Gun Dog Forum

So here is a pic of my dog right now. I am running him on the bike trail once-twice a week for about 2.5 miles. I have him carrying about a 4 pound bell for about 3/4 mile at this point.
It was suggested to me that he looks a little thin. I personally think he looks good weight wise.

I am feeding him about 4 cups of PP Shredded.

Do you think I should switch him to PPP. Before I push harder?

Looks awfully close to perfect to me. I wouldn't do a thing different.

Ezzy

Looks good, handsome...

Thanks.

To me, he looks good. But I have gotten a few "Feed your dog" comments that make you second guess. SOmetimes you can see a rib or 2 but his tail bones done stick out much and he leaves food in the bowl.

If he loses more I may add PPP.

Thanks for the replies

The best way to evaluate a dogs weight is by showing photos of the owner.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. No

Max is sexy, I am the polar opposite!

It is hard to tell in a picture, but he does look good and if he sometimes leaves food then you are doing alright.

little thin to me.

Looking great!!!

Looks good great to me. Some people fail to realize these dogs are athletes and when they see them in good shape they consider them to be skinny and not being properly cared for, when just the opposite is the reality. The comments are pretty much made out of ignorance. Don't let them make you second guess yourself.

Charlie

birddogger wrote:Looks good great to me. Some people fail to realize these dogs are athletes and when they see them in good shape they consider them to be skinny and not being properly cared for, when just the opposite is the reality. The comments are pretty much made out of ignorance. Don't let them make you second guess yourself.

Charlie

:roll:

The dog looks great. When people make comments, use the opportunity to educate them on proper feeding. You and your dog will be thankful you kept him in this condition when he gets to be a senior citizen. Just remember that even if they aren't working, they should still look like this. I try and keep my almost 14yr old hound 3 ribs showing.

Keep it up.

jlp8cornell wrote:The dog looks great. When people make comments, use the opportunity to educate them on proper feeding. You and your dog will be thankful you kept him in this condition when he gets to be a senior citizen. Just remember that even if they aren't working, they should still look like this. I try and keep my almost 14yr old hound 3 ribs showing.

Keep it up.

\
:roll:

He looks fine to me, I wouldnt mind even seeing a couple more pounds off of him. As long as its due to his workout regimen.

if you can see the dogs RIBS,its underweight.PERIOD.

by JIM K » Wed May 23, 2012 1:47 pm
if you can see the dogs RIBS,its underweight.PERIOD.

Jim- That is absolutely untrue. This is a topic probably 98% of this forum agrees on. Look at pics of the dogs that run FT's. They are even thinner then this dog. They have to be to do their jobs. Look at human athletes. Same thing. Less chance of arthritis and other degenerative diseases and a whole lot of other problems. If you disagree, ask a canine nutritionist....

Jim- You would hate to see m y dogs then. While they are really working you can 3-5 ribs any day of the week and still wont eat all their feed. I also train year round/FT/and hunt. They might get a month off a year. And get fed premium feed/raw meat diet.

Looks good to me.

Purina or Eukanuba did a study a while back that showed if your dog had the 2 ribs showing or was even a hair skinnier that on average it lived 2 years longer.

Looks good! I would be careful with adding top weight to add to the workout. Creates added wear and tear in joints where pulling would not.

I have the inlaws telling me I need to feed my dogs more where my wifes shi Tzu is 18 years old and shows no sign of slowing down. None of my "skinny" dogs are on medication or supplements... Can't say the same for theirs.

Attached: ran her 2x a day for 30-60 min, no resistance, 3-4 days a week. But speeds hitting over 20 mph.

I'll stack her tonight and show a year older roading with a harness, a lot more developed muscle.

birddogger wrote:Looks good great to me. Some people fail to realize these dogs are athletes and when they see them in good shape they consider them to be skinny and not being properly cared for, when just the opposite is the reality. The comments are pretty much made out of ignorance. Don't let them make you second guess yourself.

