# why is isaac so big?



## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

Here is Isaac at seven months and one week, he weighs 70 pounds. What on earth is going on here!?! Can anyone help me understand why this dog is so big? I really can't figure it out. lol. Any ideas, is maybe mastiff or somthing way back in his bloodline? Maybe just some big pitbull??
For those who dont remember, I picked him up out in Hawaii on the big island and brought him here to jersey, met both his parents, his dad was a huge pitbulldog but nowhere near as big as I expect Isaac to get at this rate, his mom was a small 40-50 pound apbt. I never sent in his adba registry forms or ordered a pedigree so I cant be sure about his bloodline. All I know is that he comes from a long line of Hawaiian hog hunting and fighting dogs that theyve been breeding and registering with adba out there for a long time now.
Anyway, what do you guys think? mix breed? and if so, with what? boerbell...lol?

also, just for scale on the last pic, that is your standard leather still water collar.


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

Rolery he is very handsome ... What are you feeding him and how much a day are you giving at feedings ? Is he getting at least 30-60 minutes of some sort of exercise a day? At 7 months old 70lbs is pretty big Simba my male is 35lbs at 7 months old. He may have something mixed in but It's really hard to say without his pedigree. If you have paper's I would def order his pedigree that will help. And make sure your not overfeeding him puppies can pack on weight fast with kibble.


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

well for the first few months he was fed completely raw, but now each day he's eating one cup raw beef and cooked oatmeal with green beans, one cup natural balance duck formula (just switched from candai), and one raw chicken back. And yes he gets plenty exercise, 7-10 minutes carpet mill every other day, a jog every morning, plus walks and flirtpole. I fast him one day a week, but he does have a lot of mass. Your dogs, sadie, are certainly "game-ish" lines and I could never expect Isaac to weigh anywhere near as low as your same aged pup, but he may be a little over weight. 
Anybody think he looks like he could loose some weight?


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

here is his dad, what do you guys think? 
I would think some bully in him, but the lines been on the islands for so long from what I understand, no bully could have gotten in, at least not the standard RE/ Gotti/ types of bloodlines... maybe some big pit like Gator or Watchdog?


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## Sydney (Aug 14, 2007)

I can't see the pictures cause I am at work :curse: but it kinda sounds like a lot of food...the raw beef is it ground beef, because ground beef is high in fat. I feed it to Sydney when I want to put a little weight on her.

Do you feed one cup of the beef then you add in the oatmeal and the green beans or is it one cup all included. Really it is best to feed raw by percentages of body weight.

This site is really good as far as information on feeding percentages...

*Raw Diets for Beginners*


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

thanks sydney, back to thee ol raw discussions! lol. I am mixing the beef (ground) 50/50 with the oatmeal and green bean mix... so maybe you are right about being fed to much, I have gotten lazy and drifted away from looking at percentages, that is a good point about the beef being high in fat, maybe I will try to get extra lean or switch to some other type of meat.
Let me know what you think when you see pics, it is hard for me to tell, kind of like when people look at there own children they always look cute, he still looks like a little baby to me! I am always surprised when people are scared of him, to me he is still that little six week old pup that slept on my chest...


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

Rolery looking at him he does not look like the typical ambully type that's why I asked about food. From what I am seeing I think he his being overfed which is where the extra pounds are coming from ... I don't feed raw so I don't know much about it. But I know my pups eat once a day they are being fed innova so I only need to give them 1-2 cups a day based on their weight. So you may just wanna get with someone here who feeds raw and find out exactly how much you should be feeding and maybe only feed kibble or raw not both. JMO. Sydney seems to know a lot about the raw diet so def check with her on it. Hey may have some re or amstaff bloodlines mixed in him. Def order his pedigree so you know.


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## Sydney (Aug 14, 2007)

I am just curious is there a reason for the oatmeal?? and are the green beans fresh or canned?? My vet told me to feed green beans to help my puppy "feel full" I do use fresh ones in my "ruffiage cakes" but why not try feeding some other veggies and maybe some fruits, the chicken backs are good really high in protein, but are you feeding any organ meat. I really like using beef hearts and livers, not sure if you ever tried those? 

I was supplementing Sydney ground beef daily when she was a pup then she had her first heat cycle and everything changed suddently she began to pack on the pounds and was 60# before I knew it!!! So I cut that out for a little while to get her weight down a bit. Now I use it on occasion because they DO need some fat in there diet but if you are also feeding kibble they can get it there too! 

I suspect his hormones are probably changing and he is retaining more weight, since I still cannot see the pictures...I am just speculating here...

If you wanna continue to feed kibble, I would suggest cutting out all other fats (and the oatmeal) for right now...feed the chicken back and some FRESH fruits and veggies and the cup of kibble...keep the day of fasting and the exercise level up. 

