Dukes

I have a male red dobe, 8 months old. He is 60 lbs. I can see his ribs a little. I changed to Innova large breed puppy kibble about 2 months ago. He seems very healthy with a shiny coat, good teeth and a CRAZY energy level. It is move of a visual nusance. People ask " why my dog is so skinny" or "do you feed your dog?" I tell them I feed him a little more than the bag tells me (6cups a day). I give him about 6.5. I was told that Innova was a good, if not one of the best, dog foods. My female eats the same amount but looks great. She is a little heavier then he is, but about 2.5 inches shorter. Does anyone have any ideas why he would look a little thin? is it because he's still growing? He's up to date with all of his shots and has no intestinal parasites. Any help or reassurace would be greatly appreciated.

DobeMom616

When Cole was 8 months, he was eating 7 cups of large breed puppy food a day and was thin with "CRAZY energy level". As he got older and moved to adult food, he began to fill out a bit.

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DobeMom

tjmom

I dont remember how much Titus weighted at that age but our Jada is currently 60 lbs and she is almost 7 months old. Titus is filled out very well and he is 90 lbs and is 2. I think that if you are feeding your boy 6 cups a day and he is thin that is not a problem. What kind of body type did his parents have. It is kind of hard to compare my dogs to your baby if their parents have different builds. Both of my kids are pretty muscular, Titus more so as he is older and has filled out. Give your boy some time he has not reached his age to fill out yet but if you are concerned you could always ask your vet. I had a few people ask me how much Titus weights like he is overweight. I dont even let their comments affect my view of him. As long as the vet says he is healthy and not overweight that is the opionion I stick with.

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sorthund

Don't forget, a lot of people have fat dogs, and don't understand the lean look of a lean healthy Dobe.

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"FAILING TO PREPARE IS LIKE PREPARING TO FAIL"
Anonymous

dobebug

Dukes,

Your dog might be a little underweight at 60 pounds and 8 months but when you have a high energy puppy--and he's definitely just a puppy they very often look a little thin--it's better for them than being rolling in fat as long and they aren't just a rack of bones. Being able to see his ribs "a little" doesn't sound like that is the case.

Most of my males have eaten anywhere from 6-10 cups of kibble a day, split into two meals at that age--as they get older the energy usually drops a little and they aren't trying to grow up, fill out and be wild guys all at the same time and even my biggest dog only eats around 5 cups of kibble now--again split into two meals a day.

When people ask me why young males look thin and what am I feeing them I act dumb and ask if they really think they look too thin. If I am talking to someone who seems to have some sort of legitimate curiosity about why my dog(s) (any of them) weigh what they do I explain that for the conformation ring I have them a little fat and as soon as they move on to performance stuff (particularly agility) I take some weight off so they aren't slinging fat over the jumps.

I keep the dogs doing anything in performance thin enough you can see the shadow of the last two ribs easily and feel all of them. To those that have a genuine interest I explain that most people are used to seeing dogs that are much too fat and it is no more healthy for them than it is for us (wishing that I managed to keep myself in the kind of shape my dogs are usually in).

And adolescent dogs are like adolescent kids--they never carry they kind of weight or look like a mature dog--it takes age and exercise to gain the look of maturity.