Adolescent Dog Survival...Sharing Tips & Tails

[BrodiePup]

Moving on from the puppy survival thread, this is for anyone with a hormonal teenager 🤪

Brodie is just over 7 months now, and is a fun loving pup who is (mostly) a pleasure to be around. My main issue is still walking him which can either be almost a pleasure, or like having a Tasmanian Devil doing breast stroke and bunny hopping down the road 😡. There seems to be no reason for which dog gets attached to the end of the lead, but at least it shows he can do it if he's in the mood!

We've also had our first proper tummy upset this week 🤢 no doubt due to some rubbish he picked up and swallowed before I spotted it. Thankfully it seems to have passed now.

Hi everyone, please can I join and ask a question about food too? I have a 12 month old springer spaniel. He came to us on Royal Canin puppy food but I switched to raw when he was about 7 months old as he was pretty wild and the trainer I was seeing thought it might be making him too lively. He has had Naked Dog and has seemed fine, behaviour has improved but I think it’s other factors. However he hasn’t put on any weight for three months, despite growing. He looks very thin, all ribs clearly visible when he is standing still. I’ve increased the raw to 5-6% of his body weight and added some of the cold compressed food from the same brand. No change, so today I’ve bought some Skinners field and trial and added that to give him some carbs. In the past I’ve tried Millie’s Wolfhreart riverside which they recommended (he is sick with chicken) but that gave him severe diarrhoea. Currently poos are firm but there’s an awful lot of them! Not sure if I need a trip to the vet or whether he hasn’t been getting enough calories. I’m confused!

@Ilovemyshoes Welcome! I am also a raw feeding with Skinners F&T young spaniel owner so understand entirely. I'd be inclined to get a vet check if he can't keep weight on, just to be sure. He's probably fine but if you've upped it to 5/6pc of his weight that's loads of food and should be helping him gain. I presume he's doing lots of exercise and is otherwise fine?

@brushingboots Thank you! Yes he seems otherwise fine and full of energy but always ravenous! He’s food obsessed which helps with training, I use JR pate for that. I think I’ll do the mixed feeding for a week and re weigh, if there’s no improvement I’ll ask the vet for advice.

@Ilovemyshoes that sounds a good plan! We use JR pate too and it's fab. Do you feed tripe as part of your raw selection? You could add some in as that's good for bulking them up and is often used for bringing working dogs into work again. It's not as horrendous as it sounds if you buy it from a raw brand and it's just like other raw minces. Most of our minces are tripe mixes – we use Durham and she gets Naked sometimes as a treat as it's about double the double the price of Durham.

@brushingboots no I have not tried tripe or Durham. I’ll look into both, thank you! I remember my dad cooking tripe and onions and the smell was unbelievable 😂

@Ilovemyshoes Pleasure! Durham do packs of just beef tripe which is a good start and also mixed in with different meats. My girlie likes game and tripe the best and it's just like any other raw food. I promise it doesn't stink too badly – nothing like cooking it yourself at any rate!

@brushingboots thanks for your help, I’ll definitely give it a try 😊

Hi @Ilovemyshoes they are a worry aren't they? I can't help as I don't feed raw, but it sounds like @brushingboots has some good advice.

We took B to the vet this evening for his weigh in to put my mind to rest, he's gained half a kilo this month so is on track. There was a vet in reception who ran his hands over him and said he was absolutely perfect. I guess it's his recent growth spurt that is making him look slim to us.
I'll have to find something else to worry about now 🤣

It's always good to get reassurance from the vet @BrodiePup , I hope it will put your mind at ease and you can stop worrying.

@PyreneanAubrie thank you ☺️

@BrodiePup thank you! I’m glad you had a reassuring visit to the vet, very helpful.

Hi

Another raw feeder here - for over 20yrs now.

Some dogs need more than recommended percentages- and you might want to include some other brands to vary the nutritional profile. Go by body condition - if you think he needs more then give more.

My current 7 month old has been on nearer 8% at times, but I'm losing track of percentages now as I don't know her weight. She had a major growth spurt and was all legs, so I increased her intake to 1.2k daily, she's now looking more mature, has filled out nicely so I've gone down to 1k and will see how she does on that.

