17 Week Old English Mastiff underweight?

[jreach72]

From everything I have gathered from this forum and others our 17 week old female mastiff is under weight considerably. We purchased her from a breeder and when I went to pick her up she was the same height and estimated weight of her sister and a bit smaller and definitely lighter than her brother. I was a bit surprised to be honest but the breeder said they go through those phases. I am attaching a picture so you can see what I am referring to. Now, I am not planning on breeding her, nor showing her so to be honest she could end up being 14" tall and 40lbs and I would still be happy with her. My question is really this...is this normal in this breed to see this type of size at this age? Her mom and dad where quite young and relatively small from what I have seen of other adult mastiffs. Dad was 165lbs and 2 1/2 years old. Mom was 130lbs and 1 1/2 years old. She is a sweetheart and her temperament so far is incredible...very lazy, loves to snuggle and only issue we are having is getting our neutered male lab/mix to not play to rough with her...he keeps trying to put his legs on her and his weight.

 

[jreach72]

I forgot to mention she is AKC and CKC registered if that matters.

 

[raechiemay]

Her parents sizes are going to play a big part in her mature weight. From the pic of her eating from the bowl, she appears to be underweight. I can easily see her ribs. How much are you feeding her & what is she eating? Also, has she been checked for intestinal parasites because that could play into her being able to hold onto nutrients. I have the runt from my girl's litter & she is currently 7 months & 70 lbs. At 17 weeks she was 40 lbs. With mastiffs they will go through weird growth stages. I noticed with my girl, she has weeks where she may put on 3-5 lbs then weeks where she won't gain any weight but instead will shoot up an inch in height. Sometimes she would look lanky & way too skinny, other weeks she would look like a fat pig.

 

[jreach72]

We are feeding her Blue Buffalo Free as that is what our lab/mix puppy is on. She is getting about 4-5 cups right now sometimes she eats it all sometimes she leaves a little behind. When she wakes up at 1am she walks straight to her food bowl and whines, not sure if I should give in or not?

 

[DennasMom]

Our EM girl was right around 50lbs at 17 weeks. Her parents were 185lbs (mom at 3 yrs) and 200lbs (dad at 2 yrs). She's been putting on about 0.5lb/day since we brought her home.

Your pup does look thin from the first picture. I don't think I, personally would give it to feeding at 1am, but others here on the forum do. Our pup is a garbage disposal, though... she used to be a grazer on kibble, but ever since we started adding some raw 'gravy' to her kibble - and now that we're 100% raw, she will eat any amount put in front of her. She's getting a little on the heavy side, if you ask me... so we now have the opposite problem.

How's training going? Does she get lots of treats? I would think that would help add weight, unless the treats are so low calorie that they're adding bulk, but not nutrition and causing her not to eat enough of her "real" food.

If you're concerned that she's not getting enough calories, you could make up some satin balls for her: http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html

I wonder if it has anything to do with your other dog - most of the time having competition will make the dog eat more, faster, but maybe as a puppy, she's just being deferential to the other dog? If you feed her alone in her crate does she finish her food more often?

Most people advocate letting puppies self-regulate their intake - as much as they can eat in 10-15 minutes, then pick up the remainder (if there is any), 3x a day. You could try letting her eat her fill in the evenings and see if she takes more than her usual portion. Of course, for those of us with the opposite problem... over-eating led to loose stools...

 

[jreach72]

Thanks for all the awesome replies...she is eating fine now. We have moved to 3 times a day feeding and she has her first vet visit today so that will tell us a lot. I will post what the vet tells us when we are done. Denna, thank you for the link...this will help more than you know. Our other dog Bear (Lab mix) is suffering from a skin issue we think is related to allergies to food. We moved to blue buffalo free in order to help with that but as of know the vet and a constant supply of prednisone is the only relief...and I hate giving her drugs. Vet is meeting with us today on bear to discuss a special home cooked diet for him.

 

[musicdeb]

I agree, your female mastiff is very skinny, as seen in the first pic. Generally, puppies should be fed at least 3 times a day. Be aware, that the mastiff may have skin allergies as well from the kibble. Some mastiffs are allergic to chicken and grain that is in kibble. If you decide to feed a cooked or raw diet, most mastiffs can handle chicken.

Keep us posted. BTW, what is the mastiff's name?

 

[cam]

I had a female like that ,i found that she didn't like were her bowl was located.We moved it to a more private location and she did much better--go figure. All and all its better for her to be lighter than heavy.

 

[jreach72]

She is doing much better with eating...maybe it just took a few days to get accustomed to her new home and our other dog. Her vet visit went great he gave her a clean bill of health and her second round of shots. She slept through the entire visit including the shots. We now have her eating 3x per day and we are giving her 2 cups per feeding though the vet said until she puts on some more weight we can give more if she wants it. So far she is stopping before she fully finishes.

Her name is Payton Sweetness btw. Thank you again to everyone who posted responses As for the allergies we are dealing that exact issue with our other dog Bear Lee a lab mix. He and the puppy are both on Blue Buffalo Free and he is also on a prednisone treatment for the itching. So far Payton shows not allergic signs.

