Please take a look at my pictures and tell me your opinion

[julie87]

Originally Posted by carmspack

why does the dog have a shaved area on his right forearm?
whatever is going on may be a stress response .
also what are you feeding ? thought I saw red yellow and green kibble (if so that can't be good) -- and the dog does not appear to have any muscle , seems to look like he is missing energy and animation , a little less as each month goes by .

let's see if nutrition will help.

The arm is shaved because she had spay surgery. I feed her Royal Canine/raw. That different color kibble you see is some natural food by Rachel Ray I bought when there was no big bags of her regular food at Pets Mart either way what does color have to do with it? Which picture are you referring to where the dog doesn't have muscle lol? I was actually thinking she might be just a little overweight. She has crazy energy very shiny coat and she is healthy everyone always asks what I feed her. And stress response? The dog is super happy and our home is any dog's dream, I don't work so she is with me all the time, going on trips, that dog is never alone she is the queen of the house the only stress she has is when the cat steals her food


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[julie87]

Originally Posted by fuzzybunny

I'm no expert in this but I would think you'd need to keep them glued for longer than a few days. Any thread I've read about gluing/taping, I believe it was a few weeks.

It was on way longer than a few days it was a few weeks. First week gluing second week taping with barely any results now will see what breathe strips will do


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[Freestep]

Usually, if the ears go up once, they'll go up again. Looks like they were up a couple months ago, so I wouldn't worry too much, but it's unusual for them to come up at 5 months and go down again at 7.

A pup's ears will flop when the pup is tired, or simply very relaxed. But stress could cause it also, I might hazard a guess that her spay surgery was very recent and she is still recovering. Even though a dog might not show signs of stress, anesthesia and surgery is always a big deal to a dog's system, so while her body is busy healing, it may not be putting much effort into making her ears stand.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that leaving the ears alone is the best thing you can do. I had a pup whose ears wouldn't stand, and I tried taping them (back then we used foam hair curlers) but I think I just made it worse. The ears never did stand.

[Gilly1331]

Generally if her ears are doing all the funny flip flop stages and were up at one point or another they will be up by 1 yr al the time. Some dogs go up fast,quick and stay up while others take a while. Just love your dog having her ears up or down wont change how much she loves you.

[carmspack]

I like Rachel Ray, like her recipes, like her cooking show , but dog food ? . Opening "working with a team of pet food experts" most likely means she was approached for permission to use her marketable image , celebrity "food" status to help market an average kibble . I don't see it as any great shakes
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Dried Peas, Dried Carrots, Dried Tomatoes, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Olive Oil, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Oxide, Dried Parsley, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid. "

Actually lots and lots of grains. I asked about the colours in the kibble because there are a lot of low ranked kibbles with coloured bits and pieces.
Royal Canin also ranks low .
That the arm is shaved because of a spay surgery has lots of meaning , because the dogs ears were better set in the before pictures. THIS is her stress response. She is a young dog in a growth phase . Surgery , recovery, even the anaesthetic is a physical stress. The anaesthethic will slow down digestion and takes a while to totally clear out of the system , which the liver plays an active part in doing. I wasn't suggesting the home wasn't caring and loving . I don't see her as being over weight at all , but I don't see her muscled either .
There are many ways to help cartilage and ligament through diet .

[Jag]

Originally Posted by fuzzybunny

I'm no expert in this but I would think you'd need to keep them glued for longer than a few days. Any thread I've read about gluing/taping, I believe it was a few weeks.

It took my bitch 2 weeks or so of gluing to get them to stay up, so you're right. I had to re-glue and add a cone when she scratched and separated them.

[carmspack]

thought these comments on the different kibbles was interesting What we DONT carry, and why

[julie87]

Originally Posted by Freestep

Usually, if the ears go up once, they'll go up again. Looks like they were up a couple months ago, so I wouldn't worry too much, but it's unusual for them to come up at 5 months and go down again at 7.

A pup's ears will flop when the pup is tired, or simply very relaxed. But stress could cause it also, I might hazard a guess that her spay surgery was very recent and she is still recovering. Even though a dog might not show signs of stress, anesthesia and surgery is always a big deal to a dog's system, so while her body is busy healing, it may not be putting much effort into making her ears stand.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that leaving the ears alone is the best thing you can do. I had a pup whose ears wouldn't stand, and I tried taping them (back then we used foam hair curlers) but I think I just made it worse. The ears never did stand.

Thank you you saying that if they were up before they will come back up again. Her ears started coming up at 3 months. Her spay was a month ago and her ears were criss-cross after that, and only a week ago it started being floppy but if she is outside they go cross cross again. Yesterday I put some breathe strips and tender mender here is a pic


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[x11]

it is not important for ears to come up at all unless you want a show dog but showing dogs is not important either so it's not a problem.

you dog will still hear the same as any other dog so it's just looks.

do you like yr dog or just like a certain look?

nice looking pup - some other posters mentioned some other things you might want to consider, forget the ears unless you are hung up on appearance.

my dog had flying nun's ears until 12mo. they went up and down several times - i could not care less how they would have ended up.

[julie87]

Originally Posted by carmspack

I like Rachel Ray, like her recipes, like her cooking show , but dog food ? . Opening "working with a team of pet food experts" most likely means she was approached for permission to use her marketable image , celebrity "food" status to help market an average kibble . I don't see it as any great shakes
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Dried Peas, Dried Carrots, Dried Tomatoes, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Olive Oil, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Oxide, Dried Parsley, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid. "

Actually lots and lots of grains. I asked about the colours in the kibble because there are a lot of low ranked kibbles with coloured bits and pieces.
Royal Canin also ranks low .
That the arm is shaved because of a spay surgery has lots of meaning , because the dogs ears were better set in the before pictures. THIS is her stress response. She is a young dog in a growth phase . Surgery , recovery, even the anaesthetic is a physical stress. The anaesthethic will slow down digestion and takes a while to totally clear out of the system , which the liver plays an active part in doing. I wasn't suggesting the home wasn't caring and loving . I don't see her as being over weight at all , but I don't see her muscled either .
There are many ways to help cartilage and ligament through diet .

Like I previously mentioned I bought a small bag until petsmart gets Royal Canine back in stock. She is on half kibble and half raw, also I asked about ears not diet advise. I don't find your comments helpful at all seems like you are suggesting my dog is malnourished unhappy and has poor diet. Like I said she gets cottage cheese for extra calcium and plenty of chews and bones. If anyone else thinks my dog is underweight please say so because like I said She is my first GSD and I am trying to do whats best for her.


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