Skinny pup

So we picked Tank up from the breeder on Sunday.... He was on purina beta food which is just total crap.

He looked a bit of a state, covered in scratches and tiny bite marks as well as a small bump on his head where I'm guessing is a bruise caused by a large k9 tooth, maby from mum ?

He had also lost fur down his back and head. We could see his ribs and spine easily... And he stank!

He has a good pedigree, but I was shocked at the state of him.

He looked very small, skinny and moth eaten. The breeder apparently took him to the vet the day before a he was shaking, diagnosis was stress.

Anyway, I threw the purina beta in the bin and got him on Wainwrights complete, which is a good food. Currently he is eating double the amount according to the guidelines on the box which can only be a good thing right ?

I bathed him in Etiderm shampoo so he smells better now, he smelt like urine tbh when we picked him up.

The difference in him in just a few days is huge, he's lively, loving and a piglet !

Obviously to me my thinkin is he didn't get his share of the food he was weaned on, he came from a litter of 7, he was pretty beaten up and looked prety sad....I'm just glad I've got him home and can get him sorted.

So, with his skinny and moth eaten state, is this likely to effect his growth as he gets bigger ?

Sorry for the huge post but I wanted to give as much info as poss.

I wouldn't double the recommended amount. Either stick to what he should be getting or maybe increase it slightly, otherwise he'll get into a habit of eating too much & you'll end up with a porker!

As long as he's now getting good food & care his growth shouldn't be affected.

Dempsey was the smallest of his litter - he couldn't suckle so after nearly 2 days of not feeding he was hand fed. When I got him he was still only three quarters the size of his litter mates. Now he's the biggest!

Thx caryll, I feel a bit better now

X

You'd be surprised how quickly a pup can come back from that sort of thing. A friend who used to breed GSDs called them good 'doers'. They'd make the most use of the food they got, if that makes sense!

ah poor tank sounds like he's been in the wars abit,sasha was abit like that when we picked her up,she had scratches and a cut on her head where her mum had a go at her,she grew up to be a piggy too,now you've got him home he'll come on a treat

I wouldn't increase the recommended amount yet. He should grow at a normal rate now that he is on good food.

poor thing! did you see the other pups at all? was tank the runt?

If the pups are in that state then i hate to think what happened. normally the mums are in a right state but the pups are still good cause she deveotes all her energy to them