Charlie

Right on. We have become a society that is so used to people being overweight that we have now transferred it to our dogs. We have forgotten what people and dogs looked like when they had to work for a living.

Ezzy

JIM K wrote:

jlp8cornell wrote:The dog looks great. When people make comments, use the opportunity to educate them on proper feeding. You and your dog will be thankful you kept him in this condition when he gets to be a senior citizen. Just remember that even if they aren't working, they should still look like this. I try and keep my almost 14yr old hound 3 ribs showing.

Keep it up.

\
:roll:

Jim, dont take it personal. They arent talking about your comment, rather the comments made to me about starving my dog. Come on man, you have to last for the long haul.


Jim, I will try to find a Vets weight chart online to show you. I think there is a difference between a skinny no muscle tone dog versus a skinny muscular dog.

Here is a side shot of Max carrying AFLAC from the weekend before. I know he is wet, but in this one he looks like he could still go down a bit.

Your dog is most certainly not underweight and the suggestion that you should use the discussions/comments as opportunity to educate the folks who are ignorant of proper conditioning of a dog are spot on.

What are the calories/cup of PP Shredded Chx & Rice? Nothing on their web.

ultracarry wrote:Looks good! I would be careful with adding top weight to add to the workout. Creates added wear and tear in joints where pulling would not.

I have the inlaws telling me I need to feed my dogs more where my wifes shi Tzu is 18 years old and shows no sign of slowing down. None of my "skinny" dogs are on medication or supplements... Can't say the same for theirs.

Attached: ran her 2x a day for 30-60 min, no resistance, 3-4 days a week. But speeds hitting over 20 mph.

I'll stack her tonight and show a year older roading with a harness, a lot more developed muscle.

oh my!

Deuce wrote:Looks good to me.

Purina or Eukanuba did a study a while back that showed if your dog had the 2 ribs showing or was even a hair skinnier that on average it lived 2 years longer.

Not according to my vet. She says that a dog that is showing ribs is much less likely to be able to fight off any disease.

Thin dogs run longer and live longer with less issues......not had one in all my years die or suffer from being too thin.

Sharon wrote:

Deuce wrote:Looks good to me.

Purina or Eukanuba did a study a while back that showed if your dog had the 2 ribs showing or was even a hair skinnier that on average it lived 2 years longer.

Not according to my vet. She says that a dog that is showing ribs is much less likely to be able to fight off any disease.

Sharon, I can understand what your vet is saying and she has a point. Same with people.....If a dog or person is at a perfect weight and develops a serious disease such as cancer, they will not be able to handle a lot of weight loss and still fight the disease, or at least, I think that is what she is getting at. However, I wouldn't want to be over weight for that reason [BTW, I am over weight, as most of us are] and I think a dog or person in perfect condition has less of a chance of contracting disease.

Charlie

The dog looks great, Raw meat as Mr Kroll mentioned earlier is the best if you do decide to change feeds.

"Sharon, I can understand what your vet is saying and she has a point. Same with people.....If a dog or person is at a perfect weight and develops a serious disease such as cancer, they will not be able to handle a lot of weight loss and still fight the disease, or at least, I think that is what she is getting at. However, I wouldn't want to be over weight for that reason [BTW, I am over weight, as most of us are] and I think a dog or person in perfect condition has less of a chance of contracting disease. " quote bd

You could be a politician.

Sharon wrote:

Deuce wrote:Looks good to me.

Purina or Eukanuba did a study a while back that showed if your dog had the 2 ribs showing or was even a hair skinnier that on average it lived 2 years longer.

Not according to my vet. She says that a dog that is showing ribs is much less likely to be able to fight off any disease.

He looks perfect: I should send you two of mine.

Sharon wrote:"Sharon, I can understand what your vet is saying and she has a point. Same with people.....If a dog or person is at a perfect weight and develops a serious disease such as cancer, they will not be able to handle a lot of weight loss and still fight the disease, or at least, I think that is what she is getting at. However, I wouldn't want to be over weight for that reason [BTW, I am over weight, as most of us are] and I think a dog or person in perfect condition has less of a chance of contracting disease. " quote bd

You could be a politician.

