... ooo second thread in 10 mins! sorry!!! So many questions

Okay, rescued a 10 month old lab pup 7 weeks ago. Our last dog was out of condition when we got him at 6 but was one of those hyperactive labs and just burned everything off and became one hell of a muscle machine and ran at 20 mph!!!

We have the opposite with Django... when we first saw him he was a barrel on legs, with a wee head despite having been on a diet at the rescue sanctuary place. Fine, we thought.. he'll get the same exercise as Zeb, i.e. 30-60 mins a day yolloping off the lead up hill and over dale, chasing sticks/toys... swimming... rabbits ( ) , plus a visit to the stables in the pm with another run. Far better than a walk round the block on the lead we thought..

He's put on 2 KG!!! He's fed a little less than the recommended amounts on the Burns food bag (vet advised that the amounts on the bag were to keep a dog at the same weight by law) and just has James Wellbeloved treats during the day whilst we are training him.

He seems to have MASSES of spare skin... so the first question is.. does this excess skin go as they get older? (only used to rescuing older dogs). You can also see his ribs when he runs and he looks lean from the side, but from the top looks like a chuffing table!!

7 weeks of mad running? 2 kilos gained? I know this could be muscle but surely we'd be seeing a result by now? Is this normal with dogs inbetween puppydom and doghood?

He was 30kg, is now 32kg if that helps!!

Many thanks!!

And just to show that he indeed doesn't look like a bus.. so how come he still seems fat and looks from a table at the hips? PLEASE tell me it's puppy fat!!

Hi,
you dont need to be so worried about his weight too much. See below:

1. Labrador Dogs 60-75 pounds (27-34kg.)
2. Labrador Bitches 55-70 pounds (25-32kg.)
3. Some males can grow to 100 pounds (45kg) or more.

He is still young and will grow into his skin especially when his muscle tone forms as he gets older.
you could try walking him for 30 minutes, three times a day instead of trying to make it an hour walk, twice a day. as he is from a rescue shelter he wont have had a lot of exercise like you would think.
he wont be used to all the walking, so you need to be patient and buid his walking times up, then after a month or so, try walking him for an hour a walk, twice a day.

how many treats do you give him when your training, on average?
you dont want to be giving him too many.

i am training my 9 week old rottie at the moment and she is only being given a small amount of her daily diet at the moment as a treat when she does something right, so she doesnt get fat and because she had an upset tummy, but anyway they work the same way.

hope this helps, let me know if you need any more help with anything also training methods if you need some tips!
im always here to help!

he is stunning by the way and is no way fat! hes is very sweet!

Ok lol youve got a lab , ive got 2 golden girls just about 15 months each Daisy we had from a pup and Jessie we had at christmas off people we knew who were having family issues and couldnt look after her anymore .Daisy weighs 29 kilo and jessie was a fat git when we got her she must have been pushing 35 - 36 kilo , Since xmas she has gone down to just under 33 kilo we need to get her weighed again as ive put them on a raw diet and want to make sure we dont undo the good we have done so far our aim is to get her to 30 kilo . She is a bigger bonned dog than Daisy so think it un reasonable to expect her to get too trim , we would also like Daisy to get down to 28 kilo as she has a dodgy elbow and we dont want her too heavy . Your boy is a growing lad , he should be about 32 kilo fully grown at 15 months. he looks quite heavy bonned so you could say an average male lab at 15 months with his bone structure may be more like 33 - 34 kilo but you need to keep him on the trim side to help with joints ect . When we fed complete dry food i had to drop there intake from the recommended 400 grams to 300 grams split into 2 feeds . it depends on the dog as to how much is enough , or too much , some dog foods are high in fat and high in carbohydrate and if its not burned off it gets turned to sugar and deposits its self as fat . most labs have 30 % more body fat than the average dog as they were bred to swim in cold waters fetching in fishing nets so this extra fat acted as insulation , you can get foods especially for labs with a lower fat content , before we switched to raw i had the girls on a food called Pero Labrador , £30 for a 15 kilo bag and we fed 300 grams a day , its based on salmon and brown rice has added glucosamine and no nasty preservatives ect , you can order it direct from them delivery included . If you dont change his food drop it by a third and dont give any other biscute type treats for training , get him used to raw carrot instead , no callories to worry about , our gilrs would kill for carrots . hope this helps

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looks find to me.

[vet advised that the amounts on the bag were to keep a dog at the same weight by law]
these are guide lines for feeding your dog not law .
they should be saying if you dog is over weight feed less if not. feed more or a amount to keep them fit.
every dog is different some need more food some need less

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they are growing fast.
what a lot of beauti's they are

A COUPLE LEFT IF INTERESTED

i saw the vet yesturday to get my rottie vegas vaccinated and chatted with him about feeding her. i told him about the feeding guide on the bag, but he said you can feed more than it says, to make sure they are getting enough. the feeding guides are just that a guide! they can be addapted to suit your dog and breed1

You mostly find the guidelines over estimate i often think to make you buy more quickly. you need to be carefull with labs they only have to look at food and put on weight .

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good rule of thumb , if you stand over him and look at his hips if they go in giving him a waist this is good if there is no waist definition then he is over weight. you should be able to feel ribs uder his skin but not see them clearly.

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Thanks everyone!!! Very helpful and yes, Andrea, this is my problem.. from the top he has no waist definition and looks like a table, but from the side looks fine. My old dog was a lot taller and not so much of a chunky build (Django sounds like Jessie) so used to looking at a svelte waistline!!! **whistles** Thanks for the info re the Pero Labrador.. will look into that. He's on Burns at the moment which is all natural. His breakfast is fed in a snacker ball. He's also on about 300g too, so not overfed.

Thanks Daycare!!! (is it okay to love someone on the first day of membership ). A small bag of the James Wellbeloved training treats lasts about a week, so not masses. His walks are about 45 mins with OH and about 20 mins with me at the stables where he runs like a loon.. after rabbits and often not listening to the whistle unfortunately Gun dog training should help that.. i hope **crosses fingers**

and he LOVES carrots!!! anything that goes in the horse he loves! he would eat them till the cows come home

Thanks again everyone. No doubt more questions will arise as we go on. I shall watch his weight and ask more advice as we go