 

[jreach72]

Just a quick update. Payton has not really grown out but she has certainly grown up. She is almost as tall as out lab/mix now and I bet by end of this week she will be taller than him. She is still pretty skinny but the ribs are not as pronounced as they once where.

 

[Smart_Family]

Which formula of the Blue Buffalo Freedom is she on? Many mastiffs have issues with chicken and/or grains and wouldn't necessarily have symptoms like itching or rashes. Sometimes they stool that is not so formed or have trouble gaining weight because the food is running right through them. She's a pretty girl regardless and I love her name

 

[moonglow]

Payton is quite the cute puppy. As far as intestinal parasites go I would check as many fecals as you can, especially if she is still looking thin. Yesterday I found that my puppy Rolex has worms despite having a few fecals checked, being wormed and on Heartgard. Roly has always been on the thin side but he was always growing so I wasn't aware he had worms, the only other symptom was loose stool later in the day which I attributed to treats and growth spurts.

 

[jreach72]

Payton is on Blue Buffalo Freedom Puppy, our lab (Bear) is on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Duck...we have considered swapping her to the same as our lab but I wanted to keep her on the puppy food until she puts on some weight. Her stool is soft but not runny...all puppies I have ever had, had similar soft stools until they were switched to adult food. We are feeding her 2cups 3x per day and she is eating roughly 90% of the food in her bowl, she never seems to be "HUNGRY" except in the morning.

 

[Robtouw]

I'm just curious, are both parents OEM? She's a cute pup, but I am not seeing traditional Old English markings or build in her, she is built more like a Boerbel. As far as weight, she will continue to fill out once you get her feed under control. Find a premium food with a high meat content, low or no grains or fillers and consider adding fresh meats, veggies (are great treats) and yogurt that is high in l-bifidus and acedopheous. The yogurt helps control yeast in her coat that could populate from feeds high in carbs such as potatos and other starches and also helps keep her tummy balanced. Sometimes, it takes a good deal of trial with different food products to find one that she both likes and her stomach likes as well.

 

[FRANK]

Hello there, I would definitely keep her on LARGE BREED PUPPY Food until she gains some weight. There is a difference between just a normal puppy food and large breed puppy food. So please pay attention to what your buying at the store. I myself made this mistake of buying similar colored bag and it said something else when i noticed two days later after noticing my dog started farting because of that.

And feeding her on regular time helps them put on some weight and also we use to MIX gravy from the meat or Yogurt or something similar ( avoid milk ) he loves to eat with his food so that he never leaves anything behind. With that being said, dont worry too much.

 

[jreach72]

Robtouw, yeah she is a mastiff, both parents are AKC and CKC registered though both parents where on the small side.
As for the food, she is on this http://bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/freedom-puppy does someone have a better recommendation for the puppy food. We have used BB for quite a long time and have always been happy with the product and the result in our animals, but I never considered the fact that it may not be appropriate for a large breed. Would she be better on this http://bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/lp-puppy-large-breed-chicken? My concern was the inclusion of rice...I am a primalist myself so I do not consume grains due to the inflamation problems most grains create in joints...just assumed that logic would be the same for a dog. Open to all thoughts and ideas..

Thanks to everyone for the replies and good advice!

 

[jenny adams]

hi i agree with every one she is skinny but in your last pic you can see she has put on some weight and if you have treated her for worms them keep on feeding her a more regular amount 3 times a day
my problem is not weight its her eating patron she was fed with her litter mates they had food available all the time
now we have started feeding 3 times a day morning and night she eats with are old girl but dinner she gets by her self (we cant feed the old girl 3 times she has weight issues the only time she relay eats all her food is at night when we add a bit of trip to it she scoffs it down the rest of the time she is like i will eat a bit and then leave it i have bin leave her unfinished food in her cage would i be better removing it or not we have had her for nearly a week am i expecting to much to soon

 

[musicdeb]

I have found that feeding a dog on a regular schedule can cause them to throw up bile if they are not fed at that scheduled time. I feed Titan at diff times every couple of days so his body will not do the bile heave ho because it's expecting food at that time.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[jenny adams]

hi we dont have set times they get fed when the kind have finish breakfast which can be between 730 and 845 so some times its after 9 am with getting kids out to school lunch depends on if i an having good day or bad (i have a health problem that courses pain) it is mostly between 12 and 230 for lunch then tea is again after the kid have had tea so between 530 and 830 depends on how long it tacks for us to make up are minds so not that much set times just set meals eg for the puppy i would like to see her eat 3 full meals a day most of the time there is food left in her bowl when it time for the next meal and she dos not scoff it down apart for tea which she inhales

 

[musicdeb]

hi we dont have set times they get fed when the kind have finish breakfast which can be between 730 and 845 so some times its after 9 am with getting kids out to school lunch depends on if i an having good day or bad (i have a health problem that courses pain) it is mostly between 12 and 230 for lunch then tea is again after the kid have had tea so between 530 and 830 depends on how long it tacks for us to make up are minds so not that much set times just set meals eg for the puppy i would like to see her eat 3 full meals a day most of the time there is food left in her bowl when it time for the next meal and she dos not scoff it down apart for tea which she inhales

Cool...