Any ideas...

I have been trying and trying to get Bear's lat muscle to show.. but it will only show when he flexes and is pretty invisible when he is just standing there..
I am starting to run him next to a bike this week so maybe that will help..

here are some old ones of him flexing showing off..








Nothing to awesome but better than what he was..

Here is him stacked right around that same time.. no muscle showing at all..


Then him again the other day, still nothing


I have no yard or anything so I cant hook up a pole or get a mill right now.. dont even know if those would help.
I do tons of running with him, hours and hours a day or straight running and up and downhill sprints, as well as tons of flirt pole..
I am thinking about cutting his feed again since his body adjusted to being on full raw he has chubbed up a bit..

 

Isnt he still young pookie?

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking too still growing not even 2 yet I think she said he was like 11-12 months something like that. He's a young dog I wouldn't try to really work him hard till he hit's at least 18 months but that's JMO. My male didn't start filling out and developing more muscle until recently and he's 22 months.

 

Thats what I thought too. If he is that young DO NOT cut back his food lol. he is going to be adding mass from around 14 months - 20 months, give or take. all dogs are a bit different. I would keep up the exercise and increase protein intake every couple weeks. he is going to gain mass regardless, but regular exercise + more protein= more muscle mass. It's coming!

 

Oh yeah, just dont go crazy with the Protein!

 

Yea he is turning 17months in a few days.. not crazy young but still not adult.

I dont think I have been working him hard at all, just running and flirt pole mainly. Nothing to strenuous until he is older, but still not letting him sit and do nothing ya know

He is not that young lol and I dont think cutting his food when he was younger was bad at all, I was seriously over feeding when on kibble lol and when he was getting used to the full raw he boned out really bad and looked skinny so I added more fats and he has gotten a little "chub" to him so I will probably cut a little of that so I dont have to work him to hard while he is still under 2..
He is exercised every day but Sunday and he would not let me cut any exercise lol

I wont, he gets about 1lb + of food a day, depending on what he does.

 

He's may be a late bloomer lol. maybe 24 months, but he should be muscling up! Take a pic of him now, and again in 4 months, and I bet you will see a pretty good difference in overall muscle mass, even jaw muscles will bulk up at least a bit!

 

I think so, I am looking at him and thinking he probably has a lot of Amstaff influence in him. Just everything about him looks very similar to a friend of mines AST/APBT dog and he favors a lot of AST and a lot of them are slow maturing dogs.

I dont doubt it. Just a few weeks ago he looked like a lanky puppy to me and now he is filling out a lot more and putting on some serious shoulders and hams lol its funny to me when I notice how he looks when looking through pictures.

LOL@jaws, Jesus he was called my "deer" for a long time because he had no head at all and looked like a blue deer in the face.

 

Well you said you did hours and hours a day running with him to me that sounds a bit excessive for a young dog. I am just trying to help some people will tell you it's ok to work pups and others who have worked and conditioned dogs for sports will tell you that pushing them before they are ready will ruin them. It's your dog so you do what you want but I know with my dogs they don't do any heavy workouts until they are close to 2 this is how I was taught from guys who have been doing it for a minute.

I can show you my male at about a year old mind you I haven't cut his food or increased his exercise at all he has been on 2 cups a day since he was 6 months old and gets regular light walks daily ....

He was about 1 here ...






Here he is at 22 months today he still get's basic walks and playtime out in the yard and still get's 2 cups of Wilderness per day. But you can see how much more mass he has put on just from growing and eating a good feed. This is what we are saying your boy is still young he's not finished developing so trying to working him like a grown dog or cut his feed back is only going to make him get skinnier and possibly loose lean muscle mass. I haven't even begun to condition mine yet but this just gives you an idea of what a young dog vs an almost fully matured dog looks like.

 

Drag weights

 

I dont run him into exhaustion, and I watch him close and when he gets tired or "done" for that day and doesnt want to play anymore I take him home, we both work out at the same time running and if I get tired before him we stop, so its not like I am running him into the ground. He looks forward to it every day and is more than a handful if I dont take him out. He gets a day off for sure once a week and depending on how we run (or walk even) he will get a day off after that to rest.
I agree completely and am listening to your advice, I would like to think I know him well enough to know when he is just not down to do anything that day, or do less than what we normally do. I dont let myself forget he is still a puppy even though he is a big doof.
I would think the amount we are doing right now is fine for a almost 17month old dog, I was going to already have him doing weights but I cant afford the harness and I refuse to buy a shotty one, and I think maybe waiting until he is right about at 2 would be better for him, because he is still very long legged right now and I want him to fill in some before I start that.

Bear looked similar to the first picture at about that age, probably a little heavier actually, he was kind of a lard for a house dog and I was feeding him 3-3 1/2 cups of TOTW a day, so for his exercise level he was being fed to much. Once I upped his exercise after his foot injury I cut his food a little and fed 1x a day and he really blossomed and started being able to run and exercise better and lost all the belly and rib fat he had.
This was him before any of that


Your dog looks great and is eating a lot less than what he was when on kibble. He eats more right now I would think on the raw, so he isnt missing any calories or fat or anything really, I even have added in the oils because he did get to ribby and his backbone was out to much for my liking, even though that was probably more from him transitioning to full raw. I try and keep him fed good because he is still growing and I dont want to mess him up before we even get started.
I think he is worked for a dog his age, nothing to crazy or extreme and even now we have had to cut out running out a little because its 95s-105 here during the day.
Even though we did cut some kibble and I will not be giving him as much added fats he has gained muscle and I wish I could get good pictures to show his shoulder and ass end, he is meaty like no ones business lol and very solid. I need to weight him, he is probably in the 50s.

Here is some from today.. sorry they are washed out they came out so dark I had to lighten them

He isnt bad off for a mutt puppy, and I would like to think he isnt skinny or underfed to the point of losing muscle, I just think for his age I could probably get his muscle to show more than it does.. but I think I may be SOL until I can get a spring pole set up for him or a harness to drag weights..

I wish I had the money for a harness that would be good to pull things with, I have weights and a sled/cart thing but no way to hook him to it and pull it lol

 

Most dogs ive been around the 1st year up 2nd year out and of course you have both extremes fast and slow bloomers i personally think you dog looks great

 

Pookie I think your boy looks good ... Just give him a little more time he should start to fill out some more closer to two like I said my boy just really started to put on the mass overnight it seemed. Just be careful as long as you are not over working him he should be ok and he's not done growing just yet I have seen them blossom as late as 3 years old before they actually filled out completely. I have always believed that a dog who is being heavily worked should be fed more because the more the body works the more calories the body needs to retain muscle mass if you cut the calories back too far or the body is not getting enough calories to support the activity levels the body begins to loose muscle. So you have to watch your dog and go by how he looks, and his activity levels if you are working him hard he needs more food to retain that muscle cutting him back is only going to result in muscle loss.