Is my dog too skinny? It is really scaring me! Please help if you can!

dixiesmygirl

My dog is supposebly a (and I believe she is) Great Pyrenees Labrador Retreiver mix. She is a year old (just turned 1 'bout 3 months ago). Since she has gotten older (weve had her since she was a puppy) she doesn't seem to be eating as much. She weighs 63 lbs. and I don't think she eats enough for her size. When I give her her food she waits to eat it. She is VERY eager to get people food or treats. I have considered that I am giving her too many treats but I don't think I am. To me she seems to be too skinny. I can supply pictures of how skinny she looks if you want. She is still very eager to excersize and will run and play with me all day. I don't think she has worms she is on medication and she wasn't for a while b/c it was winter. I didn't have her on it in spring either. I know I know! I'm terrible! She shoud've been on it in spring. She's on it now though. Could it just be the heat (she's been losing tons of fur)? I know that can change a dogs appetite. And of course the dog starts shedding. So can anybody help? Any help would be greatly appreciated and I can supply any information you might need to give me an answer. Please be straight forward with me. If you think she has something wrong just tell me. Thanks!

Cali

Pictures please from the side as well as from above (like a birds eye view)

if you run your hand down her sides can you easily feel rib? Hib bone? Shoulder blade?
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fawkese1

as dogs grow, they go through stages where they will look a little lean or heavy... i know she is fluffy, but this chart might help you:

like cali said tho, feel down her body...

pawzaddict

I kind of feel you should have your vet do a physical and run a fecal to rule out any parasites.

How big is she? Lab size? Bigger like a GP? Smaller?
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Mese

I agree with pawzaddict , getting your vet to check out your dog will give you peace of mind either way
If she isnt too skinny then no problem ... but if she is then she will get the treatment she needs and you will get the advice you need from a professional (no offence meant to anyone here)

tankstar

We will need pictures to give you a better idea. but its very hard to say with out having your hands on them to feel.

In a world nowadays where I would say well over half the population of dogs is overweight. You might just be thinking your dog is to skinny. Due to seeing all kinds of very fat dogs. I get told all the time my dog is to skinny, when in reality his perfect weight is about 58lbs, and he is at 60lbs currently (so hard for him to knock off those extra 2 lbs lol. atleast he keeps nice and steady at 60)

Can you feel her first 2 ribs easily with out preassure? what kind of food is she on? how much does she get? does she have the figure 8 shape?

dixiesmygirl

Ok I took a lotta pictures. It may just be my imagination and your right Tankstar a lot of dogs these days are way overweight. Sometimes I just think she is too skinny in the legs and stomach. Afterall if she is Great Pyrenees I would think she would be a little more hefty. I can't feel her ribs without pressure but if I apply some pressure I can. Remember: She has more fur than a lab so that can fool you too. The vet thought she would weigh more than she did but all the hair was fooling her. So when I run my hand along her the fur is thick enough to throw me off some. Right now she is eating Ol' Roy dog food it's the kind you can add water to and make it have gravy. She gets a breakfast of two cups of dog food then a dinner of two cups of dog food. The bag suggest a dog 50-100 lbs. gets 3 1/4 to 5 1/2 cups a day so i think she's about right. Sometimes though she doesn't finish her food. She usually waits a long time to eat her breakfast. I can not feel her hip bone or shoulder blade pretruding but she has a lot of hair so again it is hard to tell. What do you mean by the figure eight shape Tankstar? Here's some pictures really I took too many... but it'll give you an idea. Also some of the pictures may just be a trick on the camera or the way I took them. Thanks everybody for helping me out! oH and thanks Fawkese for the chart I have seen one like it before and at the time I thought she was about right...

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fawkese1

she looks on the lighter side of normal to me... but a suggestion for you... ol'roy is one of the worst foods out there, i would highly recommend a switch. if price is an issue, you can get kirklands dog food for fairly cheap (about $25 for 50lbs) and it is a much much higher quality. if price isn't an issue i would suggest taste of the wild...
i also ditto the above suggestion of a check-up at the vet, as i said she LOOKS to be on the lighter side of normal, but you really do need to get your hands in there and feel sometime...

Binkalette

She looks great to me. It's better to be on the lighter side of normal than on the heavier side of it (so says my vet when I had the same concern about Zoey)

TonkaTruckJK

The other thing that may be going on here is a bit of breed-standard bias...

You're guessing at her breed, then making a judgement that she's 'too thin' in the legs and stomach based upon that guess, when - in reality (I'll be the party pooper), your dog could be anything from part akita to greyhound to weimerainer for all we know (ok, those are some extremes...) - but lab / GP could be wrong...

Your vet should be able to tell you for sure based upon a physical inspection of the dog's body - whether she is indeed underweight or un-healthy.

Personally, when I look at those pictures, I don't see 'underweight' or 'unhealthy', I see good teeth, clear eyes, coat could use a little more shine, but that could be easily remedied with a bath and brush, along with the change in food that was suggested...