Skinny GSD - Page 1

My 2 1/2 yr old GSD is only 77 lbs...we have been feeding him 4 cups of Petcurean Go Salmon a day with 1/4 cup of Tripe on top.  He is energetic and happy but he seems to be so underweight...you can feel his spine and hip bones, but it is disguised by his long coat.  We have increased his food to 5 cups but have not seen any weight gain.  We have to be selective about what we feed him because his skin gets really itchy.  We were told he has yeast allergies, so he can't have anything that produces sugars.  To be honest his skin is better since putting him on a limited diet, but it is not great...he still has some dandruff next to the skin and it itchy.  His coat however looks silky and great.  It's very confusing, but if someone could give me any insight or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

I don't think I would worry about his weight. I have a 3 yr old female that weighs 65 pounds (23 in tall) and a 2 yr old male that weighs 70 pounds (26 in tall). My 9 month old female weighs about 68 pounds. My dogs get a lot of exercise. My male has had skin allergy issues this spring and we took him to the vet. He also had dry, itchy patches of skin. Our vet said to give him fish oil which has helped. Our vet suspects tree/grass pollen is affecting our dog. We have also given him prescription allergy meds from the vet which really helped with his itching.

Might want to consider having his Thyroid checked.  I've seen dogs both over and under weight because of Thyroid.

Yeah it wouldn't hurt to have the thyroid checked, but without seeing a pic, I don't think the weight is a problem?  My 2.5 yr old male GSD is 72lbs.  When I post pics people always exclaim that he's "huge" and guess his weight around 85.  You can easily feel his bones but they are not jutting out.  My dog has no allergies but I also use a limited ingredient diet.  He eats about 3-4 cups a day, with some treats for training/tracking.

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VKGSDs,

nice pics...

Don't let his long coat fool you...you can easily feel his spine and hip bones.  I have thought about the thyroid but he doesn't have any other symptoms other than being skinny.

I had the same issue too. My boy is 29" tall and at the time I had issues was only 70lbs. I finally took him off all grain based food, put him on Taste of The Wild, venison and buffalo, panacurred him for 5 days and then all of a sudden the weight came on and he looks great at 95lbs. I had done everything to find out what was wrong. Thyroid, diabetes, parasites, pancreatic insufficiency, IBS everything. He was allergic to something in his old food that also had him itching. He is awesome now. Vom Mager

If he's active and otherwise healthy, I wouldn't sweat it.  Sometimes my young males go through skinny periods (where I *can* see ribs b/c they are not coated) and if I feed them more they just poop more and poop mushy.  You could also do exercises that develop more muscle.  Some dogs appear "skinny" and more fine because they lack muscle tone.  I've seen some very healthy, ripped, muscular dogs that do show a bit of rib but appear more substantial because they are toned.