how should i respond to the "too skinny" comments ? - Page 1

hey everybody, this has really been bugging me, just thought i would ask how other people handle this.....my female is just 12 months old and when she was weighed 5 months ago she  was 58 pounds and 22 inches at the shoulder, she has grown some and i believe she is around 60 pounds now. the vet saw her recently while i brought another dog in and i asked her again, does she look ok? i got the usual answer, she looks perfect, she should not be any heavier than this for the rest of her life. since her ribs cannot be seen and just barely felt she is fine, the vet said. yet every single day people insist that she is too scrawny and say well, that just doesn't even look good, when i tell them what the vet said. should i just ignore this or is there a proper response to these comments? my dogs all have food available 24/7. if i say that is the way a german shepherd should look, they always respond with, well all the ones i saw were this big around, etc.

She sounds perfectly normal!  Unfortunately people are "used" to seeing grossly obese house dogs!  Also, very oversized dogs.  I guess that there really is no proper response, probably best to ignnore!

I get the same comments every where I go with my dogs where other GSD enthusiasts aren't. I ask people one question...

Do you think Lance Armstrong is too thin? if they know who he is, they say, "no, he is an athelete" Correct, so are my dogs, they just don't ride bikes, they run beside them.

I agree with everyone above. Americans think everything should be oversized and over feed. I pretty much ignore peoples comments when they say that because the obviously don' t know what they are talking about.

Madam

You may not think your dogs are fat or thin but  if the Dogs have food in front of them 24/7 then it  may be a wise move on your part to change it now before they start having problems

there is nothing living that should have food in front of it all the time and that includes Dogs, you are not doing them any favours

Hi

A lot of the German lines are thinner dogs. You may want to have a second opinion, go to another vet.

Get some test regarding and have a heartworm test done, if you haven't already.

God Bless

Kim

People who dont know anything about this breed are usually the ones who make such wise comments! I agree with everyone over here especially Rezkat5. In my opinion a German Shepherd should be lean, athletic and well propertioned, not too big nor to small. I think she is a good sized female provided she was 22 inches(withers) at the age of just 7months!

It's not necessarily that the dogs they see are usually FAT (although there ARE too many fat dogs - and my mother-in-law realized after a while my dog looks "thin" exactly because she's the right weight, not fed millions of treats like many she's used to now - including her brother's ridiculous 100-lb FAT Springer Spaniel [2x what he should be] who has a WHOLE CLOSET of treats).

I think it may be alot of GS - especially German types - are built like Rottweilers, not proper herding dogs who should be lithe.  Or at least their heads are, if nothing else.  Also may be long coats on these dogs make them look "buffer".

thank you everybody for all your input.

deeswolf, i will keep what you said about lance armstrong in mind. i also plan to run my dogs with a bike when the weather is better. it's a great way to get around and a tired dog is a happy dog, i think.

Response:

"Why, thank you!  She's been dieting and exercising to get to a fit weight and condition."  Then, looking the person up and down, ask if they'd like the name of her Jenny Craig representative or personal trainer to help them.