EM weight problems?

[truckersatlas]

Hello, my names Hayden I have a female EM named ziva. She's 12 weeks old and I just took her to the vet and she only weighs 18lb. She looks healthy shots are up to date eats well sleeps good active poops fine shes in good health. Im just worried about her weight. Her mom weighed 230lb and the dad weighed 190. Im feeding her southern states brand adult dog food high protien and high fat with no aditives s. Should I be worried or does these puppies grow different and she might catch up to the other pups at 6 months¿ I do not know what the other pups weigh.

 

[Penelope's Mom]

Welcome, Hayden. What a cutie! I love the brindle Ems. I'm no expert, but I would say her body condition looks spot on. She looks great and acts normal and that's a good thing. I think she will catch up.

 

[voidecho]

She looks great. I wouldn't worry at all. They all grow at different rates.

I shouldn't say this without seeing a picture, but I doubt the mother really was 230 and if she was she was most likely overweight. 230 is a HUGE male EM, let alone a female. 230 lb females are pretty darn rare. I have no doubt the breeders of my first EM overstated the weights of his mom and dad. Happens alot.

 

[musicdeb]

Welcome aboard to you and Hayden~ Per the pics, Hayden's body condition looks good. Be more concerned with body condition than body weight.



I checked out the Southern States dog food and I assume you're feeding the Naturals brand. Per dog food advisor, it's an average food with not a lot of meat and it's mostly a plant based food. If you're using the Advanced brand, it has a bad rating. Southern States Advanced Dog Food | Review and Rating

Check the calcium and phosphorous levels with is the most important minerals to check on dog food. Protein is important, as well, but C & P determines bone growth.

Calcium & Phosphorous Requirements for Dogs

Dog Food FAQs: Protein

Generally, mastiffs are allergic to chicken and grains in dog food and treats. You may want to check out these grain free foods and choose a non-chicken flavor: Acana Regionals, Wellness Core, Earthborn Holistics, Innova Nature's Table, Castor & Pollux, Fromms or Taste of the Wild .Chewy.com is a great place to order dog food and they offer free shipping.

Remember to do a slow transition with changing dog food.

Slow transition to the new food is as follows to prevent diarrhea. If at any time during the transition, the pup has diarrhea return to previous amounts of food per feeding. If you are switching flavors made by the same manufacturer, you should not have to do a slow transition.

Amount per feeding:

Day 1-4 ¾ cup of old food and ¼ cup of new food.

Day 5-9 ½ cup of old food and ½ cup of new food.

Day 10-14 ¾ cup of new food and ¼ cup of old food

Day 15 Start 100% of new food

OR

You can feed the pup boiled meat and boiled white rice with canned/raw pumpkin (not the pie filling) usually start with 1 teaspoon or the pumpkin for young puppies and 1-2 tablespoons of pumpkin for pups older than 8-10 months for 4-5 days to reset their system. After the reset, start the new food.

 

[DennasMom]

Beautiful pup!
Don't worry about weight... just keep tabs on body condition.

The puppy will grow as much as she's going to at the rate her genetics have programmed in. Extra food will just go towards padding, and might hamper proper bone and joint growth - so keeping her trim is a better option.

In the pictures - I see she's interested in your houseplants... have you checked on those? some can be toxic... might want to work on her "leave it" skills around the plants. I know my plants take a beating when they come in for the winter (our cat loves the fresh greenery).

Great info in those links, MusicDeb!

 

[truckersatlas]

Thank you guys so much for responding. The owner said that the other 9 pups were about 20 to 25 pounds so she's not to far behind.
Musicded great info!! The owner feeds hers a special giant breed food that a person actual makes in her hometown and she said the southern states food would be just fine. Silly me I trusted her and bought some. I usually research everything but I trusted her since she breeds English mastiffs.
Hmm its the advanced active one. I think I'm going to make a trip to pet smart and see what I can switch over because the reviews are like 1.5 stars out of 5. What would you guys suggests on a young pup like her at 12 weeks? Sheew I feel so bad for feeding her the wrong stuff.
You said something about treats are not so good I've been feeding her true chews says its 100% natural but so does McDonalds beef patty lol. I've heard treating her with real turkey is a good thing.
Yes the plants shes pretty smart I tought her to leave it and about 5 other tricks in a week. Shes super smart and listens pretty well. I just can't wait to get by the puppy stage with the bitting plus potty trained.

 

[musicdeb]

Don't feel bad, you didn't know. I've heard of breeders feeding Purina puppy chow to their pups.

You can cook some chicken, cut into small pieces and use those for treats. Another good treat is to bake some slice chicken livers but too much of these treat can cause diarrhea. 100% natural means nothing, you want to confirm the treats have no grains and has meat listed at the first ingredient and it actually list the type of meat like turkey or chicken.

I'm not sure what food is at Petsmart because I order Titan's food from chewy.com. They will not have any of the foods I previously listed. When looking at the food, check on your phone what dogfoodadvisor.com rates the food. You want to avoid foods with a lot of grains/corn/and unknown meats in the food.

 

[Robtouw]

I fed my pup Blue Basics or Innova puppy with great results. It is extremely unlikely that her mom was anywhere near 200lbs. Don't fret it, she'll be a lovely dog regardless of weight if you train her correctly. My fav and Cruiser's fav treat for trsining was shredded deli turkey. Frozen pb balls or fruit pieces will help you through teething. The two most important words to teach are "mine" and "yours". Cruiser learned them early! Good luck and stay patient!