12 month female GSD 50 lbs ?!?!?

[bttarhan]

I have a female pup 12 mo. old and she weighs 50 lbs .she is so skinny although I feed her twice a day (500g total) with Royal Canin Junior German shepherd puppy dryfood .she must be 66 lbs at that age.pls help !!!

[BlackthornGSD]

I have several adult female GSDs that are between 55 and 65 pounds. But they are correct size and not underweight, albeit on the small size of the standard.

How much are you feeding? How many calories a day? How tall is your girl?

[jocoyn]

She must be 66lbs? Why? Post a picture. I have a 50lb female and she looks great. A bit small but thats ok. She is not breeding stock.

[kr16]

Originally Posted by bttarhan

I have a female pup 12 mo. old and she weighs 50 lbs .she is so skinny although I feed her twice a day (500g total) with Royal Canin Junior German shepherd puppy dryfood .she must be 66 lbs at that age.pls help !!!

500G divided by 28 = 17 ounces= 2cups if I am doing this right

Thats about 2 cups of food a day. sounds like your under feeding

A few simple questions.

is she keeping the food down?

Is she healthy in her appearance and actions?

How many calories in 500G?

[Samba]

Pictures and height measuremebt would help. I have a two year old female that weighs 53 lbs. She is healthy.

Is she eating all the food? Would she eat more if you gave it to her?

[sable123]

Originally Posted by kr16

500G divided by 28 = 17 ounces= 2cups if I am doing this right

Thats about 2 cups of food a day. sounds like your under feeding

A few simple questions.

is she keeping the food down?

Is she healthy in her appearance and actions?

How many calories in 500G?

That is about 4 cups of normal shaped kibble. 500 grams will be between 1400 & 1500 calories off the top of my head.

I think I would switch that dog to Adult, the puppy food has less fat and more protein. The adult food will help her gain.

[BlackthornGSD]

Looks like there's 3940.0 kcal/kg, which would mean she's getting about 1950 calories a day... maybe not quite enough for a 12 month old.

Are her stools normal? How does her coat/skin look and feel?

[kr16]

Originally Posted by sable123

That is about 4 cups of normal shaped kibble. 500 grams will be between 1400 & 1500 calories off the top of my head.

I think I would switch that dog to Adult, the puppy food has less fat and more protein. The adult food will help her gain.

If I go back to my college dorm daze, their are 28 grams in an ounce. 500 divided by 28= 17.85. A cup is 8oz liquid. So it also depends on what measuring cup he is using, a dry one or liquid they are different I believe.

[sable123]

Originally Posted by BlackthornGSD

Looks like there's 3940.0 kcal/kg, which would mean she's getting about 1950 calories a day... maybe not quite enough for a 12 month old.

Are her stools normal? How does her coat/skin look and feel?

I don't think it is the calorie count per se, the puppy food is relatively high protein and low fat. Protein consumes more calories than it provides.

The adult formula is 17.5% fat and 24% protein, compared to 14% fat and 30% protein for the puppy food. So, the adult formula will produce weight gain.

That is crossed shaped kibble so using cups is hard because one cup will hold a lot less food.

[BlackthornGSD]

Originally Posted by sable123

I don't think it is the calorie count per se, the puppy food is relatively high protein and low fat. Protein consumes more calories than it provides.

The adult formula is 17.5% fat and 24% protein, compared to 14% fat and 30% protein for the puppy food. So, the adult formula will produce weight gain.

That is crossed shaped kibble so using cups is hard because one cup will hold a lot less food.

I used the measure of 500g and went to the Royal Canin website to get the calories per kg.

Yes, the type of calories *can* make a difference, but fundamentally, if your dog is burning 2500 calories a day and is eating 1800 calories a day, your dog is going to be thin and losing muscle. If your dog is eating 1800 cal a day and is burning 1800-2000, she's unlikely to put on any weight

It's always a good starting point to look at the basics--is the dog getting enough calories? If the answer is "really should be" then look at other factors such as EPI or is the dog able to effectively use the calories she is getting? Or is the dog moving nonstop or still in a growth phase?