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Hello DobermanTalk users, I would like some insight/advice on the current situation of my 10 month old male dobie pup.
Harvey turns 11 month old on April 10th, and we have noticed a slow in his growth for quite a while now. He is 70 lbs, which is pretty heavy but compared to other dobies his age it seems as if he's underweight. Mind you, his father was 120 lb (but he was a little chubby) and his other a good 90 lb at least.
Harvey is very very fit, his back legs have lots of muscle (and i mean a LOT). He has a visible tuck to his stomach and his ribs show. If you were to view him from a bird's eye point of view, his waist is obviously skinnier than his ribs and has almost an hourglass shape (although not so extreme). The only part where he is muscly is on his back legs. His shoulders, ribs, and chest is mostly skin.
His diet is a very high quality kibble, no fillers (we would like to feed raw but do not have the space currently) and his coat is always gleaming. He is a very tall boy, too, like a lanky teenager. We know that he would stretch out but now it seems that this is the weight he is staying at. I have begun to feed 1-2 cups more than usual each day but have noticed no change.
Harvey's daily exercise regime usually consists of a 40 minute walk in the morning or 30 minutes of fetch with a chuck it ball. He used to sleep until 12 pm after his morning walk but have recently stopped and would seem restless until we take him for his afternoon walk (could this have something to do with the fact that he's not yet neutered?) Anyways, if we didn't play ball in the morning, we'd play in the afternoon, then go for a one hour walk/run with some obedience training. Then finally when we come home from the second walk he would usually sleep. When he plays ball, he plays hard. Just wondering if playing fetch is a factor in his growth stop because his jumping and sudden braking may be damaging to his joints.
Overall he is a healthy boy, we take him in for a check usually once a month in case anything pops up. He has continually struggled with soft stool, but inconsistently; sometimes the stool is very nice but sometimes it is very soft. So i guess what i am asking here is that is it normal for a 10 month old male dobie to stop growing at this weight? I feel he matures slowly, both mentally and physically. He still has his puppy looks and antics, could i just have a late bloomer? I have read the sticky about fast growth in large breeds and feel a little better, but at the same time i am afraid i am doing something wrong. Is it too much exercise? He loves to play fetch and can do it for hours if we let him, but we limit it to a maximum of 30-40 minutes. We want to neuter him but we also want him to grow a little bulkier. He has a retracted testicle that could become cancerous if left in the body. We think maybe we'll do it when he's 1.5-2 years old. If you have experienced this with your pups or any experience at all, we look forward to your reply
Harvey turns 11 month old on April 10th, and we have noticed a slow in his growth for quite a while now. He is 70 lbs, which is pretty heavy but compared to other dobies his age it seems as if he's underweight. Mind you, his father was 120 lb (but he was a little chubby) and his other a good 90 lb at least.
Harvey is very very fit, his back legs have lots of muscle (and i mean a LOT). He has a visible tuck to his stomach and his ribs show. If you were to view him from a bird's eye point of view, his waist is obviously skinnier than his ribs and has almost an hourglass shape (although not so extreme). The only part where he is muscly is on his back legs. His shoulders, ribs, and chest is mostly skin.
His diet is a very high quality kibble, no fillers (we would like to feed raw but do not have the space currently) and his coat is always gleaming. He is a very tall boy, too, like a lanky teenager. We know that he would stretch out but now it seems that this is the weight he is staying at. I have begun to feed 1-2 cups more than usual each day but have noticed no change.
Harvey's daily exercise regime usually consists of a 40 minute walk in the morning or 30 minutes of fetch with a chuck it ball. He used to sleep until 12 pm after his morning walk but have recently stopped and would seem restless until we take him for his afternoon walk (could this have something to do with the fact that he's not yet neutered?) Anyways, if we didn't play ball in the morning, we'd play in the afternoon, then go for a one hour walk/run with some obedience training. Then finally when we come home from the second walk he would usually sleep. When he plays ball, he plays hard. Just wondering if playing fetch is a factor in his growth stop because his jumping and sudden braking may be damaging to his joints.
Overall he is a healthy boy, we take him in for a check usually once a month in case anything pops up. He has continually struggled with soft stool, but inconsistently; sometimes the stool is very nice but sometimes it is very soft. So i guess what i am asking here is that is it normal for a 10 month old male dobie to stop growing at this weight? I feel he matures slowly, both mentally and physically. He still has his puppy looks and antics, could i just have a late bloomer? I have read the sticky about fast growth in large breeds and feel a little better, but at the same time i am afraid i am doing something wrong. Is it too much exercise? He loves to play fetch and can do it for hours if we let him, but we limit it to a maximum of 30-40 minutes. We want to neuter him but we also want him to grow a little bulkier. He has a retracted testicle that could become cancerous if left in the body. We think maybe we'll do it when he's 1.5-2 years old. If you have experienced this with your pups or any experience at all, we look forward to your reply
