# So bony :(



## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Buck has always self-regulated with his kibble. Sometimes he eats it all immediately, sometimes it's gone by the end of the day and some days, half of it gets tossed. He has NEVER not eaten his raw chicken necks, so I don't panic. Could you try some raw one meal? 3-4 necks? A chicken thigh or two? I know it seems gross, but it's great for their teeth. What does he weigh at 8 months? We have a couple of puppies the same age on the forum for comparison. Javelin is 42 lbs. I think. If he is very much underweight, there is a grain free satin balls recipe for Great Danes you can Google.


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## marialydia (Nov 23, 2013)

Pericles was very thin all his youth, and is just now at age 21 months starting to be less bony. I asked the vets about this and they said he was lean for sure, but normal. You could feel his backbone and ribs and his butt seemed bony as well.

Pericles was 48 -50 pounds for a long time, maybe from about 10 months until 15 months...Then he started to gain slowly and he is now 56 pounds. He is very muscly and I am amazed at how heavy his bones seem. Just his legs are very substantial.

He's just never been all that interested in food much of the time. I also think he'd prefer to graze but with a 14 year old mini who loves to eat, that's not an option. He gets Acana kibble with a topper: in the mornings it's canned Nature's Variety Instinct, with fresh sweet potato; in the evening, with some vegetables and yogurt. He also likes to eat better in the evening.

So if the vet is not concerned, and his energy level is good, you probably don't need to worry. He may well fill out in about a year as he reaches adulthood.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

He's getting so much different foods already he might be getting indifferent and nothing is good for him anymore. He is blasé... I would just pick one kibble he really likes, Fromm or something, and get some prepared raw or canned that he likes and give it to him twice a day and remove if not eaten after 15 minutes. Put him in a room by himself so he's not disturbed if you have to.

Don't give him anything in between, not even treats, until he's eating well again. The more you fuss over their food, the more difficult they become picky and the more pirouettes you have to do to make them eat. Stick to your program and he will eat.

That's how I got my anxious toy to gain weight. He was so bony it was a shame. Now he eats his raw bowl in 30'seconds top and doesn't leave any.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

What does your vet say about his weight?

Yes, Javelin was about 42 pounds at around 8 months. He just turned nine months of on 2/13 and is now over 48 pounds. 

Both Lily and Javelin are grazers by nature. Thankfully Peeves also does fine as a grazer and we always have a full bowl of kibble out for them.

I just had my mom's small mpoo here last week. He never thought about trying to scarf the big dog's food which is in an elevated feeder bowl. Is it possible you could find an elevated bowl tall enough that your little glutton eaters wouldn't be able to get into it so that your spoo boy would be able to graze?


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

Thanks everyone so much good info....sounds like adding at least a meal of raw might help. I'm going to try that. He has been on same kibble (TOTW) since I got him at eight weeks and same canned (Merrick grain free) and I will say the slack off in eating did coincide with our El Niño and our walks had all but disappeared so that could be some of it but we're doing a ton of walking now. I'm trying to wait till one year to neuter so he hasn't been in to vet recently. He weighs 64lbs but he's very tall. I will measure him. He turns 10 mos on Monday. I do agree I have been doing somersaults and back bends to get more food into him it's so frustrating lol I am going to try the raw and ponder a feed situation that might allow him access without the monsters gorging themselves to death or fighting over it :2in1:


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Gosh, 64 pounds sounds pretty substantial, though I do understand that you said he is very tall.

Maybe it is something to do with his fast and tall growth and youth!

I would for sure consider giving him a raw meal once a day, especially something with bone in it too once in a while. Chicken backs, chicken thighs, turkey necks are all good and pretty easy to find at the grocery store or butcher counter. If he has never had raw meaty bones before, stay away from wings for a boy that size and watch him closely when he first tries it - some dogs who haven't grown up with RMBs don't quite know what to do with it at first and may gulp large chunks down. If this happens with your boy, avoid raw with bones in it and just go for grinds. 

