Is My Dog Dakota Too Skinny?

[gbear]

i think she is quite fine, sometimes i think she's abit on the skinny side but i don't think she's anorexic or anything!!

she's a siberian husky so she eats practically everything and we feed her once a day (mixture of canned & dry, she goes on 40min walks daily and weekends me and my gf usually take her out and about around the city, parks or beaches where she (and us!) get pretty extensive exercise walking long distances. on the odd day i play chasey with her as she loves to run, she does more running then me, yard is about 60m long 20m wide so she has plenty of space to bolt all over the place...

the reason i'm asking is some people have commented that she is quite skinny, i just thought she was lean. I have noticed other siberian huskies looking massive, making mine look less then adequate =( i know some people are comparing her to malamutes who are like 10x bigger! :lol: but it does have me worried that my beloved dakota may not be getting the right type of food!

i think it MIGHT be from her mother, her dad was huge and so is her brother when I saw him a few months ago, but i remember her mum being quite small frame (breeder said she was a fully fledged sled racing dog)

should i change her diet around? anyone recommend a good diet for her to get the best coat and build?

heres the most recent pics i could find before she started her molting phase.

Edited September 27, 2008 by gbear

[Kavik]

Looks alright to me

I sometimes get the skinny comments too about my dogs (and once about me as well in a training class ).

[~*Shell*~]

Do you feel like your dog looks too skinny? I don't think she's overly skinny. She could probably put one some more weight if you want her to be a bit more solid, but if you think she's fine at this weight, then she's probably fine at this weight.

I'll swap you - you can have my fat husky, and i'll have your thin one!!

[Dogsfevr]

I would toss the can,not only expensive to feed doesnt do much in the weight/condition section as a sole diet.

The only time we use it is as a teaser to get old/young or recovering dogs to eat but never as a sole diet.

Some dogs are just simply skinny,some a very hard to maintain weight & yes some its a family trait

[Guest PixieOfWrath]

Don't worry, I had a lady at Bayview tell me off for Holly being "too skinny" last week. Holly's at a great weight atm - good thing the lady hadn't seen her a month or so prior or else she may have reported me to the RSPCA

Your dog doesn't look too skinny to me. The general public do tend to think that fit dogs = emaciated and obese dogs = the perfect weight!

[~*Shell*~]

The general public do tend to think that fit dogs = emaciated and obese dogs = the perfect weight!

Yep - lots of people look at Zero and think he's the right weight.... he needs to lose at least 6 kgs (he's taller than he should be and one side of his lines are quite heavy set), and atm he's 9kgs over the breed standard at 36kgs . We're getting the weight off him (didn't help that the neighbours were throwing food over the fence to him so he put on 4.5kgs in 9 weeks!) but it's taking a while because some huskies have notoriously slow metabolisms!

Here he is today:

Can you say Chunky McFatt Dog?

BTW - he's a husky, not a malamute, but you would never know from the weight he's at!

Edited September 27, 2008 by ~*Shell*~

[Guest PixieOfWrath]

Yep - lots of people look at Zero and think he's the right weight.... he needs to lose at least 6 kgs (he's taller than he should be and one side of his lines are quite heavy set), and atm he's 9kgs over the breed standard at 36kgs

LOL! I thought you'd like to know that Chunky McFat Husky weighs more than my adult male German Shepherd

Love it!

I can sympathise - Holly was around 40kg when I got her, and basically a big fat arse. She is now 25kg

You do get there eventually - keep on battling!

[puggy_puggy]

She looks fine.

I think the problem these days is people see to many fat dogs and think that fat is how a dog should look. It's very sad.

I would get rid of the tinned food and add things like bones, chicken necks and sardines instead.

[~*Shell*~]

Yep - lots of people look at Zero and think he's the right weight.... he needs to lose at least 6 kgs (he's taller than he should be and one side of his lines are quite heavy set), and atm he's 9kgs over the breed standard at 36kgs

LOL! I thought you'd like to know that Chunky McFat Husky weighs more than my adult male German Shepherd

Love it!

I can sympathise - Holly was around 40kg when I got her, and basically a big fat arse. She is now 25kg

You do get there eventually - keep on battling!

