# Does my Dutchie look too thin?



## Alex Ferry (Nov 27, 2009)

Okay, so after a number of random strangers telling my dog was too thin I'm beginning to second guess myself and its annoying. I thought he was fine and was just in his lanky stage, but I thought i'd reach out ppl who are familiar with the breed. Can you please share your opinions? His attributes and pictures are below (his height and length may be off but I did the best I could). Thanks for your opinions.

Age: 5 days short of 7 months old
Height: 27"
Length:29"
Weight: ~ 55lbs but prob not more. (weighed 50lbs a month ago at vet)


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## Christopher Jones (Feb 17, 2009)

Looks fine to me.


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

mostly lanky stage, but can use a bit more food ;-) for the moment. and probably have to cut it back it a month or 1.5


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## will fernandez (May 17, 2006)

is that 27 inch high at the head or the shoulder?


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Most random strangers have dogs that are obese 

He looks to be on the lean side, but given his age, he doesn't look too thin to me. At that age my mal pups ate more than the adults, and still were not fat, burned it all off.


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## Alex Ferry (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks for the quick replies!

Selena, how much more would a bit be? He currently gets 4 cups of Eagle Pack Puppy per day.

Will, that measurment was up to his shoulders.

Anna, how much did you feed your mal pups at this age?


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## Chris Daleo (Apr 22, 2010)

I thought this was a joke at first... like "Does this Rottweiler make me look fat?"Its hard to really see in the pics due to either sun/shadow or brindle coloring, he looks a bit lanky/lean. At this stage he's probably growing fast & needs some more food. All my dogs, of all breeds & sizes, in the past 12 yrs & present; 2 Rotties 97lbs & 103lbs, Boston Terrier 14lbs, Mal 68lbs were/are always fed the same as long as I can see the last 2 ribs of their cage. Try and get some fattier cut chicken backs. If you feed raw. At first you have to guesstimate, but then you can tailor to what you see on the dog. Say you give him 6 backs at each meal, maybe give him 7 and keep a close eye, if he still looks same in a week, increase to 8 backs. If you feed kibble, maybe an extra 1/4 cup at each meal.Let's hope he grows into those ears, though! ;-)


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

don't know how much a cup is exactly, but increase it with 1/4 or 1/2 and see what it does.
Experience learn that after the "big growing crash", so about 7-9 mo they need just a bit more.
pups and young dogs get a kilo of raw (commercial food), at about 7-9 mo I increase it to 1 1/4- 1.5 kg, just feed with your eyes.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

You could also switch him to adult dog food now if you wanted to. Keeping them on puppy food for a year is a myth. 

I would up by 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup per day and then adjust as needed once you see some weight gain.


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## Drew Peirce (Nov 16, 2006)

At that age I'd put another 5lbs on him, adults need to be at fighting weight, not pups.


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## Christopher Jones (Feb 17, 2009)

Some young dogs can put weight on, while others dont. In my last litter I had a couple of females who eat all they wanted and were still slim like his male, while my female Beppie has less food than my other dogs yet she is big and heavy. Not fat, but heavy. Her sisters would eat more than her but cant put the weight on she can.
You have Mirranda Kerrs and then you have Serena Williams......


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Alex Ferry said:


> Anna, how much did you feed your mal pups at this age?


At worst was about 7-11 months, and I think I was feeding up to 2 to 3 times what they eat now as adults. I feed raw and don't really weigh it, just go by body condition, some needed more some less. Ribs and hip bones too obvious, feed more. Looking a little too round, feed less. I like to see at least the edge of the last rib, with good muscle. When they were growing that fast I could see weight gain and loss in just a couple days it seemed like.


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

He looks a bit thin to me, too. 

Partly the age, I would guess - at that age I had a hard time keeping weight on my Mal. He was up to 6 cups of Wellness a day, more than twice as much as my 100 lb labx and still thin. I ended up switching to high protein grain free food, which seemed to agree with him and helped put on weight without feeding huge portions. You may need to try a couple of different foods to find one that works for your dog.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Carol Boche said:


> You could also switch him to adult dog food now if you wanted to. Keeping them on puppy food for a year is a myth.
> 
> I would up by 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup per day and then adjust as needed once you see some weight gain.


Depends if it is large breed puppy or not. LB puppy is fine as it is generally formulated to be less calorically dense, but still puppy appropriate. Many foods nowadays are classified as all life stages (i.e.-appropriate for growing puppies and lactation) even if it marketed as an adult food, so it just depends on the individual food.

Drew, hard to tell from your pics, but if you can easily feel the hip points and see ribs, yes, he needs a bit more food. Are you feeding the Large/Giant Breed formula? The website reports it is 367 kcal/cup, which equals 1468 kcals total if you feed 4 cups a day. The MER calculator for puppies reports he would need somewhere around 300 calories more than what you are currently feeding (keeping in mind there is great individual variation and you may be feeding additional calories via training treats too). So adding another 1/4 to 1/2 cup at each feeding would likely be fine based on your stats. 

http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Holy ears Batman! ha, just teasing. He's certainly lean but that's just a hell of a frame for 55 lbs to fill in if he's really 27" at the shoulder. Think about a 6' tall 14 year old boy and how odd they tend to look. That looks about where he's at right now, like Selena said lanky is a good descriptive. Feed him more if you want and give him time, he'll body up.


