Pyr grew 2 pounds in 2 months!!??

[truckerdave]

Weighed 52 pounds @ 4 months old, 84 pounds @ almost 7 months. Thought i was going to have a giant and then he stopped gaining weight and got skinny. Carried to vet and got more shots and wormed but vet found nothing wrong. Now he's 8 1/2 mo and only 86 pounds. What happened? I might add he's an artic wolf/pyrenees hybrid and it looks like he grew taller and longer in the last 2 months but gained basically no weight. He seems to have started filling out and growing again but i have no clue why. He is taking on a more long slender artic wolf shape than the stocky great pyrenees shape. Since he's not a purebred great pyr can we just throw the pyr growth charts out the window? This seems to be a fairly uncommon mix and i can find no references anywhere. I can't find out where the dogs litter mates are to check them either.

[lookingfornewf]

I think most dogs go through slower and faster growth periods and as they get taller look skinny for a while. Clifford weighed 75 pounds at 7 mos, 85 at 10 mos, 90 pounds at a year. He is probably a bit on the skinny side, but I'm sure will fill out as he gets older. Being thin is much healthier for them. I don't think you can tell how big a Pyr or Newfie will be until 2-3 yrs old.

[truckerdave]

Thanks for the replies. I'm in pretty much uncharted territory as to what this dog will be. All i know is both Pyrs and Artic Wolves are huge animals. As to what he was eating up until a couple months ago, cheeseburgers, spaghetti, potato logs, chicken breasts and philly steak sandwiches. That is until my stepdaughter got fired from her job at a deli. She worked at night and was bringing back the leftovers for the dog at closing time(not the reason she got fired). Now it's back to Kibbles and Chunks and Gravy Train. He seem to be starting to fill back out in the last couple weeks. Don't know if it's a coincidence or not but he started losing weight about the time it got very hot here.

[angelsmama]

That wasn't his main diet was it? That is not a healthy food source for dogs. It would be like people living on fast food. My dog gets Nurture Heavenly Harvest Holistic. It's all natural, and she is a big girl. I wouldn't worry with the slow weight gain now, he'll have another big spurt or two before you know it.

[GoldenPyrs]

Wow, he is really handsome!  My Pyrs have all had a period around that time where their weight gain slowed down a lot.  We're found that they don't fully mature until closer to 3 y/o, so there's a lot of time left for him to fill out.  I'd just go for the best quality food that you can find & afford (we love both Innova & Wellness here).  Mine do very, very well on them.  You may also want to look into adding some glucosamine & chondritan (agh, I can't think much less spell at 2:30am, sorry  ) supplements.  They will help to prevent some types of joint problems later that are so common in large breeds. 

How is he with the little dog & cats?  I ask b/c of the high prey drive in wolves, but it's usually pretty low in Pyrs, so I'm curious what you're seeing with him.  He sure is gorgeous!

[patrick]

86 lbs at 8 months is right on target.  Although he is on the lean side by appearance this is in his favor.  The Pyr often goes through a lean period through their adolescence and then bulk up between 2 and three and sometimes not until 4.  Just by height he is going to be huge as an adult!

[steve]

I have 5 dogs and 4 out of 5 are a little chubby the exception being the Pyr. He is 4 years old weighs 100 lbs. and is very skinny. You can feel his bones under his thick coat. His mom and dad were guard dogs on a farm and his dad weighed about 90 lbs. When I asked the owners parents why his dad was so light he said it was a good "working weight" and seeing how he is a vet I figured he new what he was talking about. My Pyr takes his guard duties very seriously and I believe it is a built in instinct not to over eat. Pyrs were bred to defend against wolves which are very fast and a fat pyr would have a hard time stopping a wolf before the kill.
Sounds like your dog is right on track to me.

[patrick]

I have to agree- I free feed the Pyrs including dog biscuits and other goodies and they all maintain a 'working weight' on their own. I've only ever had one Pyr that would get too plump periodically.

