Reubens weight at 1year, underweight maybe?

hermykne · #1 11-07-11, 05:08 PM

hello all
havent been here for awhile but Reuben has now turned one!
he weighs 30kg and we feed him royal canin german shep junior .
they say at his age and weight to feed him 405g daily.
Well we were feeding him 540g as we went on the assumption that he's a male and will be a big dog.
but he is very lean looking.
my husband did a bit of reading up on dog food and it seems they are highly engineered! to have very little carb excess in them and basically a dog will absorb all the nutrients and "poo" very little.
so what is your opinion, i know alot of you raw feed, but if he's getting what he should and is active, wormed and otherwise ok, is it just a phase / growth spurt - ie he is growing taller not wider???

any thoughts appreciated
thanks

wildmoor · #2 11-07-11, 06:12 PM

its hard to tell on the photos can you see his bones or just feel them?
if the latter i wouldnt be to concerned

hermykne · #3 11-07-11, 06:22 PM

sorry about the photos need to take a proper one now

no you cannot see his ribs just feel them.

Zak · #4 11-07-11, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermykne

sorry about the photos need to take a proper one now

no you cannot see his ribs just feel them.

That sounds about right, I wouldnt get hung up on weight as long as they look healthy that's all I would go by.

Caryll · #5 11-07-11, 07:00 PM

As long as his bones don't stick out (especially the pin bones & spine) then he's ok. I only weigh my dogs to find out what dosage of wormers etc they should have. Their actual weight doesn't really concern me, cause let's face it they're all different!

Mind you, it'll still be nice to see some more pics!

LOVEGSD · #6 12-07-11, 08:57 AM

I would agree too, as long as you can feel but not see his bones then he's just fine..x

#7 12-07-11, 10:36 AM

I was going to say the same

Also seeing a nice 'waist' when viewed from above is a sign they're right - if no waist - just same thickness all the way down the dog's probably slightly over-weight.

I don't know about the quantities but RC is a good food. Zee was underweight when I got her at 7 months. I started her on Orijen puppy but she poo'd a lot and didn't seem to gain weight, so I switched her to raw the same as Remus and she gained more muscle on that. She's 29 kg at nearly 18 months.