Is my dog in bad shape (pic included)?

Question

I have a 18 month old (1 and a half years) Male german shepherd dog. He lvoes his dog food and loves to exercise and play.I been asking my father if i can give him some "meat" food cuz he appears very slim.My father says hes just long thats why hes slim but i would feel better if i just give him real meat.Any advice on what i can give him thats real meat food? How about raw chicken or steaks from the store? I need details like this please, and thank you. I will scan a picture of his appearance today so u may e-mail me what u think, if hes to skinny or not.Ill add it in the details.

i am feeding him a total ammount of 4 cups pedigree dry food. i give him 2cups in the afternoon and 2 cupz in evening.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4386/...

there is his pics from last year up to now.tell me what u all think.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4386/shadowmj0.jpg

that is the pic..sorry

Answer 1

I think he looks just fine. Lovely dog! He will bulk up, now that his growth spurt is over.

Answer 2

He does look like he may be on the thin side though hard to tell from the photo. What does your VET say? I'd recommend giving him a food that has more protein and better quality of protein as well as at least two percent linoleic acid for skin and coat. Canidae-All Life Stages has 24 percent protein and 3.70 linoleic acid.
If you decide to switch, do it gradually. If you don't switch, consider adding a supplement made for dogs' skin and coat.
If you are staying with Pedigree you could consider adding a half cup of Cottage Cheese with each meal.
You could also get some Brewer's Yeast and sprinkle that over the food, mixing it in.
If you are interested in raw feeding, here is a site, but you can't just feed all raw meaty bone or all organ meat, need the right percentages. This site gives a lot of info about that:
http://www.rawdogranch.com

Answer 3

First, get him off the crap food, pedigree is one of the crummiest foods you can buy... Someone recommended Canidae... It's a WONDERFUL food. If you want to bulk him up a little bit, then also look into Innova Evo. It's top of the line food, but you end up spending less because you feed less than what you would a cheaper food because there are less fillers and junk and more nutrition (be careful w/ evo tho it will put a lot of weight on quickly which isn't necissarily a good thing with a growing dog). He is still a puppy and just now becoming an adult, german shepards are a large breed and large breeds mature slower than smaller breeds. They look lanky and akward for a while and then after 18 months to a year they start to fill out. Just give him time. Also, a lot of americans (most actually) dont know what too fat is. I HATE fat dogs... I think it's cruel, ESPECIALLY on large breeds because they already have extra stress on their bones and joints why add to that by packing on lbs? Your dog should always look lean, shepards should have a slight tuck up underneath and the waist should be smaller than the ribcage, but you should never actually be able to see individual ribs (since long hair, shouldnt be able to see ribs when wet lol). I would rather my dogs be on the skinny side than fat. So whatever food you buy, feed the recommended amount for his weight on the high end, and if he starts getting chunky decrease it to the low end (ie. if it says 4-5.5 cups for 70 lbs start at 5.5 and decrease it if he gets heavy). Obesity is a huge problem with american dogs so dont get stressed and over do it because you think he's skinny. He will fill out soon.

And dont feed canned unless he has a medical condition or loses all his teeth. Otherwise he probably will lose his teeth.... Dry food helps them clean their teeth canned just rots them.

Answer 4

Your father is right. It is because he is long. And now that he is at the age where his growth spurt is done, he will start to fill out more. He looks fine to me. Continue to feed him the pedigree dog food. What you should do is buy the canned dog food and add that on top of the dry when you feed him. I feed my dog 4 cups of dry along with a can once a day, but if you feed him twice a day then you should put 2 cups dry and half the can of wet food and do the same in the afternoon. You should also be giving him some dog treats/biscuits a couple hours after his dinner. You should also give him treats at least once a week like a bone, pigs ear, cow snout, rawhide, stuff like that. Good Luck

Answer 5

I think he looks great! I would suggest that you feed him a good quality food though, pedigree isn't a good food. You need to feed him a food that doesn't have all of the fillers, by-products, artificial colors and flavors, etc. Oh and don't feed him foods that have corn in them, dogs can't digest corn well at all and don't feed him foods that contain animal digest, that's just the nice way to say animal feces. Some good quality foods are Natural Balance (that's what we feed our three APBTs), Canidae, Chicken Soup for the pet lovers soul, Eagle Pack, Timberwolf Organics, Solid Gold, Innova, etc. My husband and I used a dog food rating chart that helps you go through the ingredients and give the food an over all score, that way it's easier to compare foods. If you would like to use the rating chart let me know and I would be happy to send it to you. Like I said though, your pup looks very healthy to me! Looks like you have done a great job! : )

Answer 6

Shepherds often are lanky - your term - skinny. When they are fit they are long lengthy dogs that look skinny when you compare across breeds.

But I agree with DP - change his food. Pegidree is crappy food, very little nutrients and you will see a change in coat appearance, filling out, over all health, less poo, if you change to a higher quality food.

Try Natual Balance, Canidae, Innova Evo, Avoderm, Wellness, Timberwolf (just to name a few of the better brands of food - and the hint is - if you can buy it at the grocery store, Wal-mart, K-mart, or Target, it isn't good food).

Answer 7

I don't think he looks too skinny, I think he looks like he is young and he still needs to fill out..

Switch him up from the pedigree to a quality dog food.. Check out the Canidae All Life Stages.. Great food..Works out cheaper than the garbage foods as they eat much less.. it will do wonders for your dog!

Don't listen to the person who said not to feed your dog meat because you don't want him to get the taste of blood.. That's absolute NONSENSE.. I can't even imagine why someone would believe that...

Answer 8

he looks ok, but he could use a little beefing up. try 5 cups a day for a while..My german Shep was much bulkier than this and he was only 8 months, People thought he was full grown.
NO raw food.. they can get ecoli and stuff from that. I get "soup bones" for my dog and boil or bake them. He LOVEs them. They are cheap, have meat on them, and the bone (not chicken) is good for their teeth. Beef or pork.

Answer 9

I have had a female german shepherd for 15 years and she has always been ultra skinny, no matter how much we feed her or what we feed her...even though she has been on science diet special weight gain food for over 7 years now she just won't get any bigger than about 40 pounds...but me and my vet just can't get anything to work....it doesn't matter to me though b/c she is healthy and happy...she's just skinny like a greyhound...Probably has to do with her breeding my vet suggested once....

Answer 10

He looks a bit on the lean side,but not skinny.You know,with a dog that's prone to joint problems,like the GSD,it' s best for them to be on the lean side because it's easier on their joints.Also,male GSDs seem to take a little longer to fill out completely.If you want to put a few pounds on him,add two cups of Bil-Jac frozen dog food to his diet (replace two cups of the Pedigree with it) It puts weight on and is good for your dog,as it has a lot of meat and eggs in it.

Answer 11

You can't truly tell from these pics. Have him stand up naturally. Look down over his back. Do you see vertebrae? Ribs? Hip bones? Does he have an observable 'waist? Now feel over his ribs. Can you feel them with slight pressure, or are they very easily felt? If you can see the bones I asked aobut easily, if his waist looks 'waspish', and his ribs stick out when you run your hands over him lightly, he is too thin. If no bones are visible, he has a visable, but not tiny waist, and there is some meat between his skin and ribs, he is fine.