Is it too late?

I have a 4 month old female pit (see gallery for pics). I've read about feeding her goatsmilk and other ways to thicken her up a bit, but most of the advice seems like it was centered around new pups.

Is it ok to start sprinkling her food with goats milk at this age? And is she too old to have her ears clipped now?

 

Yes, it is okay to sprinkle her food with goat milk. She is still young enough to get her ears cropped.

 

Oh, your puppy is adorable!!! Her ears look cute as they are, did you read the discussion in the forums about ear cropping? You might want to read that before you have her ears done...

 

I agree with laurajean. You should read the forum first. I made the decision to have my last pups ears cropped and I wish I hadn't. I personally think the ears are a big part of the dog's personality. Don't you just love the expression in their ears when you call their name or they hear something they never heard before? How can see those expressions if you cut the ears? To each its own. Your pup is adorable.

 

Thanks everyone!

I will look at the thread before making any decisions....

 

Cutty your puppy is so cute. But may I ask why you want to thicken her up? Is it because she is a pup or are you looking for a larger dog? I think she is pretty just the way she is.

 

I was told that if you can see her ribcage, she is too thin. They don't stick out, but a few friends of mine (pit owners) all say she's too thin for a pup! :confused:

I think she's adorable too (and thanks, by the way) - She's about 20 lbs and VERY active. Her mom is about 60 lbs and dad is about 85 lbs. I just bought some goats milk today and will see how it goes.

Today someone at the training facility that I take her to said that she has big paws whick means she's going to be a good size. Any truth to that? (I know it's not true what they say about men and big feet) LOL :p

 

Lots of pet owners keep their dogs heavy, and automatically think that if a dog is showing rib, they must be starving. (My girl is 42 lbs, shows a bit of rib, and people are always asking why she's so skinny or if she's a puppy.) An active puppy is likely to be ribby and lean, which is a good thing, IMO. You don't want a growing pup to have too much excess weight.

 

From to much milkproducts your dog can get diarrehea. So don't give to much. In milkproducts there are bacteria that are very good for the digestive system.

when you see a couple a ripps at your dog that only a good thing if you ask me. A fat dog doesn't mean that it is a healty dog. But when the muscles are gone and you see his hipbones than its no good.

 

I say let the puppy grow just on the puppy food. She'll be the weight she is supposed to be. I'm guessing the breeders have large, what they think Pit Bulls are supposed to be, dogs. Pit Bulls are only supposed to be 30-60 pounds, 60 at their heaviest.

 

Thanks for all of the advice. I've been studying this site like there will be a final at the end of the week!!!

The decisions that I've made thus far:

NO cropping her ears (I really never wanted to but considered it for a mor "pit-look")
I will look into different dog food (Chicken Soup to start)
I will not give her too much milk (maybe 2-3X/week)

My boyfriend thinks that now I'm obsessed, but this is SUCH a learning experiance and I'm glad to have found this site!!

 

Ribs showing could also just mean she has a nice big well sprung rib cage, and thats a good thing. She's a pretty dog that appears to have good structure from what you can see from the picture. Just make sure she doesn't have worms and let her do her thing. I'll bet she turns out lookin real nice. Remeber, some dogs take a while to mature. They can look gofy until there almost done growing and then, all of a sudden, be one of the best lookin dogs you've ever seen. If I were you I'd leave the ears. Ears like hers can look really good when a dog fills out.