Dog licking her back end

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

Our 7 month old lab puppy keeps licking her back end, and licking it a lot, and I was wondering if this could mean that there's a problem, or whether she is going to come into season soon.

Thankyou.

Hello.
My dog used to always pay her rear alot of attention when she was coming into season.

Sorry, whose back end is she licking?

Is she up to date with worming?

Chillo - maybe not - I will have to check.

BOF - her rear end - lol!

And I hope she doesn't come into season before next tuesday, because she's getting spayed then.

don't they have to be halfway between seasons to be spayed, ideally?

She can't be spayed if she's in season.

Is her vulva swollen? Is there any discharge?

My lab is always licking her bum! She is spayed and is up to date with worming too. She just seems to enjoy it!

She had her first season when she was 7 months and did seem to wash herself even more just before it started.

Definately mention it to the vet before you have her spayed as she should not be spayed if she is in season.

Good Luck!

Could also be that her anal glands a bit blocked, which can be painful (or have been blocked and have now cleared themselves, in which case she's trying to clean herself up).

She hasn't come into her first season yet, and the vet told me it was best done before she did - if they never come into season, apparently it reduces their risk of getting mammary cancer.

She's got no obvious discharge, and I can't tell if her vulva is swollen, but I will look out for both of these, and as you said, Bella, she can't be spayed if she is in season, so I'd ring the vet and postpone the op.

I did wonder about her anal glands, MrsL - she hasn't been noticeably smelly back there, and again, I am not sure if she is swollen there or not - if she is, then it is only a bit, but I will ask the vet to check next week when and if she has her op.

Thankyou for all the information and advice -- I knew I could rely on mumsnet!

Best of luck - keep us posted.

The benefit of spaying in terms of mammary tumours reduces by about 25% with each season so yes, maximum benefit to be had by spaying before first season, but still a large benefit to be had from spaying after first season. By 4th season there's no benefit to be had, but other health benefits remain.

If you're not sure if she's in season you could pop her into the vets and a nurse would have a quick look for you Do be vigilant if you think she is!

Ohh yes, Bella - I will! The last thing we need is an unwanted 'teen' pregnancy! And madam does have her eye on next door's labradoodle - they are both trying to eat their way through the fence to Be With Eachother, and when she gets some particularly interesting welly/slipper/cardboard box, she takes it to the fence to try to give it to loverboy!

I would imagine most likely causes are coming into season or a UTI. If she is coming into season her vulva will be swollen and usually so will her teats, especially the back ones.

Well - we seem to have made it. Ddog is at the vet's, and should be on the operating table right now - she gave me a long, accusing look over her shoulder as the vet led her away this morning.

I am a bit peeved at the vet, though - he keeps going on about her weight. Both her parents were big labradors, and it is clear that she is going the same way - as far as her frame is concerned. She is as tall and broad in the shoulder as many adult labradors, but the vet is just looking at her weight, and saying she's overweight for her age. She has got a layer of fat under her skin, but you can't pinch more than an inch, and it feels normal to me.

We have cut down on her food, because the vet reckoned that the dog food manufacturers recommend too high an amount of food per day because that way they sell more food; and she gets plenty of walks/runs/play.

AIBU to expect the vet to see that she has a big frame, and to listen when I tell him that both her parents are big labs, and to take that into account?

Sorry - have ranted at dh this morning on this subject whilst driving him to work after dropping ddog at the vets, and needed to rant a bit more.

Tbh, so many pet dogs are overweight that people get a skewed view of what is the correct weight and most people would think that a 'correct weight' dog was too thin.

If you can pinch an inch worth of fat/skin over her ribs, then IMHO, she is too fat. If you run your fingers over her ribs, she should have a thin 't-shirt' covering over them and you should be able to easily feel her ribs. Her last rib should be visable when she is moving. She should have a very visable waist starting behind her ribcage when viewed from above, and be obviously 'tucked up' from the side, so have a curve going upwards from behind her rib cage to the stifle (back leg ish) almost like a greyhoud would have.

Most dog food manufacturers do suggest about 25-30% more food than a dog needs. Also, as she is being spayed it will be harder to keep her weight down, and as spaying prior to the first season affects the closure of the growth plates and this can exacerbate any hips/joint problems, keeping her weight down/correct is now especially important.

She definitely does have a waist, as you describe, midori, though perhaps not as much as she could have. I'd say you can pinch less than an inch, but more than a light covering - so it would seem that she is a bit heavier than she should be, but I assume that can be explained by us following the dogfood guidelines and therefore overfeeding her a bit, plus maybe not getting as much exercise as she should during the really bad weather.

As far as her frame is concerned, she is the size of some fully grown labradors, and she's toward the bottom end of the correct weight for an adult lab, so hopefully that means she isn't too far from an ideal weight.

I just feel that the vet is concentrating on her weight for her age, and not considering the fact that she clearly is, and is going to be, a big labrador (two big parents, and she has enormous paws). She is sturdily built, not fat, imo.

An inch also sounds a lot to me TBH. When they're small they need a bit of extra padding incase they get ill, as they can decline quickly. But by six months they should start to lose the baby weight.

I think a healthy lab should have the physique of a racehorse - lean, muscular and fit. People often comment that our dog is too thin, but she's in perfect shape. You can feel her ribs but you can't see them, and she has a lovely small waist. She's also very muscular (has a huuuuge chest and rock hard legs!), and just generally a very fit dog who doesn't carry much fat at all. Lots of people comment on how fit she looks, and ask how we do it (erm, less food and more exercise!), but many others are negative about her weight. I think you see so many fat labs now, people think that it's normal for them to look like a barrel. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't think she looks underweight!

