Malinois issues!! Help! Questions

No Brian, I do not think we "are all sick of hearing about it by now" - at least I am not. You are asking for help with Willow and from what I see everyone is trying to help you. But there is no quick fix with a young puppy, and some take longer than others.

So please keep posting and tell us how Willow is doing and how you are getting along with her, even if you just need to let off steam. Far better you let off steam here than take out your frustration on Willow.

Juli

I agree with Juli. Nobody gets sick of hearing about dogs on here and when an owner and their dog are having problems, we do all try to help as much as we can without actually meeting you both.

Please keep us up-dated with progress and there will be some. It just takes a little long with some than others

Just so we can have a happy moment amongst the negativity. Long stroll....as in we just went around and sniffed anything and everything we could on softer ground

So.....I found another high quality food with lamb, but it is an adult food. I have read about people swapping malinois over to adult foods right away to keep them from growing too fast (protects joints). My concern is, she is already small for her age, and I know that puppy food is higher in fats...something puppies need. Any thoughts??? She is still peeing like crazy, but her poop is solid and consistent (5-8 times a day or so)

I wouldn’t worry too much
Smaller puppies do not necessarily stay smaller, most grow up to be normal dogs.
There are all sorts of things that factor into the eventual size/weight/height, depending on genetics, build, bone structure ect: and she'll be whatever size she'll be.

Tw

My pup switched over to working dog formula early. Has a picture of a working kelpie on the front , they also feed it to working pig dogs.

it’s got more good stuff for active dogs that burn a lot of energy.

He didn’t like the puppy stuff much , I figured better he eats more too.

To get to his full genetic potential sounds better to me .

I also try and use my common sense and give him heart , red meat , fish occasionally , chicken necks regularly.

I chopped the chicken necks up for him when he was smaller, as they are popular it means he will fit more food in and good for cleaning teeth.

also I tried mince with rice , and all that stuff.

as I wanted him to eat , a lot of it came down to what he preferred.

I imagine there’s scientific approaches to it all too.

my 2 cents worth.

(suppose I should add, he is not a guts , so if he was one with the disposition to become a fat pup it would maybe be different. )

Brian, how often are you feeding Willow?

It was all day at first. Now three times a day or so. It ends up being about 2 cups for the whole day

Try splitting the amount up into four smaller meals. It might lessen the number of times she needs to poo as she will be digesting smaller amounts each time, which might slow down her digestive system a bit as it will ease the pressure on her stomach.

It made her poop more when I did that. I was doing 5-6 times a day. Today she has already pooped in her crate twice. She has gone out 7 times in the last 6 hours, pooped all those times and we spent about 40 min outside just kind of strolling. Needless to say, crate training is not going well. I just have been sticking to towels since they are a bit easier to clean, and she has consistently been peeing or pooping on 6-8 towels a day. I’m tempted to just stop feeling her and letting her drink. Think that would help . Kidding of course but pretty frustrating. Short of me leaving her tied up outside 24/7, she ducks at this crate training thing

Sucks*

oh well, just gonna keep consistent with her the

@Malka, figured you would like this!! Her playing with my girlfriend’s old English bull dog, Emma Lou yesterday! It was super funny!! Lou came out and willow had ZERO idea what was going on. 5 min later, Lou was EXHAUSTED and Willow was not even close to ready to stop.

she is wet because she fell into the water bowl while wrestling

One more

Have you told your vet the number of times she's eliminating?

I'd keep a diary. What she eats, when, and the number of times she eliminates with the times then present it to your vet if he has already ruled out any concern.

She really shouldn't be 'going' as often as she is

because of coronavirus, I have yet to meet my vet face to face, but I like your idea of the diary.

I just figured she was a puppy, but I will mention it to them when I see them in two weeks for her final round of shots.

to be fair to her (I’m deleting this post right after I post it so she doesn’t think I like her ) none of her poops are a good, full on poop. They are all pretty small. I get that bigger one here and there and then she doesn’t poop for a bit. So I wonder if it just has to do with her not being able to / wanting to hold it.

I think I am sort of on the wrong wavelength about food and the frequency of elimination because raw-fed dogs do not poo as often [or anywhere near as much] as dogs who are fed on kibble, and I have forgotten what Lexi and Pereg were like in that respect. Also I changed Pereg onto raw in mid 2011 and she was about 2½ years old at the time.

There is one thing that might help her do a good poo and not just a lot of small ones. Try sprinkling some bran on her food and just moistening it a bit. It could bulk her stools plus make it easier for her to empty her bowels in one go instead of frequent small amounts.

I agree with @Chris about keeping a diary - I still keep both of my online ones so I can note down things - one of them sends an email every morning, addressed to Tikva [it used to be addressed to Pereg because I started the diaries for her].

Brian - note down everything that you might think important. Times and quantities that Willow eats. Times and descriptions of her poos. Even things like her visit from Emma Lou. Everything and anything that might be new or sudden - even a change in the weather.

Incidentally, I think those pictures showed how much fun Willow had - thank you for sharing them with us.

You are getting a lot of opinions here and I don't want to confuse things, however on the first play photo your girl looks fine boned but - unless it is a bad angle - has what looks like a bloated abdomen. If this is so, there could be several reasons for this.
She could need worming with a good broad spectrum wormer.
She could have a food allergy. Wheat, maize, chicken, and occasionally beef are the most common offenders. As test feeding is a laborious process, it is easier to just exclude all these ingredients and see if there is any improvement.
She could actually be having too much food, and her gastric system doesn't have the time to fully digest the contents before the next batch arrives.
Just my thoughts based on that one image.

Are you calling my dog fat!? I think it was just the pic. Here, tell me what you think

(sorry, about the pic. For some reason, no matter what orientation I put the picture in, this forum likes to take control and do what it pleases..... is there a fix for this? I have literally edited every pic I have had based on the orientation the forum puts it in to no avail)

@CaroleC, I want to make sure I give you a little more info. Yes, she is on a chicken food, but a limited Ingredient Diet, sooooo, if it is an allergy, it’s most likely the chicken. I’ve decided to swap her to an adult food and up the amount a bit so the calories stay up. It’s specifically designed for working dogs and their joints. Protein will switch to lamb at that point. This is still a month or two out, as I would like to use up the food I have UNLESS I hear differently from the vet on the 16th. I’m going to specifically ask the question about allergies. She has been dewormed already.

I’ve been reading more articles and no matter how frustrated I get, I TRULY think the outcome is going to be worth it. I actually found a small dog workout area today that I never knew was there!!! It’s only about 500 yards from my condo!!! I couldn’t believe it. It’s tucked back, gated, and has soft ground and tons of low laying obstacles for her to run through. I’m going to get her there tomorrow and bring treats to help build her confidence. My main focus right now (thanks to this forum) will be socialization and confidence

Sorry Brian, just thought she looked a bit pot-bellied in that photo, and made 2+2=5! Please ignore, I'll get back in my box.