Your GSD looks very healthy and NORMAL weight. You really don't want him too much heavier as he is still growing and it will tax his joints unnecessarily to carry extra weight.
My little corgi is a picky eater ... but she eats enough ... she looked a little thinner as a 'teen' but she is such an athlete now. We travel with her quite often and if she gets a little off her feed, we just add a few tablespoons of cottage cheese ... she can't seem to resist that !
Do you have any pictures of him? Also when are you giving him the treats in relation to when it's being fed? I apoligize if you answered any of the question in another post but I did not have the time to scroll through the pages. Depending on what your opinion on lean is that may not be a bad thing. Too many GSD's have a tendency to be a little too heavy. You should be able to fairly easily feel the ribs but there should be definite muscle and the ribs should not be protruding.
I just the pics you posted. Do you have any that are straight on rather then angled?
We've never fed GSD puppies puppy food. We feed a super high quality adult kibble. Of the pups we bred the ONLY three to ever have panostitis (poop can't spell today) - too rapid growth and pain, were placed on puppyfood after they left us.
After they developed growing pains their owners put them back on high quality adult kibble.
Shepherds should be LEAN while growing, yours is perfect. Too much weight on young bones causes joint strain and eventual destruction.
I actually learned over the weekend that American GSD lines are suppose to be sleeker than the germans because they needed a quicker dog for the police force. I havent honestly looked it up myself but it sounded right.
I have a GSD with American lines and she sometimes looks super skinny
Shes about 2.5 years now and hasnt filled out yet...
Jax is west german lines. His sire is huge - 90+ lbs.
We made a discovery last night though. We had run out of his homemade chicken gravy and I completely forgot to make any more until it was time to feed him.
I cooked a chicken breast real quick and just pulverized it in the food processor with some of the broth.
He ate it like there was no tomorrow. Apparently the silly dog doesn't like gravy on his food!
I can't wait to get our second one. We've decided on another male. Two of these GSDs protecting Mama is going to be something to see.