staffy dogs

[lolalola]

i have a 2yr old bitch she was spade at 10mths old she was last weighed a fortnight ago weighin 22lbs is this 2 big i only feed her once a day but she seems to b getting bigger

[divegirl]

Hi, speyed bitches can be prone to weight gain. Have a word with your vet's nurse and see what they recommend, it might be worth switching her to a 'light' food. I know that Bakers do one.

Lisa x

[doggydays]

If she's weighing 22lbs, she's 2lbs under minimum breed standard weight. Id recommend Burns High Oats, stay away from the Bakers! Full of sugars and crap. Better still, go natural! ;-)

[orange-gnome]

Just to agree that 22lbs is actually on the light side. They should be between 29-48lbs. Remember that they are (or should be) very muscular dogs and should be reasonably heavy for their size.
I would also just second doggydays' advice to stay away from Bakers..junk food for dogs. I would also recommend that you split her meal into two meals. Imagine if you were fed just one large meal a day... it is better for her metabolism, energy levels , urge to beg for snacks etc to feed her two smaller meals.

[lankeela]

At two years she is only just reaching maturity and although she will have reached her height at about a year, they do carry on filling out and maturing until about 2 - 3 years.

Feed her a good qualiity food and only feed the amount for the weight she should be, not the weight she actually is, and then she should maintain her correct weight. Then you should not need a diet or light food. Give her plenty of exercise and she should be fit and healthy despite being spayed. Of course her weight will depend on her height and build, some staffs are much lighter built than others.

[kita1]

Agree totally with Lankeela when she says her weight will depend on her height and build, unless she is a 'show' Staffie she could be totally different to the recommended 'breed' standard.

I have seen Staffies where I live that look more like Labs as regards size, others are not much bigger than JR's! Some are really muscular, others look more like whippets! (Maybe a slight exaggeration there, but not much).

As long as she is happy and healthy and wants plenty of exercise I would not be too bothered about her weight. If she was weighed at the vets they would have told you if she was too heavy for her size.

People always told me that you should just be able to feel a dogs ribs when they were the correct weight.

[lankeela]

Agree, with most dogs you should be able to feel the ribs, just by gently putting your fingers on their sides, and they shuld sit in the groove between the bones, although with greyhounds you should actually see the last three ribs, and be able to feel the rest.