ckc reg lab

Question
QUESTION: hi i recently acquired a ckc reg fox red lab. she is nearly 2 years old. i got her from a women that had a kennel. the dog was bred back to back she had pups in the summer and then again in January. i absolutely do NOT believe in doing this but i guess everyone do there things different. i would not bred a dog under 2 years old first off and secondly i would have all her clearances first. any ways that is not why i am writing just trying to give you a little background. i have had her about 3 weeks now and she is in a pretty ruffed up shape. i am trying to put weight on her and not sure what to feed her. she was on nutrisourse but a few people told me to put her on ol roy which we all know is not a good food but it does have a high % of fat.... so taking her advice i did it. she does not appear to be putting weight on yet.she has been vet checked and wormed and other than underweight she is in great health. i guess she found the whole experience quite traumatic she is only just starting to come out of her shell now. she is a great dog and we love her to pieces just wish we could see a little more weight on her. also her tits are sagging alot! will they go back at all or was having 2 litters that close at such a young age affected her body? and please give me advice on what to feed her. looking forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance

ANSWER: Most Labs will happily eat all they need and more if you give it to them.  If you are comfortable feeding Old Roy, and she will eat more of it, just pile it into her dish.  There are Labs that aren't big eaters.  I had one I had to switch from the corn based Purina I was feeding then to a meat based dog chow to keep his ribs from showing too much.  If you need to switch, any of the common brands should be fine, Pro Plan, Science, Eukanuba, etc.  I am familiar with a number of large, successful professionally guided programs that feed thousands of Labs such diets.  Most dogs will thrive on most dog chows.  Just choose something you are comfortable with and forget the hype.  How can ingredients be ''bad ingredients'' if dogs thrive on chows made from them?  

I really don't know that there is anything wrong with Old Roy.  I doubt that those that do bad mouth it, really know any more than that it is cheap and comes from Wal-Mart.  When it comes to dog chow, real facts are hard to come by and many aren't troubled by the lack of them to back up their opinions.  One expert here regularly rips into chows that don't list corn in the ingredients for containing corn.  While the corn in Old Roy may not be the most efficient source of protein, dogs can thrive on corn based chows.  I spend 3-4 days a year out in front of Wal-Mart with my fine, healthy dog working fundraisers.  It recently occurred to me, none of the people with Old Roy in their cart ever stopped and asked what I feed to keep my dog looking so good.  If it is the trash, that many insist it is, you would think the dogs eating it would fare poorly.  Yet, nobody bothers to ask me about my dog.  Not even the ones las fall amazed that my 14 year old Lab was 14.  

Breeding a dog twice before it is 2 years old is abuse, and her nipples may always be enlarged.  You might see if your vet has any ideas on that.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: yes i agree with you that it is abuse the poor dog never got a chance to grow fully herself. do you feed your dogs ol roy then? i do have another lab that is doing great on ol roy the only thing i find with this new lab is that she does not eat enough of it. i feed her as much as she will eat( my other lab is on a restricted diet or she would be the size of a house!) how can i encourage her to eat more? can i supplement it with something else?

Answer
Maybe the first thing you need to do is evaluate her using http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx  Most Labs are like your other and would eat far more than is good for them.  She may just look thin compared to dgs that are overweight.  Even if her ribs really are showing, you might give her another week or 2 to settle in and perhaps eat more or show some weight on what she is eating.  If the vet agrees she is truely too thin, then switch to a more concentrated, meat based chow.  I am unfamililar with the Nutrisourse.  It may be OK or try a common brand, Iams might be good, trying to match the same protein source.  The fewer different kinds of protein a dog eats when it is young, the easier to work around any food allergies it may develop later.  Another thing would be to add some peanut butter to the Old Roy.  That might add some weight while allowing you to only stock one dog chow.  My 6 month is getting quite a bit of it.  Filling a Kong with it is one way to keep her quiet out in public.  The school mostly forbids giving their puppies table food, but allows the peanut butter.  

While as I said, I doubt there is anything wrong with Old Roy,  I am feeding my 2 Labs adult Pro Plan chicken and rice,  The 6 month old because that is what the dog guide school she belongs to wants.  They switch to adult chow at 4 months.  The 14 year old because she was doing well on it when she retired as a dog guide.  I am happy to have both dogs on the same chow again.  Over the years I have fed Purina, Eukanuba, Iams, Purina 1, and a couple of off brands.  As near as I could see, the dogs all did fine on them except the one Lab I had to switch from Purina to the one meat based off brand.  The only other difference is that the meat based chows produce a smaller, firmer stool that is easier to clean up.  That is a big factor for service dogs for the visually impaired or mobility impaired.  My first reaction to the Pro Plan stools was ''You better clean it up before somebody steps on it and hurts their foot.''

I can only assume if you are feeding your other dog Old Roy, you aren't seeing any problems from it.  Most of the people posting questions here are feeding premium chows and report all sorts of prolems.  I have no way of knowing if it is because premium chows cause probl;ems, people switched to a premium chow because th edog had problems, or people that feed premium chows are morelikely to ask questions here.  I am slow to jump to conclusions on too little information.