Why are K-9 cops so freaky thin??

[codymax2]

yea that's what I as thinking. They probably get the BEST food and care. They just actually have a job to work it off.
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[debilorrah]

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Yep. I have a GSD cross and he is a little meatier than Khan but not by much. They are working dogs well and have full run of 2.5 acres. They are healthy, not skinny.

 

[mandelyn]

My Shepherds look like those Shepherds as far as condition goes and my vet says they're perfect. My boy has a bad hip and isn't allowed to gain excess weight. They work. They play. They sleep in the sun and roll in the grass, hop in their pool and play some fetch. Then they run some more. They eat well, quite well. I see the bill every month and the empty bowls twice a day. Snacks along the way. Monthly worm prevention and the whole 9 yards of dog care.

Way healthier than most dogs I see... out of breath after one round of fetch, struggling to pull themselves up off the floor, laying on the couch all day after a short little 20 minute walk.

If I want to tire my dogs out, I need to cut them off leash in the middle of the woods and hike myself for 3 hours. Then they'll sleep good. Regular urban dog life? They're in my face all day wanting something to do, just like a working dog. Those dogs on TV... if they're not working, they're training. They go bonkers if you don't work them. They eat well, I'm sure. That's called good working condition.

They don't have the metabolism of a couch potato.

If the diet was lacking for those dogs, they wouldn't be as alert as they should be or have as much energy. Those dogs cost tens of thousands of dollars to get them where they and their handler need to be, as well as the time involved. They're not going to turn around and starve an asset.

 

[secuono]

The best way to assess a dog's overall body size and shape is by using a body condition score, in which the dog is given a score between 1 to 10. A score of 10 is for an obese dog with a sausage-like body shape that has absolutely no indentation in front of the hips and no visible ribs. A score of 1 is for an emaciated dog with no muscle on the hips, and ribs that are protruding. The ideal score, 5, is for a dog that has an hourglass shape when viewed from above, and the ribs are barely visible.~http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-information/dog-vet-geller-dvm/articlethin.aspx

2in thick fur and you can clearly see ribs is not "barely visible."
Does the Malinois have that same distinctive bend of the rear and legs far behind him? Some in the show may be the Mal, but not all. If you google, none show ribs, none are fat either. There is one pic of a thicker Mal, but not like the Sully K-9 with thicker yet fur and the ribs too visible.

The dogs look like "thin" if that picture showed a 2in thick coated dog and not a 1in coat.

I'm not gonna fight with you guys on this. They are too thin, maybe just a few pounds under, but still not a pleasant thin. My dog has very short and spars fur, he is always running and eating. He is no where near fat, heavy or a little pudgy. He is also no where near emaciated or thin. He has a waist, no ribs show, but can be felt. Please note that last part and the other...no visible ribs in his very short and spars coat, yet not fat and can be felt.

 

[woodmort]

That's easy, they have to stay in the car with the dog while the other cops are in the donut shop.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I just haven't seen this. Maybe posting some photos or screencaps will help?

In performing animals, animals often have food carefully measured to ensure they have drive to perform. Done correctly though, they are not thin, but at exactly the ideal weight at all times. I am not sure if this is done with working animals. I usually see animals (including people) in the heavy and obese phases. I'm currently sitting at heavy and need to get back to 'ideal'. XD

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Scrabble, my oldest DD's favorite dog, is a Shep mix with a very dense coat. He's her running partner and happily runs 10+ miles a day with his best girl. You can see his ribs looking at him. Every vet we've had says Scrabs is perfect as is. He looks thin per the charts, but he's a runner and built like a runner now. His body burns off extra fat easily, and he's actually a very heavy dog at 93 lbs. Vets have told us every time, we call up and set up an appt for a Shep mix who is 93 lbs, they think we are going to walk in with a round fat dog, and we come in with this sleek running dog, who they think is 60 lbs until he gets on the scale.

To me, the charts are similar to BMI - maybe a good starting point - but if a person or dog is highly athletic, they are not going to work at all. DD14 is obese to the BMI charts, yet she wears a size 4 slacks, a 00 or 0 for tops.

These are working dogs, I'm going to assume they have the best medical care possible, because they are expensive to start with, and more expensive to train, so they want to keep the dog in tip top shape for as long as possible. So I really do figure that while the dogs look thin, they are in fine health and the vets know about the condition of the dogs.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

I just watched a few clips from the show on my laptop. None of the dogs look underweight to me. Thin, sure. But it's the working dog thin, so that's fine. Plus, most don't appear to be US bred GSD, which means they are racier built. American GSD are just trashed, they don't have anything they should to be a real working dog.

 

[EweSheep]

Many of the K-9s dogs are Malinois and I assumed that they no longer use GSD because of the hip problems or too expensive to keep treating a genetic problem or too hard to find a working GSD than a show dog or diseased free dog. I don't think the Malinois have the real big problem like the GSD when it come sto working hard, jumping off a eight foot fence without any issues.

I'v eseen the cops go up to the drive thru, feeding their dogs hamburgers as a treat and dog food. They are in high condition and better for them to be a bit leaner than fatter to keep up with the stamina of the prisoner.

 

[gritsar]

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That right there.

Our older GSD looks just like those GSD on the K9 cop show and not one but two vets have said he is in perfect condition. Our younger GSD looks heavy, due to his long coat. He's not. He is also in good condition.