Michal first weighed her by standing on my bathroom scales to weigh herself, then picked up Tikva and weighed the two of them together - deducting her weight from the weight of the two of them showed Tikva weighing 5.5kg. Worried me a bit as she is 500g down from when she was weighed at the surgery before she was spayed, but she is so active that she burns up far more calories than she did then. 5.5kg [just over 12 lbs] which is, according to Michal, heavy for her size, as her bones feel strong, her joints are fine, her muscles feel like iron, although she is basically skeleton, muscle, skin and very short coat! Michal checked her all over, said she is not thin, just very slim, so while she looks more Doxie than Minpin [and has Doxie stubbornness - and noise - and is an excellent guard dog - "Mommy, someone is walking past - Mommy, there is a car parked near here"] she obviously is not taking after her dam who was gigantic and very obese, even though she had whelped and was nursing eight 3-week-old puppies when I saw her. She was absolutely gigantic and definitely obese. So, worm pill given - one [or two] more as she has to have them every three months until she is a year old - actually until the date Michal gave her the first one, not her DoB, but the Parkworm shot, which is what she was weighed for, will need to be given to her every three months for life. Ears checked. Teeth checked. Front claws clipped - the back ones did not need it as she spends so much of her time doing a Meerkat imitation when out but unlike a Meerkat she dances around on her hind legs. Luckily she does not have the Doxie long back or short legs, so she should be safe from spinal problems. It is so much easier Michal coming here instead of the performance it would be to take Tikva to the surgery. She is such a nice young girl who absolutely adores Tikva, and will play with her - not just stick her up on an examination table in the surgery. I was so lucky with Ram being Pereg's primary vet [he is the boss there] and now I am so lucky that I have Michal as Tikva's primary vet [although Ram operated when she was spayed]. As for having a vet come out for basic things - how many vets would do that?
Yes, exceptional service Malka. We haven't had any pictures of your little monster for a while. Any chance of some showing her body shape yet?
I wouldn't worry about her weight Malka she's nearly the same weight as my Ziva who is 5.75kg Am glad ou have a vet that you can trust & who the Beautiful, cute, lovable little terror likes.
I should be so lucky! She is either rushing around or curled up asleep! Shape - she has a shorter back than a Doxie. Longer legs but definitely Doxie-shape. Shorter face and smaller ears. Wide, deep chest which goes into a slim waist to die for - and then broadens slightly at her hips and her thighs bulge, almost look like she is on steroids! Actually so do the muscles at the top of her front legs, but not quite so much. But you can see her ribs all the time and when she breathes in to bark, her chest expands and her ribs look as if they will burst out of her chest. Her spine is also slightly visible at times, depending on how she is standing, or lying curled up. Michal is happy with her though, and happy with her diet [raw] and the supplements I give her, and if a vet who is a vegan is happy with a raw fed dog and how healthy she is, then I must be doing something right. I will try to take more photographs but have a problem in that I cannot send them through TinyPic as I used to do since I changed to Windows 10. TinyPic no longer works and PhotoBucket must hate me as I cannot post any photos through PB either. I save photographs but then when I try to post/copy/whatever they go to Edge - I can get them to Paint [how? why?] but cannot copy them to post anywhere. "Terror" is the right word! Either my scales are out or the one at the surgery was out when she went there to be spayed. I am just not used to a small skinny dog. Little One was the same weight but soft and fluffy and cuddly, and looked bigger because she was long-coated - not like the monster who feels like she weighs a ton when I try to pick her up. But then she is not a cuddly pup, at least not with me - except when I want a nap on my recliner and she will then stealthily get only my lap, curl up and go to sleep! And that is so lovely!
I have just spoken to Michal and she thinks maybe their scales were off when Tikva was weighed before she was spayed but I should not worry about Tikva being thin.. And yes, she is thin but she is rock solid muscle.. I have been so worried - kept thinking I was starving her but she has not been asking for more food - she is just skinny and she is definitely not hungry. Michal said Tikki is fine. Slim but fine, And better slim than obese. And I should not give her more food unless she asks for it. She is just skinny but very active. She also said that they saw more obese dogs than than skinny ones. And Tikki is so active. Just so thin.
