# underweight puppy



## Dori Lepotica (Jan 19, 2021)

hi, this is Dori and she will turn 4 month on 29.01. - she is now 7.1kg and on the growth chart I have found on web, she should be more than 10kg weight. Vet thinks she is fine, but I am quite worried. We feed her akana food - around 230
gr per day plus treats. What are your experiences ? are we feeding her enough?


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## lucy2005 (Oct 16, 2020)

Hi, I can only speak from my experience with my Vizsla boy. As I remember he was 6.5kg when he was 10 weeks old. I’ve never had a female V so I’m not sure, but if you are worried than you should definitely speak to your vet and tell her that you are unsure. But if I were you as long as your puppy is healthy and happy I think there’s nothing to worry about. If you want her to gain a bit of weight I would think about increasing her daily intake.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Something doesn't seem right, but I've never used Acana products. To me it seems as if she should be getting 160 grams, twice a day for a total of 320 grams, per the feeding instruction on the back of a US branded Acana product???.
I've always fed puppies the same way. If they're eating everything and aren't over weight, I feed them more. I don't even worry about a puppy's weight until they're 6-8 months old. However much They are willing to eat, I let them. I also feed three times a day, not the traditional twice a day.
if you're putting out food, and she's leaving some, other than "flavoring it up", there's not much you can do. Make sure that her treats are quality products, high in protein and the rest is up to her.
Finn was also very light as a puppy also. It caused me some serious anxiety, but now at 15 months old, he's just right. He's never going to be a "big boy", but for his frame, he's the right size.
They all seem to arrive at about the same place, weight wise, at the 12 month old mark.


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## Dori Lepotica (Jan 19, 2021)

gunnr said:


> Something doesn't seem right, but I've never used Acana products. To me it seems as if she should be getting 160 grams, twice a day for a total of 320 grams, per the feeding instruction on the back of a US branded Acana product???.
> I've always fed puppies the same way. If they're eating everything and aren't over weight, I feed them more. I don't even worry about a puppy's weight until they're 6-8 months old. However much They are willing to eat, I let them. I also feed three times a day, not the traditional twice a day.
> if you're putting out food, and she's leaving some, other than "flavoring it up", there's not much you can do. Make sure that her treats are quality products, high in protein and the rest is up to her.
> Finn was also very light as a puppy also. It caused me some serious anxiety, but now at 15 months old, he's just right. He's never going to be a "big boy", but for his frame, he's the right size.
> They all seem to arrive at about the same place, weight wise, at the 12 month old mark.


hi, thank you very much for your reply, on our puppy package for 10kg puppy says 210gr per day - but it looks like Dori could eat much much more - she doesn't leave a single drop in a bowl. but the vet said not to give her more than it says on the package :S


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## Dori Lepotica (Jan 19, 2021)

lucy2005 said:


> Hi, I can only speak from my experience with my Vizsla boy. As I remember he was 6.5kg when he was 10 weeks old. I’ve never had a female V so I’m not sure, but if you are worried than you should definitely speak to your vet and tell her that you are unsure. But if I were you as long as your puppy is healthy and happy I think there’s nothing to worry about. If you want her to gain a bit of weight I would think about increasing her daily intake.


thank you very much for your reply; vet says not to give her more than it says on the package - but it looks like she could eat much more - she doesn't leave a single drop after meal :S so I'm pretty much confused.


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## lucy2005 (Oct 16, 2020)

Dori Lepotica said:


> thank you very much for your reply; vet says not to give her more than it says on the package - but it looks like she could eat much more - she doesn't leave a single drop after meal :S so I'm pretty much confused.


When we got our Nelson the breeder told us to feed him twice a day, soon we realised that isn’t enough for him so we fed him more than the actual packed said because he was still hungry. If your puppy is still hungry after his meal it means that you aren’t feeding him/her enough.I would recommend giving her just a tiny bit more and see if that makes a difference. Once a puppy is full they won’t eat anymore so I wouldn’t worry about feeding her too much.


