 Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Betty Waldron ]
#333924 - 05/22/2011 06:48 PM |
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I'm adopting him, he should be mine tomorrow! He isn't really hyper, nor does he pace, he plays pretty normally but he gets tired fairly quick.
He had a fairly decent appetite when I fed him, he ate at a normal rate and didn't rush to get the food when it was put in front of him. He definitely went for the wet food first before he went for the dry, but when I put his extra food in during lunch time, he ate it pretty readily. I really just think he isn't being fed enough, and he doesn't get a high quality food to start with.
I'm going to take him to the vet and get him checked out as soon as I can though so I can be sure there isn't any underlying issues.
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Betty Waldron ]
#333925 - 05/22/2011 06:49 PM |
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BTW everyone Josh lives with me. Our dogs have already met and get along fine. Rocky's cage is all ready for him:
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Michael Bennett ]
#333929 - 05/22/2011 07:09 PM |
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It would stand to reason with that lack of condition that he would not have much in the way of stamina.
MY DOGS...MY RULES
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Michael Bennett ]
#333930 - 05/22/2011 07:13 PM |
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Welcome to the board, Josh. Sounds like Rocky has lucked out and gets to join a household where he will have lots of company and get the care and attention he needs.
I'm trying to put a little weight on one of my dogs right now and have found that breaking it down into three meals is working better for him than overwhelming his digestive system with two very large meals in a day. If your schedule permits, maybe you could even give four meals for the time being, until Rocky starts to get closer to the weight he should be.
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Cheri Grissom ]
#333935 - 05/22/2011 07:22 PM |
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I think I'm going to do four meals (6 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.). Do you think I should go easy on the exercise until he starts to gain some weight? I don't want to over exert him, it's not like he's going to gain muscle if he's still so rail thin
edit:: I also found out his previous family kept him caged for 8 hours a day (and all night) and took him for one walk a day, so I'm guessing he just lacks muscle because they made him a couch potato.
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Josh Dirkx ]
#333937 - 05/22/2011 07:29 PM |
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I think it would be wise to introduce him to an exercise program on a gradual basis, starting out easy and increasing things as his weight and stamina improve. I'm not a health professional, but that's what they always recommend for us humans, to start slow and work up gradually, and I'm sure it's true for dogs, too.
He's going to be adjusting to a lot of changes in his life (all good, thankfully), but I'd take things nice and easy, just to minimize any stress on him.
eta: Sounds like they made him worse than a couch potato, they made him a prisoner.
Edited by Cheri Grissom (05/22/2011 07:30 PM)
Edit reason: eta
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Josh Dirkx ]
#333939 - 05/22/2011 07:36 PM |
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edit:: I also found out his previous family kept him caged for 8 hours a day (and all night) and took him for one walk a day, so I'm guessing he just lacks muscle because they made him a couch potato.
No wonder they couldn't 'handle' him! That's very similar to how I got my dog. Under worked, under trained= highly annoying working dogs.
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Josh Dirkx ]
#333941 - 05/22/2011 07:44 PM |
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I think I'm going to do four meals (6 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.). Do you think I should go easy on the exercise until he starts to gain some weight? I don't want to over exert him, it's not like he's going to gain muscle if he's still so rail thin
Yeah, easy does it. And remember... the first 30 days is about bonding. So buddy up, relax, watch TV together, practice grooming, many short walks. Basic leash skills. And load up that marker!
Congrats! Josh. It sounds like a great match!
edit:: I also found out his previous family kept him caged for 8 hours a day (and all night) and took him for one walk a day, so I'm guessing he just lacks muscle because they made him a couch potato.
Oh, blankety-blank. Twits like that shouldn't even have a stuffed dog, let alone a young Malinois. He's got to think he's died & gone to heaven!
I can't wait to see his filled out pics! 
Crochet... FAIL!
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Josh Dirkx ]
#334060 - 05/23/2011 05:57 PM |
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I just got Rocky home and his first meal was 1 cup of science diet and 1.5 cups of Grandma's Lucy (which is the same thing as Honest Kitchen). When I put the food in his crate he went for the food as soon as I let him, but he stopped eating after a few bites and hasn't touched it since.
I'm going out to dinner myself and I'm going to leave the food in his crate. Tomorrow I think I'm going to mix in some browned ground beef. Anyone have any other tips?
He is full of energy, we played fetch and I started working basic commands with him (sit and lay mostly). It's obvious nobody bothered to teach him anything. I fitted him with a prong collar and I got him walking beside me consistently fairly quickly as well. My main concern is just the apatite, I know he will eat when he absolutely has to but I don't want him to go hungry. I think the stress of being in a new home in a crate is stopping him from eating? I might try to feed him outside tomorrow on a lead or something like that.
Tips are welcome!
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Re: Underweight Malinois Questions
[Re: Josh Dirkx ]
#334062 - 05/23/2011 06:15 PM |
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Grandma Lucy's is a dehydrated food that you add water to, right? If it's like Honest Kitchen, I know that the texture was something really different for my dogs. One of them took to it right away but the other one still seems to not know quite what to do with it.
I'm thinking one cup of SD and one and a half cups of the new stuff might be overdoing it a bit for now. Try a meal that's mostly SD with just a little GL to see if it's any more palatable to him, maybe 3/4 to 1/4 or even less at first.
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