I wouldn't worry too much Malka. Your Tikva comes from two breeds which are both naturally slim. She is also still quite young, and should broaden a little as she matures. As you well know, after spaying bitches unfortunately have a tendency to develop padding, - remember how you used to think that Pereg was getting a little too chubby. I guess that this would be less likely to be a problem if you are starting from a nice slim baseline. My Merry was only spayed 12 months ago, and we are already having to do battle with a tendency to 'saddlebags'.
@CaroleC - Pereg was well overweight and I had problems to keep her weight down. But that was because of her epilepsy and medication. Tikva is thin. No question. She is thin. Skinny. And she worried me which which is why I called Michal. But she is so active. I am just so worried - both breeds have epilepsy in them - I do not think I could cope with another epi. But what would I do? I love that little puppy. Even though she is horrible and bites.
My Brownie was this skinny sack of bones all his life Could always see his ribs, was just bony through and through. No matter what I did, couldn't put weight on him at all. But he lived to almost 16 and never had any joint problems in his life. I'd not worry about a skinny dog at all. It won't hurt them.
@mjfromga - Myra - Brownie was not thin - slim, yes, but Tikva is THIN. She probably would eat more if I gave it to her but she never asks for more, and the one thing I do not want is an overweight dog. I have just checked her card, and the last time she was weighed here, on my scales, with Michal first weighing herself and then picking up Tikki and weighing them both together, which was on 9 October, Tikva weighed 5.3 kilos. And on 23 November when she was spayed she weighed 6 kilos according to the surgery scales. 30 March on my scales she was 5.5 kilos. That was with Michal weighing herself and then picking up Tikva. So maybe Michal was right and the surgery scales had not been calibrated correctly? If so, then they were wrong when she was spayed, which might explain her grumpiness when Michal brought her home that afternoon. A wee bit too much anaesthetic? She has to be weighed for the Parkworm shot, and as it is done here she is weighed here. And unless I have to take Tikva to the surgery again in case of an emergency, the best to go by is Michal weighing herself on my scales, then picking up Tikva to weigh them both together. That way we can be sure of Tikki's weight, whether my scales have been calibrated or not. Tikki will be 11 months old on 15 April so is probably fully grown now. But she is thin. Her ribs stick out - not like Brownie - she looks like she just has skin over her ribs. I am probably comparing her with Little One, who was long-coated so looked bigger than she was, and short-coated Pereg who was definitely overweight due to her condition and medication. But Tikva is so very thin.
I haven't seen little Tikva lately... But she's still young, can still fill out a little, and if it becomes very worrisome, you can always feed more. Brownie would not eat more. 2 cans of food a day is usually the maximum he'd eat, and sometimes he didn't even want that. He refused all kibble and all raw except ground beef. At 23" or so at the shoulders, he usually weighed about 60 lbs or even less. Skinny dog. Its unusual to see a Labrador type dog so skinny, but as 6JRTS said, other breeds play a role. Brownie had quite a bit of pitty in him, and they are pretty bony dogs. Tikva will probably put on a bit as she ages a tad. Nigredo sees the vet later today and he's gotta be weighed. Last time he was 100 lbs! He's only supposed to weigh maybe 80-90 lbs. I cannot manage his weight no matter what I do. I'd be far happier if he were skinny than fat. Exercise, diet foods, nothing helps him and he seemingly keeps gaining for no reason. He's healthy otherwise so its frustrating. Perhaps you can take solace in the fact that those of us with lard tubs for dogs would switch with you in an instant.
Her Dam was the biggest standard Dachshund I have ever seen. She was enormous. Not a miniature Dachshund but a standard one and she was massive. Considering she was nursing eight 3-week-old puppies, she was humongous. I mean she was just massive. No way was she petite. If her sire was a MinPin - which he probably was, they are also small, and the guy did say that the "little dog across the road" had "caught" the Doxie. And the only "little dogs" around were MiPins - what I call rat dogs. Myra, Tikva has either a frozen chicken neck or a frozen chicken wing for breakfast, which is 10am. If she wakes early she will have a small biscuit. Her second meal, which is all she wants, is approximately 25g meat, plus her supplements, and lots of vegetables, is at 8pm. She has a few treats when training, but they are tiny.Maybe twice a day. She is not hungry because if she was I would give her more food. And she knows where the food is so would go and ask. She is just thin. Very thin.
