Beau's weight dilemma

by MAM
(Australia)

So my beautiful 6 month old (today!) long coat GSD pup is at the vet today for his 'operation'.

The vet has already told me something I know well - he's underweight. He's VERY active, eats well but can be fussy, gets around 800 gr - 1 kg of large dog puppy growth food a day (plus treats) and weighs in at 33.5kg (which I think is around 74 pounds).

But he's thin and I don't know what to do about it. And I mean really thin - there's no coverage over his ribs/spine at all. He's up to date with worming and vaccinations... I just don't know what to do next. The vet will hopefully have some ideas this afternoon when I collect him (feeling sorry and sore) - in all other respects he's a happy (and utterly gorgeous) boy.

I'd appreciate any ideas from anyone right about now...

Thanks :-)

Comments for Beau's weight dilemma

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Not to worry...
by: Jen

Both of our Shepherds are the same way. Storm is just over a year and weighs 90 pounds, but looks very skinny. Not much cover on the spine or ribs either. Our 12 year old was the same way, and he eventually filled out.

Their activity level is high, and typically German Shepherds will not overeat, like other breeds do.

Think of them like a teenage boy, tall and skinny :-)

same size as my boy
by: Shaun

My boy Jethro weighed in at 75 lbs at six months and is a large healthy dog. He is very large and bigger than most GSD's I've ever seen but has no health problems. If he is eating good and active and healthy I don't think you have too much to worry about just keep an eye on his growth.

I just recently switched Jethro off of puppy food because he is so large and he started turning his nose up to it and eating the other dogs food.

Breeder comments
by: MAM

Just one more thing, I asked Beau's breeder what they thought and they said that he's too heavy for his age and feeding puppy food after 3 months is not recommended - it's too high in protein and encourages rapid growth which is not a good thing for GSD. They recommended a lower protein adult dog food instead. The breeder is very concerned that he's 33.5 kg at 6 months as he should be around 27 kg.

The vet has given me another (expensive) puppy food to try (Royal Canin) and said aside from his weight he's healthy.

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Beau's weight dilemma

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