Should i be worried about weight

[Jacquie]

Tazer is 7 months old, and over the past couple months he as gotten quite larger, i still feed him the same as before because he is a puppy.....the mother is 12 lbs and the father is 11......tazer is now 16 lbs. I was wondering if it was something i was doing...should i be worried about it.......my other dog who is 10 has been the same weight for those same years.......tazer seems to have stopped growing he has been the same height for 3 months now.......i don't understand why he has gotten so much bigger i am afraid this might not be healthy. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thank you tazer mai-ling and jacquie

[oc_spirit]

i would cut back on his kibble intake. Do you free feed? You may want to put him on schedualed feedings. If you worry about him being hungry replace the taken away kibble with string beans or corn (the act as a "filler" but have no real nutrient value since your dog can't digest them properly). Also up his excercise some.

[Barrett]

What breed of dog is Tazer? Are you feeding him by the weight he is or the weight he should be? I have dachshunds and they should weigh about 10-12 pounds ( they are bigger than the breed standard). I feed the amount that it says on the bag of dog food for a 10 pound dog. I cut that amount in two and feed my dogs twice a day. Bailey has a tendancy to gain weight easily so I cut her food back a little each week until she looks right.

[Jacquie]

HI, Tazer is a shih tzu cross, the vet told me that he shoul be about 10-15 lbs full grown, the problem is that his not full grown. My other dog which is also a shih tzu cross has been twenty lbs since we got her at 9 months....i free feed becaus Mai-ling only eats once a day........i don't see a big difference in their eating habits. thank you for your advice i will try it out anyone who has some other advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

[Carrie]

Pop by your vet's and ask him to tell you if he looks overweight. Often a vet's office will have a chart hanging on the wall or you could even find something online showing the proper condition of a dog. They'll show a picture of a severely underweight dog, a slightly underweight, normal, over and obese. You should be able to run your hands along his sides, using medium pressure and feel his ribs. They shouldn't show, but you should be able to feel them when you press a little bit as you run your hands along him. But I'd check with the vet. He shouldn't charge you for that. It's good to stop in for a social visit every week anyhow, just as part of your socializing program for your pup. He can come out in the waiting room for a sec between patients. That way, too, your pup will get use to him and associate him with treats and pats, not just with needles and poking and prodding. LOL. (It makes it easier for the vet too, later on not to have a biting dog or a fearful one when he does have to do something with the dog)

[Barrett]

What is he crossed with? Even if his mix is the same breeds as your other dog he may still end up much bigger. I have two mini dachshunds that are full grown. One is much bigger than the other, you never really know what you are going to get. Bailey is my first dachshund and she was the tiniest little pup. She only weighed 2 pounds when I brought her home. She is now about 12 pounds which is much bigger than breed standard. Lucy is my second dachshund and weighed 5 pounds when I brought her home. I expected her to be bigger than Bailey but she pretty much quit growing by 6 months of age and stayed really tiny. She weighs about 8 pounds full grown. It was all quite a surprise to me how they both turned out.

When you say free feed do you mean you fill thier bowls and let them eat all day or do you measure out one day worth of food and let them eat when they want?

[Jacquie]

HI, Tazer is crossed with a jack russel, i put in one day supply of food when it is gone i don't feed anymore, i think that my father is the culpret, he is bedridden and the dogs spend a lot of time with him, he assures me that he doesn't feed them, but i am sure he does feed them. I was wondering why one dog would gain weight and the other doesn't