[Zora-owner]

Hi my name's Matt my wife and I just adopted a female Doberman a few weeks ago we named Zora. She is just about 6 months old, she was bought from an unnamed breeder in upstate NY, and her former owners brought her to the MSPCA in Boston @ 12-13 weeks w/ a broken left front leg...why they had her so young w/ a broken leg is unknown to me, seems strange. Anyhow, her leg is all healed up, she had multiple surgeries the last of which was to remove pins/plates and she doesn't seem the least bit fazed, she was on strict watch by a vet tech who fostered her during this tough time, she has been well socialized w/ the vet's family/kids, and other pets (1 dog 3 cats). She imprinted on my almost instantly and has a very good temperament overall. I will probably have a bunch of questions BUT - my 2 main ones are below:

1) She's just about 6 months, seems good overall health lots of energy can run and jump and play great despite her former injury, however although she has decent height she is only 41 lbs. I feel like she is at least 5 lbs underweight for her age, is that accurate? I would attribute this initially to her being cooped up to keep her leg healing well and on a reduced diet as a result. Does this seem right?

2) Speaking of diet, I've been using Science Diet puppy for large breeds, recommended by the Vet, but I notice the first ingredient is not meat. I had read dobies need alot of protein, and that beef/pork is the preferred meat - are there any GOOD dry foods you can recommend for her that would satisfy her nutritional needs? I thought about cooking some skirt steak in a skillet w/ just some vegetable oil and adding that to her diet as well - what do you think?

Attached are some pics of her as well, for reference, I'm 5'8

 

[Amelia_]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new girl, she is very pretty and I'm glad shes found a good home She looks a bit on the thin side from the pictures, but its kind of difficult to tell. Could you take a picture from a birds-eye view?

I would say there isnt really a set weight, as it varies alot from dog to dog, but as a *really* general size its about 10lbs per month of age to begin with. 4 months, 40lbs, 5 months, 50lbs, 6 months, 60lbs. But then some dogs are much more and much less, so its just a guide.

 

[ZeldaRules]

Welcome to DT, poor Zora...she's been through so much to be so young! She looks really goot in the pics, you don't want a bigger dog to grow too much too fast. I think my male was around 50 something lbs at 6 months, he was a late bloomer

 

[Zora-owner]

Yes, she's thin...jeez I hope she's not TWENTY pounds underweight, like I said, her height seems normal, but she's a skinny girl. Look at this overhead pic - again, keep in mind she broke her leg @ 12-13 weeks and from that point to about 5 months was kept on basic lockdown and leash walks only, restricted diet -

 

[TxDobieLady]

My alice is exactly 5 Months and about 44 Lbs.

 

[Amelia_]

She looks thin to me, thinner than I would be happy with anyway (I am a bit of a feeder though!). What did the vet say about her weight? Does she have a good appetite? Does she eat more if you give her more? If yes to the last two questions, I would up the food slowly until she reaches a weight that looks right. Im no vet however. Good luck

 

[Toby'shuman]

I would check with your vet and perhaps a nutritionalist. As she is recovering from a broken leg it is vital you take extra care with her weight and do not suddenly try to increase her intake of food to compensate for being on the light side. Slowly does it. You might like to add Olive Oil to her feeds, it is a really good boost to the dogs system, it will help her no end. All my dogs especially my Dobe has it and he has blossomed these past couple of months (having been off his food due to the summer heat and because of hasnt done as well as he might).
Good luck and thank you for adopting her.

Oh and welcome to the forum. :kiss:

 

[PatchworkRobot]

Congrats on your new dog! She looks so sweet.

She's a little skinny but she doesn't look sickly thin to me. With my boy you can see ribs, they're just not AS prominent. Science Diet is not a food I"d ever really use but a lot of vets like to recommend it. Some other good foods are Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Taste of the Wild, FROMMs, Acana, Orijen, Welness, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul.. There's tons more but these are the only ones I can think of right now ._.

 

[brw1982]

The general rule is 10-lbs per month old but the girls will usually slow down before the boys because they shouldn't be as big as the boys. Fiona gained roughly 10-lbs per month until about 5-months old. Then she slowed down, waaaaaay down and she didn't hit 60-lbs until close to a year old. But she got all her height way earlier than her fill so she looked like nothing but lanky, lanky legs for a year or more. I think at 6-months old she was about 51-lbs and she doesn't have a lot of bone or a large frame.

Most pups have lanky stages but your girl does look a bit thin from the top view pic you posted. I'd be careful about feeding her more just to put some weight on her because she is a growing pup. And a lot of dogs will eat more just because you offer it - not because they need it. If I fed Tali more because she would eat it I'd have a 90-lb, 24" walrus with a dog's head. I would increase your girl's food in 1/2 cup increments to try to keep from upsetting her tummy from a lot of extra food all at once and to gradually add weight so she doesn't gain too much too fast.

Overall, I focus on my girls' energy level and how they look as in shiny coat, clear and bright eyes, no noticeable bones protruding - like hips, spine, ribs - but I do like to be able to see the last couple ribs on my girls when they move.

 

[Audrey1]

She looks good - very cute, too. She's young, the weight will come on and then you will have to put her on a diet lol. Don't obsess about it. Even if she were a little underweight, the less weight will make it easier on her leg for now and then as she slowly gains weight, it will come on as muscle and her body will have adjusted to it. She looks healthy.

 

[dax0402]

Hi and welcome to the forum from PA.

 

[ZeldaRules]

A few more pounds wouldn't hurt but she still looks good to me. You definitely don't want 20 more pounds on this dog, she would be a kolache!

 

[Darkevs]

Hello and Welcome to Doberman Talk!

she is a bit thin.

let us know how things go.

Hugz to Zora!

 

[Zora-owner]

Well she seems to actually be gaining some weight because apparently she was 37 when she left the shelter so in 3 weeks she has put on some 4 lbs. I've started blending some Blue Wilderness brand puppy food in w/ the Science diet stuff she was eating from the shelter, hasn't seemed to upset her stomach so I'll be increasing the percentage in her meals for the next week or so until I completely switch over.

I started looking into the ingredients and really there's no comparison - you even look down 1/3 of the way into the ingredient list and its got stuff like whole sweet potatoes, carrots, blueberries, cranberries, alfalfa meal! The first 3 ingredients are meat - I am not sure if anyone else has experience w/ this brand but it must be good for them.

 

[KCFilley]

She looks like a sweetheart and thank you for giving her a forever home. Now that she is home and you put her on a good food she will gain where she needs to be. Don't worry. I agree that Science Diet is not the best.

 

[HerMewMew]

She has some beautiful long legs!

Our vet recomended science diet as well... But the ingredients did nothing to impress me.
We are using Blue Buffalo even the pickey Siamese cats eat out of the puppy bowl.

A member on here suggested looking into a brand they sell at tractor supply "4 health" with the "same" ingredients as BB but half the cost. I did some reshearch and she was correct. We haven't bought a new bag yet but I am going to try out the new one soon.

She is a cutie! Glad to hear her leg is recovered!