[truckerdave]

Thanks, i might look into getting him some good food but this is a yard dog with a job to do, bark and look intimidating. If it's too expensive he'll stay on kibbles and chunks. He's useless as a herd dog, too much prey instinct apparently. We had some chickens and "mini-goats" and he would actually herd them up like a Pyr and then grab them like a Wolf. Mauled one of the goats up pretty bad but didn't kill it. He killed several chickens too but really hasn't bothered the smaller dog. There may be trouble ahead though because his teeth look longer and sharper than normal dog teeth. We have had 2 other pyrs before him so luckily i have something to compare him too. One died from eating a poisonous Cottonmouth snake!!??(it's true) and the other we found dead in the woods, apparently killed by wild hogs. The pit bull got gored by a wild boar right outside the yard one night and got a nasty tusk wound so we figured the 8 mo old pyr encountered some in the woods and got killed by them.

[angelsmama]

So because he is a 'yard dog with a job to do' he can't have good food? My dog is an outside dog (mom is severely allergic), but she is still fed good quality food. Sure her food isn't 30-40 a bag but it has all the same ingredients. It is 100% holistic food. I'm not really going to comment anymore on this..

[truckerdave]

My apoligies if i offended anyone but Kibbles and Bits and Gravy Train aren't good food?
What i was referring to were the apparent references to expensive "boutique" dog food that i've never heard of. If i bought the dog that stuff he'd be eating better than me. This is an animal that lives outside, rolls in the mud, runs through the woods and chews on dead deer bones. I bet he's just as happy as a suburban dog that rides in the SUV, sleeps on the couch, and eats gourmet dog food. Yeah i love my dog but his job is to keep coyotes and wild hogs out of the yard and protect the motorcycles and chickens (if i can keep him from eating them). Big difference between city dog and country dog. I will look into getting him some supplements though, like someone suggested.

[KatysTank]

I would feed him Kibble and Bits as, it is better quality dog food than Gravy Train.

Also, a good low cost food you can get at Wal mart and Target is The Good Life Recipe. It would be better for your dog's skin and coat.

My Grandparents also feed Retriever dog food which they buy at Tractor Supply and it works great for their dogs! It is inexpensive and makes their coat nice and shiny! Their dogs are also very healthy.

I hope that helps!

[MarleyPyr]

If you ave a Costco or something like that near you, they have their own brand for very cheap that is actually quite good. 

I was going to suggest the same thing if cost is an issue. I have heard good things about the costco food and it is at a reasonable price. Far superior than grocery store kibble.
My pyr is 2.5years and about 110 lbs. He is an outside dog as well and I feed him a grain free food called Evo. He eats half the amount he would of a regular kibble and his poop is also half the size which is nice for me 
on a side note, trust any pyr owner....they all roll in the mud - SUV riders or not  ha ha

[truckerdave]

Well time for an update. I looked around and started feeding him some BENEFUL dog food from walmart. It's more expensive than some of the others but the dog likes it and in the almost 2 months since i originally posted this he has filled out nicely and is visibly larger.  I figure up around 100 pounds now although he is just getting too big to weigh with the old "hold the dog and step on the scales" type of dog weighing. He can crunch up leftover chicken bones like there's no tomorrow and loves leftover baloney but he eats mostly dog food now. He's settled into his job as yard dog, he and the Pearl the Pit Bull attacked a coyote that got too close to the yard yesterday. The coyote barely escaped with his life as it was a very one sided contest and i guess the dogs figured that once they ran it off that was all they needed to do. LOL

[truckerdave]

I forgot to mention since someone asked me about the particular traits of this wolf/Pyr hybrid, he makes a strange deep bass type of howling noise sometimes since he "matured". It will scare your pants right off at night so not to worry about the neigborhood kids rolling the yard with toilet paper this halloween. The other Pyrs we had made a "wooowoooo" kind of noise sometimes but nothing like this.