I just purchased my puppy 3 weeks ago and at his vet appointment yesterday, the vet said he had "slightly" loose hips. He is now 10 1/2 weeks old and growing very rapidly. He is 19 pounds.

The vet recommended measuring out his food to the specifications on the bag, and feeding him twice a day in equally divided doses. ( I was feeding him 3 times a day and letting him eat as much as he wanted at each meal. I feed him Iams puppy food for large breed dogs.

She also recommended taking the puppy for long walks (until he's tired) to get muscle growth to catch up to bone growth.

Any other advise anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Dan

Pups of this breed will have loose hips during growth spurts. They are very different from Labs in this regard.

Controlling your pup's food intake is a great idea. I still feed my little ones 3x a day, but determine how much based on their condition. Too thin? Add a little. Too fat? Feed less.

Don't follow the directions on the bag, let your fingers do the walking on your pup. You should easily be able to fee the hip bones, backbone, and ribs without pressing down.

As far as exercise, I don't know where you live, but if you have access to places where you can throw dummies for your pup to retrieve, this is really the best exercise, along with walks where the pup is able to poke around and explore his world at his own pace. Forced walks (like walking around the neighborhood) aren't really that good for this breed, especially when they are walked on concrete and asphalt. Walks will be better than nothing if they are all you have, but the muscles will develop differently in a dog that is walked, vs a dog that runs and swims. Running and swimming are what this breed was designed for.

Lisa

Thanks for the reply Lisa!!

The vet had me pretty worried. She had said that she has treated a lot of lab pups with loose hips, but the only chesapeakes she sees are already adults. So it's great to hear that Chesapeake puppies differ from labs in this area.

Our pup seems to be about the right weight. He's trimmed down alot in the past week as he's gotten taller quickly.

I live in Rochester, MN with a good sized back yard and 1/2 block from a large open park that is rarely used - especially in the morning. I have been having him fetch in my back yard, but I'll have to start taking him to the park more, based on your advise and the fact that he is getting way more active.

I'm also just across the street from a bike path that goes several mile in either direction and follows a creek/river. I've been walking him on this bikepath but it is asphalt. I have also taken him to the bank of the river every day for the past week and just let him explore the bank - he puts his feet in the water but hasn't gone in further and I don't really encourage him to go further. As the water gets a little warmer, I'll start wading in and encouraging him to go with me.

ANY advice at all you can give me is GREATLY appreciated. I'm already taking a lot of pride in my pup and don't want to "ruin" him in any way.

Thanks again,

Dan