What Healthy Dogs Look Like...

I think Kord runs lean, and the vet says he is fine and I am to let him be.....

This was when he was a 1 year old or darn close!

• Dog's Name- Bevo
• Breed or Mix- Doberman Pinscher
• Age- 5 Years
• Gender- Nuetered Male
• Height at the shoulders in inches- 31"
• Weight in pounds- 73.2
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day- Raw fed, 3.5 to 4 pounds a day
• Average amount of daily exercise- High energy!  We usually go for a 3-4 mile run every morning.  He gets two, seperate, hour long walks from our dog walker during the day, then we go running, hiking, or biking in the evenings.  He also swims for 30-45 minutes a day.  He would be happy to go, non-stop from sun up to sun down, but I just can't do it.

^^^^ Holy Moly!  That is one beautiful dog!!  ^^^^  Absolutely breathtaking!!! 

He is, he's gorgeous.  What a difference between him and my neighbors.  The one across the street looks like his head on a chubby rottie body, it's weird.  And, if that's the amount of exercise they need then that explains why he barks at nothing nonstop all day. 

I'm not sure I can find decent pics of everyone for this purpose - I'm usually either doing portraits or working photos.

However, I do have some rescues with nice side views - I do formal shots so in case they get lost in their new homes, I have a record of what they look like (and when they were here thanks to the time stamp on the picture).

Spring of last year - one of my favorites and a real possible permanent resident, and I lost him to uncontrolled seizures not long after this pic was taken.

• Dog's Name: Kris
  
• Breed or Mix: Border collie
  
• Age: 14 months
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 20
  
• Weight in pounds: 37
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Canidae ALS, RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: Heavy working training - both swimming and stock work
  

From November last year -

• Eddie
  
• BC
• 3 years
  
• Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 21
  
• Weight in pounds: 41
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: 2 cups NV Instinct Rabbit and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: Walks, swimming, two work sessions
  

Cooling off after a work session:

Watching the other dogs work:

From December of last year (he's still with me):

• Dog's Name: Coltrane
  
• Breed or Mix: Aussie/BC
  
• Age: 3ish
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 21
  
• Weight in pounds: 37
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: 1 1/2 cups Diamond Extreme Athlete and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: walks, play, obedience/trick training.
  

I'm missing one - a dog named Corrie.  I think I archived his photos - shame because unlike Kris he's mature, well conditioned and muscled, and also smooth coated, and shows well what a smooth coat in prime working condition should look like.  I'll look and post them tomorrow with my guys.  I've got to get to bed - I'm beat from my vacation!  :)
 

• Dog's name- Shooter
• Breed or mix- Min. Dachshund
• Age- 2 years
• Gender- Neutered Male
• Height at shoulders in inches- 7.5"
• Weight in pounds- 8.3 pounds
• Amount and kind of food you dog eats each day- Raw fed, about 4oz per day
• Average amount of daily activity-  Medium to high energy.  He runs between 1-2 miles with us in the morning.  He plays at day care daily.  In the eveining he hikes, or chases his soccer ball for 30-45 minutes.  He also swims with Bevo for 30-45 minutes daily.

Let's see, I don't have time to post all the info for all my dogs so here's some pics

Neiko

Dakota is over weight by about 6 lbs. Also, she is old so has no muscle definition anymore.

Lily - She's lost 4 lbs since this picture

• Dog's Name: Cord
  
• Breed or Mix: BC
  
• Age: 7
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 22-23
  
• Weight in pounds: 46
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Home prepared combo diet per Better Dog Care
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working farm dog at time of photo - now retired
  

• Dog's Name: Lynn
  
• Breed or Mix: Leonberger mix
  
• Age: 7 mos at time of photos
  
• Gender: Female
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 22 at time of photos
  
• Weight in pounds: 40 at time of photos
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Home prepared combo diet per Better Dog Care
  
• Average amount of daily activity: active farm dog

• Dog's Name: Gus
  
• Breed or Mix: BC
  
• Age: 6
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 22.5
  
• Weight in pounds: 46
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Home prepared combo diet per Better Dog Care
  
• Average amount of daily activity: Full time farm worker/competition training

• Dog's Name: Maggie
  
• Breed or Mix: Spitz mix
  
• Age: 14.5 years
  
• Gender: Female
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 19
  
• Weight in pounds: 37
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Modified prey model balanced with supplements
  
• Average amount of daily activity: active farm dog
  

Just because she's cute and I haven't many pictures of her: 

Okay.  Back with more in a few.  I see I need to update my "rescue" photobucket site!  And more of my gang. 

Two more rescue/trainees.

I talked to Corrie's owner as she was literally going out the door to have Corrie put down for fighting with her other dog.  He's now doing goose control in the Northeast.  These pictures are from "graduation day" - I think January of this year?

• Dog's Name: Corrie
  
• Breed or Mix: BC
  
• Age: 6
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 23
  
• Weight in pounds: 49
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Wellness Core and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working goose control trainee and trial competition trainee

Corrie is an import from Scotland - you can really see the bully and sighthound influence in the breed in him:

Bet on the other hand is an import from Wales and you can probably see upland bird dog influence in her - the breeder of her main line discusses in a book I have how his father used to cross spaniels into his sheepdog lines to facilitate stealing game.  That was as recently as the sixties!

