# Chubby puppy



## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Eevee's been on raw for over a month now, and I noticed that she's filled out beautifully. 
The problem is, now I cant feel her ribs unless I apply pressure, but I'm not sure if that's because of her fur or if she has a layer of fat on her ribs. Her last two ribs are easy to feel, though.

So I was wondering, how can I tell if she's becoming a chubby puppy? Its hard to know whats lean or whats too skinny, because it's very common to see chubby or obese dogs, so it's become the norm nowadays. I just want her to be lean and healthy!

Also, can I reduce her meals safely at her age? (6 months, ~35lbs). I'm not sure if lack of food will 'stunt' her growth, so to speak. She's currently getting 2lbs of food a day.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Can you take a picture of her with a view from the top?


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Kat said:


> Can you take a picture of her with a view from the top?


Sure! :smile:


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Personally, I dont think she looks chubby. She still has a narrow waist, it doesnt look like its bulging out, and she doesnt look like a sausage either. Sausage meaning no shape, just an oval shape, if that makes sense haha. If your worried, you could always make one of her meals smaller and see if that helps? I wouldnt cut back both meals right away, as to avoid hunger pukes lol. 

Its funny, seems like a lot of dogs fill out quickly when starting raw, with Ruby it was the total opposite. I started with 2 oz and she went down from 17.5 pounds to 15 pounds in a month which was too thin for her. I had to increase her food to 4 oz and now shes 16 pounds and maintains it nicely. Its definitley a fine balance between too little and too much when feeding raw I think.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Kat said:


> Personally, I dont think she looks chubby. She still has a narrow waist, it doesnt look like its bulging out, and she doesnt look like a sausage either. Sausage meaning no shape, just an oval shape, if that makes sense haha. If your worried, you could always make one of her meals smaller and see if that helps? I wouldnt cut back both meals right away, as to avoid hunger pukes lol.
> 
> Its funny, seems like a lot of dogs fill out quickly when starting raw, with Ruby it was the total opposite. I started with 2 oz and she went down from 17.5 pounds to 15 pounds in a month which was too thin for her. I had to increase her food to 4 oz and now shes 16 pounds and maintains it nicely. Its definitley a fine balance between too little and too much when feeding raw I think.


Thanks Kat!  I do get what you mean by the oval/sausage shape, lol!
I think I may just reduce her morning meal by a few ounces, since with 2lbs of food a day she gained weight - so maybe a little less will be the perfect amount to help maintain it.

I was really shocked to see Eevee fill out so quickly. When I first adopted her she had visible ribs and just looked too narrow for her own good. Now I'm worried that she might get chubby! Lol! :tongue:
Yeah there's definitely that fine line there. Funny how huge the difference is between 15 pounds and 16 pounds! Ruby looks great, by the way.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I would take a few pounds off of her. Just make every other meal slightly smaller, that should do the trick :thumb:


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> I would take a few pounds off of her. Just make every other meal slightly smaller, that should do the trick :thumb:


Thank you Natalie, will do! Do you know if feeding less stunts the growth of the puppy or is that just a people thing? Or am I crazy all around? :tongue:


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

I would lighten her up a little bit. I think cutting back just a couple of ounces for one meal and see how she looks is a week or two. My pups are all kept very lean even as babies and they grow just fine. My last collie baby has never had anything but raw, is very lean and is topping 65 pounds. Don't know where he is getting that from - LOL


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Do you have a side shot you could post?

I think she looks good, maybe a little big but fur can throw it off. All 3 of mine lost a good bit of weight when they started.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> Do you have a side shot you could post?
> 
> I think she looks good, maybe a little big but fur can throw it off. All 3 of mine lost a good bit of weight when they started.


These are very recent photos - its hard to get a still side shot of her. :tongue: Her tuck used to be ... tuckier. LOL


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Yeah I'd definitely get a few lbs off her


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

I personally think she looks okay, but its hard to tell with the fur! I like to keep my dogs on the thin side (annie has hip problems) so i can understand if you are worried. but i would let her loose too much. She doesnt look nearly chubby imho!


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks guys!
Yeah, less weight is easier on the joints and hips, so I wanna keep her as lean and pretty as possible 
I'll be slowly reducing her meals starting tomorrow morning. :smile:


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

A little less on her would be good, but I don't think she is in the region of chubby 

You should be able to tell the difference between fur and fat by how it feels in your hand when you pinch in. Rottie's are nicknamed duvet dogs because when they are pups they have so much skin and fur and it is dead easy to tell that from fat.

fat when you pinch will feel different - you can try it on yourself / SO and pinch the skin on the back of the calf and (please don't take offense we are online after all :-D ) the stomach, you should be able to tell there is more fat on the stomach than the calf. The same is true on the pups.

Lean is always the way to be for our puppers


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## erinwagner (Aug 30, 2010)

Yikes...2 lbs of food for a 35 lb pup....I feel like I must be starving my lab pup. She certainly doesn't look fat but that seems like a lot of food for a dog that size. Mine is 15 weeks and weights 22 lbs.....he probably gets a little over 1 lb per day.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

eternalstudent said:


> A little less on her would be good, but I don't think she is in the region of chubby
> 
> You should be able to tell the difference between fur and fat by how it feels in your hand when you pinch in. Rottie's are nicknamed duvet dogs because when they are pups they have so much skin and fur and it is dead easy to tell that from fat.
> 
> ...


