Is Khan Overweight

by Jo-Anne Hovington
(Mount Barker, SA, Australia)

GSD Khan

GSD Khan

Khan eats a Kilo of meat a day and lots of other food.


He Weighs 44.2 Kilograms. He is only 12 Months Old.

Comments for Is Khan Overweight

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Activities, Activities, Activities
by: Muhammad

Hello,

I am a German Shepherd owner…

Yes, Khan is over weight if he is a normal GSD, I mean not an over sized one. if he is a normal GSD then it only requires training and activities in order to be able to burn fats, just like us.

Start by walking him everyday and then make him run after a ball or his favorite toy. Step by step his weight will decrease and you will notice muscle formation.

You must down weight him as soon as possible because you don't wanna see him having hip dysplasia.

Big but not necessarily overweight
by: Kathryn

Hi Jo-Ann :)

My Bear (RIP Jan 2013 at 7 yrs) was a pedigree long coat GSD and he weighed 45 kg at 1 year old and averaged 50-52 kg for most of his adult life. While that's a lot larger than average, we always knew he was going to be large as he had tree trunk legs as a puppy and the breeder was breeding to show so he was going to be too large for them according to show guidelines. He looked like a woolly bear cub, hence the name ;)

I have 2 other GSD boys too. Our 2 yo is average size at 42 kg and our young pup is like Bear, larger than average coming from a 55 kg dad. We feed our boys Royal Canin German Shepherd specific kibble along with human grade roo meat, lentils, chick peas and sometimes yoghurt plus we supplement with many treats like marrow bones and the occasional BBQ snag...

Bear especially loved those and he strangely loved apples too! The Royal Canin kibble is expensive but if you buy 10 bags, you get one free and we stock up when it's 20% off at our local pet Petstock store so we save a few hundred $ that way. The German Shepherd kibble has all the GSD nutrition Khan needs and the kibble shape is good for their teeth and gums too.

If you have a larger than average GSD, you just need to be very careful with their hips. I would suggest giving Khan a daily adult dose of glucosamine and chondroitin (we use Healthy Care Super Joint from Chem Warehouse x2 capsules with evening meal...just in with kibble) to keep his joints in good condition and hopefully somewhat prevent or at least delay the onset of arthritis in later years. If there is any arthritis, it also reduces inflammation and associated pain.

We started Bear on this regime at 3 yo when we learned the importance and he was still arthritis free (from what we could tell) until he died from heart cancer at 7 yo.

Good luck with Khan...he looks gorgeous in that pic ;)

Cheers
Kathryn

RE: Is Khan Overwieght
by: Anonymous

I would have to say no, but it is hard to see how his body looks in the photo.

My male was almost 100 lbs at 10 months old, he is just a big shepherd. A lot has to do with how big the dog is to begin with.

If my smaller female was carrying the weight at that age then there would have been a big issue. If you are worried though about his weight check in with the vet about your concern.

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