These are her "graduation pictures" from this Friday (July 18, 2008).  Bet's story can be viewed on my blog.

• Dog's Name: Bet
  
• Breed or Mix: BC
  
• Age: 6
  
• Gender: Female
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 18
  
• Weight in pounds: 25
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Diamond Extreme Athlete and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working goose control trainee and trial competition trainee

More my gang next.  Maremmas coming! 

Here's a healthy very active senior Border Collie.  Ben, a few months after switching to a modified prey model diet plan.

• Dog's Name: Ben
  
• Breed or Mix: BC
  
• Age: 12
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 23.5
  
• Weight in pounds: 47
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Modified prey model balanced with supplements
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working farm dog

Something that freaks people out about working Border Collies is their tendency to go through a skinny minnie stage in late adolescence - males in particular.  Here's Ted during that phase, last year.  Pet owners want to attempt to feed up a dog in this stage and it's always a mistake.  They either create a picky, manipulative dog, or damage the dog's rapidly developing skeletal structures (particularly soft tissue) and end up with soft tissue problems like ACL weaknesses, later in life.  Ted may appear to be in the last throes of wasting away, to the untutored eye - but this video from that time shows his physical ability.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXfslwHoiXc

• Dog's Name: Ted
  
• Breed or Mix: BC
  
• Age: 17 mos at time of photo
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Intact
  
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 22
  
• Weight in pounds: 35 at time of photos
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Home prepared combo diet per Better Dog Care
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working farm dog and trial competition trainee

Still a puppy:

Seven months later, as a teenager:

That does it for the Border Collies.  Zhi and the Maremmas next. 

• Dog's Name: Lu
  
• Breed or Mix: Great Pyrenees/Maremma mix
  
• Age: 10
  
• Gender: Female
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 30?
  
• Weight in pounds: 95
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Diamond Extreme Athlete and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working farm dog
  

• Dog's Name: Tully
  
• Breed or Mix: Maremma
  
• Age: 4
  
• Gender: Male
  
• Intact
  
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 32
  
• Weight in pounds: 150
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Diamond Extreme Athlete and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working farm dog
  

• Dog's Name: Min
  
• Breed or Mix: Maremma
  
• Age: 6
  
• Gender: Female
  
• Intact - to be altered this Thursday
  
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 31
  
• Weight in pounds: 75 (underweight)
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Diamond Extreme Athlete and RMBs
  
• Average amount of daily activity: working farm dog
  

The next few pictures of Min, the day after I rescued her, demonstrate an unhealthy state of undercondition.  Her waist should not be nearly as small as her front paw there, and her pelvic structure is narrower than her head (as is her ribcage - not correct in a mastiff breed).  Also, atrophy of muscles across the scalp are evident though it's not easy to see in this picture.  You can see her littermate next to her (Maia, whom I gave to a friend) is in much better condition, for comparison.

Two months later - her coat's growing slowly so the increased bulk you see is truly increased condition.

Increased muscle tone across the chest and in head, though still a long way to go.  After her spay I plan to give her numerous cow bones to eat during her rest period.  This will help develop these "fighting muscles." 

And Zhi - I've posted these already.  

• Dog's Name: Zhi
  
• Breed or Mix: Chinese Crested
  
• Age: 4
  
• Gender: Female
  
• Altered
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 10.5
  
• Weight in pounds: 8
  
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: Modified prey model balanced with custom supplements
  
• Average amount of daily activity: Active farm dog
  

The nice thing about Zhi is that I never have to touch her to assess her condition - though she gets plenty of touching, of course! 

The end!

• Bugsy
• Dane/boxer/hound/GSP/lab who knows - pound pup
  
• 2 yrs and 10 mos
• Male
• altered at about 10 weeks old
• 28 and a bit inches
• 105lbs
• Barking at the Moon kibble or raw home mix @ 2500kcals daily
• Minimum of 3 mile run/trot daily as a start, he pretty much goes all day from sun up to sun down and then he crashes.
• Not healthy in that he has many allergies and had demodex when young.  Not been xrayed for hips or other.
• I'd call him a 4.5 on that Body chart
  

This shows his tuck

• Dog's Name: Shiner
• Breed or Mix: Border Collie
• Age: 1ish
• Gender: male
• Altered at 1 year
• Height at the shoulders in inches: 20 in
• Weight in pounds: 36
• Amount and kind of food your dog eats each day: 2 cups kibble
• Average amount of daily activity: Active 

• Frosty 
• Shetland Sheepdog
• 19 mos
• male
• altered at 9 mos
• 18 1/2 inches
• 33 lbs 
• 1 1/2 cups kibble/day
• moderately active
• I try to keep him thin because he has a luxating patella, hard to tell he's thin b/c of his coat though

• Ripley 
• Shetland Sheepdog
• 19 mos
• male
• altered at 9 mos
• 16 in
• 26 lbs
• 1 cup kibble/day
• moderate to light activity