Now that's funny!

Charlie

iam over weight because I am preparing for the zombie apocolyps. I will be around probably a good week longer the my skinner counter parts. So, when they get to die a quick death, I am fortunate enough to be able linger and suffer for just a little bit longer!

Bought a new truck and the selling point t my husband was that the truck is a Z71 off road package. So it has the skid plate nder the body to protect it when we run over all the zombies!

Just having fun with it...

Munster wrote:Bought a new truck and the selling point t my husband was that the truck is a Z71 off road package. So it has the skid plate nder the body to protect it when we run over all the zombies!

Smart thinking M! #6 gives some good strategy to approach that. Can I hitch a ride with y'all? http://voices.yahoo.com/how-kill-zombie ... html?cat=2

The dog didn't eat the duck, therefore the dog is not hungry nor skinny. Seriously he looks fine, and I wish my two were just a couple pounds lighter at the moment.

I think he looks great! My dog was on the bench for about 6 weeks before/during/after surgery with no exercise and after two weeks of a good routine, she is getting her tone back. I am happy that it is back and feel she looks much better.

Nothing worse than an overweight dog...

This is the diagram hanging in my vet's office. Maybe it'll help. Vet said most active hunting/trialing dogs are a '4'. For what it's worth (i.e. very little), he looks great to me

The average dog owner, of non working dogs, are so used to seeing overweight pets that they think we are starving our dogs. I have had 3 Springers. My first one I lived in town and the dog was jsut a hair over weight most of the time. My last two I had on the farm, where they had much more opportunity to run and exercise. Both were/are in tip top condition. My previous dog was 65# and built like a racehorse and my current pup thought it will be smaller will be very similar in build if it continues on it's current pace. Both show rib at times. I have noticed that my first dog was more tollerant to cold water than the last two so I do try to fatten them up a little around mid fall.

Looks a tad thin to me, you really shouldn't see ribs (http://www.barkingbulletin.com/is_your_dog_overweight/), there should be some healthy reserves. Marathon type running without reserves could lead to heart issues and underweight dogs are more prone to bloat. This BMI calculator for dogs might help: http://petsci.co.uk/calculating-your-dogs-bmi/

Deuce wrote:
Purina or Eukanuba did a study a while back that showed if your dog had the 2 ribs showing or was even a hair skinnier that on average it lived 2 years longer.

If your talking about the purina life span study, the results showed:

"On average, the lean-fed dogs weighed less, had a lower percentage of body fat and experienced a two-year delay in the loss of lean body mass as they aged, compared to the control group."

"An ideal body condition rating is based on the Purina Body Condition System, which has been updated and refined based on the findings of the Purina Life Span Study. The Body Condition System is a 9-point scale used by veterinarians. Evaluation is made by visual observation and by feeling the dog’s body. As a rule, dogs should be maintained at a 4 or 5 on this scale."

"Lean or ideal body condition refers to the evaluation of body physique in pets as an indicator of their overall health and well-being, generally falling into three categories: too heavy, ideal and too thin."

Ideal- Can feel outline of ribs, waist can be viewed from above, belly is tucked up

Too Thin- Ribs are easily seen, pelvic bones are obvious and prominent, exaggerated waist and abdominal tuck.

Too Heavy- No waist when viewed from above, ribs are difficult to feel, loss of hourglass shape to waist

http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx

frontline wrote:Looks a tad thin to me, you really shouldn't see ribs (http://www.barkingbulletin.com/is_your_dog_overweight/), there should be some healthy reserves. Marathon type running without reserves could lead to heart issues and underweight dogs are more prone to bloat. This BMI calculator for dogs might help: http://petsci.co.uk/calculating-your-dogs-bmi/

BMI is complete garbage for people and even more so for dogs.