Fat pup / abdomen retraction

Hello
I’d like some peace of mind but will settle for some advice.

I have a 17 week old well bred OFRN pup that is teatering near the 40# mark (depending on what time of the day you weigh him). Both parents were between 40 and 50 pounds chain weight and his many siblings from this same 4th time breeding have produced bitches in the 36-45# range and males in the 42-55# range.

At this age I would expect to see the beginnings of the retracted abdomen that is a trademark of dogs bred similar to him, but I only see him getting heavier and thicker. What really baffles me is that when standing or running his ribs are easily discernible and his skin is taught.

I’ve only had a couple bull dogs I’ve raised from pups. One a rescue and the other a gift. Neither papered and both were most likely produced by semi knowledgeable backyard breeders at best. However both at this age were starting to show physically traits of athleticism with the belly’s retracting as their chest began to expand.

my pup is still clumsy, thick through the gut and growing at a rate noticeably nearly daily.

SO - is it still to early, or did I get the freak, destined to be big, fat, and ugly???

thanks in advance

 

Sir or mam ... if your pup is around 40# at 4 months your gonna have a big ass dog.

 

OFRN .... Who bred it ?

You have a picture ?

 

Dog should be half that weight at 17 weeks. I have 2 pups now that are 7 months old that are a little over half that pups weight.

 

Hope this works. I’m still learning how to do this.

 

I may be using OFRN inappropriately. I’m not sure what qualifies in terms of breeding the constitution of an OFRN. His Dam came down from Feely and Colby dogs. And although not in one of the registries the same family kept detailed records of their dogs from as early as 1929 to 1982. From there the good folks of western Virginia used The best red dogs they had available to them.

His sire is of more recent red nose dogs and is papered through BONA fide.

IMO he is probably the product of some paper hanging but nevertheless the last 5 generation have very loosely line bred dogs in it that I liked. The consistency was there, as this was the 4th breeding of the pair and I researched it thoroughly to confirm the dogs produced were healthy, good temperament, and athletic in the equal to and below 50# range I sought

 

pup looks nice might just be heavy boned

 

Here is another one or two if I can get this to work. I’m going to try and put him side X side with my 2 yr old

 

A couple more

 

Looks to me like your over feeding the pup and he could do with a regular exercise routine to help tone him up.

 

He gets 3/4 cup of high protein wildology dry food during the day while he’s in the kennel. Sometimes he eats it all and other times he doesn’t touch it. In the evening he gets a small 5oz can of tuna or salmon, an egg, and a couple table spoons of olive oil mixed in with 3/4 cup of the dry food. I mix it up a couple times a week with red meat or venison and as a treat once a week I’ll give them a boiled leg or hip bone with lots of marrow. I boil it just long enough to soften it up just a little.

I’ve contemplated fasting them one day a week, but my other two dogs maintain a consistent weight on this diet.

we live on a horse farm so the dogs get a lot of “play” type exercise. Do you tho k I should be adjusting the food or giving him a different type of exercise?

 

he’s already thicker through the legs than my brindle who hangs in between 36 and 39 lbs.
Does having heavier bone adversely affect their athleticism?

 

I posted a few pics. Have you ever had a dog beef up like he has then stretch out? I bought him because based on the pairs other pups they were slightly on the smaller side, with athletic builds and structure I like. I’ve reached out to 7 of his 10 litter mates and they are all considerably smaller

 

I have never in all the years I've been into the dogs had a 17 week old pup that was 40 lbs. The 2 I have now are from different litters and at that age were around 20 to 23 lbs tops. That don't mean anything and I'm not insinuating anything by that comment just think that seems rather large for a 4 month old pup. Stranger things have happened though.

I inbreed/line breed so my dogs typically run on the smaller side. 30 - 45lb. My full grown males are only 40-44lbs. Some smaller and some larger.

 

I haven't either ... the pictures shown your pup looks as big as your 2 year old. And that picture on the bed ? The dog looks older than 4 months.
Does it still have its baby teeth?
I think you said you have a pedigree on it ... maybe not. If you do show it.

 

He’s lost several of baby teeth but still has a few in there. I’m still waiting on his papers. His Dam is all hand written so he’ll only have a BONA registry through his daddy. He is as big as my 2 yr old. He was born on July 4th though. I talked to another one of his litter mates owners and they have a female that’s tipping the scales at 36 lbs. this is so strange because we truly did our research and chose him because he was out of the fourth breeding of this pair. They consistently threw dogs in the below 50lb range.

 

Knowing how big he is at this age do you have any idea how big he may end up?

 

I can sa

Nope

 

Big......im guessing-????about 90lbs.

Some one has lied to ya.

 

I’m sure you all are getting tired of me posting my obsessions over the size of my new pup, but I have some good news. My scales were a bit off. He’s only 34.7lbs and per the vet is right where he should be with his teeth. I feel for the little shot after looking into his mouth really well. He’s got teeth coming in everywhere. His cutters are still solid. Is this typical that they loose teeth all around them first?

Also, I’m including a pic of his front teeth. I don’t remember my other dogs teeth looking so jagged. If anyone with some good experience could look at this and weigh in I’d be thankful.
In addition, just in the last week, I’m starting see his belly retract a little and his body take on a more athletic shape.

thoughts?