If he really enjoys the raw, and you don't mind continuing, then you could switch out his morning meal for raw (it could be the evening meal, too, but I found that morning worked better for Dulcie back before she went fully raw - because the raw is digested more quickly and so I felt that with younger puppy newly house trained, it was perhaps best to have the slower digested meal at night - simply my preference, no actual research to support this but it worked out well for us). If he has trouble with the actual bones, not being used to them, then you could buy raw grinds of chicken, turkey, beef, lamb and pork at any local grocer (and more different meats sometimes) and also organ meats. You can chop up the organ meats and combine a little of that with the ground meat and perhaps a raw egg or bit of ground up egg shell to substitute for the calcium the bone would have provided. 

Hope this is helpful. Good luck!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I think it is fine if they are very thin when they are young - they usually fill out in the middle years, and if they are already at their maximum weight at a year, then the fill-out can get them to chubby!
I think that you have a good awareness that doing somersaults to get him to eat is not a road that you want to go down, but I will tell you that for difficult eaters, often a little exercise, say ten minutes of playing ball, really serves to wake up the appetite!


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Mvinotime said:


> My spoo boy was such a great eater till about 8 mos and he just really slacked off the amount of food he eats...he is 10 mos now and hasn't lost weight but has just pretty much stopped gaining. He has however gotten substantially taller and I'm just freaking out a tad because I can feel his bones especially his spine!* I'm not used to feeling that in a dog and he's super fluffy and long so it is deceptive but I can feel his hip bones and his ribs a little if I press but his spine just seems to feel too prominent to me. *Do they go thru stages when getting taller etc that make him more bony like this? I struggle to get him to eat what I do get down him....he would prefer to graze I think but due to a household of small dogs it just isn't an option. I get one cup down in am of dry kibble alway topped with something.....a 1/2-1 can of wet food, coconut oil, hamburger meat I vary....then I try to treat with baked chicken breast so he's getting prob half a breast per day in the afternoon I can get two more cups with topper down him if I really coax him and sometimes he will eat another half cup or so right before bedtime....I'm going to try to incorporate some raw but I'm considering satin balls to try and get some pounds on him in the meantime. I kinda expected him to continue to gain at steady level till at least a year but he just tapered off and stopped a month or two ago. He is a VERY high energy dog and we walk a lot but I'm just very concerned with feeling his bones....this is my first poodle and I understand they are lean but wouldn't think the bones should be prominent?


You _should _be able to feel his ribs when you press in a medium fashion or even lightly. If you can't, he would be too fat. Run by a vet's office and have someone there feel and look at him. I'm sure they won't charge you for that. You can weigh him there too. I use to stop about once a week at a vet's for that and to socialize the puppies to a vet's office...teaching them that it's a fun, social and tasty place to visit. 

As far as the back bone, he may need more muscling and that comes with maturity and exercise. Don't over do when he's a puppy. He may also be growing unevenly, which isn't abnormal at all. Be sure he's been wormed and is getting enough protein.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Maizie has a prominent spine at this stage in her growth as well. She does have enough flesh covering her ribs. I trust the vets would say something if they thought she was underweight.


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## TeamPoodle (Aug 10, 2015)

Tiny Poodles said:


> I think it is fine if they are very thin when they are young - they usually fill out in the middle years, and if they are already at their maximum weight at a year, then the fill-out can get them to chubby!
> I think that you have a good awareness that doing somersaults to get him to eat is not a road that you want to go down, *but I will tell you that for difficult eaters, often a little exercise, say ten minutes of playing ball, really serves to wake up the appetite!*


This is one of our best tricks! Our mpoo isn't a consistent eater, and when we got him (around 1 yrs old) he was very thin. We could feel every rib, hip bones, and his entire spine. We've managed to put 1.5lbs on him in 4 months... you can still feel his whole spine and ribs, but just not as bad. We're happy with his weight now.