Take it slow keep an eye on his weight versus appearance and adjust accordingly. Overfeeding can cause puppies to grow big and fast not to mention fat! Have you thought about one feeding a day maybe the chk. back, a ruffiage cake, and 1/2 cup kibble for right now??


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

thanks sydney and sadie. I am feeding him all at one time once a day. why oatmeal? ...good question! I guess maybe I am feeding him too much... lol. Sadie; the reason I am feeding both raw and kibble as oppose to just raw is because I dont have the time or energy to get him everything I feel he needs nutrient-wise through raw sources, although it is certainly doable, I dont have time these days. 
Ok sydney, I think I will take your advice and cut the oatmeal and beef and maybe just hit him with a cup of kibble then a chicken back and some beans (I use frozen...). I will see how he does.

Any comments from others about his dad or him, weight, etc are appreciated!


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

Good deal rolery !!! I think 55-60 lbs would be an ideal weight for him right now. If you can knock 10-15 lbs off him I think you will see a major difference. Buy cutting back on the TYPES of meat your giving him and the excess carbs like oatmeal... as well as watching his intake of food you should be able to get him down pretty quickly. As far as his dad it's so hard to say I hate to judge a dog off a picture alone. He is not all tricked out and overdone like you typical ambully. But he appears to be a little stocky not too bad. He also looks unconditioned so it's pretty hard to say what he would look like if they got him into shape. Maybe someone else can give you some more insight about dad. Good luck with your puppy he is adorable I think he is handsome


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

so just to be clear, have we established that he looks like he needs to loose weight? Isaac that is, ...not the dad (who clearly does), I think that they let him get fat after retiring him to stud


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## bahamutt99 (May 14, 2008)

He could lose a few pounds and not miss it. If he were here, I'd be easing up his food a bit until I saw a little more tuck. As for the general issue of size, I missed if it was answered already, but do you know how he's bred? I saw the post with his dad. Not all RE/Gotti dogs are mutants. He could well have some of that blood behind him and just lucked out on the "better" RE or Gotti genes.


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

thanks for suggestion regarding weight bahamutt, indeed it was brought up earlier, but I never sent in his adba forms and therefore never ordered a pedigree, just never got around to it but I think i still have the form around here somewhere...
as you saw thats his dad, his mom I also met and she was your classic gamey apbt, small (in comparison to dad), and feisty. The reason I doubt any am-bully in his dad is based on the bloodline being kept within the islands for a long time (from what I was told from many people out there, although again, I haven't ordered the pedigree) and unless I am mistaken the whole RE line didn't really go public until somewhat recently.


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## koonce272 (Sep 16, 2008)

I agree to a point with the weight. I think 15lbs is way to much for a 7month old to loose. Id say 5-8lbs off of him would put him at a good weigh for "his" genetics.

Now, there are different styles of games dogs. There are different roles for dogs in the hunting department. One style/size of a dog doesnt work for all applications of the hunt. A catch dog will be larger than one that is doing the chasing,for obvious reasons.

Just some more ideas


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## roleary (Jan 11, 2008)

Thanks Koonce, Isaac is on a diet and "workout" plan, I am however eating tons of food and sitting down for most of the day... but I am already skinny so I dont have to worry. I did however come to the conclusion after opening this thread and talking to some other people that Isaac was indeed a bit on the thick side. So is eating less and running around more, and he really seems to feel ALOT better believe it or not. Ive cut his food in half and he seems to feel alot better, more energy, etc.
I also tracked down his ADBA forms finally sent them off and ordered a seven generation pedigree, so soon the mystery will be solved. Thanks to everyone for the advice, I am going to post some "before and after" pics in a few weeks once he is more fit and I figure out where exactly his bloodline comes from.:thumbsup:


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

roleary said:


> Thanks Koonce, Isaac is on a diet and "workout" plan, I am however eating tons of food and sitting down for most of the day... but I am already skinny so I dont have to worry. I did however come to the conclusion after opening this thread and talking to some other people that Isaac was indeed a bit on the thick side. So is eating less and running around more, and he really seems to feel ALOT better believe it or not. Ive cut his food in half and he seems to feel alot better, more energy, etc.
> I also tracked down his ADBA forms finally sent them off and ordered a seven generation pedigree, so soon the mystery will be solved. Thanks to everyone for the advice, I am going to post some "before and after" pics in a few weeks once he is more fit and I figure out where exactly his bloodline comes from.:thumbsup:


Good Deal rolery glad everything is working out can't wait to see the results!:thumbsup:


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## blondie03044 (Aug 14, 2007)

my 13week old pup is 25-30lbs and theres not an ounce of fat on him but thats just his bloodline but i think diet and some exercise could never hurt if you wanna get ur pups weight down


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