Any suggestions for my skinny dog? 2yr old registered German Shepherd, came from a well known breeder/handler. 60 lbs on a large frame dog is a pathetic sight. I have had her completely checked out bloodwork; no diseases, no worms, no parasites, thyroid level is fine, pancreas is fine ,I just recently had her spayed (2 weeks ago) maybe that will help?? She eats good, she eats enough for her size. Appears to feel fine, but she is so so skinny! Thank you for any suggestions.

Any suggestions for my skinny dog? 2yr old registered German Shepherd, came from a well known breeder/handler. 60 lbs on a large frame dog is a pathetic sight. I have had her completely checked out bloodwork; no diseases, no worms, no parasites, thyroid level is fine, pancreas is fine ,I just recently had her spayed (2 weeks ago) maybe that will help??? She eats good, she eats enough for her size. Appears to feel fine, but she is so so skinny! Thank you for any suggestions.



What do you mean by "eats enough for her size"?

My last GSD (not my current ones) was male, very tall, always very thin. He was on a dogfood with high fat content, had beef or chicken mixed with it and it reached the stage where he had a bowl half and half just to put weight on him. He ate about twice as much as my other GSD (who, quite candidly, was "rather heavy," as the Vet put it) and still didn't put on weight. They self fed (my dogs still self feed), always kibble in a bowl on the floor.

All his lab work was always fine and his "mother" was also very thin. In fact, she was so thin that the breeder (this was a line bred for Police work) stopped breeding.

By eating enough for her size I mean this, she has 5-6 cups of dry (adult formula good brand dog food) with 1 regular size can moist dog food once a day, supplemented whenever possible with meat or table scraps. I try to feed her more than this, and she will leave it behind in the bowl. I have tried feeding twice a day, then she does not eat as much totaling the two feedings.

My neighbor had a German Shepard and she was always very skinny, even though she ate the recommended amount of food each day, then they started to really exercise her and she began building up all the muscles that those dogs have, and she filled out.

It sounds like you're doing everything right, maybe you can ask your vet if there is a specific diet you can put her on to fatten her up to a healthy weight.

My neighbor had a German Shepard and she was always very skinny, even though she ate the recommended amount of food each day, then they started to really exercise her and she began building up all the muscles that those dogs have, and she filled out.

It sounds like you're doing everything right, maybe you can ask your vet if there is a specific diet you can put her on to fatten her up to a healthy weight.


I don't think it's all about the recommended amount - I think OP is very much on the right track with giving her as much as she wants, letting her stop eating when she's full.

I don't know how large OP's dog is but my GSD is large, I wouldn't say very large although she has very big feet, and she weighs 125#. OP's dog is certainly underweight.

He says he dog pretty much looks emaciated - I don't know that muscle will fill out the backbone, etc. or that the dog has much energy.

Wonder what the parents look like - ?

I feed my GSD at about 5 to 6 pm each day he gets 4 to 5cups of dry at that time . If he does not eat all I leave the bowl down. Until next day. He is 88lbs.And just over ten years old. When he was young he was very thin. After turning two he seemed to fill out more.
Since you have had a vet check her for health issues I would not worry . Is she very active? Maybe dry food in the bowl after her dinner.

Thanks for all replies, the problem with leaving the bowl down is that there is another dog who lives here who will eat anything in sight, so after she is finished I have to take up her bowl. At night they kennel together so I can't leave it there either, I guess it's a waiting game now, she has been spayed, she is still young, active and otherwise healthy. I am hoping maturity will be a factor.

Are you feeding a high-quality food? Thinking about it (and you definitely want to talk to your vet about this!), you may want to put her back on puppy food. It's got more nutrients per ounce, so that may help put the weight on her. I'm thinking that you may be feeding her until she is full, but not giving her enough calories in that bulk. And I assume that you have wormed her... that's the obvious thing.

And I am always amazed at the differences between dogs... I have a 65-pound greyhound, who gets three cups of food a day. A dog that weighs the same and eats twice as much is either much more active (not hard, compared to a grey) or eating a much less calorie-dense food.