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## Cavedog (Oct 21, 2010)

She looks VERY thin to me. If she were my dog, I would feed her more.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Dori Lepotica said:


> hi, thank you very much for your reply, on our puppy package for 10kg puppy says 210gr per day - but it looks like Dori could eat much much more - she doesn't leave a single drop in a bowl. but the vet said not to give her more than it says on the package :S



Do you have a way to link to, or post a photo of, the feeding instructions on the back of the bag of puppy food you are using?
The US distributed Acana packages have the "target adult weight" on them, and your girl would have a target adult weight of 20 KG minimum, which is where I got the feeding instruction from. I don't know where the 10Kg value came from??? With a "target adult weight" of about 21-22 KG, she should be getting somewhere close to 400 grams of food per day.
All I can state is that you, and so far all of the responses, believe that you are not getting the correct feeding information.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

At this age I was feeding 3 times a day too, much easier on their stomach and helps absorb more nutrients. And if pup feels thin and could eat more I would give a bit more than what was in the paper. Vets are often worried to have them too chunky and put too much pressure on developing joints. Rightly so, so it is a fine line. Usually in my experience growing vizsla pups can absorb lots of calories before they put extra weight on.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

I never seemed to have gotten the puppies that were big eaters. I seemed to always get the puppies that just wouldn't eat enough. No matter how much I gave them.
I typically feed three times a day and each meal is the portion that would be for a twice a day schedule. Most days Finn will eat at least two of the mcompletely, and not finish the third. During hunting days, and the day of recovery, he'll eat all three, plus chicken and beef mixed in. In time he'll, like the others, cut himself back to twice a day, except during the times he is in work.
My other Vizslas were fed the same way. None ever got overweight. The closest was Tika and she was supplementing with rabbit poop. Gross!!
Our Vet has a number of Vizslas in their practice and they've never seen a "fat one". According to Doc', feed them what they'll eat, because they're great self regulators. As long as the treats aren't excessive.


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## Dori Lepotica (Jan 19, 2021)

gunnr said:


> Do you have a way to link to, or post a photo of, the feeding instructions on the back of the bag of puppy food you are using?
> The US distributed Acana packages have the "target adult weight" on them, and your girl would have a target adult weight of 20 KG minimum, which is where I got the feeding instruction from. I don't know where the 10Kg value came from??? With a "target adult weight" of about 21-22 KG, she should be getting somewhere close to 400 grams of food per day.
> All I can state is that you, and so far all of the responses, believe that you are not getting the correct feeding information.


hi, this is the picture of the instruction form the website of the food we are giving, even if i say 10kg is current weight with 20kg targeted it says 210gr per day - similar instructions are on the package as well. thank you very much!


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## Destiny M Jones (Jan 6, 2021)

Hi Friends...!!!

It's So cute and calm. I love Pet.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Dori
I don't know what to tell you, other than to trust your instincts. If you believe that she is not getting enough to eat per day, up her meals.
Personally, I would double it. and just watch her.
I wish you both the best of luck

Mike


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

The sporting breeds burn more calories, therefore they need to take in more calorie.

I've never went by the guidelines on the bag.


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## Dori Lepotica (Jan 19, 2021)

gunnr said:


> Dori
> I don't know what to tell you, other than to trust your instincts. If you believe that she is not getting enough to eat per day, up her meals.
> Personally, I would double it. and just watch her.
> I wish you both the best of luck
> ...


thank you very much for your time and advices  best of luck!


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## slim (Oct 27, 2019)

We feed our puppy Orijen, and followed the directions on the package (around 360gr/day) but we could see his ribs visibly and received comments that he looked skinny (which we expected - Vizslas do tend to err on thee skinny/athletic side). He is always been under his weight compared to the charts that you're probably also looking at. Right now he's just over 7 months and is 15KG. He was probably a similar weight to Dori when he was her age. In fact, at a puppy class there is a female Vizsla 2 weeks younger than our male and she was and still is larger and heavier.

Back at the 4-5 month stage the vet said his size was fine and that to grow slowly is better for growth plates anyway, so that there is not too much excess weight loading the skeleton.

We still thought he was too skinny and his appetite was clearly not satisfied, so we started to feed him more and more until his ribs were only visible when leaning one way or the other or running/breathing fast. This means for some time he was getting around 600gr a day between his 3 meals and treats etc for training. And he is still under the average that we find on weight charts! But his is more muscular than before, and generally just looks 'ripped'.

