Normal or Too Small? - Page 2

To me she doesn't look too skinny, but if you want her to gain weight, I would suggest you upt the feeding times to 3x a day. To me, 3 eggs a day seems way too much. I would stick to puppy food or raw with ground bones and add an egg once a week. It also depends on her activity level. If she is very active, I would suggest feeding her about 3 cups of puppy food like Acana or 500 gramm raw food with ground bones, added veggies with a tablespoon of salmon oil a day. This all provided that she is worm free and healthy.

BlackthornGSD...thanks for calculator, i was way off on calories...thanks.
Tails...unfortunatley i am not home in the middle of the day..i will do 3x a day on weekend...i do add salmon oil to her food...thanks.

she's a pretty dog! I think spaying at this age wouldn't help at all, it actually can prevent her from reaching her full growth, as hormones are major contributors when it comes to filling out a frame.

Tail, thank you...she is very energetic, i never really knew the meaning of "working dog" till this one..she is like energizer bunny, even OB trainer commented that 2 hrs after running, playing w/ other dogs she would still be chasing ball after all other dogs are laying in creek or grass...she is on a sensitive side though...i had her dewormed 2 weeks ago (routine deworming suggested by trainer) she had diarrhea after deworming which i was told normal, she may have been sensitive but since then have not had her re-tested..
I am planning on having her fixed in spring by the time she is 10-12 months...I just though maybe doing it sooner will calm her down a bit...but i think i will stick w/ original plan.

thank you

LF,

My working line bitch was impossible to put weight on for the first 3 years of her life, especially when we were ramping up to a trial and working every day.

I started to count calories much like the counter Blackthorne posted and started to look for food that was high cal/cup ratios, even going back to mixing in puppy food for a bit to get the amount I wanted.

I spayed her at 18 months and honestly expected her to plump up and she still hasn't, often I wish she'd share her metabolism with me!

Long story short, until I started looking at the cal/cup ratios and feeding off that number I was all over the place with amounts of food, types of food, etc.  Once I found that 'magic number' for her in cal/cup every thing leveled off nicely.

gosh...so not only i have to count my calories, i have to count hers also..LOOL..
we are VERY active, about 1 hrs of walking/running at 5 am on weekdays, 1 hrs ball playing every afternoon, then walking/running 1 hr, and weekends are usually trails, downtown and park walks, plus once a month we go walking on rail road in the mountains, 4-5 hrs walk..well i walk she is up and down mountain side sometimes chasing cows....

so, what if i limit her activity to lets say 2 hrs a day..maybe walk in the morning and ball play in afternoon...i dont want to frustrate her, i have 2 other grown dogs that will go along i would just have to leave her home on weekends...if thats all that it would take for her to maintain her weight and up her amount of feeding..that would be an easy fix! 

I don't know if limiting her activity will help, short of crating her.  My girl would work herself thing just pacing the yard/kennel.

Some dogs just have a hard time keeping or gaining weight. Like Keith and others have said, I wouldn't worry about it if she's happy, healthy, and has a bounce in her step.

I've had more than a few females who didn't start putting weight on till past their second birthday. Like lanky teenagers who don't fill out till their 20s.

             Lady frost,,,,It is hard to say from the pics, but she looks long and lean...Not super thin,,,I would check with the vet just to be safe,,,,Besides all that, she is very pretty and looks healthy IMO,,,,,,

                                  Deanna...: )