calcium

[Dutchringgirl]

I was checking some other posts, and a few others mentioned not adding any calcium to the dogs diet.

When I took Sadie to her first check up after I got her, the vet suggested adding cottage cheese to her diet for some calcium. I remember when ever we got a new Basset pup my parents would do the same thing.

Just want to get some others take on that. She is also just under 5 months, and her ears are still floppy, I really dont care what they do but all of the other pictures of pups have erect ears by her age. It is funny when she thinks she is hot stuff barking at a bird and her ears flop though.

[Christie M]

I can't really comment on calcium supplementation. I have never done it and am always worried about throwing off the calcium/phos balance. There are a TON of things that I have heard people post about ears and I don't know what really does work.

I can say that based on where the pups came from and their intentions for breeding - I don't think they have the best start or nutrition. All 3 of them had ears that tipped down and I don't think any of them are standing at this point.

It is true that often they start to flop once they start teething. In that case, if they were up before they usually come back up after. But I don't think either of the three pups had completely erect ears when I got them. They were close - but I thought they would be up by now.

[Marjolein]

All I know is too much calcium can contribute to bone-problems, like OCD (is that the English name for it too??)

[Dutchringgirl]

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ?

[Christie M]

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ?

LOL. Osteo Condroitin Disease - but I don't know the technicalities of it.

[asheleylane]

No cause(s) have really been elucidated for OCD, if we are talking about the dog disease. I'm pretty sure the perfectionistic mom is a clear cause for my OCD - oh, wait, was I supposed to give advice here?
I wouldn't ever alter the Calcium-phosphorus ratio especially in a growing dog and for long periods of time. High-quality kibble is already made to have the right balance of those minerals, and with a raw diet one should be careful to feed appropriate ratios.
I have found by trial and error (so of course this is a very subjective comment), that higher-quality and higher protein foods do make the ears stand better and faster in puppies. It's weird, sometimes the labels look basically like the same ingredients but the availability of nutrients is different.

[Dutchringgirl]

thanks for that asheley. Ill check the protien levels on some different food.

[vneerland]

Same here. I do not supplement calcium. I did on my very first pup though, and he lived to be 16, but at the time I was also feeding cr@ppy food (and was to young to know better) I now feed premium food and they do and look great. I will admit that I am not sure that ear issues are related to the food, but I could understand how a genetic disposition could be corrected with a little help in the nutrition department. With that being said: the unwilling ear (is it very large?) is probably not nutrition related. I would start to worry if you have never seen it fully erect. I have had one pup that had floppy ears. And they were not just tipping but hanging sideways away from the head. That was absolutely no look for a working dog, so I started taping like crazy, taking an example from he GSD crowd. Eventually, I found out that lighter (material) is better since they do not mess with it. After a long time of many tries, the ears stood perfectly and never wavered. If your pup was mine, I would start to educate myself on methods of taping and start experimenting. Nothing to lose!
I found a very light foam material with adhesive backing that he would not notice thus not mess with. A lot like molefoam -from your pharmacy. Or I heard that tear repair, from your craft store, a latex paste, will work well, but I never tried it.

[Dutchringgirl]

i feed quality food, so I guess i wont worry about the calcium. Im not sure if she is quite done teething yet, she is just coming on 5 months, ive looked in her mouth and it looks pretty good. Both ears are actually flopping, her left one is thinking about it but not much. Its hard to say if her ears are large, they look like a nice size, the cartilage is still pretty soft. Ill start looking into taping. She is cute with floppy ears though