3:00PM, and she's a little food here and there for her treats. She's also had a lot of exercise today because we had a puppy playdate with my our friend's dog (who was vaccinated and up to date on shots) and has therefore already pooped four times (took her out at 5 am to go bathroom).

 

[kady05]

Can you post some current pictures of her standing, like this:

(that's Sako at 8wks. while he was still with his breeder)

I'd be interested in seeing.

You may also want to consider adding in some wet food to her diet. It's higher in calories.

 

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

I would suggest to maybe try a different brand of kibble, that may be more ideal for a higher metabolic pup? From my understanding, some dogs seem to show a difference in weight (while being fed the same amount as their prior brand), just by the brand of kibble being fed. When I fed kibble to my girl as she was a pup and now that I look back, I did not overfeed her yet, she was always heavier than she should be, all the time, until I finally switched her to a raw diet.

Thanks a lot for this advice. We'll definitely try that this. We're almost through the bag of food, and we were looking at getting her "Halo" brand food, but didn't want to keep switching them up on her, so we were thinking we'd just start by mixing the two together and then gradually fazing out the wilderness.

 

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

Can you post some current pictures of her standing, like this:

(that's Sako at 8wks. while he was still with his breeder)

I'd be interested in seeing.

You may also want to consider adding in some wet food to her diet. It's higher in calories.

Here's two pics I JUST took of her, and it took me forever just to get her to just stand still for the pic. She knows how to sit, so she SITS all the time, which is great, except when you want her to take a picture standing up .

 

[kady05]

Here's two pics I JUST took of her, and it took me forever just to get her to just stand still for the pic. She knows how to sit, so she SITS all the time, which is great, except when you want her to take a picture standing up .

Yeah she just.. doesn't look that hot :/ I'm surprised your vet isn't more concerned. Even her coat looks bad. Granted, she's blue, and that can come along with being a blue dog, but she just doesn't look like a thriving puppy to me.

Up the food and see what happens, but if you do that and she's still not picking up weight, I'd get a second opinion at a different vet. Might be something else going on.

 

[brindlexpitt]

yeah id up the food.

 

[kady05]

Just as an example for you to see.. this is another one of my dogs, Piper, at about 9-10wks. old (she weighed around 12lbs. then):

My vet told me to up her food then because she was a bit lean. She had Demodex at that point and even her coat looks nicer than your pups..

 

[Cofla]

Eddy, Your opinion is of course welcomed and appreciated. Regarding the feeding equation though, I mentioned above that I was unclear on the amount we feed her per day because I put the parentheses in the wrong spot which made it confusing. The "1/4 cup" per day was in reference to the amount we feed her randomly throughout the day for training/rewards. I mistakenly left out the amount we feed her in her bowl per day, which is 1/2 cup every time we feed her from her bowl.

Well let me tell first that the puppy is adorable...who can not love something like that?

As for the addition maths of the feeding still think is to little :
1/2 a cup every time in the bowl 3 times a day makes for 1 and a half cups +1/4 of a cup randomly during the day makes for a grand total of 1 and 3/4 cups a day, am I right so far?

So 1 and 3/4 cups a day is much much less than the sugested 3 to 3 and a 1/2 cups a day.

Is my maths wrong? or our heat here today has melted my neurons?

Please do not think that I'm looking for an argument, everything is cool, just curious.

Eddy

 

[Kamdon]

Here is my blue pup at 8 weeks. Also not where near what yours looks like

Did you feed him yet?

 

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

Yeah she just.. doesn't look that hot :/ I'm surprised your vet isn't more concerned. Even her coat looks bad. Granted, she's blue, and that can come along with being a blue dog, but she just doesn't look like a thriving puppy to me.

Up the food and see what happens, but if you do that and she's still not picking up weight, I'd get a second opinion at a different vet. Might be something else going on.

Her coat is pretty dry, and she had some puppy dandruff at first but doesn't anymore, and her coat is actually getting better. It's still on the dry side, but like you mentioned, the vet said to just keep an eye on it but that it's nothing to be concerned about right now because we had changed her food from what she was being fed before we adopted her (purina puppy chow) to the blue buffalo wilderness puppy food, and that sometimes changes in food can cause changes to their coat, etc.
Also, like I mentioned, her energy level is out the roof, and has skyrocketed in the past week. She loves people and is constantly running around the living room playing with her toys, and constantly jumping on people when she meets them (which we're trying to get her to stop doing). So in terms of her being unhealthy, yes she looks skinny, and yes her coat isn't immaculate, but we're working on both of those things, and the vet check up was great, and her stool check up was fine, as was her temperature, and all other things.
So we're just gonna have to wait for improvement, but will try feeding her more to see if that helps.

 

[Kamdon]

Did you go and feed her?


Chop chop....... Time for feeding.....

