Just wondering....

Okie-dobie said:

If anyone else's dobergirl gained weight after the heat cycle. I just changed her food to a lower calorie one because it's like all of a sudden she is starting to pack it on! I think she is starting to mature more and getting more curves but I just weighed her and was a little surprised.:eek2: Is this normal? She was 8 months on the 6th of March.

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Is she getting more body or just getting fat? That first heat can cause some major growing up and beefing up (including more weight), but the dog shouldn't be looking fat.

If she's starting to look fat, could be a false pregnancy. Or it could be due to the fact she didn't get as much exercise as usual while she was in season.

I always cut Razzle's food back slightly when she goes into season, knowing she won't get those play dates at the park for the next 3 weeks or so..I also put her on senior dog food once she goes into heat, and keep her on it for a couple of months to try to avoid falsies..so far, that's worked well.

sorthund said:

MD, how does the senior food help avoid that? It's lower in??? How would you apply that when raw feeding?

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I don't know exactly why/how that would help to avoid false pregnancies, it's just something a lot of long term breeders recommend-I'd think maybe it was because senior dog food is lower protein and lower fat.

I'm not a raw feeder, so I don't have the slightest idea how you'd handle that..I also give Razzle a tablespoon of parsley (a natural diuretic) in her food twice a day for a couple of months after she goes into season-that would be something you could do.

Keep in mind that all bitches have false pregnancies-it's just that some are more noticeable and extreme than others. Other than the aggravation value of a bitch suddenly making her toys her babies, it's not that big of an issue if you're not showing your dog. You just don't want to walk into the ring with a saggy baggy bitch.

Okie-dobie said:

I'm not to sure if she is just getting more body or she is starting to put on a few extra pounds?? Here are a few pictures if this helps....

notice the little roll of chub around her left leg.

Do you find her nipples look inlarged? I'm not to sure if you can tell in any of the pictures.

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I can't be 100% certain without being able to look down at her and see if she has any kind of a waistline..but it looks like she probably could stand to lose a few pounds. I think maybe the root cause of the problem is lack of exercise, not unusual when it's cold out..I think she could be harder bodied than she looks in those pics.

But again-even when you get her in ultimate condition, you may see her put on some weight due to the maturation process..Razzle gained about 6 lbs. all in muscle mass and body after her first season, and it happened pretty darned fast, too.

Okie-dobie said:

Her nipples got larger but are still kinda big and it's been 3 weeks since her heat.

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That's not unusual. They'll shrink back down to normal over time, only to enlarge again when she goes into season again.