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Christopher Jones said:


> Some young dogs can put weight on, while others dont. In my last litter I had a couple of females who eat all they wanted and were still slim like his male, while my female Beppie has less food than my other dogs yet she is big and heavy. Not fat, but heavy. Her sisters would eat more than her but cant put the weight on she can.
> You have Mirranda Kerrs and then you have Serena Williams......


I can relate to Beppie.


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## Alex Ferry (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Sounds like he could use a little more weight, but not much.



Maren Bell Jones said:


> Drew, hard to tell from your pics, but if you can easily feel the hip points and see ribs, yes, he needs a bit more food. Are you feeding the Large/Giant Breed formula? The website reports it is 367 kcal/cup, which equals 1468 kcals total if you feed 4 cups a day. The MER calculator for puppies reports he would need somewhere around 300 calories more than what you are currently feeding (keeping in mind there is great individual variation and you may be feeding additional calories via training treats too). So adding another 1/4 to 1/2 cup at each feeding would likely be fine based on your stats.


Yup, he's on the large/giant breed puppy formula.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

I think you may have stuck the end of that tape measure about 2" in the dirt.


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## Alex Ferry (Nov 27, 2009)

Nicole Stark said:


> Holy ears Batman! ha, just teasing.


Haha, he does have giant sailboat ears. Thats usually the very first thing ppl comment on.


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## Leslie Patterson (Mar 6, 2008)

No, does not look thin, just young


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

also maybe switch foods, eagle is not the best food out there.. a bit better food you can feed the same amount with more calories, or protein ,


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## Alex Ferry (Nov 27, 2009)

Tammy St. Louis said:


> also maybe switch foods, eagle is not the best food out there.. a bit better food you can feed the same amount with more calories, or protein ,


I just started looking into that. Any suggestions? I was interested in the Before Grain foods...any thoughts?


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

I just put 5 of mine on the before grain, and they are doing very well , all of them gained wieght, lol so i had to cut down, my dobe s coat is looking fantastic, she always had a dryer coat but she looks good now , glossy ,, my mal is on it too and doing good,, 
i would try it 
my dogs all had the farts though when i first switched , it was pretty rough here, lol , but now its all good , , they have been on it about 6 weeks , and they LOVE IT <<<


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## jorge herrera (Feb 21, 2009)

It's a good looking DS. I prefer stocky looking dogs and your pup has a big head so another couple of pounds would look good.


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Alex Ferry said:


> Okay, so after a number of random strangers telling my dog was too thin I'm beginning to second guess myself and its annoying. I thought he was fine and was just in his lanky stage, but I thought i'd reach out ppl who are familiar with the breed. Can you please share your opinions? His attributes and pictures are below (his height and length may be off but I did the best I could). Thanks for your opinions.
> 
> Age: 5 days short of 7 months old
> Height: 27"
> ...


typical looking dutchie in my eyes, age is rearing its ugly lanky scrawny uncoordinated head LOL (no offense)

most my dutchies were like that at that age, dont think him to thin.... my measuringrod is when he stands you shouldnt see ribs and when he walks and plays or works you whould....hes just at an awkward age so you cant really say hes to fat or to thin to start with, next week he will look different yet again...hes got some ears on him to  but im pretty sure he will grow into them as well...my dog had ears the size of plates! looked like he was carrying his one sateliteantena on his head LOL....but he grew into them all the same


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## Martine Loots (Dec 28, 2009)

He does look a bit thin to me, but better a bit too thin then a bit too fat 
I'd increase the food a bit and, as Selena said, "feed with yr eye"


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## Christopher Jones (Feb 17, 2009)

Have you been feeding any meat offcuts? We get bags of lamb offcuts (usually fatty bones) and we give this as well as chicken mince and some dry food. Not only do you get the benefit of extra fat and protein at a very cheap price (Im paying 50c for 1kg) but you will absolutley see an increase in jaw strength. Feeding just dry food to me isnt a great way to feed.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Just looks like a lanky pup. Feed whatever works for that particular dog and don't get caught up in how many cups for a particular age/breed/size/etc.


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## Kristin Countryman (Oct 13, 2010)

I dunno much about these dogs, but I think he looks like a gangly puppy personally. Obviously he shouldn't stay this weight, I assume at this age he probably got really tall really fast, and now needs a little time to fill out. Upping his food just a bit probably wouldn't hurt him any...


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## Kim Gilmore (Feb 18, 2008)

Alex Ferry said:


> Okay, so after a number of random strangers telling my dog was too thin I'm beginning to second guess myself and its annoying. I thought he was fine and was just in his lanky stage, but I thought i'd reach out ppl who are familiar with the breed. Can you please share your opinions? His attributes and pictures are below (his height and length may be off but I did the best I could). Thanks for your opinions.
> 
> Age: 5 days short of 7 months old
> Height: 27"
> ...


27" at the shoulder at just shy of 7 months of age? He's going to be a monster!!

I have a 26" Belgian who is just 57 pounds and could gain another 3 as hip bones are pretty pronounced (4 years of age). My 9 month old pup is just shy of 25" and is 58 pounds and right on for his bone structure.

Active breed pups burn calories fast, so I would go ahead and supplement with some higher calorie additives (regular cottage cheese/yogurt for example). I really like the Eagle Pack products and my dogs have all done exceptionally well on them.

Kim Gilmore
Montana


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