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03-12-2013, 01:09 PM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Washington
Posts: 391
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below average?
My almost 9 month old black gsd seems a little small in comparison to other dog's i've seen on the growth charts in this forum. He's 24" and 57.5 lbs. I don't know what his line is considering he was a rescue. His ribs don't stick out at all and I even have to push a little to feel them. Everyone including the vet says he's lean but I get worried they're just being nice and are trying to tell me he's underweight (he's my first dog, I've only ever had cats). I gave him a bath yesterday and you couldn't see any of his ribs when he was wet. He's on 1 1/2-2 cups of food twice a day and right now due to a sprained knee that has me on crutches can't go on walks for a month. So right now he has a very sedimentary lifestyle which from what I can tell from all his irritated biting is frustrating for him. I will try to get a decent picture of him stacked but he doesn't like it haha.
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03-12-2013, 02:54 PM
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#2 (permalink) |
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No Stinkin' Leashes Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 27,395
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From the way you describe him, he sounds just fine. Lean but not overly skinny is exactly what you want. The numbers on a scale are much less important than his overall condition, so feed to that, not to his weight. He still has plenty of growing to do, so who knows what his final adult weight will be? Even if he ends up on the lower end of the standard it really doesn't matter, that's the size he's genetically programmed to be, and feeding more isn't going to make him bigger, it will just make him fatter.
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03-12-2013, 03:06 PM
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#3 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Washington
Posts: 391
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Okay haha I was just worried cause my husband gives him treats in his kong to keep him distracted when he eats dinner (he only bugs him haha) and he got switched to Canidae's Lamb and Rice All Stages food at 6 months because it was better and cheaper than the Nutro Natural stuff he was getting.
Thats good to know because i've been seeing a lot of posts with "you should at least see two ribs" and thats how skinny he was when we got him from the humane society and he was really underweight according to the vet and just by looking. I did though manage to find an okay shot of him I took yesterday but he's not stacked and I had to rotate the image haha. 
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03-12-2013, 03:16 PM
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#4 (permalink) |
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Overland Park, KS
Posts: 153
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He looks just fine to me.. And probably part of the reason why he's "smaller" than other GSD's you've seen is because he appears to maybe be from American lines. They tend to be more slender than their German counterparts. I have an adult American line male and he is 26" at the withers and only 65 lbs. So, tall and skinny.
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03-12-2013, 04:16 PM
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#7 (permalink) |
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Elite Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,438
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Lean is good...Much better than chubby, especially in a young, active dog. (Dogs, like people, tend to get thicker with maturity). Dogs being over weight is a much greater concern, IMO. IF a dog is healthy, active, good coat, clear eyes, eating well & happy there's very rarely any reason to worry about the weight. Some very healthy dogs are simply extremely thin. IMO, those dogs are actually lucky. They'll most likely put on some weight with age & still won't need draconian diets that make 'em miserable.
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