[Texs]

My 14 week old Doberman puppy Texs weighs 24lb. I'm asking whether he looks under weight because I'm able to see all his ribs in certain angles. I know Doberman's have an athletic build, but I'm unsure how lean he's supposed to be.

I have attached some photos of what I mean. In certain angles I'm able to see all his ribs and from an aerial view his chest to waist ratio is pretty drastic.
I feed him 3.5 cups of food a day with some evaporated milk. His poop is solid which leads me to think that I might need to up his food intake.

He is very active as I have two other dogs in the house, they play fight for hours a day. He usually doesn't have an off switch, so I enforce naps with him.

Let me know what y'all think. Reading some of the weigh journals he seems to be on the right track, just visually he's a bit on the skinny side in my untrained eye.

 

[dobebug]

He looks a little under weight to me--I'd cut out the evaporated milk and add a little more kibble and maybe bite the bullet and buy some cheap hamburger (cheap because that has more fat and dogs run on fat)--when I add it I cook in enough water to make a sloppy joe consistency and I don't give a lot--maybe a big tbl spoon full for two of his meals (is he on 3 meals?) and I'd maybe also start adding eggs--I used hard boiled--good protein and lot of stuff really good for skin and coat. You might want to restrict his play time with the other dogs a little more too--he may be running off the weight. He should be getting enough food to gain and it doesn't sound like he is.

At 14 months I'd expect a Dobe puppy to be around 30 pounds plus or minus a little. Use warm water on the kibble instead of the milk.

dobebug

 

[LadyDi]

I think your pup looks great.

 

[Texs]

He looks a little under weight to me--I'd cut out the evaporated milk and add a little more kibble and maybe bite the bullet and buy some cheap hamburger (cheap because that has more fat and dogs run on fat)--when I add it I cook in enough water to make a sloppy joe consistency and I don't give a lot--maybe a big tbl spoon full for two of his meals (is he on 3 meals?) and I'd maybe also start adding eggs--I used hard boiled--good protein and lot of stuff really good for skin and coat. You might want to restrict his play time with the other dogs a little more too--he may be running off the weight. He should be getting enough food to gain and it doesn't sound like he is.

At 14 months I'd expect a Dobe puppy to be around 30 pounds plus or minus a little. Use warm water on the kibble instead of the milk.

dobebug

Thanks for the great input. He's on 3 meals a day. I will be cutting out the milk and adding in the hamburger meat. He loves it when I add an egg to his dinner, so I'll continue to do that.
I do agree with you that he's probably playing too much with the other dogs, burning more than he's taking in. I'll limit his play time and see how his weight reacts to the activity change.

 

[Rosemary]

If he is, it's not by much. I'd up his kibble a bit, and see if that takes care of it. However, a little too lean is still better than "watermelon on toothpicks" fat.

 

[Texs]

If he is, it's not by much. I'd up his kibble a bit, and see if that takes care of it. However, a little too lean is still better than "watermelon on toothpicks" fat.

Very true, rather have him on the lean side than overweight.

 

[4x4bike ped]

Hi Texs! Welcome to you and your human from the Pacific NW...

Eggs... Although I didn't start feeding them to my current boy until he was about 6 months old, he gets one egg every day. Usually hard-boiled. My wife is a big fan of hard-boiled eggs, and feeds him an occasional yolk when she is prepping some for herself. McCoy can be sound asleep in another room, but comes running the second he hears her cracking an egg!

Also, unlike many who worry about lack of weight gain, you are fortunate that your pup has no digestive issues to complicate things. Now it is simply a matter of gently increasing calories for a little more weight or gently decreasing the amount of food for a little weight loss.

So... Best to both of you

John Lichtwardt
Portland OR

 

[Kansadobe]

I would feed him as much as he will eat without being fat or having a loose stool.

 

[dogperson]

He's a cute boy! Just to add to the advice that has already been covered, my vet nutritionist gave me a handy tip to check if my dog is at his ideal weight: you should be able to FEEL a dog's ribs without having to put much pressure on his skin, but you shouldn't be able to SEE them. Good luck with your pup!

 

[MeadowCat]

He looks slightly too thin to me. I'd up his kibble just a bit (I'd also not be feeding evaporated milk).

Like Bug mentioned, you could add a bit of ground beef. I also feed my dogs a hard boiled egg every few days like 4X4, and some canned sardines every few days on rotation. Mine get a dollop of cottage cheese on their food most days. You can start slowly introducing those types of additions in small amounts.

 

[Karol]

My 14 week old Doberman puppy Texs weighs 24lb. I'm asking whether he looks under weight because I'm able to see all his ribs in certain angles. I know Doberman's have an athletic build, but I'm unsure how lean he's supposed to be.

I have attached some photos of what I mean. In certain angles I'm able to see all his ribs and from an aerial view his chest to waist ratio is pretty drastic.
I feed him 3.5 cups of food a day with some evaporated milk. His poop is solid which leads me to think that I might need to up his food intake.

He is very active as I have two other dogs in the house, they play fight for hours a day. He usually doesn't have an off switch, so I enforce naps with him.

Let me know what y'all think. Reading some of the weigh journals he seems to be on the right track, just visually he's a bit on the skinny side in my untrained eye.

View attachment 137491
View attachment 137492

My Euro girl Zeva was 31.4 at 14 weeks. Just for reference. Her growth curve has flattened slightly as she was only 52.2 at 6 months last week.

 

[SCusa864]

He does look slightly thin, but not too bad. Try adding a raw mix in whenever possible. I was seeing the same issue with my pup so I swapped him to vital essentials/and raw duck from a local market. Hes gotten much bigger thanks to it. I also mixed boiled eggs and added pumpkin firm to help with the diet change and stool consistency during the transition. It was smoother than I thought. if you want to go a cheaper route processed raw meat from the market is cheaper but understand how long it needs to be frozen before giving it to your dog. Raw instinct is also on sale at petco (25% off of $50 - two 6lb bags for $40 is a steal). They don’t have bones mixed in and have a small amount of additives but it’s still a good source of protein. My pup always looked slim unless he was bloated from the dry kibble. The raw diet added weight and stopped the bloating for him.

I also had the same issue with his tail being docked the wrong way. I reached out to the breeder. They accepted responsibility and will reimburse me for the surgical repair. He’s set to get his ears cropped in a couple of weeks. He’ll get his tail done at the same time. The scar on his tail is not going to go away unless you repair it. Thats unless you’re fine with it being like that. Maybe your breeder will accept responsibility as well.

 

[3175Steffi]

He does look slightly thin, but not too bad. Try adding a raw mix in whenever possible. I was seeing the same issue with my pup so I swapped him to vital essentials/and raw duck from a local market. Hes gotten much bigger thanks to it. I also mixed boiled eggs and added pumpkin firm to help with the diet change and stool consistency during the transition. It was smoother than I thought. if you want to go a cheaper route processed raw meat from the market is cheaper but understand how long it needs to be frozen before giving it to your dog. Raw instinct is also on sale at petco (25% off of $50 - two 6lb bags for $40 is a steal). They don’t have bones mixed in and have a small amount of additives but it’s still a good source of protein. My pup always looked slim unless he was bloated from the dry kibble. The raw diet added weight and stopped the bloating for him.

I also had the same issue with his tail being docked the wrong way. I reached out to the breeder. They accepted responsibility and will reimburse me for the surgical repair. He’s set to get his ears cropped in a couple of weeks. He’ll get his tail done at the same time. The scar on his tail is not going to go away unless you repair it. Thats unless you’re fine with it being like that. Maybe your breeder will accept responsibility as well.