condition scoring of dogs?!

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MrVelvet

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Right - as most of you know I own Lola who is a Lurcher! Yesterday I had TWO people remark on her weight! I was so cross!! She was waiting outside the shop, when I came out a man walked up to me and said " let me take you back in and buy a pie for your poor dog!!!!!!!!" I replied with "they are supposed to be like that" ..." and kinda laughed it off =/.. he said "oh are they? I bet she races to her food bowl when you DECIDE to feed her".. to which I got a bit snappy and said "No actually shes not a greedy dog
and if you don't mind I have better things to be doing that listening to your sh.... (and I dont even swear :O )

Then we got round the corner and she somehow acquired a serviette (sp) from a burger ? I took this off her (like anyone would?!) and a man from the taxi office over the road shouted.. "the poor things obviously hungry!" .. now if just one person had said it I may have dismissed it.. but having two comments has annoyed me and made me paranoid! so.. is there a condition score for dogs.. and heres a pic.. what do you think of her weight?Her ribs and pelvis are visible, her mum was abandoned so pups were a bit poorer than they should have been, shes about 20 weeks ish and is fed 3 x a day! James welbeloved lamb and rice kibble, she also has a big meaty bone and has pigs ears and chicken wings as treats!

It must also be known I was walking through a rather undesirable part of town where the dog population is mainly 'well 'ard 'pitbulls' and staffies (no offence to any staffie owner - I like the dogs .. just not when used as a status! ) anyway I appear to be ranting so here is the poor RSPCA case Lola - is she too skinny? if so.. what?? She's not greedy and wouldn't eat any more food... should I change it?

lola.jpg
 
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The trouble with condition scoring dogs is all breeds are built differently and have a different ideal weight. I'm no expert on lurcher types but to me I would like her to have a little bit more covering, especially over her pinbones, purely because pups can drop condition very quickly if they do pick up a bug. If she were older she would be more muscled and would probably present a different picture. I expect the long dog folk will now come on and tell me I am talking rubbish, which is fine by me, I probably am.
I wouldn't worry too much about idiot folks comments though, a lot of people tell me Evie is too thin, but I am perfectly happy with her weight, I think people are conditioned to seeing overweight dogs nowadays.
 
thankyou for your reply :) I too have often thought that her little pelvis should be covered a bit more which is why shes still fed 3 x a day.. but her weight doesnt seem to change! Would you change her feed? or just wait for her to fill out a bit more ?

Im happy to admit Im doing the wrong thing if someone that knows more thinks so! :)
 
Most lurchers go through a gangly puppy stage where they look a little ribby. To be honest I wouldn't worry as she will fill out once she stops growing upwards :-)

Most people now don't know what dogs should look like as fat looks normal!

She's lovely by the way xx
 
Supertrooper said:
Most lurchers go through a gangly puppy stage where they look a little ribby. To be honest I wouldn't worry as she will fill out once she stops growing upwards :-)

Most people now don't know what dogs should look like as fat looks normal!

She's lovely by the way xx
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Ahh I'm glad you think so - because like i said on the thread about comparing them to fictional characters.. she is like the squirrel on caffeine! So every ounce of energy she gets from her food is used hooning around like a fool!! and she also doubled in height since we got her.. a bit like a beanstalk!

so really - just carry on feeding what I am and hope she grows outwards a bit soon? :)
 
I would want to see a bit more on her, not so she's overweight but imo I don't like to be able to see the ribs so visibly all the way up the thorax.
 
I personally dont like to be able to see spine, ribs and hip bones so to me she could do with a bit more weight on. However, having a fussy eater myself who is skinnier than i'd like, i can sympathise entirely!

I dont rate a dry food diet at all, my dogs all get fed a raw (and cooked) meat diet with veg, pasta and rice. They all do very well on it, and i own a lot of dogs across 4 different breeds, they dont all have the same, they get whats suitable for the individual dog. Again, thats just a personal preference but my dogs condition improved immensely when we moved them off a dry food diet a few years ago.

ETA: they all get supplement daily with a garlic and fenugreek powder and cod liver oil :)
 
Add something tasty to her food to encourage her to eat more. Up her food intake basically. Then phase out the tasty item again.
 
The more I learn about the raw diet - the more its selling itself! The only issue I have with going fully raw is I have an 8 month old thats learning to be fully mobile - where would you feed it?! Although we moving somewhere with a garden tomorrow - shes far too wimpy to eat in the cold and wet. Is there a midway feed between dry and raw?

right - iv found an old HHO thread where someone has suggested lamb mince with their dry food - what are peoples thought on that ?
 
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MrVelvet said:
The more I learn about the raw diet - the more its selling itself! The only issue I have with going fully raw is I have an 8 month old thats learning to be fully mobile - where would you feed it?! Although we moving somewhere with a garden tomorrow - shes far too wimpy to eat in the cold and wet. Is there a midway feed between dry and raw?

right - iv found an old HHO thread where someone has suggested lamb mince with their dry food - what are peoples thought on that ?
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Its definately an improvement :D

Re the child issue, i dont have kids so im not best to advise (hopefully someone more helpful will come along!!) but you could certainly feed her in a crate which would solve the problem, keep the mess contained! Mine sometimes get fed in crates to avoid the others stealing the fussy ones food, they will often run into the nearest open crate when they see im doing their dinner as they only ever get crated at mealtimes lol

Cooked meat would be the midway perhaps?
 
and id be giving her this raw.. yes?

eta - right Im on it - I'm going to experiment with some raw things.. my idea is too give a raw meal a day, see how it goes and how much it costs and then possibly convert. I shall report back in a week or so! :) Thanks everyone x
 
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Both my dogs are lean but fit, you can see their ribs but thats all, I assume your dog is young and going through a growth spurt if not I would say too thin. I take it your worming programme is up to date.
 
Green tripe is great for putting on weight. Also pilchards or sardines, Evie loves them in tomato sauce, and I often feed if she's looking a bit lean, or even something as simple as a bit of oil on her food.
 
Yes DG she's growing and is upto date with worming. Ostrich - she looks lovely 0- on both! lol :)

Iv just has a read of the sticky and understand that kibble and raw is not to be fed on the same day. Would I be ok doing raw every other day and kibble on the others? I have a lot of dry food Id like to use up, I also find raw a bit over whelming so would like to ease into it.. would this be ok?
 
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