Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject: new puppy - pot belly?
Hi all,
I have just joined this forum. I have an 8 week old black lab pup called Poppy. She is beautiful but has a bit of a pot belly. The vet has given her 3 sachets of worming treatment which I started today. Does anyone know how long they should take to work? I have been reading about bloat on this forum which has worried me. She is bombing around the house as normal and is very plaful then crashes out and sleeps.
Also, the breeder told me to feed her on Beta puppy and gave me 3 days worth of food. I went to my local pet shop who told me I needed the puppy food for large dogs (still beta) but the biscuits seem very large compared to before - is this right?
puppies do tend to have pot bellies but the wormer should sort her out if she does have worms.
Food wise.... most people don't consider labs as large breed but i don't think there will be much difference ... normally just something to get extra money out of you! if you are worried about the size of the bits... try soaking her food in warm water to soften it up a bit. helps release the smell too!
and WELCOME!
____________ Sam, Coal & Finn
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Pups usually have pot bellies and little rolls of fat. It's healthy for them to look chunky at this age. Just like human babies, they need their reserves. If she was excessively podgy and had trouble moving around normally then I'd worry.
Pretty soon she'll be all gangly and weird looking and you'll worry she's too thin. I think puppies do it on purpose to stress us out!
Bigger bits are fine if you soak them or you pup is a good chewer. Wicca doesn't chew at all just hoovers it all down so still gets her food soaked.
Welcome btw.
If given today I be thinking lots of paper down checking her numbers 2 late tonight or early tomorrow over the coming day.
your puppy tummy might start feeling loose skin not to worry. Then you'll be feeding your puppy not the worms. The coat also change from a dull to a shiney gloss. You'll see some changes .
Don't worry, pups do tend to have pot bellies at this age, its not bloat! If she does have any worms, the wormer will sort this out, wormers work pretty much immediately.
With regards to food, if you have bought the Beta puppy for large breeds and the kibble (biscuit) seems too big, then soak the food before feeding to her. This will soften it and make it easier for Poppy to eat. Do make sure though that you are feeding her puppy food and not adult.
If you find Poppy has any difficulty eating the larger sized kibble, I would change back to the smaller sized food.
Enjoy your pup's lovely pot belly it's meant to be like that for now and as it grows older it will dissapear - time passes so quickly so enjoy the little fella... A half decent breeder will have had a worming program for the pups i.e they would have been wormed at 2, 4, and 6 weeks. Then the new owner will have to worm the pup at 8 weeks and again at 12 weeks. As others have said, the wormers will work very quickly.
As for the food: go for what the breeder said as most (not all, I know) petstore staff doesn't really have a clue but only relays on what the dog feed manufature sales people tells them I like if the food has big kibbles as this encurage the dog/pup to use it's teath rather than swollow the lot in two mouth fulls but that's just personal opinion. Remember that the dog's cousin, the wolf, would spend most of the day stripping the flesh off bones and really 'work' for it's food hence the needle sharp teeth
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:53 am Post subject: poppy
Cheers everyone for all of your quick replies -they have put my mind at rest! She is acting completely normally and is now having a rest after attacking the vacuum cleaner!
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but the wormer should sort her out if she does have worms.
I like if the food has big kibbles as this encurage the dog/pup to use it's teath rather than swollow the lot in two mouth fulls but that's just personal opinion. Remember that the dog's cousin, the wolf, would spend most of the day stripping the flesh off bones and really 'work' for it's food hence the needle sharp teeth 
