My cairn puppy: 16 pounds!

[suzrichter]

My cairn terrier puppy is 7 months old and already she is 16 pounds. The vet said she is not overweight, but I am skeptical. I have fed her a lot of peanut butter and such when crating her with Kongs! Do other people have cairns that are this big? Should I cut back on food or treats. I did not expect her to go over 14 pounds. (The photos is jut for fun; it is from when she was a 3 months old).

[suzrichter]

Maybe not. Visit my blog: http:://myterrierpuppy.blogspot.com

[josie&holly]

That sounds as if she is going to to be a big dog! Holly weighs 16lbs and is aged 5 - and I need to watch her weight as she likes her food!

Your pup is cute and is a lovely colour!

[pkcrossley]

hm. at 7 months she is most of the way to being full grown, so maybe 16 lbs is not so big (i don't see any photo on the page). cairns seem to come in with some frequency between 12 and 22 lbs, with a few hanging off each end of the spectrum. so 16 lbs is right in the middle. of course, if she grows up to be 32 lbs, she'll be the biggest cairn we know. if the vet doesn't think she's fat, she probably isn't.

okay, just saw the picture. she's cute! hard to tell from her position, but she doesn't look fat to me.

[bradl]

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[kittdog]

If she doesn't look fat she's probably fine since she is mostly full grown by now and many girl cairns can easily be 16 pounds. I give ours kongs with peanutbutter at night, but it's only about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon at most.

[Sandi16]

I worry about Louie being fat. I told him today he needed to lose his "meatloaf" shape. He'll be a year in a month and is pushing 18 lbs. (17.8 to be exact) The vet says he's fine, but I don't want him to be a pudgy little thing you know?

Yours is adorable!!

[Kramersmom]

Kramer was just at the vets last week. All blood work excellent, his titers came back high, so no shots! YEAH!!

Rabies will be next year for the 3 year again. Kramer weighed in at 18.2 but the Dr. wants him at 15-16 since he said he should feel his ribs more easily. Kramer doesn't look fat at all, but, the ribs tell it all I guess to the vet. I was feeding 1/3 cup 2 x daily now it is 1/4 2 x daily. I agree with getting him down in weight if that is what is needed per his Dr. My Missy was 23 and extremely over weight and at 13 became diabetec. We got her weight down to 16 pounds and lived happily to 17 years old with proper diet and insulin. I believe the weight loss is what let her live longer. just like us, less fat around the heart ables the heart to work smoother

[Shazza]

Ours were both at the vet 2 weeks ago....they BOTH weigh 25lbs!!!

I can't wait to get moved this coming Saturday so they can have their fenced in back yard back.

[Malcolm's Dad]

I thought Malcolm has a little hefty when I first got him, he was 15 lbs. I asked the forum about the weight and Brad had some excellent advice, you should be able to feel the ribs and the hips should be noticable. I was letting Malcolm eat what he wanted, but then started on 1/2 cup of dry dog food twice a day. After 2 months I've noticed a difference. You can notice his chest and hips, there is some definition, not just a mass of hair. And I can feel his ribs now, couldn't before. I haven't weighed him lately, but I think he is at a proper weight by looking at him and feeling his rib cage. And he seems happy with this amount of food, he doesn't beg at his usual mealtime and doesn't even seem hungry sometimes.

[Cairnmania]

I rely on my hands to judge if my dogs are at a proper weight and if I can easily feel their ribs they are fine. I do have them weighed at the vets - but depending on the scale and how much they squirm around it's not exactly precise; especially for a small dog.

Managing their weight is ongoing - it does vary depending on how generous I am with feeding, how much exercise they get, etc. So over the course of a year I find that I may cut back a llittle on feeding once in a while. For some reason, I've never had to increase how much I feed them.

Last week at the vets Abby was just a smidgen over 14 pounds. She's been up to 16 pounds and would really like to be up there again! She didn't look fat, but no doubt she was a plump pooch. Rudi was almost 17 pounds, he's much bigger (taller, longer) in structure than Abby and he's quite slim at 17. He too has been almost 2 pounds heavier - and would be delighted to be there again. Most of their weight loss is because my husband insisted on giving them treats every time he left the house or came home, after a walk ... and then sharing half of his dinner with them! He's stopped and they've sized down to healthy weights.

[Aurora5000]

Chase in blue..17 lbs.

Gus in red..24 lbs.

[Vivian]

Last week Oscar went in for his annual visit, he's weighing in at 19 lbs. (1 year old)

The Vet said that if he gets to 20lbs, she'd want him to slim down. eek!

Guess who's cutting down the treats! I'm sure Oscar's not thrilled! lol

[Annette]

My Sophie weighs about 23 lbs and she is for sure overweight. My problem is I don't think I feed her a lot. She get 1 cup a food a day with a little bit of hamburger in it (she is spoiled now she won't eat kibble unless there is something in it). The hamburger might be 2 tablespoons if that. As for treats she might get 4-6 very small biscuits a day. Granted our walks aren't very vigorous but it is twice a day and plus we play ball in the yard to the point of where she is panting. I can't seem to get any weight off of her.

[kintra]

A simple option is to cut back the amount of kibble and add in vegetables. They're low calorie but act as fillers while still giving the dog nutrients.

[Kramersmom]

Annette,

Check the calories on the treats. You might be surprised at the high calorie. I looked again at Kramers, 1 cookie treat was 50 calories! Holly cow! So now I chop them up. If its a high protein treat watch the calories.

