I Am Unsure How Old My Dog Is. Are There Any Down Sides To Feeding Her Senior Food If She Is Younger?
Posted by Zolly | Under Nutrition Thursday Jul 30, 2009I rescued my Bloodhound from the pound, so I do not know how old she is. She is also very lazy unless she is working, so it is hard to tell whether she is older or is just a calm dog. As a result she puts on weight easily, and since she is such a large breed she will age earlier than a smaller dog. I also worry about her joints when she gets older, due to previous poor nutrition. Would it harm her to give her a senior food now, instead of supplementing her current food with glucosamine?
Actually, any large breed of dog can be safely given Senior food once that dog hits the age of 5 years. Since most of your large breeds only live 8-12 years, 5 years isn’t too early to start.
I would suggest you research HOLISTIC foods for her too. They are much more healthy for a dog. They also (unfortunately) tend to give some dogs gas until their body gets accustomed to the new food. This usually will only last about 1-2 weeks.
Well, with Bloodhounds there’s actually an easy way to find out how old they are. By doing this, then you will be able to decide what to feed it.
You just cut it in half and count the rings – like a tree.
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My wolf can bite it in half. Wolf power ruuuuules!
You don’t want to feed a senior food to a large breed dog under 8 years old. At 8 years, a dog becomes a senior citizen. Senior food is balanced for dogs at that age. If you look at puppy, adult and senior dog foods you will notice the aafco label has different percentages on it for proteins, fats etc. according to the age of the dog. If your dog puts on weight because she is inactive, you should feed a low-calorie type food like fit n’ trim etc. Nutro Max has one of the best light foods on the market. Even if your dog is senior, you can still feed it a low-cal food. Hope this helps.
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I would recommend taking her to a vet and asking them. The vet should be able to make an estimate of her age, confirm any health problems she may have, and can answer your questions about diet.
i would keep her on the food that she is still on
I would leave her on a weight management (Light) dog food for large breeds. Most of these food have extra glucosamine and chondroitian (sp) that are good for the large breed dogs joints.
If you put her on senior, she will gain weight. Senior formulas tend to have more fat in them to support the slowing bodies of Senior dogs. I would wait at least 2 more years before you put her on a senior formula.