[dinki2]

Okay we had a GSD whom had pups about 5 months ago. We kept the runt of the litter and hes about 4 months 3 weeks now. Well he kind of looks realyl skinny compared to his brothers because we are babysitting one of his brothers and his brother is nice and lean and you cant see his ribs at all

Well with Dakota the one that was the runt he eats 3 times a day and is fed about 4 cups of Taste of The Wild and he eats it all usually with no problem but he seems really skinny compared to his brother.

He is up to date on all his shots and deworming and also heartworm meds, hes not "bad skinny" but when he breaths in or eats you can see a little bit of outline of his ribs. Other than that he eats healthy is very active and never acts hungry.

I asked our local vet and she said its probably just the teen stage of a GSD that makes him just look "weird" and said he probably just has more of the GSD gene in him than of the other breed he is.

My husband wants to take him off of the TOTW and says he just doesnt like it or eat it so I dont want to buy it anymore....yet he clearly eats 4 cups a day no problems.

So do GSD go through a weird stage? Because I want to keep him on TOTW but hiw he looks is kind of weirding me out.

 

[rosborn]

do you have a pick of your puppy .....?

also, we use nutra natural for all of our pets including our cats .... they always seem healthy!!! how much does your puppy weigh? and he is almost 5 months old right?

i meant a picture of your puppy

im sure you already know this but when changing your dogs diet be sure to use the following formula

30% new food + 70% old food for 2 days
50% new food + 50% old food for 2 days
70% new food + 30% old food for 2 days
100% new food forever!!!

 

[dinki2]

He is almost 5 months correct, I would say hes proably around 30 lbs now as when we had him weighed 2 weeks ago he was about 28 lbs I was concered with how skinny he was and she said for his age and being a GSD mix he was fine and not too skinny. He has been on TOTW since he was 8 weeks old also.

And atm I dont have a camera as its lent out or I would take a pic I will try and get my camera back today to take one tho. I found some pics of him I took about 3 a month ago he is a little heavier but his waist line still looks the same as it does here.

 

[rosborn]

Im assuming by GSD your are meaning german shepard?

 

[dinki2]

Yes his mother was a full blooded Shepherd we have no clue who the father is because she was pregnant when we adopted her. But he is a German Shepherd mix puppy, updated post with a few pics also.

 

[rosborn]

He does not look to skinny to me .... No head shots so we could see his precious mug? ..... Nutra natural choice for large breed puppys.... I would make sure it is for large breed pups .... that would be the dry mix .....

just my suggestion .... here is how I have always done for my dogs ~ (my golden retriever lived to be 17 years old .... so , i must have done something right)

I have always fed my dogs Nutra natural choice for large breed puppys (from petsmart) ...
for your pup for his age/size you would need 5-6 cups of dry food for the whole day ... I would break it up in 3 meals ....
1/2 can wet food of nutra natural choice for LBP in the morning (seperate bowl from the dry food)

are you into training your pup? i can give suggestions as well on that ...

THESE are only SUGGESTIONS .... Im not trying to tell you how to feed your puppy!!!

 

[dinki2]

Yea I was thinking of increasing the cups in both my dogs diet by so much. Heidi is also on Taste Of The Wild and she gets about 2 1/2 cups a day and does wonderul on it but I am thinking of taking her up to 3 cups daily.

Dakota is also on Taste Of The Wild and gets 4 cups of it 3 times a day on the official site it says for a dog his weight/age he should be getting between 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 daily so I may up it to 4 1/2 or 5 cups for him.

He is already semi trained in the basic area he knows a few commands already like stay/sit/up/down/wait. He still has alot to learn tho, I dont feed any wet food to my dogs at all, but when Taste Of The Wilds wet food line comes out im thinking of starting a half/half diet.

As for the pic of him when I actually get my camera back ill upload one or two the pics i uploaded earlier were from an earlier post pn the forums.

 

[Pai]

He looks fine to me. Dogs are supposed to have a 'waist tuck'. =)

 

[nikelodeon79]

My GSD mix (4 months old) actually looks skinnier than yours... she's going through a bit of a gawky stage, LOL. I agree that your pup looks just fine (and I second the request for more pictures so we can admire them!)

I personally would not change the food. Your pup doesn't look skinny and TOTW is a great food!

 

[Marsh Muppet]

He's not skinny at all in the pics you posted. A lot of large breed pups alternately go through lean and chubby stages, as their growth catches up with and outstrips their food consumption. My 15 year old son does the same thing.

I like to keep a pup just this side of "too skinny". I've never been a fan of fat puppies. It's not good for them.

 

[dinki2]

Heres some pics of him I just took now you can tell me if he looks a good weight or could use a little more, hes a rotten spoiled dog lol. Love him to death.

 

[nikelodeon79]

He's so cute!! He has that happy GSD smile.. my guess is that he has lab in him, too, but I'm no expert. ;-)

I personally think he's just fine. As long as he's not experiencing diarrhea and has good energy, etc., I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Sammgirl]

He is soooo cute!!!!! He looks just fine to me...

 

[hsieh]

i have 2 dogs (brothers) since they were born and one has always been very skinny. he just doesn't like to eat much. they're 10 yrs young now.

 

[Kathyy]

He looks to be close to the weight I like Sassy to be. No hips or backbones visible, can see a couple ribs. She got a couple extra pounds she used to waddle. Ugh, don't want a waddling dog. Very cute guy!

 

[cshellenberger]

He is almost 5 months correct, I would say hes proably around 30 lbs now as when we had him weighed 2 weeks ago he was about 28 lbs I was concered with how skinny he was and she said for his age and being a GSD mix he was fine and not too skinny. He has been on TOTW since he was 8 weeks old also.

And atm I dont have a camera as its lent out or I would take a pic I will try and get my camera back today to take one tho. I found some pics of him I took about 3 a month ago he is a little heavier but his waist line still looks the same as it does here.

He looks perfect to me, his brother may be a little overweight, you should always be able to see the last one or two ribs. If a pup is too heavy it can cause severe joint problems later.

 

[Chris / Oakley]

Your dog looks very healthy, I wouldn't change anything. He looks very similar to Oakley, just doesn't have the pointy ears.

He's definitely a GSD/Yellow Lab. The pattern on his back just behind his front legs is identical to Oakley, which was identical to a couple pure bred yellow lab's I've seen. He should have webbed paws aswell?

 

[Shaina]

Well like everyone said, he looks fine in his pictures. Hard to tell without having my hands on him of course, but I wouldn't worry if he's acting fine.