A little ribby - Page 1

So,  Auggie is slightly ribby.  He is negative of any parasites,  stools all look normal, he's energetic and full of his demonic self.  Ever since I got him though he's been slightly ribby.  He's getting quite muscular though, very solid/stocky chest.  He "is" on Taste of the Wild right now (I know what you'll say Jenni) which is what i put him on when I first got him.  Right now I have him eating four cups a day, which to me seems like quite a bit for his size (30 lbs) at 17 weeks.  Thing is though, if he's standing still or sitting, you typically "can't" see his ribs, but when he's walking along you can see the outlines of them.  It's like, I want to keep him lean.....not to stress his hips since he's just a pup, but at the same time.....I don't want a dog too skinny.  With that said, some of my dogs in the past did wonderful on TOTW, didn't require much food to keep weight correct on it........and some seemed to just take a lot of it and the weight was never good ......switched food and then their weight was normal on a lower....what would be normal, amount of food for their size.  I'll attach pictures, I got one that shows it somewhat, but it's a bad angle. I'll attach other pictures as well from two days ago, which you "can't" see the ribs in.  I know regardless, they should be somewhat lean, and people will always think a lean Shepherd is too skinny because America thinks they should be fat.   Anyways, I'll let you guys look at the pics and see what you think.  I do plan to switch him to a different food soon though.

This one kind of shows what I mean. You'll see this if he's sniffing along the ground, or when he turns his body (which he is starting to turn his body in this pic slightly) to go in a different direction while walking....and sometimes while walking itself.  If he is stitting, stands still, or is just laying down, you don't see them..... Something I did notice though, a picture of his grandfather I found, Mambo z Pohranicni Straze......mambo was crazy ribby in the picture......and then the picture that is posted now of Mambo, and all of the pictures of him....he's very filled out, no ribs, no nothing. I have no clue how old Mambo was in the picture i'm referring to, he looked to be at least adult height. Some on here may know the pic I'm referring to.



I'm attaching others where you "don't" see them.....say day, same hour actually.



You can sort of see them in this one. He was tired here and about to plop down.




He was copying Little Dude here.....he tends to do that often.



For some reason this one makes Auggie look tiny and LD's head look huge.


He was starting to sit down here I think, but you can't really see his ribs in this one. 

Looks fine to me.  My male looked like a thoroughbred colt til he was about 2, but when he finally quit growing up he filled out very nicely.  I'd say stick with the program :)

He looks fine to me

I showed my girl and she gave two woofs of approval. I think she has a crush on him. lol.

He looks good stick with what you are doing he will fill out as he ages.

Looks fine to me too! What a gorgeous boy you have, and a beautiful place!

He looks like a perfect little boy to me.  If you are worried add half a can of taste of the wild to his dinner meal. Can't hurt.

Thanks everyone. I don't know, I'm just paranoid sometimes when it comes to my fur kids, even though I may be worrying over absolutely nothing lol.   I've started taking Auggie out to this "park" every Thursday night now. It's not actually a park, it's just like this pavillion and then a grassy area with a sidewalk around it, and then this cool water fountain thing that shoots water up in the air......But every Thursday night someone has been playing music (someone different each time, and it's not too loud) so I've started taking Auggie and Little dude there the past three weeks.  We met sooo many people last night and Auggie did really well.  A fairly good amount of people actually sat down on the ground (the concrete part around the fountain) and we just talked and I did let them pet Auggie.  He seemed to really like it.   I "do" think he's going through a fear stage right now though, because the past couple of days he's acted nervous about the most silly things.  He saw Little Dude coming up from the very back of the yard, Auggie's hair spiked (he did this towards my other dogs too), and after he went towards LD and scoped him out he was fine and started playing with him.....He also got nervous about some paint rollers on the floor at Lowes......but then again I remember one of my dogs in the past when he went through his fear stage barked at a fire hydrant that he had seen many times before....A few weeks later when we were there again......no problem, he knew what it was.  Two different trains went by while we were at the park last night too, didn't phase him at all (obviously it shouldn't phase him) but good grief they're loud.  He had nothing but good experiences though last night, and everyone who was there was very nice and was more than happy to do anything that might be needed to help Auggie if he had been nervous.  Pretty cool how a relaxing atmosphere like that and a couple of dogs can make people so different

I think he looks like he's in excellent condition to me.  He's beautiful! I'd not change a thing.

They do tend to look ribby at times. I think my 15 month old is part greyhound, she is so skinny. But she is starting to fill out a bit now. Dont over feed, you will know, the stools will tell you. They do more growing verticle in the first year, and then the rest of the body takes another year or so to catch up.