Argh! Don't tell me that! He's supposed to be nice and lean!!

When i got him he was 35kgs but he had no muscle on him from being left in a tiny backyard by his old owners. We've been working to get his muscle level up (8kgs of muscle in a year!!!) and reducing the fat but the muscle grew faster than the fat loss so he's heavier than he was when we got him. Poor thing is on 1 cup of lite kibble a day and that's it! When he does come off it, he'll be on 1.5 cups of normal kibble probably at which point we'll be switching him to orijen again...

[Leema]

She looks fine.

I think the problem these days is people see to many fat dogs and think that fat is how a dog should look. It's very sad.

I would get rid of the tinned food and add things like bones, chicken necks and sardines instead.

I was going to make the exact same comments.

I don't think Dakota is too skinny.

[OMD²]

Here's a pic of my friend's huski (Saxon). He is ideal weight

I think your doggy looks great

Edited September 27, 2008 by Oscar's Mummy

[Vizsla]

She looks fine.

I think the problem these days is people see to many fat dogs and think that fat is how a dog should look. It's very sad.

I would get rid of the tinned food and add things like bones, chicken necks and sardines instead.

I was going to make the exact same comments.

I don't think Dakota is too skinny.

Exactly!

Dakota is a perfect weight, she doesn't need to loose any or put on any, just needs to maintain. I would also be getting rid of the tin food.

Its very rare but actually amazing to see a Labrador or Pug at an ideal weight. I'm not a massive fan of either breed, they generally don't do anything for me, but when you see them at a correct weight, they are beautiful looking dogs. Very rare to see, unfortunately.

[Borderpower]

Your husky looks fine to me, not skinny at all

[Snowysal]

I think your dog looks fit and fine , maybe if you want the coat to look different change brand of food.

Our girls are border line with the weight all the time and we have to adjust amounts accordingly. Like people they tend to put on a few pounds if they lie around too much in the bad weather or even in the hot weather, they are also by no means at peak working weight if they ever did work.

All the sheepdogs I had I kept at a slightly heavier than normal (the skeletons many farmers had their dogs) and they had a lot of stamina, but too much and it knowcked them around.

I suppose I'm saying its a matter of balance for what the dog does and for his own health.

[Bully]

i think she is quite fine, sometimes i think she's abit on the skinny side but i don't think she's anorexic or anything!!

she's a siberian husky so she eats practically everything and we feed her once a day (mixture of canned & dry, she goes on 40min walks daily and weekends me and my gf usually take her out and about around the city, parks or beaches where she (and us!) get pretty extensive exercise walking long distances. on the odd day i play chasey with her as she loves to run, she does more running then me, yard is about 60m long 20m wide so she has plenty of space to bolt all over the place...

the reason i'm asking is some people have commented that she is quite skinny, i just thought she was lean. I have noticed other siberian huskies looking massive, making mine look less then adequate =( i know some people are comparing her to malamutes who are like 10x bigger! :lol: but it does have me worried that my beloved dakota may not be getting the right type of food!

i think it MIGHT be from her mother, her dad was huge and so is her brother when I saw him a few months ago, but i remember her mum being quite small frame (breeder said she was a fully fledged sled racing dog)

should i change her diet around? anyone recommend a good diet for her to get the best coat and build?

She looks fine to me. I don't like to see fat dogs.

A Sibe is bred to pull a sled all day. It needs to be athletic. Could a fat dog do that? I don't think so. Did you watch the Olympic marathon runners? How many of them looked fat?

As mentioned I'd try and feed a more natural diet. Northern breeds also need fish in their diet, so a can of sardines or mackeral a few times a week would be helpful.

Dakota looks great

[Teebs]

I have been abused for not feeding my dog before People suck

[Nekhbet]

if only more dogs looked like that

[TerraNik]

She looks great to me!!!

[Bjelkier]

Your girl looks to be a good healthy weight. Seems fine to me.

[gbear]

thanks for the comments guys. and yeah will change her diet to add more oily fish.

good to know that you guys think she's fine!!! dakota is my first dog i've had thats mine, so trying to make sure i raise her right and she's taken care of.