LGD puppy developed bowing of legs

[Baymule]

What was the protein content of your puppy feed?.What I would do is use a cheaper feed and deworm the pup .It would be more helpful if you had charted growth weight of the pup .Feel pretty sure the protein might be the culprit .Real easy to over grow muscle. Keep in mind that high price dose not make a feed good .I use puppy chow for about 12 weeks then switch them over to
Retriever. I use TSC Retriever mix the 25 % with the 21% 50/50 .When we have an abundance of surplus eggs .The dogs get 2 hard boiled eggs a feeding.I don't want to tell you to starve the pup . At a year old large breeds should only weigh about 75% of thier adult weight .By the time they are 2 they should have reached full bone and body mass .
Stay away from wet food .Compare feeds and slow down .For a while dry food and water might be your best choice.Never had a dog that I raised have rickets. I am either lucky are doing something right .Hope the pup is doing well today.

I use the TSC Retriever brand too. I also can chicken (buy leg quarters on sale) for the dogs. When we take animals to slaughter, I get the offal, heart, liver and can that too. When we process Cornish Cross chickens, I can the heart, liver, gizzards, necks, skin, fat and wing tips with rice for the dogs. Husband feeds the dogs, 1 quart split between 5 dogs, mixed with their kibble. I'm down to about a dozen jars of chicken and rice, leg quarters need to go on sale again!

 

[Ridgetop]

Adding extra calcium without the other ingredients needed for assimilation of the calcium won't help. You need to add the correct ratio of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and Vitamin D. Without the correct combination the calcium will not be absorbed and will be worthless no matter how much you add.

At any rate, adding simple Calcium won't do much without the addition of Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Vita D in the right proportions.

Large breed dogs that grow too fast can develop problems. I have had 2 LGDs - males - that developed limps in separate legs at different times from "growing pains". My vet prescribed a temporary pain killer and had me control the amount of protein to slow down the growth. I never had any problem with bowed legs though. That sounds definitely like rickets - which results from Vitamin D deficiency. It can still be seen in many 3rd world populations.

When making chicken and rice dog food you can add bones (chicken necks) since you will either use a pressure cooker or during the canning process at the high temps needed, the bones become soft, enabling them to be eaten without danger by the dogs. I used to make a dog food additive for my kibble when showing my hunting dogs. I used chicken necks, eggplant (I can't remember why this was added but it had some vitamin benefit) and rice. I cooed it in the pressure cooker until the bones were soft, then froze it. I didn't have a canner at that time. I also traded this off with raw meat by products which I added to Nutro kibble. This was 50 years ago and Nutro was the best rice based kibble on the market (possibly the only one then - LOL).

I added calcium, phosphorus, Vita D, and powdered yeast separately along with a "MiraGlo" oil vitamin for coat. (People showing dogs are crazy with what they add for a wining coat. LOL) The powdered yeast kept them from getting any fleas too. I think it is high in Vita B. I used to take Vita B complex and Vita C and never was bitten by mosquitos, or any bugs. I think Vita B is a natural bug repellent when ingested. When raising puppies I added eggs and cottage cheese to their food too.

Hope this helps.

 

[Baymule]

Inards and rice - do you have a recipe or process, please?

Here ya' go.

Canning Dog Food From Offal

We sent 4 lambs to slaughter and I got the liver, heart and kidneys from all four. Today I canned dog food from them. I cooked and diced the meat. I also had a bag of chicken necks in the freezer so I tossed them in too. It made a rich broth. I put a half cup of cooked rice in each jar, along...

www.sufficientself.com

 

[Beekissed]

Very happy to report that Pinky's legs are straightening right up! She loves the puppy food and she doesn't like the leg wraps so much and will tear them off if she can get a tooth hold on them, but mostly they are staying in place enough to give her good support. She's wearing them on both legs to support both joints there and I can already see a big difference there. I'll get pics when it's not so rainy and sloppy out...supposed to rain and snow for the next couple of days here.

So, YAY for home vetting and a good community of helpful people to make it possible!

 

[Ridgetop]

So happy her legs are improving.

 

[Baymule]

That is great news! This is a great forum, the best place on the internet.

 

[Beekissed]

It's amazing to me that she showed these symptoms in less than a week on the dog food mix mistake and it's been a week on the good food to correct it~no other supplements except a couple of days with buttermilk. She's still growing in leaps and bounds but, having the right balance of nutrition for large breed pups, is not seeming to suffer from the rapid growth.

I thank God for the quick recovery...been praying for this pup every day for this malady. She's such a good LGD, so bonded with and loved by her sheep, that I didn't want to mess that up in any way. She amazes me every day with her incredible instincts on how to guard the sheep along with Blue...the perfect partner for him.

 

[Baymule]

You have your perfect working dogs. Life is good. God brings his blessings.

 

[Beekissed]

As of this morning I didn't reapply Pinky's leg wraps. She's been chewing them off anyway and only had just the scrap of one left on one leg this morning. Her legs look straight and she's moving easily and strongly on both legs...even jumping up to guard with Blue on top of the pallet pile. I'll continue to monitor and reapply wraps if she seems to need support but for now she's doing wonderfully!

Please excuse the muddy ground next to this gate....it's a high traffic area and we've had two days of continual rain. Yes, I know that wrap is below the joint....what is left of it. It WAS supporting the joint and the areas above and below it, but she chewed off all she could.

 

[thistlebloom]

She's a beautiful girl, so glad her legs are back to normal.

Your mud is excused.