A couple of days ago a second vet once again said he was a bit small for his age but gave us the same advice not to worry, because it's better for larger breeds to grow steadily and not too quickly.

What we notice is that his frame goes through spurts, after which his appetite picks up to fill out his new larger frame. So we are continually adjusting his food serving sizes to make sure he isn't hungry and he isn't over-eating. Right now he's on a growth spurt so is getting around 500gr a day (400gr Orijen and 50-100gr treats depending on how much training we do).

It used to be worrying to read about all these big Vizslas who are 20KG at 9 months and think we have a malnourished pup but no we are not worried - he has endless energy, is happy and playful, sleeps well and eats/drinks well too.

As gunnr said, maybe at 12 months he will be in-line with expectations!


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## slim (Oct 27, 2019)

Oh, I saw the other post with the Body Condition Score - our pup was a 3 and is currently a 5. He wavers between these during growth phases.


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## derwos (Nov 10, 2019)

In my view, when it comes to feeding a growing puppy (especially if they are very active), feed them all they can eat!

When we try to micro-manage their diet by utilizing "guide lines" on food packaging, we may be doing more harm to the pup, than good.

IF a pup begins to show signs of over eating and gaining too much weight, we can then easily cut back on calories. If and until then, stuff as much protein into them as we can (just manage empty calories)!

A puppy that shows signs of being under-weight... i.e. "ribby", isn't receiving sufficient protein, calories, vitamins and minerals. As much as it may show in their visible weight, also consider how those nutritional deficiencies may be affecting brain development.

@12 weeks, Aly was 17lbs (7.7kg). She is not over weight by any stretch. She eats as much kibble ("Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Puppy Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog Food") as wants... and then gets home dehydrated chicken breast bits, for training. There are other lil treats she receives... but, are not of caloric/protein/fat significance.

At any point in a puppies development, we can regulate their diet... going forward in time. What we are unable to do, is turn back the clock, to provide them needed protein (amino acids) for healthy physiological development, we may have deprived them of, by following some packaging guided-lines.

Just my 2 cents.


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## manonhl (Feb 10, 2021)

Hi there! Glad to see a post about vizsla pups being potentially underweight. We had the same concern for Pacifico, as he was barely 7 kilos at 4 months, then 9.5 kilos at 5 months, and then he put on about 4 kilos, as he is now about 14 kilos at 6 months. He is still very small and narrow, but his ribs don't show as much as when he was 4 months. He's a lot smaller than vizslas of the same age we've encountered. 

He is a crazy eater, completely obsessed with foods, no matter how full he is. We feed him a bowl full of a UK brand kibble called Lily's Kitchen (chicken and salmon, grain free) 3 times a day, and when we tried feeding more quantity, he threw up. We tried raw food delivery (Bella & Duke) for a month but he didn't seem to put on weight regularly with it and he developed chronic diarrhea, so we're back to dry food. I sometimes lightly cook chicken, beef, lamb or salmon with veggies and a teeny bit of rice for him, but his stools are never better than when on kibble, which we find annoying because kibble feeds everything at the same time and prevents good absorption of some nutrients (see Margaret Davis' _Vizsla: the Complete Owner Guide_). We're also concerned about the lack of variety when feeding only kibble. We wonder if he has developed any food allergies (maybe salmon? beef? peas?) as he sheds an awful lot these days, scratches a lot, has an upset stomach (occasionally vomits and farts a lot). At 5 months,he had a lot of trouble with his anal glands. He released them almost daily and scratched on the floor all the time. The vet expressed them and he is now fine. But for the rest, he just brushes it all off as normal puppy stuff and gave us a probiotic for diarrhea, and he recommends feeding only kibble ''because it's easier for us'', and is sponsored by mainstream brands like Pedigree... We need a new vet.

Anyways, I wouldn't worry too much about her size. If she doesn't take in more food, she is probably full. Maybe try a supplement like yeast flakes (a small tea spoon once a day) on her food to make sure she gets all her nutrients. We think that helped Pacifico get a bit more fat. But all in all, we just think there are some smaller vizslas (ours was the second smallest of the litter) just like there are smaller humans, and we're quite happy that he doesn't seem to get very big.


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