Does he look thin to you? He's 10 weeks now

[SwaF]

My breeder had him on Eukunuba but when we took him home he wasn't eating much of it going through maybe a cup to a cup and a half for a week so I started switching him to Fromm LBP, and he was going through maybe 2 and half to 3 cups of a mixture of those two for the last 2 weeks. But he still doesn't seem to gain any weight, he seems really thin to us, he was about 14 pounds at 9 weeks. Every time he looks like he gained a bit of weight it's usually gone by the next day. He's crated a lot of the times, for an hour after he eats, 30min before he has to go outside, and after he plays for a few hours where he naps it off. Even if we left the bowl in his crate sometimes he still doesn't really eat it. He loves pumpkin and we started mixing a bit of that into his food. He doesn't seem hungry, he's always energetic. We been to the vet 3 times in the last 2 weeks and they never said he was too thin. Am I being paranoid?

He's been dewormed by the breeder and the vet.

[N Smith]

He looks good to me. You may be *slightly* paranoid...:P

He has some nice lean muscle both front and back and an apparent indent after the last rib. The first picture is deceiving because he is drinking and they tend to suck it in when they are eating and drinking.

The second picture looks more true, so going on that picture I think he looks good.

GSD's should be kept lean for life, a little moreso as young dogs. Listen to your pup, he is self regulating. Let him choose how much to eat over 3 days so you can measure it out more accurately, then only give him that amount on a scheduled feeding (I am not a fan of free feeding, but if it works for you, you can do that too). How I do this is take 2 cups and put it in the bowl, let the pup eat as much as he is going to in 10 minutes. Pick the rest up and re-measure, now subtract and you know what he is eating per sitting. Do that for 3 days so you can get an accurate reading of the median amount. This is where you START, you can adjust according to growth, exercise, stress etc.

Increase the food as he grows, or if you notice him searching for more when he is done, and keep an eye on his weight.

[MaggieRoseLee]

We need to keep them leaner than other pups, but this is hard the first year when they grow so fast and the amount of food they need keeps changing every week.

I personally think he's a bit thin, so already you have 100% of your viewers disagreeing I know I have to break up the meals during the day to get my pup to eat. 4 cups once a day will not get eaten while 2 cups twice a day may.

Some of our GSD pups are extremely picky eaters too. Have you seen --> Pup doesn't want to eat (picky eater?)

[blackshep]

I also think he's a wee bit thin, BUT I do agree that it's much better for this breed to be lean, especially as they grow.

As N Smith said, the first pic isn't great because they suck in as they eat or drink.

It's really hard the first year when they are going through growth spurts. Are you feeding him in one sitting? It might be too much food at one time, maybe split the feedings up. When my pup was your pup's age, I split her meals into three feedings.

[SwaF]

Oh no we're feeding him 3 meals a day, we basically measure out 1 cup every meal and give it to him he eats for about 10 min finishes maybe 1/4 to 3/4 of a cup and he would get distracted, chew something else wait about 20min and polish off the rest. We mix in a bit of pumpkin into his meals since it gets him to eat a bit more but other than that there are days where he just eats maybe 2 cups, sometimes he eats 3. Our breeder seems to think he is really thin, his sister is about 18 pounds right now and going on 4 cups of eukunuba a day. Gosh I hope I'm just being paranoid but people keep asking us if we're feeding him enough or if we should take him to the vet.

[blackshep]

Get used to it, people always think GSD's are too thin when they're an appropriate weight. LOL

Can you put him in a quiet room with the door closed while he eats, so the distractions are less? Maybe do heaping cups, to get a few more calories in.

How's his poop? I'm just wondering, because my puppy had on and off bouts of loose poops and ended up having giardia, which can block nutrient absorption. As soon as that got taken care of, she's putting a little weight back on.

I don't like changing food too much, but maybe if you can find something he likes the taste of better? Fromm is a good food, I had my girl on Orijen LB puppy, it was too rich for her though. Now I have her on Acana.

[Justaguy]

He looks fine to me. You don't want a fat GSD you want him lean and agile like their suppose to be.

[Fynn&Vandy]

I think he looks pretty average. He's a little thin but, our four month old pup is the same way. She's very lean even though she eats a ton. She started to get a little puppy chunk on her (I was so excited) but then hit a growth spurt and, is super lean again. She has crazy long legs and, well our vet is very happy with where she is. Until she hit four months I was feeding 1 cup 3xs a day. She loves to eat but two meals where too big for her. If he's a slow eater, enjoy it. Every time we up Vandys food she gobbles it down and pukes. Just the first time but, still gross. Thank god we got a bowl to help slow her down. Everyone (especially my Mom) tells me both of my pups are too skinny. Fynn is a big dog, he's tap dancing on the line between lean and, "thick" right now. He's perfect. Vandy keeps growing and, is eating plenty. As long as your vet is happy with his progress and, he's eating his food I'm sure he's fine. He's super cute and, doesn't look unhealthy by any means!!

[carmspack]

I am looking at it not from the weight but from the condition issue . The dog is lean , but lean with a weak look to it . You can be lean and strong. Good lean muscle , integrity to the ligaments and cartilage .
This is what is missing . You still need to be well nurished . Immune health relies on this.
The dog in the picture is straddling the bowl with some left over kibble . So I don't think it is an issue of the dog not being offered enough. Pumpkin is a filler , the kibble has lots of "filler" so the dog may very well feel full before he has his nutrient needs met.
The way I feed my pups is nutrient dense , calorie low .

maybe Saphire or Rush can post a picture as their pups are about the same age ?

[msvette2u]

He's thin, yes. We want them lean but not that lean. And trust me, I like a lean dog!
But there's thin/lean and then there's "sickly" looking and he looks sickly.
Adding a meal during the day will certainly help. I'd do 1-2 cups midday if you can.
Or add cottage cheese, full fat, not the 2% or non-fat, or yogurt, again, full fat. Mix it into his food.

I've found that adding salmon oil and a dollop of coconut oil can put on a nice little bit of fat where it needs to be. Both are good for growing dogs, as well.