Free-feeding, too thin?

PappyMom · 11-02-2009, 10:42 AM

With Gizmo, we fed freely until he was about 6 or so months..and out of the lanky teenage ugly puppy stage that Paps go through. Roxy is now 7 months, and I am still free-feeding her, which is making housetraining more complex then needed. I still feel that she's too thin..so I don't think I can stop free-feeding..and I do give a bit of nutri-cal in the AM.. Once a week, each dog gets a raw egg..and Friday night's dinner usually consists of white rice, boiled burger, boiled carrots and kibble. I give yogurt twice a week to keep the digestive systems regulated.. Anything else I should be doing? She's just SO tiny compared to all of the paps we've met..and my mom insists she's too skinny! lol

Laurelin · 11-02-2009, 10:49 AM

Honestly Roxy looks good to me from all the pics I've seen (do you have a side shot without clothes?) She's a small pap but her weight looks good.

It goes one of two ways with paps according to Mia's breeder- they are pigs that eat everything in sight or they're impossible to keep weight on. My experience has been the latter. Young paps are really difficult to keep at a 'normal' weight. Part of it is just they're growing, they get way lanky usually. Also a lot of people are just more used to stout breeds. They're not going to look like a chihuahua, they're just built differently. I got flack on a couple of mine from people but your average pet people do have dogs that are overweight and I strive to keep mine fit. The people that said my dogs were underweight had fat chihuahuas so I don't pay it any mind.

I've seen a few fat paps and it really bothers me even more than most breeds simply because they're so lean usually. They're the athletes of the toy breeds, they should be very agile and fast which they can't be if they're fat.

Anyways, I have free fed but am switching Mia over to a schedule. It's working well for the most part. She didn't eat her first meal but gulped down the next. Summer is the problem eater but she's doing alright too. She's a bit thicker than I'd like anyways at the moment so cutting back is good for her.

briteday · 11-02-2009, 10:50 AM

Ask your vet. Get a check up done. Be sure she is physically healthy before chalking it up to anything else...if she is truly skinny.

IMO, free feeding can contribute to a picky eater. And you've already said that it is making potty training more difficult. I would stick with 3 meals per day. And at first she will not eat at the first few meals because she figures she can eat whenever she wants. But she will get the hang of it after missing a few meals.

PappyMom · 11-02-2009, 11:01 AM

I just took two side pictures, which she wasn't too happy about, esp that I propped her on the coffee table to keep her still..

It's hard to tell under that growing fur..

(Laur, I didn't have any side shots without clothes!! how depressing!! LOL)

brite, our vet said he felt she could be more filled out. She is perfectly healthy otherwise..

SandyPuppy · 11-02-2009, 12:40 PM

She looks fine to me. Not every pap has the exact same ideal weight, just like people, some will be on the thinner side.
She doesn't look like shes starving.

Michiyo-Fir · 11-02-2009, 01:45 PM

Oh she's fine! Nia is already 11 months old and I still can't keep any weight on her! Forget about growing out of the lanky stage lol! For example recently Nia's losing weight again because she's only eating about half of her daily food portions. Not even sure why..plus she just had a diarrhea problem for the last 2 days (recovered now) so she lost a bit more there.

Here's Nia right after she got spayed (sorry she looks so weird with the shaved belly!) I think she was 7 months here.

Laurelin · 11-02-2009, 02:19 PM

She looks good to me. I'd base things on her activity level and health. Is she overall healthy? Is she active? Etc. She looks like Nard, who is always boney and skinny even at 1 1/2.

I have a funny spay pic of Summer too. When they get shaved you realize just how skinny they are, but it's totally normal for the breed!

Oh and Summer is 4 years here, lol. She was a late bloomer.

Michiyo-Fir · 11-02-2009, 02:34 PM

Wow summer's pretty thin too! Nia's activity level is great, health is fine. I always wonder how she can run so darned much even though she eats so little! But she does lol. Always wants to play!

Leroy&Lucy'sMom · 11-02-2009, 08:29 PM

They all look really good, but with dogs that have a long coat, feeling is the best way to tell. She's such a cutie <3

Kathyy · 11-03-2009, 10:24 AM

Tiny dogs don't always need much food. On a clicker list I read how hard it is to clicker train a pap that needed to eat some totally ridiculous number of kibbles a day. Less than 20! I hope the kibble were a large size. The trainer smashed up the kibble to train the dog. A raw egg is a lot of food, she can eat a whole egg?

There are some papillons at my agility school. They vary in size and build quite a bit. Even well bred confirmation dogs can have quite the variation. I see grown papillons that would look like the photo of Gizmo and Roxy together. Neat dogs, I love papillons.

PappyMom · 11-03-2009, 10:34 AM

Taking into consideration how high-energy the breed is, and the two of mine are, I do like to keep their calorie intake up. Gizmo is very well built, lean but sturdy..he is the most graceful, agile papillon that I've met..well, that is when he is not barking at other dogs..lol

Roxy can eat a whole raw egg. I crack it and put it in their dishes over a few peices of kibble once a week for their breakfast...and they scarf it down like a delicasse. They both love to eat, I was just worried because she didn't gain (or grow, to be honest) the way that Gizmo did..He was so filled out by her age..and he just had this amazing body shape..lol..I don't know..

Laurelin · 11-03-2009, 12:10 PM

Mia's also staying a lot smaller than Summer. The breed does vary a lot more than most, even within what is acceptable.

As far as amount of food, it varies by dog. Beau eats a ton, maybe a cup more than the others, but he's the most fit. He's also the most hyper and is moving all the time.

Michiyo-Fir · 11-03-2009, 12:21 PM

Surprisingly Nia can eat a LOT when she feels like it. I think I've had a day where she ate more than 1/2 pound of meat! I was surprised it could even fit in her tiny tummy. But then the next day she wasn't hungry at all so I guess she likes to self regulate and then fast.

But to me it seems like Nia needs more food than a lot of 6 lb dogs to keep her weight. About 4 oz of raw or 1/2 cup of high calorie kibble like EVO or Orijen.

I've definitely seen a lot of smaller paps as well. Some just over 8-9". Nia's between 10 1/4" to 10 1/2" so I guess she's a bigger Pap.

I've also seen some really tiny ones like 3 lbs and 6-7". I guess genes just vary a lot because quite a lot of regular sized Paps produce a tiny or big offspring once in a while.

@Lauren, how tall will Mia be full grown?

@Pappymom, how tall is Roxy?