So proud of pup......

[Laurel]

Last night we took our 4 month old rescue dog that we have had for about a week to the vet for his first checkup. We walked in the waiting room and there are these dogs in there barking and cats beside us and he laid down with his head on his paws and looked at them like he was wondering what their problem was. Of course you could see the looks in people's eyes when we walked in. A couple kids came up and pet him and his little stump wagged. He never barked and was a perfect gentleman. We got in the room and doc lifted him up on the table and gave him worm med...never once while his hand was in his mouth did he even think of gnawing at him. Then when he gave him his shot he licked his hand while he was doing it. lol. He said he has pups younger than him come in there and about try to take his arm off. He said his temperament is excellent and should make us an excellent family dog. He said his only fault was a slight underbite and he was a little under weight (33 lbs.). Which of course I would be too if I had been pinned up in my crate for 3 days and not let out nor paid attention to. He put him on calcium tabs and we upped his food to about 4 cups a day. I was so proud of him and wanted to share. I knew everyone knows the sense of satisfaction in your dogs and knew you would humor me sharing this ;)

[Carina43]

Cool! It sounds like you have a great pup there, way to go!

Cooper was like that - at his very first vet visit right after I brought him home, he slept through the vet exam & barely woke up when he got the thermometer up his butt. :D People used to kid me that I gave him Valium for breakfast.

I read how you got him, poor guy. One word of caution on the calcium: it may be a very bad idea! Mostly what large breed puppies do NOT need is extra calcium; the large breed puppy formulas have lower calcium and protein, because too much can cause joint problems - sometimes life long problems. I urge you to reconsider the calcium, unless your vet has a real good reason to give him extra. He'll gain the weight just fine with decent food that's got plenty of fat. Just FIY.

Give your pup a hug, he sounds great! :)

[Laurel]

Hi Carina.....the reason he recommended the calcium was because he said that large breed dogs are known to sometimes develop rickets sometimes because they grow so fast...have you heard of this? Something about the rate of bone growth compared to the rate of how fast the rest of the dog grows.

[RottieGirl86]

My female puppy was 40 lbs at 4 months and now is approx. 60 lbs at 9 mos. She was a slow grower, which I liked. Someone told me my rott was underweight and how they could make her "fatten" up so she'd be full grwon by then ( 6 mos at the time, geez.)

I would not worry so much about the weight as in what the dog is eating now. Our mutt (Pek mix) was severly underweight, you could see ribs on her when we rescued her. It takes a good bit of time for the dog to settle and put on the weight, but the key is doing it slow, so their systems can adjust as they adjust to the new house as well ( IMHO.) Depends on the shock and how much they trust humans.

Lots of good food choices out there. And lots of posts here about them too. Sasha, my late rott, fluctuated between 75 lbs to 95 lbs ( people had to feed her table scraps, *eyeroll*, that stopped when Vet said she was overweight at 95 lbs. for her frame.)

I take it the Calcium was just short term use? Did the vet do a blood work up? I wouldn't worry then.

Congrats on your puppy!

[Carina43]

I thought it was vitamin D deficiency that caused rickets..?
This could be a question for the vet forum, I don't want to steer you wrong. From what I've been told and read, excess calcium and other minerals can actually cause joint abnormalities too. My first Rottie in 1986 had rather troublesome panosteaitis for a while when he was younger...my vet at the time recommended calcium supplements, as well as whatever god-awful kibble I was feeding at the time (I wasn't very educated about food at the time.) I've been told the calcium may have caused this, or at least contributed.

I just googled "dogs rickets" and this page came up:
http://www.bigleegs.com/ourgsd_l/chd1.htm
I would make SURE you are doing the right thing, if your vet is recommending calcium for any sort of long term use. I don't think your vet is correct - but I'm no more than an armchair expert, so don't rely purely on what I'm telling you!

Sorry to have veered this thread off in a different direction, Ill be interested in any feedback from those more knowlegable than I. :)

[lblax]

i woulnt do the calcium just feed a good food to much calcium is actually hard on the joints in pups that is one reason to feed large breed puppy food instead of adult food because it has lower controlled calcium. to give calcium for rickets is absurd

[Laurel]

I just went out and got the bottle of tablets...it is Pet-Cal made by Pfizer...1 tablet contains 17.5% calcium,14.0% phosphorus and 400 iu of vitamin D. From the way he talked it was only for a few months and not long term. I am going to hold off on giving him the tablets till I talk with him more at the end of the month at his next scheduled shot. Thanks for the info everyone :) I went and did some reading on skeletal develpment and the risks of too much calcium ect..thanks for the links.