@KhaiPan Pam and I are both stubborn opinionated people and without mutual respect, we'd be in constant battle. Instead, I love her. I watch her utter devotion to the dogs, to doing things right, to helping anyone who needs help. She isn't stuck in any idea... given proof and research, she'll reconsider. She is calming. 🙂 Knowing you have someone personally in your corner navigating this helps a lot. Glad you contacted her.
Pics of Skinny Boy
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I would say he's a little on the skinny side looking at his head. His body doesn't seem to be too skinny-no more than mine. How much are you feeding him? Also, there are a few that I definitely see the ribs on, my Damisi is one as well as her sister Mira. They are sooo skinny, but they are also active all the time. Even in the house they run everywhere and don't stop. If I find her getting too skinny, I start upping her food intake and give her extras such as eggs, rollover, etc.
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I second that I have a super super skinny girl. She is just so active we don't get to keep much fat on her. She eats like a horse and burns it off, some Bs are like that, just like people. However, you could look into perhaps double double checking that he doesn't have worms, if he isn't on a worming regimen.
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I don't know how, but you might want to look into changing the food a little to include a different spread of nutrients. It is more a matter of health than how skinny he is, so if all is well, maybe just try a little more food. Some basenjis can eat forever and never gain a pound. Mine eats a cup and a half to two cups of canidae per day and still is only about 18 llbs.
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Thanks guys, judging by your posts he's not much different than some. I cannot really up the amount of food he eats, because he'll only eat so much for breakfast and dinner. I like the idea with the eggs thing.
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Have you talked to his breeder? Are most of their (his breeders) Basenjis built that way? Many times young B's will not carry weight…. and when they are built to the slight side (bone mass) then they will look even skinner....
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Has your vet done stool and blood tests to see if there was anything abnormal? That is what I would have done just to be sure. Talking to the breeder also would help.
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Some dogs are just so active they burn up calories like crazy. I had a Chinese Crested that had been raised as a kennel dog before I got him and he had the neurotic habit of trotting in circles non-stop. Although he was only about 8 pounds he ate almost as much as a Basenji. There was nothing physically wrong with him. He was just built slender and he was hyperactive. As long as your dog is healthy, it may just be normal for him.
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My male was skinny like this when he was young. I ended up free feeding him until about 4 years of age. He did much better eating constantly (small meals throughout the day) than on a scheduled meal time. I also used high protein rewards during play/training sessions.
BTW, I think how tall your pup is should also figure into how well he's holding his weight on his frame.
Your Benjamin is a cute boy but he looks totally pissed off at the end of your photo session:D
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As the owner of two high metabolism dogs, my advice is to pay attention to the calorie information on the food you feed. Like you boy there is a limit to how much my skinny dogs will eat so I want to pack as many calories into that feeding as possible. They both have done fantastic with having a grain free kibble breakfast and canned food with kibble for dinner. Wellness Duck and Sweet Potato and the Merrick's Canned foods have been great. They love the meat in the Merricks and it really has helped keep their weight at a good place.
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of my 3, my male (rocky) is the smallest. he's just over 20 lbs and hes about to turn 4. you can't see his ribs or anything, so i guess hes just small in stature. hes not very wide either, and he feels like a feather compared to the puppy..or TANK as i like to call her.
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Abby was real skinny like this too and I could figure it out, she was eating but it turned out that the dog food she was eating she didn't really like it so she would eat it but not like she should. So I found some dog food that she really likes and I have not had that problem since, unless I go away on vacation then she won't eat for a week but other than that she loves the food we feed her.
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Orijen is a high protein food, so it will put on the weight fairly quickly. The boxenji just kind of exploded when I put her on it. I would also ask the breeder about the others in the litter and the parents. If they are lean, chances are your little buddy will be lean also. Like I said, both Misi and Mira are super skinny and I know the other two boys I see all the time are skinny too.
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You can also make satin balls too - you can look up a recipe online. The concept for some dogs is that they are out of the habit of eating for any of a variety of reasons or they're not absorbing the nutrition from the food. Many times after adding this or using this as a primary food and then gradulally adding in a high quality kibble - you can turn a picky eater into a reasonably good eater.
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Blaze was really skinny in his younger years. We free fed him, leaving a full bowl of food out all day so that he could eat his fill. We had him tested, and he was just normally a skinny dog. We actually had the SPCA called on us when he dragged the garbage into the middle of our yard and devoured the previous night's KFC…
Blaze started to gain weight when he hit 10 years. Now I have to weigh his food to keep him at a good weight. -
hi all. just checking out how others love their basenjis. i sure love my mango. he's 2+ and makes me laugh everyday!
