how fat

do you let your puppy get ? (mine is six mo)
I don't think my pup is too skinny (can see a few of her ribs), but I've heard puppies had to have some fat on, it's better for their growth. do you approve? if yes, how fat?

pictures would be appreciated. thx

 

At 4 months

at 7 months

at 9.5month


I like a leaner pup personally, just a slight bit of rib showing is okay with me but I keep enough fat on them that they still have it to burn. Those pups are crazy active! lol

 

In my opinion you should keep pups fat..I really hate seeing "lean" (ie:skinny) pups..These are not grown dogs, there pups..

 

I hate seeing pups too lean...at the TX ADBA show there were conditioned pups in 4-6 month class...it was disgusting. Even worse, they are winning so people will keep doing it.

I keep mine fat, not fat enough to put stress on their joints, but fat enough if they get sick they won't become emaciated and potentially die. You can't see their ribs but you can feel them. When they hit 12 months I'll start leaning them up.

At 9 months old


8 months old

 

I don't think LEAN is the same as skinny. As long as hip bones and spine and all the ribs aren't showing, some pups will be naturally leaner than others some not. I by no means take all fat off and start conditioning them lol, but I like to keep the fat trim so to speak

This is my girl when she FIRST came home, in my opinion too fat

Pup now. Leaner


At most show the judges will let you know if your pup is too thin. Big difference between skinny and conditioned.

 

I agree that some pups will be leaner than others naturally. I have one dog that since I got him at 9 months I could not put weight on him. Now that he's maturing he is filling out nicely.

I wasn't saying that you condition your pup. I meant I've seen way too many conditioned puppies at shows and I'm sick of seeing it. And the shows I've been to, I have never seen a judge say anything...instead they get a ribbon...maybe because the pup was just that nice, but it's still reinforcing the conditioning.

 

Oh I agree. I see posts all the time of people showing off their puppies muscle tone. Its is hard for a pup to grow if his muscles have already been tightened up and the fat stripped from them. The last fun show I went to the judge told a few people they needed to put a few more pounds on their dogs, so I guess it depends on the judges preferance.

BTW- I had a pup that wouldn't gain either, I supplimented his food with 2 stage milk replacement worked great

 

I was told this one was too heavy at the show this weekend....LOL She was in the 9-12 month puppy class. I don't condition puppies though. I don't consider her overweight either. She will go to work soon enough though.



Now here is my little girl Legacy who is barely 6 months old. She gets no work either but she stays trim all the time. I can feed feed feed her but she still stays fit as a fiddle. Healthy as a horse, no she don't have worms LOL, she just goes all the time.



Pups are just like people. They all have different genetic makeups. They all won't look the same as pups.

 

Good post on pups!

Let the lil guys grow at there own pace! but keep them active and there shouldn't be a problem at all. Then when muscle develop and bones grow, .......then worry about the fine tuning the animal.

What age will you folks work your animals like an adult!

I would wait till 2 for weight pulling and similar activities but that is me , walking can be a great activity for pups to keep trim but not "over conditioned" sort of speak.

 

thank you all.
I was just worriing a lilbit cause she doesn't fill out that much, but like some of you said, it just depends on the pup

 

btw all your dogs look real good

 

I took a few shots this WE.
I think she's ok for a pup. I'll try to put some weight on her though, I don't think it'll hurt.