 

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

Well let me tell first that the puppy is adorable...who can not love something like that?

As for the addition maths of the feeding still think is to little :
1/2 a cup every time in the bowl 3 times a day makes for 1 and a half cups +1/4 of a cup randomly during the day makes for a grand total of 1 and 3/4 cups a day, am I right so far?

So 1 and 3/4 cups a day is much much less than the sugested 3 to 3 and a 1/2 cups a day.

Is my maths wrong? or our heat here today has melted my neurons?

Please do not think that I'm looking for an argument, everything is cool, just curious.

Eddy

Eddy, no worries, I know you're not looking for an argument. :sonn_u11:

This is where we're also a bit confused. I've read other websites, and a lot of them recommend about 2 cups per day or less for puppies, and also the following information is straight from the bottom of the Blue buffalo bag; The recommended Daily Feeding Chart for puppies between the ages of 1-3 months and between the weight of 3-20 lbs is 1/4 to 1 cup per DAY.

So going by that information, we were under the impression that we were going overboard by giving her a little over 2 cups per day on average, however after reading everyones responses on here, apparently we've been underfeeding her.

 

[Kamdon]

Dogs respond to different foods differently. Some dogs need 5 cups of food of TOTW while the same dog can maintain the same weight with only 3 cups of INNOVA. So the bags SUGGESTED feeding scale is just that. A suggestion. Not law.


So get in there and give her a cup of food.

 

[Hawks2thesuperbowl]

Dogs respond to different foods differently. Some dogs need 5 cups of food of TOTW while the same dog can maintain the same weight with only 3 cups of INNOVA. So the bags SUGGESTED feeding scale is just that. A suggestion. Not law.


So get in there and give her a cup of food.

Kamdon, we fed her at 3:00 and I fed her a cup around 30 minutes ago when you guys suggested it. So she's been fed four times now today, and we're going to feed her again at 7:30PM, but with a cup this time as opposed to 1/2 like we usually do, which will make it 3 1/2 on the day.

And like you mentioned, the suggestion on the bag is nothing more than a "suggestion". This we are aware of, hence why like I mentioned above, we fed her more than the "suggestion" and was under the impression that we were feeding her a lot. Obviously because she's so skinny, we apparently weren't, which is why I posted this question on here for fellow pitbull lovers to chime in on. Because she's healthy according to the vet and her check ups, etc., and because of information we've received from friends who have dogs, etc., as well as our neighbor who has a bully, we were thinking that, like the vet said, she'll grow into her body and if she doesn't by the time her next vaccinations are needed, then to get her checked up again.

 

[TannerG]

Just as an example for you to see.. this is another one of my dogs, Piper, at about 9-10wks. old (she weighed around 12lbs. then):

My vet told me to up her food then because she was a bit lean. She had Demodex at that point and even her coat looks nicer than your pups..

baby piper is pretty darn cute

 

[kady05]

Her coat is pretty dry, and she had some puppy dandruff at first but doesn't anymore, and her coat is actually getting better. It's still on the dry side, but like you mentioned, the vet said to just keep an eye on it but that it's nothing to be concerned about right now because we had changed her food from what she was being fed before we adopted her (purina puppy chow) to the blue buffalo wilderness puppy food, and that sometimes changes in food can cause changes to their coat, etc.
Also, like I mentioned, her energy level is out the roof, and has skyrocketed in the past week. She loves people and is constantly running around the living room playing with her toys, and constantly jumping on people when she meets them (which we're trying to get her to stop doing). So in terms of her being unhealthy, yes she looks skinny, and yes her coat isn't immaculate, but we're working on both of those things, and the vet check up was great, and her stool check up was fine, as was her temperature, and all other things.
So we're just gonna have to wait for improvement, but will try feeding her more to see if that helps.

How long have you had her, btw? She's 9wks., so I assume not too long?

I'm hoping that once you up the food she picks the weight up quick!

baby piper is pretty darn cute

She was seriously the cutest puppy EVER. I want to shrink her..

 

[tre-nitty]

She doesn't look right. I'd definitely get a 2nd vets opinion if the food increase doesn't help.

 

[Leslie H]

Scheme is about 8 weeks in the first two pictures, probably 12 or so in the 3rd. I keep pups lean, and I think your pup looks too skinny. She's got no reserve at all if she should get ill, and she needs added nutrition to grow. As Kady said, her coat looks poor as well. If she's acting good, that's really important. But I wouldn't relax until she gets some padding.
My elderly dog is ill, so I've been supplementing her with goat's milk. It's rich, but very digestible.

 

[destinee20]

I do agree with adding more food to about 3 cups a day , i think puppys should have a little belly


Heres is mine when he was about 9 weeks 17 pounds.








As you can see, no hip or rib bones showing

Anyways your pup is very cute