Thoughts and info about free feeding and maybe also my situation?

[bandiron]

I’m sorry if this is such a long descriptive post. If you got time to spare, do leave some thoughts about my situation. Here’s some background:

So I have been a dog parent for most of my life until I had to immigrate to a different country (Canada). 3 years after immigrating, I was finally able to get a dog.

I looked for any dogs that need rehoming in Kijiji. Someone messages me that he breeds pocket bullies and he has one left which is 6 months old. This guy was quite difficult to talk to but was somehow accommodating enough. He was willing to lower the price by so much because she’s the last one. She was never named. She was also looking a little skinny just because her ribs were showing through. He says that her shots were complete, pee pad trained, and leash trained. She had none of that.

We eventually did get her. We named her Summer. She’s been with us for a week now. My partner and I have the patience to train her. We also plan to get her spayed. However, it turns out that according to her vet records, she has only gotten the first shot on her 8-week-old mark. The one out of the three. Since she’s 6 months now and the second shot was long overdue, we have to redo all three shots again plus the spaying.

We contact this guy about it and says that he never told us she has all her shots and that she only has her first. Even if I did mishear him, I don’t think he’s dumb enough to do what he did with letting her shots be overdue (or is he?). He says sorry anyway and asked for pictures of Summer so I sent a few. He sees those photos of Summer chilling around our place and all he tells me is this: “U guys shoud be free feeding her fill her bowel n let her eat”

I have never heard of free feeding before and I’m tired of talking to this guy. I’m also taking her to the vet in 2 weeks-ish to get everything done and get some info from the vet as well. I’m aware that I am partly responsible for getting into this situation where I’m partially scammed, but I’m also just frustrated that a breeder is going around seemingly without much of the necessary knowledge for dog care.

TL;DR: I got a pocket bully (Summer) from an irresponsible breeder and misled me about her shots that are now overdue. He asks that I send pictures of her to see how she’s doing and says that I should be free feeding her.

 

[dhaezie]

@bandiron Do you have a contract? Cause your best course of action is do what ever the vet says to get her healthy and cut all contact and block the “breeder”, possibly keep a “burn book” of all the information and conversations you’ve had along with the vets work up and talk with animal welfare. Pocket bullies are a backyard breed bred to be a cash cow not anything that has a breed club or officially registered anywhere.

As for free feeding it’s not the greatest option for many dogs but if she’s that thin it might not hurt, you still need to measure out food for the day but you just leave the dish down. You kinda have two options on how to do it, one is fill the dish with the day’s recommended amount or split the amount how ever you want (I did morning and evening for my poodle) much like meal time feeding. If she’s inhaling her food as soon as she gets it and eating it all, meal time feeding is better. Dogs that can “handle” free feeding will kinda just much and nibble through out the day, stopping when they feel full.

 

[bandiron]

@dhaezie Sadly, because this was done informally, there was no contract. While I do plan to do everything that the vet says, I don’t think I can report this to Canada’s animal welfare. I looked it up and I read that “Canada has no specific legal standards or laws to regulate breeding operations, and therefore breeding is largely unregulated.” Anybody from Canada can correct me if I’m wrong though. I’ll also look into it a bit more.

Thank you for the info about free feeding. She does tend to inhale her food in. After observing this, I decided to do research and look into foods that I can incorporate with her dry kibble to make her meals more nutrient-dense. I didn’t think that only increasing the amount would do the trick. I would still consult the vet though. What’s funny is that this guy tells me to free feed her when he probably didn’t even do that for her seeing as how we got her in this state from him.

 

[dhaezie]

@bandiron The no contract is actually a good thing. The breeder can’t come after you for a breach of contract if you completely cut off access to the dog.

 

[ernieralphbennett]

@bandiron I would report the breeder to whenever they handle those things in ur country, this sounds like they were accident puppies or he’s a backyard breeder!

For free feeding i think it’s about knowing ur dog and what fits for them, my dog would quickly become obese if free fed cuz he doesn’t know when to stop eating even if he’s full and bloated. So in that case it doesn’t work for us but you know ur dog the best and do what’s best for ur dog! But i would consult a vet too about it and what the vet recommends for food/mealtime since she’s very thin.

 

[bandiron]

@ernieralphbennett As much as I would want to report this guy, like I said, there aren’r any specific laws in Canada about dog breeding so it is largely unregulated. I’m still looking into it a bit more. The thing is too is that Pit Bulls are banned in Ontario since 2005 (another thing that I did not know before getting her). However, nobody really follows this anymore and we are fine when we walk around in public. Though it still scares me a little that they might take her away if I reported.

Thanks for the info about free feeding! I agree with you. I think it’s best to tailor aspects of their care to how we know the dog. She takes all of her food in quite quickly so I don’t think free feeding will work for her. I will still be consulting a vet to see what’s best for her.

 

[ernieralphbennett]

@bandiron Oh i’m so sorry i somehow totally missed that part! It always baffles me that dog breeding isn’t regulated since in my country it is (mostly) i just kinda assume it’s everywhere those bans are awful it should not be breed based i’ll never understand that. Best of luck to you on your surely amazing pup I wish you many years together!

 

[fairyjoyeux]

@bandiron Free feeding can be challenging down the line, when she’s not eating so much and you can’t tell, so I usually discourage it. Have you though about supplementing her kibble with some meat? Obviously, I’m a raw feeder,l and I think it’s best, but it’s not for everyone, so adding a bit of meat would up the nutritional value while keeping the balanced nutrition from her kibble. You could do cooked meat too of course. And you could also crack an egg on her kibble, or feed the yolk raw and lightly cook the white. It’s helpful in puppies that struggle to gain weight.
And finally, since this guy seems shady, I’d keep her on the thin side (but not too thin, of course) since these breed tend to have elbow displasia/elbow arthritis in their old age: I am going through this with my 15 year old girl, and it’s just not fun, so anything that will safeguard her joins helps!

 

[bandiron]

@fairyjoyeux I have actually been looking into kinds of protein foods that I can add to her dry kibble. I’m considering cooked lean ground beef and I have been incorporating one hard-boiled egg a day in her meals. I’m still trying to do more research on how to make her meals more nutrient-dense instead of just only increasing the amount of food she gets. Thank you as well for the info about elbow arthritis. I’ll take note of all this. I could also maybe talk about bone and joint health supplements with the vet

 

[blacksabbath]

@bandiron Just remember that what your adding should be under 10% of the total diet. Beef is great and eggs are great but they aren't fully balanced so they will throw off the balance of the kibble.

 

[fairyjoyeux]

@bandiron Sounds great. No need to go low fat though. Fat for dogs is like carbs for human: it’s their primary source of energy.

 

[stephendisraeli]

@bandiron If you bought the dog, it's yours. You can do whatever you want. Ignore the breeder and listen to your vet. Since you have only had the dog a few weeks, I wouldn't be too worried about supplementing to speed up weight gain. I would offer a measured amount of food and offer it twice a day. If you want to leave the bowl down if your dog doesn't finish it right away, go for it. The important thing is to feed a consistent amount. If they are not eating all you offer most days and continue to not gain weight, then talk to your vet about good sources of calories. I will advise against raw, as I disagree with the practice, but ultimately that's your call. It's your dog, right?

 

[bandiron]

@stephendisraeli Thanks for the input! This really seems like something that can be decided on based on the owner’s judgement as well as consultations from a vet. There are so many options out there on what to feed, how to feed and when to feed my dog. I am looking into doing more research on it so I can see which is better for my dog.