Just wondering how common "growing pains" are in Dobes? I know there is a medical term for this, caused by rapid growth in the long bones, but I can't think of it at the moment, don't feel like looking it up, and don't think it really matters...I'm sure everyone understands what I'm talking about?

In any case, Krieger has been favoring his right front leg for several days. It doesn't seem especially tender when I go over it, and he can put some weight on it, but he just acts like it's a bit sore. Also, he'll be chewing a toy on his bed, then suddenly let out a small growl, and give a quick bite at the leg, as if responding to something hurting him. We've started adding glucosamine to his food, and giving him small amounts of bufferin for the pain. We will take him in to the vet, who says that an X-ray can confirm that this is all that is bothering him, just to be sure there is no actual injury, (although, we watch him pretty closely, and can't see any time that he did anything to cause himself an injury).

So...I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and what your thoughts are? Is there anything else I should be doing, aside from trying to keep him quiet and limiting his activity?

Thanks!

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Chris
"If Timmy had a Doberman, he wouldn't have gotten stuck in the well to begin with."

I have seen this, I also understand the be cautious approach and take a radiograph just to be sure, and the practical side of me says waiting it out can be a good thing too.

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Steve
Dobes are like potato chips, you really can't have just one...

Well, after limping on the same leg for several days, Krieger seems entirely back to normal now. He's bouncing around again, and romping with the rest of the dogs...Steve, the boy's a cartoon. He's now definitely the biggest dog we have, he has to be over 65 pounds now, and he's just barely 6 months old. I know I've asked you this before...but just HOW BIG is he going to get? ;-D

We currently have two foster dogs from our local Humane Society, an 11 year old hound mix, and a 3 year old Rottie mix, both female, and Krieger seems to be in love with both of them, especially the senior. My wife says he's like a young guy who's into "cougar"...

Anyway, the pain is gone for now, but I'm sure it will be back with the rate that he's growing. Sometimes it seems like he's visibly bigger when I go to get him up in the morning!

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Chris
"If Timmy had a Doberman, he wouldn't have gotten stuck in the well to begin with."

This brings up a good point Blitzkrieg,my hopes are that is all I am dealing with.Wish my vet had mentioned this first rather than go sraight to the OMG. For Steve and any other that has had a many number of young dogs, Do you see this very commonly in the Dobe? This would explain the switching legs right?He has been on a very mild dose of anti inflamitories and restricted to the living room and seems back to normal except the lack of exercize has him driving us nuts. If it is Pano should I not run him at all? What about switching to adult formula feed for less protein (slower growth?) He is 9 months now. Thanks all.

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Krieger still seems just fine. He hasn't shown any signs of this returning since the initial bout of it. On the dog food topic, we've been feeding Blue Seal "Performance"; it's a Canadian-made dog food, and we've been happy with it in the past. Krieger has been on adult food now for a few months, but the Performance formula is high-calorie, designed specifically for dogs involved in sports. Krieger is eating a lot, and is probably a bit "chunkier" than I'll allow him to be once he's an adult. I tend to keep our adult dogs a bit on the thin side if anything, but with a growing puppy I'd rather err on the side of a bit too much food rather than a bit too little. The one other thing we've been doing is supplementing his food with some glucosamine.

As an aside, we tend to switch up their food occasionally, maybe every six months or so. Not that we go with a wide variety of foods, but we go between Blue Seal and Pro Series, the food made by our flyball club's sponsor. We have used both for a while now with our other dogs, and get good results. And we have tried MANY different foods, not necessarily by choice, but our first Dobie, Bishop, had some food allergies, and we went through many brands of "premium quality" dog food before finding some that worked for him. I know there are people who think dog food is dog food, but after trying so many I can tell you for sure that there are differences...you can see it in their coat, feel it in their muscle tone, and see it in their energy and stamina, no question. Purely my opinion, but of all the foods we've used, the Blue Seal and Pro Series have given us the best results aside from NutriZoo (a home-delivery food from a company which I believe is based out of Montreal...the only person who sold the food in PEI got out of the business about five years ago, or we'd still be using that one, which I believe is the single best dog food I've ever used.) If I was going to suggest any other food, it would be Go! Natural by Petcurean...this one is also a great food, and our dogs have done very well on it, too...it's one drawback is that it's much more expensive than the others. If I felt the dogs would do better on it, I'd pay the extra and wouldn't care, but having used all three, I really think any of them are equally good. (The Go! is something we still get on occasion though.)

Hey Steve...6.5 months old, 70 pounds, and still growing like a weed!

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Chris
"If Timmy had a Doberman, he wouldn't have gotten stuck in the well to begin with."