What a healthy dog looks like

[mrose_s]

I've been copping a lot of "Quinn's too thin" from my family latley. I don;t think she is. I think she's about perfect atm, its not like she's getting starved - she eats more than Buster who is 6kg heavier.
I'm happy with Quinn, she's very lean but incredibly muscley and strong.

[Sit Stay]

Age: 10 months
Gender/Altered Status: Intact
Current weight: 40 pounds
Current height at the shoulders: 20.5" I think. Not positive.
Amount you feed per day: ~1 3/4 a day, sometimes depending on activity/treats.
What you feed: Acana Grasslands
How active your dog is: A bit more than moderate? Work and play in the yard and in the hayfield 2-3 times a day, long off leash hiking a few times a week.


DSC_0574 by Charlotte_L, on Flickr

DSC_0498 by Charlotte_L, on Flickr

DSC_0493 by Charlotte_L, on Flickr

DSC_0462 by Charlotte_L, on Flickr

^ In the first two she might look a litttttle more sucked up than usual (it was after a long play in the heat with Dally) but no matter when you look you can still clearly see the the end of her ribcage and she has a nice tuck. Ribs are always easily felt. We used to get "skinny" comments before her coat filled in - not so much anymore, thankfully.

Age: Raja
Gender/Altered Status: Female/Intact
Current weight: 48 lbs
Current height at the shoulders: 21"
Amount you feed per day: 2 lbs of raw or 4 cups of kibble
What you feed: Raw and occasionally Orijen
How active your dog is: Very



Age: Tempie
Gender/Altered Status: Female/Intact
Current weight: 50 lbs
Current height at the shoulders: 20.5"
Amount you feed per day: 2 lbs of raw or 4 cups of kibble
What you feed: Raw and occasionally Orijen
How active your dog is: Incredibly




Age: Boone
Gender/Altered Status: Male/Intact
Current weight: Erm... 50-55 lbs?
Current height at the shoulders: 21"
Amount you feed per day: 3 lbs of raw of 6 cups of kibble
What you feed: Raw and occasionally Orijen
How active your dog is: Ridiculously

This will have to do because I'm apparently a giant slacker and haven't taken any decent side shots of him since he was like...four months old.
Boone in Motion

[Linds]

Originally Posted by mrose_s

I've been copping a lot of "Quinn's too thin" from my family latley. I don;t think she is. I think she's about perfect atm, its not like she's getting starved - she eats more than Buster who is 6kg heavier.
I'm happy with Quinn, she's very lean but incredibly muscley and strong.

My dad keeps telling me Traveler is emaciated because he can fit his hand around his back and feel his ribs and spine. I just look at Traveler and see muscle. Oh well, my dad is never going to change.

[Sit Stay]

Originally Posted by Dekka

Sighthounds suck for that. No matter what you do they are built like a knife blade (I mean even if you try to over feed them, they just end up squishy blades)..

So far I haven't gotten that for the JRTs.

There was the nicest Whippet at a dog thing in Markham today and someone commented, really loudly, "look how skinny that dog is!". I felt so badly for the person and wondered if you ever got that with Bounce and Dash!

[Dekka]

All.the.time. Going to things like the Toronto sportsman show is really bad for that. I just explain sighthounds are supposed to cut through the air when they run, so it makes sense the are built like a blade.

Most people 'get it then' esp if they touch them and realize they aren't bony, just very narrow.

[Pops2]

Originally Posted by Sit Stay

There was the nicest Whippet at a dog thing in Markham today and someone commented, really loudly, "look how skinny that dog is!". I felt so badly for the person and wondered if you ever got that with Bounce and Dash!

i'm short tempered w/ willful ignorance, so i tend to respond to comments like that w/ "that's because it's a sighthound dumb@$$" or "thats because she/he's in shape, you ignorant +w@+." at best i'll clean up the language but not the attitude.

[mrose_s]

Age: 13 Months
Gender/Altered Status: Female/Intact
Current weight: about 15kg
Current height at the shoulders: About 20 inches
Amount you feed per day: 1-1.5cups. I mainly just go by feel.
What you feed: Raw, homecooked and Eagle Pack
How active your dog is: Extremely.









Age: 8.5 years
Gender/Altered Status: Male/Desexed
Current weight: About 21kg
Current height at the shoulders: About 20 inches
Amount you feed per day: Probably from .75 - 1.25cups. Go by feel.
What you feed: Homecooked, raw, Eagle Pack
How active your dog is: Lazy - Medium these days.

I think Buster looks pretty bloody good for 8 years old, he is very slightly fatter than I like him at the moment but he always puts on a light layer over winter. And he's feeling the cold so I don't mind too much, I can still easily feel his ribs without pressure.
You can really see how his black is browning out as he gets older aswell.







Obvisouly they are both very different shapes (same height with a 6kg weight difference) so here is a comparison pic of the two of them snuffling for treats.

[MandyPug]

Originally Posted by Danefied

What a great idea for a thread! If I had a dollar for every "why is he/she so thin?" comment... I feel like I need a sign: My dog is not thin, this is what a healthy weight looks like!! Sorry... /rant LOL!

Try having a "fat breed". I got a TON of flack from Pug people when i was talking about reducing Izzie's food even more than i had and how she was too fat for agility 4-5 months ago (she's lost 2.5 or so pounds since then) and how i was going to kill her and i need to just let her be a Pug.

The way I see it is that with me saying Izzie is fat, they're seeing their obese Pugs and feeling guilty, but instead of making the dogs lose weight, they just put me down for keeping my dog slim, trim, healthy, and active.

[Punkygirl0101]

I got literally yelled at by the owner of a very morbidly obese dachshund owner who told me my dogs were too skinny (Cartman and Harry, who was built like Cartman lean and thin and active were the dogs with me that day). Luckily a couple other dog park visitors were agreeing with me that they were happy to see a dachshund that was not fat, like pretty much most are now-a-day!! I never see active, fit dachshunds anywhere they are always fat, round things.