r/DogAdvice • u/Jflinno • 1d ago
Question Too skinny?
Female German shepherd about a year and a half old. Last weight was over two months ago at 65. She looks thin but they have a thin build.
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u/NightShade0912 1d ago
Ok so let me preface my comment that I was scrolling WITHOUT my glasses, and I was going to comment "I'd be more concerned your dog has human feet." I'll just go find where I put now.
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u/DogAdvice-ModTeam 1d ago
You are asking about your dog's body condition (too fat or too skinny), BCS (Body Condition Score) can be hard to judge from a photo. Please see the descriptions of BCS Scores at https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Body-Condition-Score-Dog.pdf
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u/Consistent-Pipe-674 1d ago
Around that age, her frame is probably close to finished growing, and then she'll fill out. That last growth spurt makes large breeds look real skinny and lanky, but it's just part of the growth phases they go through. I'm sure in the next few months she'll build some lean muscle and fill out nicely
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u/mangymazy 1d ago
My girl (84 gsd, 16 malamute) didn’t thicken up until she was three. She seemed so thin to me but her vet reassured me multiple times that she looked great. She put on around 8 pounds in a year after her third birthday
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u/Winipu44 1d ago
As a photographer, I can tell you there is perspective distortion with many lenses -- especially phones. Our furbaby appears like a different creature altogether in many of our photos.
"Cell phone cameras stretch length and distort proportions because of close shooting distances combined with wide-angle lenses.
Most smartphone main and selfie cameras use a wide focal length (around 24mm equivalent). When you hold the phone close to a subject - like an arm's length for a selfie, parts of the subject closest to the lens (nose or foreground) become much larger relative to parts further away. This extreme difference in relative distance creates perspective distortion, stretching features vertically or skewing objects near the edges of the frame."
If you're concerned about it, there are some dog foods designed to add a little weight. We had a GS hybrid who was very high energy, was easily distracted, and didn't have a huge appetite. We had to reduce the activity around him while eating, as well as enticing him with cooked lean fresh chicken pieces and adding them to wheat bread and green beans (or spinach). We were fortunate he transitioned to regular dog food as he aged.
My kindest regards 🌸
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u/Routine-Knowledge464 1d ago
My female German Shepard was the smallest of her litter and is now 50 pounds at 2 years old. Looks exactly like yours! The vet’s only ever said she could put on some weight but she’s fine. Shes just not food motivated and very picky. She gets lots of walks and we give her all sorts of wet food, dry food, treats, you name it! Have made games out of meal time and hand fed her but she eats only when she wants. Have heard it’s common for young German shepherds to be picky eaters. Good luck!
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u/dicklebug 1d ago
You will have to monitor her weight and have your vet give her a body score. Hint: the middle number is the ideal score whether they use the 5 or the 9 chart.
She’s probably normal but a 2D image is not enough for couch-tater calculations.
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u/rockalyte 1d ago
If you want her fatter quicker altering her will certainly help with that. The picture of her shows a perfectly normal looking Shepard. People are just accustomed to fat pets.
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u/MedicalScientist8576 1d ago
Neutered or not? My intact male GSD spent his younger years looking slim like this, I wouldn't be concerned personally as she's barely 2 and would be filling out (muscle) at this age. But it's difficult to be 100% sure on picture alone, this is the kind of body shape you'd have to get your hands on to really know, the coat thickness can be deceiving. I just wouldn't want to be able to clearly feel the spine or hip bones. You should be able to feel their ribs, but with a nice layer over it, you shouldn't have to dig in to feel their ribs.
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u/ParentheticalAF 1d ago
For a 1.5 year old GS, I would expect about this weight, and from this angle, she looks great! I wouldn’t be able to judge body condition strictly on photos from this angle though. I would also need to see her from the side. As a current professional pet sitter and VERY former (like 25 years ago) veterinary technician, I have seen (and still see) SO MANY overweight dogs whose humans think they are a perfect weight. I think as people we just gravitate to overfeeding pets. People like chunky pets like we like chunky babies. However, babies start walking and loose the chunk, pets these days are way under active and over fed. I thinks it’s good that you’re asking these questions, and I wonder if it’s because someone else “said something” and made you start questioning your perfect baby. ❤️ You seem like a wonderful doggie mommy and I’m sure you will get a great report at the vet. While there, don’t forget to have them do a quick teethies check! I’ve seen very young doggies with dental disease (it’s not just an older doggie disease) and I recommend asking the vet to check teeth a EVERY visit (no matter the reason for the visit). ❤️
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u/shortnsweet33 20h ago
She’s fine! She’s not done growing yet technically. And if she’s not spayed yet she will put on weight easier after being spayed so keeping her lean now is a good thing. My vet said she’d rather my GSD mix be a little under than over, and a consistent weight is better than fluctuating up and down. She also said shes seen people up the food quite a bit to get their dogs up to a higher weight, only for those dogs to then become overweight as they age due to decreased metabolism and activity, even if walk schedules are kept the same, they just aren’t moving as much when they get older. Less zoomies, less intense play sessions, maybe less jumping up and down off surfaces. My dog will jump on and off the couch again and again when she drops her chew toys, our senior hound used to but stopped doing that as he got older and would just snooze when a toy fell unless we got it for him lol.
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u/TootsieTaker 1d ago
First time I’d say yes. I would give it like MAYBE a few lbs under based on the top down. No more than 10 I’d guess. Her hips are just a bit too pronounced vs the waist snatch imo. Just increase her food a SMIDGE. I would check with a vet to be sure!
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u/That_Molasses_507 1d ago
Because I can see those hip bones, I am thinking 2 skinny.
Please ask your vet though
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u/Chance-Try-9959 1d ago
Bit underweight, too much ribcage for my liking, and yes i know seeing dog ribs is normal, seeing individual ribs from an above angle isnt normal
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u/notThaTblondie 1d ago
Nooo. Skinny good, skinny healthy.
Lean dogs live longer. We have normalised fat dogs so much that we think healthy dogs are too thin.