Hi Calling all Springer owners! Do you feed your dogs specific working dog food and if so, what is it? Tigger is currently on JWB but usually gets something extra added, like fresh cooked chicken, scrambled eggs, tuna in water, tomato. I also mix half a sachet of Hi Life pouches into his morning and evening meal, so he has a whole sachet each day plus his 3 servings of JWB. He seems really lean to me. He weighs 12kg and is 5 months almost to the day. You cant see his ribs which I have been told is a good way of assessing their health but I cant help but feel he is missing something nutritionally. He has quite a lot of exercise, two walks a day, 1 hour each. Plus if hes not asleep he is running about in the back yard. Read somewhere that Pedigree have taken over JWB, is this true? I want to feed him decent food so any ideas and do you think he is underweight? This pic was taken about 3 wks ago Here you can see him close up
12kgs for 5 month old working Springer sounds fine to me, Isla is coming upto 15kgs but she's show type so will be quite a bit bigger. I know how you feel though, Isla recently went through a leggy spell and I worried she was a bit skinny, but her body's caught up now! One thing I would say is 2 hours of exercise is way too much for a 5 month old pup. It's essential to hold back on the exercise when they're young to prevent arthritis and joint problems in the future. Isla has only recently started to have 2 walks a day and even then they're of a maximum of 20 minutes each with only 1 being free running. Having a Lab with arthritis from the age of 7 has made me cautious in that area, it's no fun watching him hobble around (although we can't be certain over exercise is the cause as we rescued him at the age of 4). Tigger looks gorgeous by the way! :smt049
Thank you God knows how Ill reduce his walk-he loves them but I will cut them short. He just enjoys retrieving so much and really seems to be at home in the long grass kind of environment. My walks tend to be shorter than OHs so Ill have a word. ;-) Are there any tests I can have done re: arthritis? Or any that should have been done for as far as I know none have been.
You don't have to reduce his walks if you don't want to, it's just I think holding off for the first few months of his life would help in the long run. After all what's a few months in 12+ years? They do say 5 minutes for every month of a pups life, so I think even Isla is getting a bit much! ;-) There aren't any tests for arthritis, but hip testing is recommended in Springers, so it's always better to buy from hip tested parents, the average hip score is quite low though I think (about 14???) . Here's the English Springer page on health in the English Springer - http://www.englishspringer.org/Julia/pages/pageone.htm?breed_standard.htm~mainFrame And a handy webpage from the kennel club showing all breeds and their recommended health tests - http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/download/1100/ABShealthreqs.pdf
I forgot to answer you dog food question! Personally the best working dog food out there is Autarky or CSJ. Both are relatively cheap and seem to work wonders on some dogs. Autarky was what I was going to put Isla on before I decided to go raw! Here's the link for both of them: Autarky: http://www.autarky-foods.co.uk/ And CSJ (who also supply Autarky): http://www.csjk9.com/index.html Hope that helps a bit!
Thanks so much, thats really helpful. Except now I am pretty sure that Tigger has had no tests done. It certainly isnt mentioned on his pedigree papers, where there is space for genetic tests results. I will have to keep an eye out! I am shocked by the 5 mins per month of pups age, gosh thats only 25 mins (per day i presume?) for a 5 month old pup! Surely when a dog is raised in a working envionment they are being trained more than that? Will check out the Autarky website, thanks for that too. Have heard Naturediet is good too and Tigger certainly seems to prefer his food wet so I may have to consider that too.
The only test Springer pups should have is the MRD test at 6 weeks, other than that the health tests would be done on the parents. When training a young pup it's only done in short bursts of 5-10 minutes perhaps twice a day. Even in Gundog training only the basics are taught (heel, sit, stay etc) until about 1 year old. Of course not all trainers follow this, but that's always made me wonder if that's why so many working dogs get arthritis at an early age (at least round here they seem to!)?:? Nature diet is really good too, Pickles loves it and it's the only thing I can find that doesn't give him the squits!
You can't hip score or eye test a dog until they are fully grown so the breeder should have tested the sire and dam and not the pups. I would have to agree that 2 hours is too much for a young pup, mine were getting 45 minutes max at 5/6 months BUT they were getting lots of training as it is a very important time to install the basics and tiring them mentally is just as important as tiring them physically. I feed my two Skinners duck and rice and they were on skinners puppy when they were younger, one of mine is very ribby but not matter how much I feed her she never puts on weight as she runs it off my other one is chunkier but not fat. I also give them raw chicken wings for their teeth and raw eggs as well for their coat.
Just wanted to say I agree with all of the above, a side from 1 eye test that can be done at 6 weeks old upto 12 weeks old - Multifocal Retinal Dysplasia. ;-)
I don't have a springer, but just wanted to say that it isn't necessary to feed a pet dog working dog food, there will be too much protein in it and you may end up with a hyper dog. As others have said, two hours exercise is probably too much for a 5 month old pup, so I would cut down on the walks and do more training/retrieiving in your garden/house. Your pup will love it and will be learning at the same time. It will mentally tire Tigger out. My collie is far more tired after 20 minutes sheep herding than if I walked him for 3 hours - it is mental exercise Tigger is gorgeous by the way
I also feed my springers the Skinners Field and Trial maintenance, i've found that this has less protein than some of the other dried foods, works for mine anyway
I found a ne supplier of dog food near me and discover GUSTO which is mad by the same people as autarky but cheaper. I was told by the owner of the company that some "working dog" food is no different to normal "pet" food it just has the benefit of being VAT free .... like Lizzy says mine are on I think 20% protein no additives or wheat .... and for springers they are pretty laid back.
Hi I certainly don't go over 20% protein (in his basic diet) for Fingal who is a non-working Spaniel. Fingal is overweight and 7 years old (he piled on the pounds during a prolonged period of time on steroids) but when you see the rest of his relatives - they are all a bit 'solid'
Just to add to what Kirsty has said, you don't need to feed them working. I work one of mine but she isn't fed on working as it sends her loopy. She is out maybe twice a week and still manages. Our other springer is fed on working as she can be out up to 4 times a week. This is working a full day, and it is hard going. During the grouse counts, I switch my dogs onto working, as they are out up to 6 times a week, doing up to 4 hours hard running a day. The rest of the year, when they aren't working, they are fed on maintainance food. BTW, we feed Skinners and sometimes Chudley's when we can't get Skinners. Helen