LOL not offended at all! :tongue: 
Duvet dogs - that's adorable. 



erinwagner said:


> Yikes...2 lbs of food for a 35 lb pup....I feel like I must be starving my lab pup. She certainly doesn't look fat but that seems like a lot of food for a dog that size. Mine is 15 weeks and weights 22 lbs.....he probably gets a little over 1 lb per day.


Yeah, haha. I used a calculator to determine how much she needs, but I really dont think she should be getting so much food daily either. Especially now that she's gained a little bit of weight, I think if I continued to feed 2lbs a day she would continue to gain.


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## Rodeo (Sep 11, 2011)

liquid said:


> LOL not offended at all! :tongue:
> Duvet dogs - that's adorable.
> 
> 
> Yeah, haha. I used a calculator to determine how much she needs, but I really dont think she should be getting so much food daily either. Especially now that she's gained a little bit of weight, I think if I continued to feed 2lbs a day she would continue to gain.


Probably so. Rodeo is about 40 pounds and eats 14 oz a day. Any more than that and she gets chubby fast. I'm jealous that I didn't think to name a dog Eevee though


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Rodeo said:


> Probably so. Rodeo is about 40 pounds and eats 14 oz a day. Any more than that and she gets chubby fast. I'm jealous that I didn't think to name a dog Eevee though


How old is Rodeo?
Haha thanks, I love the name Eevee! I think it suits her well, she looks just like a fox. :wink:
At the shelter her original name was Zelda. After we renamed her, my friends laughed at how I went from "one dorky name to another" lol!


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## Rodeo (Sep 11, 2011)

liquid said:


> How old is Rodeo?
> Haha thanks, I love the name Eevee! I think it suits her well, she looks just like a fox. :wink:
> At the shelter her original name was Zelda. After we renamed her, my friends laughed at how I went from "one dorky name to another" lol!


Rodeo is a few days shy of 14 months. Eevee does suit her.. and it was my favorite pokemon :tape: She's the first dog I've seen here with ears that rival Rodie's haha.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Rodeo said:


> Rodeo is a few days shy of 14 months. Eevee does suit her.. and it was my favorite pokemon :tape: She's the first dog I've seen here with ears that rival Rodie's haha.


Ah, I think after 12 months Eevee is supposed to eat a lot less. The meal calculator I used was: Totally Raw Natural Dog Food Meal Calculator 
LOL it was my favorite pokemon too! Oh gosh. Her ears are huge and they move around in the coolest way. I dont know how to even describe it :lol:

I weighed Eevee and the scale's reading 40lbs.  What have I done?!


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I know what you mean about not needing a lot of raw food.. Tess gets 1-1.2lb per day, a bit less if it's something like beef heart.. but she only weighs 10lb! Mr Bishop weighs 18lb and only gets around 1/2lb.. and Miss Willow who is almost 70lb needs to lose a lot and will only be getting 1/2lb.. doesn't seem like a lot!


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

Everytime I see her I get sad because she looks so much like my dog I grew up with. she's so beautiful. Sorry for my sob story but I'm tearing up. Anyways, I think she looks pretty good, I think DaneMama has it right, just reduce a little food but she looks beautiful. Her coat is very nice.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

liquid said:


> I weighed Eevee and the scale's reading 40lbs.  What have I done?!


Haha. My Dobie gained nine pounds in the first 8 days or so on raw. I was giving him, oh, maybe 3 pounds a day more than he needed.


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## DaneLover228 (Nov 29, 2011)

I think it would probably be okay to cut her food back a little bit. She is eating the same amount as Monty and he weighs 90lbs. He gained weight quickly on raw as well. He's gained 10lbs since we started in December.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

AveryandAudrey said:


> Everytime I see her I get sad because she looks so much like my dog I grew up with. she's so beautiful. Sorry for my sob story but I'm tearing up. Anyways, I think she looks pretty good, I think DaneMama has it right, just reduce a little food but she looks beautiful. Her coat is very nice.


Aww, I dont know what to say. Eevee thanks you for the compliment. :redface:


xellil said:


> Haha. My Dobie gained nine pounds in the first 8 days or so on raw. I was giving him, oh, maybe 3 pounds a day more than he needed.


LOL, how did you get it all off? Im guessing you got a scale by the 9th day eh? :wink:


DaneLover228 said:


> I think it would probably be okay to cut her food back a little bit. She is eating the same amount as Monty and he weighs 90lbs. He gained weight quickly on raw as well. He's gained 10lbs since we started in December.


Yeah, she was getting 16oz in the morning and 16oz at night. Right now I reduced her meals to 14oz and 15oz, I'm going to work on getting her morning meal down lower. I like feeding her a large meal at night so it holds her over until morning without pukes. Monty is an adult, right? I was under the impression that puppies ate more % of their body weight since they were growing.


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