I'm worried about Kane, my GSD

[tonkatuff]

I've been an LVT for 8 years, if I had a dollar for every time I heard "He/she isn't fat, he/she is just big for his breed." I am often just gobsmacked at how many people will look at my dogs and ask "Awww why is it so thin??" While they hold the leash to their "100lb" heaving, gasping pig of a Labrador. If you own a working or herding breed of dog you have an obligation to keep that animal in the best possible shape, no excuses. One of my clients has a LH GSD and trains for Schutzhund... the dog is a male who is kept between 87-90lbs, beautifully lean ribs easily felt under his coat. She also has the undercoat stripped (not clipped/shaved) a few times a year durng the spring & summer. During the real hot days, she only trains during the early am or late pm hours and she swims the dog to keep him conditioned. Please post a curret picture of Kane, and do get get him examined by a capable vet.

Fatties GSD bi!ch is beautiful but overweight and that is just a recipe for disaster for a dog already diagnosed w/ CHD.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
What she said!

I would go for the echocardiogram and know absolutely. You should probably just shave off all his luscious hair except on his head and tail and make him look like a giant Q-tip.

Then he can run around in his pajamas!

Also, knowing Kane, perhaps a small diet might be in order. You want to feel his rib bones right under his skin, without anything but a thin covering of muscle, no extra fat. So his ribs should be VERY easy to feel. If he feels like yer grabbin' my butt, the boy is a little overweight.

My vet lives 2 doors down. She has a rough collie that she shaves every summer and says he is much happier without all that coat. Shaving is much easier, cheaper and faster than stripping out all the undercoat.