What is with people who can't understand bigger is not always better? lol Reading a post on FB and saw people comparing weights of their GSD's and there were some saying 150lbs and 1 even said 175. I am NOT a dog weight police type person, but when people say that i figure they are either exxagerating or really stressing their dogs hips and even organs. I like keeping my female GSD right where she is at a healthy weight... don't feel the need to make her bigger for bragging rights.
People just keep breeding bigger and bigger GSD's and I honestly dont get it. My current dog is 75lbs and honestly I'm not sure i would want a dog any bigger. as much as I love big dogs, its so hard on their legs, organs, and joints that its really not worth it, shepherds aren't originally bred to carry that much weight, the whole "King German Shepherd" thing is just crazy to me.
Try living with an over feeder! My wife often feeds more than the recommended amount (morning meal) and I try to counter that with the evening meal. Lately she's been pushing the "they're too skinny" referencing Zoey and Ranger. Both have been to the vet multiple times lately, Ranger with his jaw problem, Zoe with an ear infection followed by having to remove a toe nail. Both have gained 8-9lbs!! In just a few months!
At our most recent visit (last Thursday) our vet told her Zoe is slightly over weight and even this slight amount can lead to shortened life and increased health risks compared to dogs that are kept thinner. Hopefully hearing the pitfalls from our vet will change her thinking
I appreciate both your input and glad to see i am not alone. My female GSD is at about 70lbs right now.. she did start approaching 80 at 1 point, but then i noticed her slowing down when she ran after the ball when i threw it, so i cut her back. At her weight now she has a nice, muscular build, and is also very fast and athletic when we play. I love her very much and her health means the world to me. I also feed her RAW.
Many years back I bought a used car from some family and when I showed up to pick it up the biggest gsd I have ever seen came out to meet me. I am 5'8" and this dogs head came up to my chest. He was huge! And a long coat as well. They got him from a breeder and had no clue why he was so huge. I would bet he weighed in at 140 easy and in all my years I dont believe I have ever seen a bigger dog.
People have no clue what dogs weigh. I get told all the time that Bud must haved weighed 120. He was 95 at his heaviest.
I'm not bragging or anything....but my GSD bitch is closing in on 250 lbs....so I don't need to brag.
Here she is relaxing after putting down her morning meal of 20 lbs of Old Roy.
So many people in this forum ...complaining about all these GSD problems....like biting.....jumping...aggression...high energy levels etc.....once you get your GSD to this size...you have absolutely no problems.
I had hoped for no bigger than 75 lbs. But Remi is 26.5" and was 87 lbs a few months ago. My vet was kind enough to point out that he should drop a couple of pounds. I have not been religious about it, so the most recent visit resulted in a weigh-in of 86 lbs. Not good enough!
He is down to 1.5 cups in the AM and 1 cup at night of Dr. Tim's Momentum. Plus some treats. I want him to be down to 83-84 lbs.
If people want a large breed, they should get a large breed. Stop breeding super, giant, "big boned" GSD. I recently saw a few GSD females that looked tiny at a reputable breeder. I REALLY want one that size.
Tina Barber, the originator of Shiloh Shepherds, had a hard time fixing over size which is why she tried, unsuccessfully, adding other breeds such as Alaskan Malamutes to her program but did not like the resulting temperaments and deleted all of them from her program.
The breed standard is no where near those 100+ dogs. After all they were bred to work, be agile, have stamina etc.
But the overweight thing is very sad and affects so many dogs of all breeds. I saw a Lab that looked like a fat log with legs! Poor thing laboring after his ball! :crying:
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