Ok I have a couple questions.The first one is about our 8 month old lab.He is fed twice a day and is mostly an outside dog because he is going through a eat my house stage lol.But with it getting cold here he is inside more and I have been noticing he's really skinny.Is that normal?Is there anything I can do to put weight on him?We have 3 dogs and he just seems so skinny.
The next question is we just adopted a small 2 year old pekinese and she is getting along fine with our 5 year old mix breed but I am scared of putting her with our 8month lab.Is that just me being silly?She seems to growl at him and I am afriad she will nip and he will hurt her.Any sugestions... I love my dogs just like I love my kids but feel kind of dumb when it comes to caring for them lol.

About the 8 month old lab - have you had the pup checked for worms? That is usually where a vet starts and go from there.

The newbie dog in the house might be still settling in and asserting her personal space. Watch the dog's interactions and if the growling does not stop or gets worse, please contact your vet. Best to you!

Thin Labs are decidedly unnormal. How have you determined how much to feed him? Most Labs will eat more than is good for them and look for more. Have you talked to the vet about him? Unless he has worms or some other physical problem, you should have no trouble shoveling enough chow into him to reach his proper body condition. I once was given a high energy, 55 pound, 7 month old Lab that you could see her ribs. She didn't start putting on weight until I was giving her 7 cups a day of Pro Plan. A couple of months of that, and she was a sleek 70 pounds, and I cut back.

You have to remember, the typical Lab is over weight. Here is a link to a great illustrated guide to assessing your dog's body condition, http://www.puppychow.com/products/popup_body_condition.aspx Nowhere does it guarantee your Lab is typical. I actually had one Lab that refused to eat enough regular Purina to hide his ribs. I switched him over to a meat based, concentrated chow like the Pro Plan. He still only ate enough to barely hide his ribs, but was a fine healthy dog. Most of my Labs are on the small size and maintain ideal body condition on about 3-4 cups of Pro Plan at a year old. Another one I had, needed about 6 cups to hold the same weight. Here is a bunch of healthy Labs at their ideal body condition. They vary from about 6 months to 13 years.

http://www.photolocker.net/images/Labman/asters11thbirthday.jpg

The occasion was the one yellow Lab's 11'th birthday. The other yellow Lab is her mother.

Thanlyou to the both of you.Yes Berkley my(8month lab)has been wormed and checked out by our vet.I got him at only 6 weeks and he was already weened from mommy so we had to teach him basically how to eat.We feed him 4 cups in morning and 4 cups in evening.There is always food left over and he don't scarf down like he's starving .He seems like he would rather chew my house up then eat lol.He is very hyper but I will switch over to pro plan this week.. I just worry caz I feel like I should have a chubby baby and you can see his ribs.My vet said he is a little under weight but healthy.Do you think I should feed him more often and smaller portions?? Oh lordy being a mom to people is much easier haha.
As for Yaya our new baby.I tried again tonight to introduce them and she growled and whined and basically freaked out jumping all around Berkley.Berkley just looked nervous and scared.He wants to sniff her and greet her but her whinning and growling scares him.I am so afraid he will get scared and bite her.But maybe him being a puppy he won't.Please what should I do lol.

What are you feeding him now? If it has a meat, or an animal meal, as the first ingredient, switching to Pro Plan shouldn't help much. Otherwise, introduce the new chow gradually over about a week. It is best to limit the protein sources you feed a dog. Stick to one type of chow if you can. With some dogs, you just have to settle for a little rib showing. As long as your vet isn't very worried, live with it.

Try holding Berkley on leash and letting Yaya approach him. That way you can limit any damage. I mostly see different age dogs together, but the small breeds often mix it up well with the bigger ones. We were at a friends place yesterday with our small for her age 4 month old Lab and our 13 year old. She has a 7 week old Lab, a 1 1/2 year old Shepherd, and an older Beagle and Cairn Terrier. It was funny seeing the Cairn Terrier put the Shepherd on his back. The Cairn terrier had to settle our puppy a couple of times, but in general, they did fine together. So watch carefully, but give Berkley and Yaya a chance to interact.

By the way, I meant regular Purina that my one Lab didn't eat enough of in my first post. I have edited it.

Hi again lol... Berkley and our older mix breed (Shaggy)both eat puppy chow Shaggy will only eat puppy chow and he's 5 years old lol.Very picky dog... Thankyou for your advice I really appreciate it.I will post pictures of Berkley later tonight and you can tell me what you think.