# Too skinny?



## LokiTheLady (Dec 7, 2013)

Today and friend and I decided to have a puppy play session between Loki and her lab mix puppy, who's about twenty weeks old. The session went great and stuff, they played together so beautifully. And it was a really fun time, until my friend started to pet Loki later in the evening. She mentioned how thin Loki was, and blatantly accused me of underfeeding her. 

Loki gets a cup of Diamond puppy food in the morning, at lunch time, and at night. She gets a small snack around midnight, as that's her potty break for her sleeping habit, and she eats all of it. There is never a drop left in the bowl for either meals. I've tried giving her more, concerned I wasn't giving her enough, but it was only when I gave her more that she had food left over in the bowl. 

Should I start feeding her more, and just give her the option if she's hungry? She doesn't appear to be, until around her designated food time. 

After hearing my friend, I did notice that she's quite thin. Loki is about 12 weeks and three days old at this point, and I don't have a current weight for her right now. I do have a vet appointment scheduled to make sure everything is alright. I looked at her stools today, and didn't find any worms/sign of infestation, but that doesn't rule out tape worm. She doesn't have any diarrhea, it's not too hard or anything, or discolored. 

At her last appointment, which was at ten weeks, the vet said she was doing wonderful, that her weight was perfect and she was as healthy as can be. What could have changed during that time? She hasn't changed dog food at all, I've kept it on Diamond consistently since I've gotten her. It agrees well with her tummy, and I've never had problems with it. 

I'm planning on having my vet look into infestation of some kind of worms, and having some blood work done. What else could I have them check for? 

It's hard to tell when you're looking at her, but if you're petting her you can feel the ridge of her spine, and if you press down really lightly, you can feel each individual bump of her spine. The same thing with her ribs. If you're petting her sides, you'll slide your hand across her and feel the ribs, and then get to the dip of her belly. If you put a bit of pressure to feel through her winter coat, you can feel each individual rib. And what really worries me, and horrifies me that I haven't seen it before, is that her hip bones can be felt rather easily. 

I don't know if I just got so used to it as it progressed, that I didn't notice until it was pointed out, or if I've just been a really bad owner. 

I've attached some pictures. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. I'm really worried I've damaged her growth now 

The images are about 3 hours after her last meal, except for the last one. I only included that one to attempt to show off her hip bones. I am completely willing to attach more pictures if you guys think that would help. Thank you for reading guys :/


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## Donovan514 (Dec 26, 2013)

I noticed my 11 week pup was kind of thin as I could feel her ribs and the breeder told me they all are like that as they are growing so fast.


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## LokiTheLady (Dec 7, 2013)

I hope that's what's going on. I've called my breeder, but they weren't in today, since they're taking a vacation, so I'll have to wait two weeks before I can get into contact with them. Hopefully by then the vet will have some good news/options to take to help remedy her weight problem. Thanks for your reply, Donovan514!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

She looks fine to me.


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## Donovan514 (Dec 26, 2013)

No problem. I'm sure this is your first puppy and it's easy to worry and over analyze. The best way to fight back at worry is to accept the worst case scenario. Deworming, then back to puppy enjoyment. I'm not saying that's the case, but it seems to be the worst case scenario. I feed my 11 week old twice a day around 1.5 cups at a sitting. Sometimes she won't eat and I will hand feed her...lol She's a spoiled brat already. Great looking dog by the way.

(I forgot to mention my pup was a whale just 3 weeks ago... Fattest pup in the litter... Shes just growing.)


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## LokiTheLady (Dec 7, 2013)

Thank you guys for the responses! I really appreciate them. And she is my very first puppy ^^. I have medications for all different kinds of worming, but I'm going to wait until my vet gives me the go ahead on which one or a new prescription, since I don't want to give her diarrhea for no reason and just make the situation worst. And thank you, Donovan514! I think she's the cutest ever, but I'm probably quite biased xD.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

GSD puppies go through scrawny stages where you'll hear many 'your dog is too thin' or 'you should feed your dog more'. They are growing quickly and really sometimes all feeding more would do is give them diarrhea or put additional stress on growing joints by being overweight. If I think my pup is too thin, I add 1/4 cup per feeding and back off by that much if I think he's out of his growth spurt. For most pups, as long as you can't see all their ribs when relaxed and their hip bones have some covering, they're probably okay. After a scrawny stage (growth spurt usually), they will even out and not look quite so lean.


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## scout172 (Sep 14, 2013)

Thanks for that advice Galathiel!!!


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## LokiTheLady (Dec 7, 2013)

Thank you very much Galathiel! I gave her the extra bit this morning, and that seemed the right amount to keep her full and happy


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