Our nearly 9-month old puppy (who's also having surgery today for different reasons - sob!) is also in great condition, even though she's been getting minimal exercise. The surgeon actually commented today that when he'd read her notes and saw she was in for a joint problem, he thought a big fat puppy would waddle through the door, and he was suprised at how lean she is. But I'd say she's actually just starting to edge over the podgy mark (ribs are a bit harder to feel) so I reduced her food a bit last week, and will do so again when she's on crate rest to keep her weight down.

I agree that you definitely have to go by your own dog rather than the feeding guide - I pretty much ignore the one on our food and feed what I think. If they put on weight, they get less. At the moment, they get about 150g of dry food in the morning 350g of wet food at night, and the pup's dry food will be getting cut even further when she comes home. She's also been on adult food since she was 6 months, as it's lower fat.

Should have said, we do fully intend to make sure she gets the right amount of food and exercise, because the last thing we want is for her health or wellbeing to be affected because we haven't taken proper care of her.

Actually, if she stays the same weight as she is now, and carries on until she reaches her full size, she should be perfect or maybe even a little under her perfect weight.

We will be keeping an eye on it, I promise.

Sorry SDTG, cross post.

Our 9 month lab is also adult-size now (bigger than our older dog) and weighs about 26kg if that helps any - trying to get her down to about 25.

I can't see any pic Mrsl123...

SDTG, don't worry too much, how is the average person supposed to know that dog food manufacturers are sneaky?! I always just feed by eye, I have no idea what weight of food my dogs get, although I do measure in a 'cup' so they get the same amount each time. As Mrs L123 says, if they look a bit fat I cut it down, if they look a bit lean, I increase it a bit.

Is she on puppy or adult food? It is perfectly acceptable for her to be on adult at her age, and that would mean more food but fewer calories as puppy food is more calorie dense.

Oh no! Does it work now?

If not, here's a different one.

You might have guessed, she's a bit of a poser!

Ohh what a beauty, MrsL! My dog is definitely more well-covered than her, though she still has a waist, as I said. I think she weighed in at 29kg at the vet today, so clearly is overweight, and we will be cutting her food down some more - especially for the next few weeks, when she's only going to be getting walks on the lead, rather than romping off in and out of the loch and the stream, or being thrown upside down in muddy puddles by her black lab friend from next door but one!

Interestingly, when a brown lab gets covered in mud, it doesn't show, until they brush up against a wall. Dh had to give ddog a bath on sunday, after she'd had a little frolic with her friend - he took her in the shower in the en suite, and I sat on the loo to watch - it was hilarious! Especially afterwards, when she was dry, and he was drying himself, and she decided to investigate his bits, and give them a little lick. His face - - lolol!

You just need to watch she doesn't bite

We bathed ours last night (well, showered in the bath) and the amount of muck that comes off them is unbelievable. It's not too bad in summer because they go in the sea, but they're absolutely filthy at the moment! All our walls (and doors and kitchen units) have nice brown streaks. Maybe it'll catch on!

I was trying to find some pictures of our puppy for comparison age-wise, and I found a few that will give you an idea how her weight has changed over the months. It's so hard when they're young, you're scared of starving them and you're scared of them getting fat, so you get a bit stuck! You'll see a difference just moving her onto the adult food, as she'll be getting the same amount of food but less calories. But cutting her down a bit won't hurt either, and you can gradually increase it again as she gets older/bigger.

Here's the pup at [http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2477/3976932354_989e786905_b.jpg 3 months]]

Another taken about a month later

And then this one was taken on the 20th December (she'd just turned 7 months on the 5th). At this point she was just starting to get a big of extra padding over her ribs for my liking, so I cut her back a bit.

Sorry there's nothing in between - plenty of pics, just not many from the side!

Sorry the 3 month one didn't work, try again

She is beautiful too, MrsL - thankyou for sharing those. I'll try to work out how to post some pictures of our Coco (chocolate lab - inventive name - lol), but she is definitely more stocky than your labs, and a bit better covered too.

I will be getting her adult dog food the next time she needs it - that is a good tip, thankyou - not that she seems to have noticed that we've reduced her rations quite a lot. Though she did supplement her diet with a nice piece of steak last week (dh left it out on the worktop and wandered off leaving all the doors open - what a twit), and three smallish salmon steaks this week - that was my fault, so now we are equally twittish!

In the 5 months we've had her, she has eaten an impressive variety of stuff - including shoes, slippers, rugs, doormats, her own poo, cow poo, sheep poo, steak, salmon, mince pies, bacon, plenty of furniture, wallpaper, not one, but two xbox headsets and my glasses. Oh, and a marsbar, requiring a trip to the vets so he could make her sick - poor ds3 thought he'd put it out of her reach.

I wouldn't be without her though - and that's something I never thought I would say. I grew up with cats, and this is the first time I have ever had a dog, and it took a lot of thought and consideration for me to decide to give dog ownership a go - I didn't want to do it unless I was sure I could go through with it. But she has made her way into my heart just as much as any of the cats have ever done. [soppy emoticon]

One of my labs is a big show style lab but only weighs 28kg and he is a big boy but you can see the end of his ribs and this is a good measure.

My other one is a skinny runt and is only 25kg but it working stock and runs like a collie!

It is hard to refuse their pleading eyes but don't fall for it they will be healthier and happier on the thin side.

Even if a lab was 35kg they would still pretend to be starving!

It is interesting mixing with agility dogs and working dogs as they are thin, athletic and fit and then you see general pet dogs and realise just how overweight some of them are.