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Nees advice on pups weight

1026 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Cynna, 
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I have a new pup, my brother works as a mental health carer and one of his clients had a puppy that he wasn't capable of taking care of on a daily basis, pup looked malnourished. Anyway long story short, I offered to take care of the pup, and named him Dash. Vet told me his breed was "Rottweiler cross." Anyways Dash is 7 months now and I think he's a bit too skinny. I've fed him 3 times a day till he was 6 months and now feeding him twice daily and he still looks very skinny. I know he isn't meant to be a beefy big dog - his cross breed must be a skinny lanky breed (wish I knew what it was, any ideas would be helpful) but he is skinny to the point where I can see/feel his ribs and he doesn't have much fat covering them. And I know that can't be good. Any help or advice would be much appreciated!! Pictures attached !

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mathilda
perhaps it is the light, but he doesn't look super skinny. you can't see that much of the ribs and he has pretty short fur, so you'd see it otherwise.
it is healthy if you can feel and see the ribs slightly without poking around.
Sadly there are a lot of overweight Rottis so some people think they're the norm.
he's a bit on the slim side, but i wouldn't worry too much. probably he moves around a lot, since he's young.
A lot of the big breeds also grow first in heigth and then get more muscular and get more weight when they're around 1,5/2 years old.
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C
I personally think he looks very healthy. So many dogs these days are overweight that most people don't know what a good weight even looks like. I have a rotti mix similar in size, and she's about the same as far as seeing/feeling ribs. And she's very healthy and in good shape. When they're short haired and have such a defined rib cage, it very normal to feel and see ribs.
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K9Chaos
He looks to be a very good weight to me! as others have mentioned a great many dog owners have over weight dogs without even realising it.

When our mastiff was still with us I liked to be able to see at least her last rib and be able to easily feel the rest of them.

Now I have sight hounds and well they are all what some people consider "freaky skinny" but that is just the way they are built.
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C
He looks pretty healthy to me, but I know photos can add weight to an animal (just like people!), so I'm not sure how defined those ribs are irl.

There's a fabulous pinned post in the health section about weight guidelines - where you use your hand as a guide - I'd recommend checking that out.

Remember, your dog will live a longer, healthier life at an ideal weight. If the suggested guidelines don't help, check with your vet. :)
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C
Here you go: Fit Fido or Fat Fido… « Success Just Clicks

The other guide that I can't find, is to run your hand quickly along their ribcage, feeling his ribs. If it feels like he's wearing a tshirt overtop his ribs, that's about right. If it feels like he's wearing a warm sweater, he's too chubby, so it's okay if you can feel his ribs.
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