She Looks Skinny

[phemomenon]

I have a purebred girl that is 1 year and 1 month old. She is 55 pounds, and I am feeding her adult food. She just looks skinny to me, but is this normal? Her sister looks bigger than her. I feed her Dogswell Nutrisca. According to the bag, she should only have 2-2-1/2 cups per day. But that seems like such a small amount. I feed her 3-1/2 cups a day and she wolves it down no problem.

Should I be concerned, or is this an all legs/thin phase? Her stools are fine. Do you think I should give her even more food or supplement with another food?

 

[joannaryan]

I think she sounds right on track to me, and she still has more growing to do. Boxers keep filling out up to they're around 2 or 21/2 years. I wouldn't worry about it. Boxers come in all different shapes and sizes

 

[Demismom]

Sounds like we could have twins. My girl is 11 months old and is so small too, but she eats ok, but not as much as yours, maybe 2 cups, if that a day.

 

[knowens]

Skinny

My boy is 5 now but he was really skinny for the first 3 years. We had him on high quality food but I think he just had so much energy that he burned everything up! Even now, he's only around 70lbs but he's pretty tall for a boxer.

I know from experience-some lady at Petsmart asked me if I ever fed my dog!! I asked the vet and she said that boxers, even though they can be thick in the chest and shoulders, are okay to be skinny. Most people are just used to seeing fat dogs so they get concerned about lean muscular ones. I think as long as she is eating okay (and popping okay) and her energy level is stable then she should be okay.

 

[jsluvmypets]

Supplement his food maybe

When my guy was younger he was a little skinny, so I supplemented his food with Natural Balance dog food rolls. The duck & potato formula is grain-free and he loved it. The ingredients are very healthy and we now use this for treats or to disguise a pill in if he has to take one after a dental cleaning, etc.

 

[EllieKem]

Same for Emma; she's now three and on a good day she will be 50lbs and has been the same since she was one.

She eats well and has countless extra calories with her treats throughout the day. She just burns through so many calories that its hard to keep weight on her. If I add too much kibble she'll begin to have loose stools so when her hip bones start to pop I add in more cottage cheese and eggs to help.

The vet said there was nothing wrong with her and all skinny dogs, as long as they are eating well and no health issues, are just "set" to be at that weight for that time in their lives and that it's healther than carrying around extra weight (which most dogs do in the US.)