Stunted Growth?? Change food???

I feel like my 5 month old rottie hasen't grown in over a month. His head isn't nearly as big as I thought it would be. I'm feeding him Eukaneuba puppy for large breed. He's also not eating as much (unless I feed him by hand!) Could he be bored with his food? Someone told me about California Natural...is it any good? Should I switch his food?

As far as your pup not growing, is it possible that since you see him every day you are not noticing it?? Also, you do not want him to grow too fast as that adds to joint problems. California Natural is EXCELLENT food, so is Innova, both made by the same company. Human grade meat, the animals used are not pumped with hormones and the vegtables are not sprayed with pesticides. Good luck and keep us posted on your puppy!

A friend came over last night and also said that he doesn't look like he's grown and the last time he was over was for the Superbowl! What is the average weight for a rottie of 5 months? I'm going to switch to Cal Nat and also begin feeding him raw meats and veggies. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/wink.gif

[Diane Heller-Vaccaro]

Generally its believed if your feeding to much food they won't finish whats in their bowl. I would be very careful with overfeeding to create a larger puppy and large breed puppy foods' can cause problems that result in bone loss of bone mass and others skeletal problems.

[CarolineS]

Lori,

Since a full grown male Rottweiler can be anywhere from 24" to 27" in height, and be either light, medium or heavy boned, it is impossible to give you an "average" weight for your dog. Also, since weight is purely a measure of how much the owner feeds the dog, it is not a standard you should go by. Your vet should be able to tell you if your pup is a healthy weight if you don't know how to tell.

Changing his food and feeding him more will not make him any bigger than he is genetically programmed to be, it will just make him fat, cause OCD and strain his joints and ligaments. A lot of lines are very slow maturing and you might not see the characteristics you're looking for until 2 years or later. If both his parents look like the kind of dog you wanted, chances are he will too. If you don't know his background, there really is no way to predict how big he will be or how fast he will grow. Forget about trying to make him grow more and just concentrate on making him grow up healthy.

Caroline,
Thanks for your reply. Both Niko's mom & dad were exactly what I was looking for. Both male & female were strong, healthy, and beautiful. We searched long and hard for our baby and are very happy with him. Being a new rottie owner (i also have a 7yr old black lab), I just want what's best. Raising the lab was a piece of cake compared to Niko! http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif
My reasons for wanting to change his food is not b/c I want him to grow any faster. I was told by numerous people, vet included that California Natural is EXCELLENT. I also believe he's getting bored with Eukan. I tried the raw veggies in his dinner last night and he spit every green bean out! It was too funny watching him.
We're visiting the vet on tues. Then starting obediance training on saturday. Thanks for your advice!

[CarolineS]

Lori,

You might well be right about the Euk. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif I've never used it, but I've noticed there have been quite a few people on this board who have dogs that just plain don't like it.

[Diane Heller-Vaccaro]

Yup-

Its true I used and my dogs ate it for over a year and then I noticed they just didn't seem to enjoy their meals. The option of adding canned food was out because Nero already needs to loose at least 10 pounds. So I researched here on the board and on the internet and found someone selling Innova and California Natural right down the street from me. Both are excellent choices.