I am always looking at the darn ingredients, I forgot to look at the calories. Now I see why he put on a few pounds

[jimnconnie]

My Sophie weighs about 23 lbs and she is for sure overweight. My problem is I don't think I feed her a lot. She get 1 cup a food a day with a little bit of hamburger in it (she is spoiled now she won't eat kibble unless there is something in it). The hamburger might be 2 tablespoons if that. As for treats she might get 4-6 very small biscuits a day. Granted our walks aren't very vigorous but it is twice a day and plus we play ball in the yard to the point of where she is panting. I can't seem to get any weight off of her.

It's really easy to feed dogs too much. We want to make sure they have enough to eat, and that they like what we are feeding them. I know 1 cup of food doesn't look like much when you put it in the bowl, but our dogs get by on as little as half that. Our dogs get 1/4 cup of kibble twice a day, with veggies, cottage cheese, unsweetened apple sauce, or pumpkin added to it. Bailey weighs 18 lbs., and I'd like to get him under 17 lbs. so I can feel his ribs more easily & see a waistline. Our Sophie is at 14.8 lbs., with a visible waistline & easily felt ribs, so I want to keep her at right about 14 - 14.5lbs. In the long run, you'll be doing your Sophie a favor by feeding her a little less, at least until you can get her weight down a few pounds. It may take several months for her to lose that much weight. Good Luck!

Jim

[Sandi16]

I watched a program on animal planet that showcased a woman with a very fat cat claiming she was following the recccomended amount on the bag. Her vet said that if he could he'd remove that from all food bags. For her cat the recommended amount was too much after a few days at the vet with less food, he lost two pounds. This was after the woman spent thousands of dollars on tests and vets etc.

I give Louie about a 1/3 of a cup twice day with a heaping spoon of wet. I've decided to cut him back to 1/4 cup. It's such a tiny amount, but he doesn't need more than that. I feed him a good quality food so he's getting his nutritional needs met. If you're feeding a kibble full of corn, that can make animals fat and they eat more since the corn is nothing but filler and their nutritional needs aren't met fully.

[Nikki]

we got scotty when he was about 6 months old boy was he a fat one lol!!! he was about 13lbs could hardly get up and down our steps to our apartment. But I restricted food and he got alot of exercise he got much thinner. when he was a puppy he was getting a 1/3 cup of caindae twice a day now he gets 1 cup-1 1/2 (depending how much energy he used. a typical day he only gets 1 cup of food but we go hiking or if I know that he probably will be getting 6 or more hours of exercise than I will give him more) of eagle pack holistic The most he weighted was about 25lbs but he is currently 21.4lbs (I weighed him yesterday). Scotty is also much taller, longer, and more muscular than alot of other cairns that I have seen. So he is never going to fit in that 13-17lbs range but he is a health weight for his size

[Kramersmom]

Nicole,

My Missy was built like that but she got up to 23 pounds if not a few points up. She never looked real fat, when she sat she sat to the side, not straight up. After she lost the weight and got to 16 pounds she looked great, at first I thought she looked to thin but with her illness's and diabetes and enlarged heart she was better a little thinner than heavier. She was wide chested to, very broad and solid. (Except her little belly proved she was a little over weight) Hope Scotty is ok, I posted to your other thread

[avlsarah]

Large Cairns... just the topic on my mind.

Maxwell, who just turned 5mo, weighs 13 lbs.

We had a play date with a Westie over the weekend; she is from his kennel but one year older. Abby weighed about 18lbs, but McDuff the westie across the street from Abby weighs 24lbs. The westie parents said Maxwell is larger than Abby was at 5mo and estimate that he could easily weigh 30lbs. This seems really excessive to me. He weighted 12 lbs when I got him one month ago, and since I've had him, has only gained one pound and has increased very little in size. He certainly is not overweight.

What do you all think? Does he still have lots of growing left in him (more than double his weight, as suggested?) or is he almost to a point of slowing down?

[Nikki]

In this photo (from this past winter) scotty is MUCH bigger than angel. Though angel is pretty small for a cairn she's about 12lbs. But you can tell that he's not fat or anything. He very muscular and alot taller and longer. Angel is a little shorter than she should be so she perfect weight for her height and length. Scotty has a big chest too scotty just reminds me of a big bruit. Hes pretty big for a cairn and he doesn't do anything graceful.

now this is what he looked like when I first got him...and he was fat...or big boned what ever you prefer to call it

[Judly]

although one of my cairns is overweight, some cairns are naturally a lot bigger than most. both mine are fairly 'big' cairns. they both eat the same, and one is overweight and other is ok. they're both on diets tho.

i wouldn't worry too much as puppies are chubby sometimes.

[tdavie]

My 1 year old female Cairn (Pebbles) is 18.6 lbs. Gets free feed dry Orijen 6 fresh fish, and occasionally some Wellness Wet. Very few treats, and weighs 18.6 lbs. Very active/healthy and not overweight.

Tom

[pkcrossley]

my cairn redmon is never going to match the ideal specifications either. he was a chubby puppy and for most of his younger life he usually came in between 22 and 24 lbs. i feed him a bit less these days as he is less active, and i think he stays between 20 and 22 lbs, which is an ideal weight for him. he has a perfect build and a lot of energy, but he is never going to be a petite cairn.