# Help! My 1 year old GSD is only 82lbs



## RussianGSD (Aug 25, 2013)

Hello all.

I have a one year old GSD mix. I think its a mix because it have a very thin tail and very short hair with no undercoat. When we got him is was a bit thin but that wasn't realy a concern. 
We fed him for a year, twice a day, with Kirkland Supper Premium Puppy food ( the yellow bag). Of course he grew, he is a good size bu i think he is very thin.
Now, he is 12 months- i weight him today - 82 lbs. 3 Weeks ago we switched to the Kirkland Premium ( green bag). I chose Kirkland because dogfoodadvosor says it has 4 stars and almost no additives.
We have been to the vet- no worms. The vet just says he is naturally skinny.
What are your suggestions.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

He does look a little skinny but 82 lbs on its own doesn't mean much. That's actually more than the normal weight for his age IIRC


Does he have a good appetite?



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## RussianGSD (Aug 25, 2013)

yes, most of the time he eats well. He is a mix ( dont know with what though) so maby that accounts for his skinny.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

A mix wouldn't have anything to do with him being skinny. He can have a different shape but the fact that his bones are showing have nothing to do with his breed. 

From the pics he doesn't look mixed. But I'm not an expert. 

Kirkland is not the worst dog food but not the best either. But many dogs keep their weight even on cheaper kibble. 

I'm not sure. Maybe someone has some ideas. If you feel like he doesn't like his food then try feeding real meat for a while and see what happens. But if you're saying he eats normal then to the vet. 


How much do you give a day?


ETA the pics are not the best but I think I see his back bone. 
Are his ribs visible? On the pic they're not 


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Some dogs are just naturally slim. You want to keep the hourglass shape, and feel the last 2 ribs. If you can take a picture from above so his shape can be seen, would be easier to say if to slim or skinny.

FWIW, Woolf almost 4 yrs old, bit taller then average, stays at a steady 70 lbs. Slim, but a very good weight for him.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

Don't go by weight numbers, go by body condition. In GENERAL, 82 lbs at a year old would actually be a very large dog. But, if your guy is tall as it looks like he is (I have a very tall dog as well), it's misleading. Bear in mind that at a year old, he's going to be tall/gangly/awkward-teenager-ish, especially if he doesn't have a lot of muscle developed. When you run your hands down his sides, what do you feel? A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to JUST feel his ribs- like what your knuckles feel like when you lay your palm flat. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but nothing stands out as "very thin." Can you post one looking straight down at him standing- so we're looking at his back?


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

LoveEcho said:


> Don't go by weight numbers, go by body condition. In GENERAL, 82 lbs at a year old would actually be a very large dog. But, if your guy is tall as it looks like he is (I have a very tall dog as well), it's misleading. Bear in mind that at a year old, he's going to be tall/gangly/awkward-teenager-ish, especially if he doesn't have a lot of muscle developed. When you run your hands down his sides, what do you feel? A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to JUST feel his ribs- like what your knuckles feel like when you lay your palm flat. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but nothing stands out as "very thin." *Can you post one looking straight down at him standing- so we're looking at his back?*


:thumbup:

My male GSD is over the breed standard in height by 2-2.5 inches and he weighs 85 pounds, he is tall and lean.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I don't see a lot of bone (like ribs and vertebrae) showing and he has some very good leg muscles. It also helps to rotate the pictures so we don't have to tilt our heads to look!

The lack of coat does make him look thinner than a dog with similar size but there is no depth to the chest so I am not sure how much bigger you can expect.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

If he was neutered too young, before he was done growing, he will probably stay tall and lankly looking. The hormones in the reproductive system help regulate growth. Tells them when to stop/start in certain body areas. When those are removed before the animal is done growing, you can sometimes get taller than they are supposed to be and not as heavy bone developement. He really doesnt look mixed to me though. Also, GSD's are known for maturing slowly. Not being fully grown and filled out until after 4 years of age. At least in the working lines. The American showlines are bred to be large and fully developed early for better showing in the ring. This is just from my personal experiences, I am sure there are exceptions.


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## HOBY (Aug 12, 2013)

82LBS sounds fine to me. How tall is he? My last boy [WGSL/WL] was 82lbs, 28"-29" tall at 1 yr. At over 2yrs he was 29"+, 101lbs plush coat and very nicely built. As a senior he was about 95-98lbs. Another one of my GSDs [USASL/WGSL] had a shorter hard wire straight coat.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

At 1 year old he still has a lot of filling out to do, Delgado turned 2 in January and I've noticed a big difference in the last 6 months or so. Give it time


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## ApselBear (Feb 10, 2014)

How do you know he's even a mix? 

It is definitely tough to tell whether he is skinny or not with those photos.


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## Piper'sgrl (Apr 20, 2012)

He looks pure GSD to me and at 82lbs he may be a bit lean but he is also not done growing or filling out. Give him time..could always try upping his food if you're that worried..


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

he looks pure GSD to me as a well. He's still young yet and has some potential for filling out some more. 82lbs is large but you want to go off body condition, not weight.


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

Your dog looks alot like mine My dog is also very tall and at 90 lbs was thin to me, so I feel your concern. I used to get comments about him being too thin from people at the dog park etc, but after checking here i found out hes okay., hes starting to fill out and is still thin at 110 pounds. I'd give your dog some more time to fill out, if he doesn't then talk to your vet about blood work.


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## scout172 (Sep 14, 2013)

Scout is a year and a month old and he's only 81lbs and the vet says he's going to fill in in his next year so don't be worried.


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## lauren43 (Jun 14, 2014)

How much are you feeding? Can you up the amount? He looks thin in the pics but not bad thin just teenage thin. I really don't think its something to be overly worried about if he is eating and acting normal.


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## RussianGSD (Aug 25, 2013)

lauren43 said:


> How much are you feeding? Can you up the amount? He looks thin in the pics but not bad thin just teenage thin. I really don't think its something to be overly worried about if he is eating and acting normal.


Here are the updated pics. Mix? too skinny? I feed a bowl of Kirkland kibble 2x day


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## Charliehound (Jun 5, 2014)

He doesn't look too thin to me for his age... My boy was very active and thin until he was about 2 years old and still on the lean side. My vet thought he was a little thin, but I haven't been able to get him to gain weight until recently. Was the vet concerned?

He doesn't look mixed to me either...

I have recently switched to adding raw to Charlie's diet and he has gained weight easily. Maybe try a different brand of food???


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

Doesn't look mixed or too skinny... 82 lbs is a BIG dog, especially because he will continue to grow and fill out for a while. Again, it's all about body condition, not numbers. Ignore people who tell you "my dog was 130 lbs! He's so thin! GSD's should be well over 100 lbs! He's ONLY 80 lbs?!" I heard that ENDLESSLY when my male was young. These are not a giant breed.. breed standard max weight is 88 lbs. Sure, 100+ lbs does happen (and it does happen where that is a healthy weight) but it is definitely not the norm.


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