Here's what has worked for us: 
- We feed him Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried raw, so we prep his food (it has to soak in water). Then we play with him for a good 10 minutes of hard exercise... chasing the ball, chasing us around the house/yard, whatever. It does seem to wake up his appetite and he's ready to eat. 
- We have yet to find a kibble he'll eat an entire bowl of, but we try everyday anyway. Riley gets his freeze-dried raw every morning and evening feedings (8:30am and 4:30pm) and then at night we'll play lots and lots with him and around 9pm feed him 2 heaping tbsp of kibble. We make it into a game and toss them around the floor, he finds it fun to chase after them and eats them. I know you said you have other dogs so this might not work. They sell kibble wobbles and other ways of making meal time a "game". It might entice him to eat more
- The more exercise he gets, the hungrier he is, so we plan accordingly. 
- I'm not sure about TOTW kibble, but I know with S&C each variety has a different calorie content. (ranging from 60-80 calories per patty). We figured out a while ago how many calories we should aim to get Riley to consume every day, and we'll feed him more or less depending on the calorie content of his food.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

If you give him 1 feed of kibbles and 1 feed of raw, be prepared that he won't want to eat any kibbles once he's tasted the raw. Maybe try to mix the two if you absolutely need to give kibble. Or go 100% raw.


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

Thank you all again I have been Soo worried and you have made me feel much better! I measured hm and he is 27 inches and 64 lbs. it's the spine that creeps me out tho lol so good to know he might fill out and muscle up a little more still. I had him scheduled for a neuter today but I cancelled and will wait till he is at least a year and hopefully that will allow everything to develop as it should. I walk him a lot and have just recently started light hiking with a few hills....I have been so worried about strenuous exercise with his bones still growing etc that I have not done a lot of that so maybe that is part of it as well. Thanks again and I will picking up some raw grind and organs to start out tomorrow.....we will do one meal a day and see how it goes and may just transition over totally, wish us luck!  were both excited!


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

As he matures, I think he will fill in a little bit, and you will be less worried.

Iris is a much smaller Spoo, but she ate a lot more right up through her growth spurts then cut back on her food some while she matured, between 10 months and 18 months.

It sounds like he is right on schedule with his growth. Spoos are lean under all the fluff, but I'll bet he fills in some soon.

Best of luck, and enjoy your boy!

VQ


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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

I don't know if anyone mentioned it but sometimes intact boys go through periods where they aren't interested in food. I agree that you should be able to feel ribs and whatnot some. 

I work for a vet and probably 75% of the animals we see are at least somewhat overweight because owners get upset about seeing/feeling bones... And that's such a disservice to the overall health of a let for many reasons. 

I've even had people tell me that my dobe is underweight. 




















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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

Hmm can't figure out how to exit from this all. Sorry for the double photo.

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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

Sigh. Edit.

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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Good luck!!


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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

PoodleDreaming said:


> I don't know if anyone mentioned it but sometimes intact boys go through periods where they aren't interested in food. I agree that you should be able to feel ribs and whatnot some.
> 
> I work for a vet and probably 75% of the animals we see are at least somewhat overweight because owners get upset about seeing/feeling bones... And that's such a disservice to the overall health of a let for many reasons.
> 
> ...


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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

Double post.



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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

.

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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I put my hands on lots of dogs teaching obedience classes and doing private trainings. I agree with PoodleDreaming that there are probably a lot more slightly over normal weight dogs than underweight dogs. Her dobe looks in excellent condition to me, just right. That is how Lily would look if I shaved her down close, possibly Javelin too (but he is a growing boy so his looks/feel change).


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## PoodleDreaming (Jun 10, 2015)

Lol looking back at this I had some real issues last night with lack of sleep and Tapatalk haha

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## kayla_baxter (Jul 17, 2015)

Feeling the spine is usually more of a conformational thing than a weight thing. If the back roaches at all it's possible that the spine will always be more prominent. I've seen dogs who were definitely fat but you could still feel their spine. A healthy dog's ribs should feel like running your hand over the back of your other flat hand, easily felt. I go by muscling more than bone. As long as the dog is well muscled then it's not too thin, especially with young intact males. 
This was a 15 month old intact boy who at this age just couldn't eat enough to fill out. A few months later and he started filling out just fine. 



















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