Un neutered dogs need more than neutered, which is another factor.

I have a spayed golden retriever who is 7 now she now doesn't need much, (600g ish) loses and puts on weight with alarming speed, so I have to watch her weight carefully, she was very skinny as a youngster - but honestly far better to be on the skinny side in terms of joint development. People often think she's only about 3 because she's so slim.

She does, however, have some food intolerances, and her 💩 was quite loose as a youngster, so you might want to consider that if his are loose at all?

I use naked dog, prodogs and Paleoridge mainly. I like the raw whole fish that paleoridge do - mackerel- mine eat them frozen like ice lollies (won't touch them thawed 🤷🏼‍♀️) so that's another option, add some fatty fish to his diet.

@LibisMum We met two flatties this morning on our walk and I have renewed respect for you! They were giant! Lovely but giant, especially the boy. I always think they're just 'big versions' of my black cocker, but no! Beautiful though, and absolutely charming.

@brushingboots I thought of you yesterday as we had our very first instance of picking up something dead 🤢 He picked up a poor dead sparrow from under the bush in the front garden and brought it inside without me realising!! Grim.

I think V has a UTI He did lots of little wees on his walk and whined on the last one. Then did another wee outside in the garden and whined again just now. Got an appointment at the vets tomorrow morning for him and I need to try and get a urine sample somehow!!

@YorkshireFelix
Oh poor baby, how rotten. Sounds as if you can expect a disturbed night... (it's not easy catching a wee but we used an old ice cream carton when our of our previous girls had this issue). I hope little V gets over it quickly.

@LibisMum thank you for all that info, I’ll make some adjustments!

@YorkshireFelix Ooh yum, a delicious dead sparrow! Bless him with a UTI, poor boy.

yes, Libi is already bigger than the Golden 😆 stroppy teenager pushing her weight around, but luckily nice enough to pay attention when told to pack it in. I was without one for 8yrs after I lost my last boy so very pleased to have one in my life again - definitely wanted a bitch again though. I've had four boys and four girls now, three of the boys were rescues though, so only 5 FC from pups (and 2 goldens).

You're the same as me @LibisMum ; 4 boys, 4 girls!

Wee sample was actually pretty easy to get! Easier than trying to get one from a child 🤣

He's got a UTI so prescribed anti inflammatory and antibiotics and I've returned home £150 lighter...

In better news though, we bought a crate for the car boot and tried it out today expecting him to whinge the whole time and he was fine!

Well...
Milo cannot stand his head collar...
He wouldn't have to wear it if he wouldn't drag me down the street and pull me over and drag me to the floor.
He's only 14kg but he's all chest and very strong.
His walking is 80% better, absolutely NO pulling ( because he can't 😂) but every few minutes he starts acting like he's having some sort of seizure trying to get it off 🙄.

We also made progress with the barking woe is me at meal times @brushingboots we put a baby gate at the living room door ( so he is in the hallway)
He has barked for a few seconds at time, but I push the door two and he shuts up and gets in his bed.

It's a Christmas miracle ha ha

@CaptainBeanThief Hooray, that's good progress! I have taken to filling a buffalo hoof with tripe/other tasty food, freezing it before the afternoon walk, and then giving it to her as a pudding to eat while we're eating. It takes her long enough usually to not be a bother. Definitely the equivalent of putting a plaster on it but it is making things quieter for now.

Less hooray about the headcollar – bless him.

@YorkshireFelix Great news about the crate!

Bless little V! You have my sympathies about the vets – we got stung for £42 this week after she developed a strange limp that magically went away as soon as she got inside the surgery. She's on antibiotics and pain meds for a week and is quite snoozy, bless her, so fair enough, she obviously needed them.

Sorry everyone is in the wars this past week or so. Our vets bill for last weekend's tummy bug was £115 - I wouldn't mind but they gave us the wrong bloody wormer 🙄

I hope V and little pupsy girl both make a speedy recovery.

Not much to report from us this week. Brie is still a nightmare to walk with the pulling and lead biting, but she makes up for it by being calm and quiet at home.