Pet Information > ASK Experts > Dogs > Dog Breeds > Pit Bulls > weight gaining and health question

weight gaining and health question

20 10:06:20

Question
i have 5 month old female red nose and she is 5 months she's not going to be tall she is short. she weighs right now 58 pounds big paws. her father is about 140 and her mother about 130. what do you think she will finish off weighing. what is your best advice as far as feeding(what to?) in order to gain allot of mass. and i noticed her breath stinks, it has a smell of sewer literally constantly. its been going on for about 1 month now and it is terrible what do you think that is

Answer
It is really hard to say how big any dog will actually be. A lot of that depends on what kind of dog she really is. Is she a purebred APBT? Or is she crossed? Those things really do make a difference. Even at that, you can take two perfectly proportioned dogs that weigh 60 lbs each and end up with a pup that doesn't have an ideal body size. That's the beauty of genetics...you never REALLY know what you are going to get.

I don't recommend altering her diet to gain muscle mass. In most cases, bulky dogs are not as healthy as they should be. If you look at breed standards for APBTs (either ADBA or UKC standards) you will see that these dogs, especially those in show, conformation, and weight pull are not meant to be large dogs at all.

You should be feeding her food that is going to give her the best, most balanced nutrition you can provide for her. Avoid foods with a lot of fillers and animal byproducts. Also, preservatives and salts should be avoided when possible. I personally feed my APBTs Timberwolf Organic, usually the Ocean Blue variety. However, there are many other natural dog foods that meet the needs of dogs like these quite well...you just have to check and see what is available in your area. The general rule of thumb I follow is that if you get it at your typical grocery store, it probably isn't worth feeding your dog and, when in doubt, check the label and call the vet.

As far as her breath goes, that could be an absolute myriad of things. If it isn't "puppy breath" you really should contact your vet about it. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you.