# Help! Lauri!



## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

I have my 4 month old puppy on raw...he has been on it since I got him at 8 weeks pretty much. When I first started him, he didnt care for it, now he loves it! He is a healthy weight, he could loose maybe 1-2lbs and still be ok but other than that hes not overweight. I will post pictures of him that I took yesterday. Anyway, I feed about a 1lb of RMB and about 9-10oz of muscle meat, he gets about 4-5 oz of organ meat and an additional chicken liver MOST days. Sometimes I forget to thaw and he goes with out or I run out so thats why I say most days. For suppliments I give salmon oil, showstopper, a whole raw egg, kelp, and vit e. He gets that about 4-5 days of the week. This overkill?

My dilema is hes starting to get weak pasterns. More so in the right leg, but still both look affected...hes feet arent as tight. Sometimes its not as noticable. Like if hes just sitting there or laying down all looks grand. Its when hes walking around and running, that I notice the weakness. I am thinking hes getting too much protien in his diet, maybe even too much calcium. I want to keep him on raw, but I dont know how to correct this. My plan is to switch him to Innova Ault kibble until his critical growth periods are over. 

I heard teething can be a culprit in weak pasterns but I am not sure if this is just a myth? 

These are some of the things that I have seen suggested for treatment..

vit v and e (which i already give)
gluc and chond joint suppliment
enzymes
21-23% protien diet
light exercise

and was also advised against calcium supplimenting as too much calcium can actually cause weak pasterns.

Should I switch to adult dog food, or can I adjust his meals to include less protien. Like not feeding raw eggs, maybe less mm?? Please help, I have never delt with this issue before! Here are some pictures, yes this is my boring back yard lol.

Sitting, and it doesnt even look bad here but look at the action pictures below.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

I am not Lauri but puppies do sometimes appear to have loose pasterns. It is usually a sure sign of a wonky growth spurt and tightens up again in time. I have some pictures of Jethro (DOB 1-18) where his pasterns are enough to make ya go HUH?? Next thing I knew she shot up what seemed like FEET in a few days. Wasn't really feet but one of his more noticeable growth spurts so far.


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)




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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Dang is he handsome but I still would not worry a whole lot about him.


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Oh this post isnt just intended for Lauri. I just know shes raised puppies on raw









I just worry as I dont want to permantly mess his structure up. I am hoping its just a growth spurt issue. I really love feeding raw and It will be hard to get him to like kibble again. 

Thank you the compliments on him, I also think hes very handsome!


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## Toffifay (Feb 10, 2007)

Hi Marie...









A friend of mine has a now 6 month old male GSD and when he was around 4 months his pasterns looked just like your pups. He's got a super heavy build, super thick boning and a huge head. She feeds raw as his main food source, but keeps kibble available for him to nibble on. His outgrew his weak pasterns in a few weeks and now he looks much straighter and sound. She was concerned about too much protein as well, and instead of stopping the raw she just cut back a little. He was plenty chubbed out at the time and now he just looks beefy..not chubby.

By the way...your pup is a Hunk in the making! Is that Kaiyah he's playing with?

Hope this helps!
~Gia~


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Thanks Gia! Its reassuring to hear. I will just slightly cut back on the protien. Ill only give raw egg maybe once a week and maybe a little less muscle meat. Otherwise hes doing so well with the raw I would hate to switch! 

Yes, that is Kaiyah! I got a few pics of her. It was getting dark out so its not the best quality. I will post some up


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Kaiyah attacking Quest hehe! No harm was done in the making of these pictures..


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

her coat looks really dull because even though its not as evident, she has lots of dust in her coat. Cant help it with my nice lovely sandy back yard!


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## Toffifay (Feb 10, 2007)

I LOVE the pic of her chewing on her little brother!! What a funny shot you got! Kaiyah is gorgeous..she is quite a bit darker than Toffee. Conformation-wise, the two sisters look almost identical. I wonder if she will get darker with the raw feeding? I saw that happen to Patty's Grimm. He was kind of pale and sparse and after a while feeding raw his color changed alot.

You might have sand and dust...but at least you don't have fleas and ticks!!


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## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

OMG your dogs are simply knockouts!!! *DROOL*

I've noticed that pasterns can look weak in movement photos sometimes. Risa (my Mutt) has fairly straight pasterns but when she's in motion it can look like she has weak ones occasionally.


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Thank you Jamie! Yeah its def a lot more noticable in action and its not so noticeable when hes just sitting around. In fact unless I was specifically looking you dont really notice. But boy when he gets moving, I cringe. 

Does anyone know if this is really painfull for them?


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

As far as I know it is not painful.

I'd say that it's more of a genetic issue than a diet related issue. I looked up the sire in the Pedigree database and if you check out the pictures on the progeny page you can see that alot of the dogs have long pasterns as well as the sire himself:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/progeny_pictures/444418.html

Like this offspring:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/pictures/460816.jpg

I think that dogs with long pasterns tend to be down more as pups.


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Thank you Lauri, it does seem like they have longer pasterns. I have noticed his ear flopping over a bit so maybe the teething therory holds true along? I am not sure if its coincidence, but ive also started feeding just a little less protien and ive added Ester C and joint suppliments, but hes pasterns are a little better and I am hoping once hes done teething it will reside completely...


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## spartshep (Feb 20, 2008)

Lauri/Marie~~Last I knew...Aron is not the sire of Quest...it is Puck. The last thing he has are long pasterns. His legs are strong, his pasterns and feet are perfect. He has not produced weak pasterns at all and I am hoping Quest's are normal, too


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## GSD4LIFE21 (Mar 8, 2007)

Sorry, I did not see that she said that Aron was the actual Sire, I thought she said those were dogs in his lines. I read quickly and only looked over the pictures. But I have to disagree that his pasterns are perfect but I do think the cause is diet related. I think he will be just fine as soon as he grows into those huge thick legs


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## spartshep (Feb 20, 2008)

Marie,

Puck's pasterns are absolutely perfect...I wasn't speaking about Quest. I am sure his will be as he grows.


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## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

Both of your dogs are so gorgeous!


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