Got a new Dobe that needs help

TrexFanatic · 05-20-2008, 05:00 AM

We brought a male Dobe 2.5 years old named Kane. His owner was moving and had to part with him in a hurry so we decided to take him on as he needs some help we think. He is 27 inches high at the shoulder and 27 inches from the base of the neck to the base of his tail. He weighs only 62 pounds so it would appear he is pretty underweight. We wormed him today with a good quality wormer and have his vet record. He either has a bad case of worms or has been under-fed for some time. What would you recommend we feed him to add bone density,muscle and some fat to cover his ribs. I got a shock when we put him on the scales as based on his size I expected him to be in region of 75-80 pounds at least.
Some of you may have followed the thread I had over in breeding about the undersized female. We have decided not to buy her and she has found another home anyway thank goodness as she was very popular. We decided to stick with a boy for now.

**Luvbirds59** · 05-20-2008, 06:37 AM

He is cute!! Honestly, he looks ok to me, he is just a very long lean boy,in the pictures his build does not look real big boned. I'll give you the same advice as I did for for the small girl, if you want to put some muscle weight on him, Exercise him a few times a day, feed him high quality food, but only the amount he should be eating to weigh 75-80#, and get a vet check for parasites. I said this to you before....don't overfeed and put fat on him, it is hard to get off. My boy is raw fed only, and high quality human grade meat CAN make a dog too fat. Once the dog is used to eating too much, and has too much body fat on...it isn't a good situation. If you let him put on weight slowly with exercise and the right amount of food, you have a better chance of it being muscle, no different then humans!

Carol & Petey!
ox

**voodoolizard** · 05-20-2008, 07:20 AM

he looks ok to me, zeus is very tall but very thin and he wont put on weight but is happy and healthy !!

**Quita** · 05-20-2008, 10:48 AM

At his age, I imagine his bone structure is pretty much set. He's just not a big boned dog. As far as building muscle goes, it's just like in people. Exercise can help firm up the muscles. As far as actually "bulking" up the muscles, this will only occur if the dog has the natural genetics to do so. From the pictures you sent, doesn't look like he has that kind of build. Just as in people, some dogs are larger boned, larger muscled. Some are slim and slender. As far as I know, the only way to really bulk up a person/animal that is naturally slender is through drugs/steriods... which I do not recommend. I imagine you will be able to "tone" the muscles, but you probably won't see much bulking. My 9+ year old Dobe has ALWAYS had a slender, little, narrow butt. Had it as a puppy, and still has it as an adult. No matter how much he eats or how much exercise he gets, he's never going to add much more muscle there.

As far as filling up throgh the ribs, increasing food to his diet will help. I imagine he can put on a few more pounds, but I personally prefer to have my Dobes trim rather than too heavy. I've had comments from my vet on how my Dobes are the perfect weight. He said most people bring in Dobes that are overweight.

Lexxsmom · 05-20-2008, 05:58 PM

Lexx is around 26.5 inches long and tall and he weighs around 65-70lbs give or take. He's only a year and is still growing, but your guy's weight isn't terrible...

follow what luvbirds said, lots of exercise and a good high quality kibble, its all you can do!

prophecy · 05-21-2008, 06:47 AM

hes not too awful,but lanky.yeah.
if you question his feeding prior,i would ask the vet.

my thought is hes just a little lean. you may want to give him a bit of raw,or nutrical(spareingly) and a good run.
genetics play a good part,in size/bulk but you could get him a ''little better'' at least with toning up the exsisting muscle with exersize, and a teaspoon of nutrical for vitamins,and pick up.
but im not a vet. and think if hes a concern,i would start there.

dobebug · 05-24-2008, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrexFanatic

We brought a male Dobe 2.5 years old named Kane...He is 27 inches high at the shoulder and 27 inches from the base of the neck to the base of his tail. He weighs only 62 pounds so it would appear he is pretty underweight. We wormed him today with a good quality wormer and have his vet record. He either has a bad case of worms or has been under-fed for some time. What would you recommend we feed him to add bone density,muscle and some fat to cover his ribs. I got a shock when we put him on the scales as based on his size I expected him to be in region of 75-80 pounds at least.

Hi TrexFanatic,

From the looks of the pictures, Kane doesn't look to be particularly heavy bones so at most I'd think he should weigh around 75 pounds. So he's somewhat underweight but not alarmingly so.

If you didn't have a vet check the stool to see what worms he might have had you really don't know if you high quality wormer did the job. If, indeed he actually had worms. Before you undertake to worm him again I sure make a vet appointment and make sure that he actually has worms.

As someone else said at 2-1/2 his bone density is set--you'll not change that. Weight and muscle will come along with appropriate amounts of good food and exercise. You really don't want fat--most of our dogs are too fat. And I'd avoid trying to make him into a dog that he's not--he doesn't look like a dog who will every be heavily muscled and blocky--but then that's not really how a Dobe should look.

The final bit of advice is to make sure that the scales you are weighing him on are accurate. We have people who come into the clinic where I work just to weigh their dogs because they've found that the scales they've been using are not accurate and will give different readings each time the dog is weighed. We always tell them to put a 10 or 20 pound back of dog food on the scale and see if the scale actually weighs it at the weight claimed. It's just a quick test.

Patches Mom · 05-24-2008, 11:58 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong some Dobe's are muscled and some are not its in the breeding. My Buddy is not very muscled do not think he ever will be. They say that if neutered early they are more lean & tall & not neutered early more muscled up. Buddy was neutered early 6 months due to contract with the breeder and being overly friendly with my female spayed tweenie Dachshund.Did not want him to hurt her and I did not know at the time about neutering at a later age.
Patches Mom

**Debbie** · 05-25-2008, 01:08 AM

Your boy looks pretty nice. His coat has a nice shine and his ribs aren`t all that obvious. I`m sure he`ll put on some weight over time. But he doesn`t appear to be a big boned guy so I don`t think hes that under weight. Hes a handsome fellow. Congrats on getting him. Hes a lucky boy.

Q734 · 05-25-2008, 04:38 AM

He reminds me a lot of my late dog in size and build. Mine was 27.5 high and tho when I found him he was 50lbs ::shudder:::
Some pics I have of him I realize now although I think he was beautiful I kinda kept him hog fat @86 lbs.

/misses her boy