A bag of bones still and spaying question - I am useless where bitches are concerned!

[Ravenwood]

Gah!! Rosie is only the second bitch I have every owned (the first being my first own dog - Norwegian Buhund - when I was little and we only had bitches as a family)

Rosie is still very skinny She has a glossy coat, bright eyes, wet nose, full of energy and affection but a bag of bones. She was born on January 13th so exactly 7 months old today. Her worming is up to date, she is frontlined, she is fed twice a day (although not particularly food orientated) and appears to be very healthy. In fact some evenings I give her an extra scoop an hour after her dinner just in case she is still hungry.

This pic was taken by Persephone when she house sat for me last week

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22437746@N08/4886703796/

Her ribs, hips, backbone are very prominent.

And onto my next question.......

When shall I get her spayed? I don't want Sprollie pups!! Don't forget that Flyn is entire. There seems to be a never ending dilemma on this question - some people seem to think that its best to wait until after their first season, some don't.

Surely she will come into season soon and to be totally frank it would be almost impossible for me to keep them apart!

Shall I book her into the vets now?

Gah!! I never wanted a useless collie in the first place!!!

(PS: she is rather sweet though, if not a bloody nuisance!! )

And finally......... a gratuitous pic of the three together - I love this picture - again taken by P

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22437746@N08/4886706232/

PS: I do put oil in her food as a calorie booster and the other dogs don't steal her food (far too well mannered!)

She is at that very gangly, all legs stage - I wonder if that is why she is so thin?

If anyone wants a very clever, intelligent little smooth haired BC - please PM me!!! only joking!!

 

[Chestnuttymare]

I would wait til she has had her first season, if she hasn't already. She looks healthy enough from the pic, she just looks like a rangey type. She will probably body up some more and just going through a gangly stage at the moment. The best person to ask is your vet though. Stupid question but has she been wormed lately?

 

[CAYLA]

She looks in lovley condition but as u suggest a bit ribby, this would not botherme in the slightest, some dogs are jsut thin, like some humans, I give our boney lurcher lad vegie oil on his dinner it has def helped but he is still on the slender side.

Re neutering (which will help her put some pounds on)
With small to medium breeds I always go before a season and large after the first, IMO spaying young has nothing to do with mental state and I have had enough dogs and neuteredenough to know if they remained in puppy limbo
I do believe neutering young in large breeds will alter growth patterns and a large breed dog will have a good bit of growth before a first season where as a small/medium is almost there.

If you want to wait till after the first season then you can go with spaying if she gets caught (which means she will be done early anyway) or inj, which will bring her back into season (which u dont want) obs she is way to young to go ahead with a litter IMO, in your position and given she is of medium breed I would do her now,how old is she now?

 

[Ravenwood]

Thank you - I did speak to the vet about it when she had her second jab - he was also unclear as to the best time to spay her!

Her worming is up to date. I am sure, like you I suspect, my dogs eat a variety of sheep/cow/horse poo on their travels so I do keep them wormed regularly

 

[Ravenwood]

Thanks Cayla - you have hit the nail on the head - she is rangy (and very fast!!) I am sure there must be a bit of greyhound somewhere down the line!

I might pop into the vets Sat morning - get Toby checked out and have a Cartophen injection and book her in for spaying. Better that than find her in pup!

Gah! More bleeding expense - why on earth do we surround ourselves with animals?!!!

PS: She is 7 months old today

 

[CAYLA]

I jsut spied the 7 months in your OP u must have been editing as I read
In that case I would def go ahead and neuter her asap.
I have a 7 month old rescue going in tomorrow for her op she has not had a season either and she is small to medium breed.

 

[Ravenwood]

Decision made then..I will go into the vets on Sat and book her in for Weds (which is the day they do their ops)

So, my next post will be.....vibes for Rosie!!

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

OK First of all don't worry!

I have an English Pinter bitch, and although she isn't a working dog, she leads a very active life and does as much as a working dog would do.

She looked extremely skinny up until the age of 2. Ribs visible and pronounced hip bones. She's always been fully vacinated, wormed and I use front line.
The vets were not concerned, although they did suggest I keep her on puppy food for longer, before putting onto a junior mix. When I did swap to a junior mix, she dropped weight again so I had to supplement it with a higher calorie working dog food and give her more than the recommended amout. Although being fussy eater, it wasn't particularly easy getting her to eat it all.
I now have her on a working dog food, which i supplement with some tesco's ecomonomy mutton mince, every other day.

We had her spayed shortley after her first season, but it didn't make any difference to her weight.

During the first 2 years of her life, the only time we could get her to put on weight, was if she had to stay indoors due to an injury or recovery: She put on weight during her rest period after she was spayed, and again during a rest period when she badly sliced her foot and leg, but as soon as normal activity returned, it all dropped off again.

She has only just started to put cover on, and she is now 2 years old. We're not doing anything differently.

 

[Spudlet]

There is a collie I know that is just the same - all legs and gangle at that age She is an agility demon - ever so zippy!