# 6 month old too thin?



## eeerrrmmm1 (Apr 15, 2018)

I remember having to adjust Luna's food amount quite a bit around that age. I tried to go more by her waist tuck and how easy it was to feel her ribs rather than the bag recommendations. I think I was giving more in the 3 cup per day range at that point. I've always had to feed more than the bag recommendations but Luna's super active at daycare all day. I don't think your girl looks unhealthy but maybe a bit on the thin side. Most people are just use to seeing overweight dogs and don't really understand what a healthy weight should look like. That said, I would probably increase her food a bit and watch her abdominal tuck.


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## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

Here is an aerial view.


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## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks Erm for the feedback. We are getting ready to reduce feedings down to twice a day so I will increase each one a bit more. Maybe 2 1/2 cups a day to start.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

My 6 mth old pups get 4 cups a day. 2 am /2 pm. (calories are 325 a cup) The growth spurts slow down around 8 months so when they start not wanting to eat it all or slow to finish a meal it's time to cut it back. I cut back about 1/2 cup a day until they look right. By 9/10 months they are usually on 2 or 2.5 cups a day... although I train and exercise my girls quite a bit so the 3 yr old gets 2.5 cups daily and weighs 63. My pups usually weigh around 45/50 lbs and pretty lean at 6 months. But I make a habit of weighing my pups at the 1st of each month for the 1st year to keep track that they are growing at a healthy rate.

I like lean pups but always concerned they get enough nutrition for proper growth. 

Beautiful pup but does look quite thin. Lots of vets hesitate to mention weight.... After all, his clients are his income and don't want to offend them.


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## daisy1234 (Jun 17, 2018)

Nice to see your post. I have had the your dog looks skinny comment as well. Your dog does look skinny though. 2 cups is not enough. You do have to adjust it. Mine has been at 3 cups per day for many months. She is 1 now. Dogs should look like a lanky teenager at times but not skinny. You are supposed to feel the ribs but not see them and have a defined waist. Yes correct eeermmm that is exactly what my vet said. We are used to seeing bigger dogs so when we see a correct weight one it looks skinny. I would definitely up to 3 cups. Heres mine. She was 47 lbs at her last weigh in.


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## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

Puddles and Daisy thanks for the information also. I will up her food and monitor her weight. 
Jules


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## brocksmom (Feb 17, 2019)

My 6mo old Brock is 50lbs & I feed only organic canned,2 a day supplemented by 2 eggs, 1 c. goat yogurt or kefir, cup of cooked veggies, some organic japanese sweet potato,a banana, 6-8various grain free treats or salmon /chicken sticks, salmon oil & 1 evening primrose capsule. Vet says his weight is perfect-he's solid as a rock & very active. Pic is after a good hard play at daycare.


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## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks for your post Brocksmom. He looks wonderful and I think he eats better than I do ? 
Jukes


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

Honestly, I'm going to say she looks pretty good to me. Especially in that top view photo. The side view she might look a tiny bit thin (like maybe 1-2 lbs). But you definitely would rather she be slightly too thin than slightly too fat. I tend to adjust my dog's food intake according to how much activity she had during the day. I feed the same amount every morning; but then in the evening if she's had a particularly active day, I feed a little bit extra; and if she's had a particularly inactive day, I feed a little less. People are too used to seeing overweight-obese dogs and many people think their overweight dog is at a good weight because of this.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

While it is good to have them lean while growing to keep excess weight of the developing hips, you don't want them thin or skinny. 2 cups is far too little for a growing puppy past 10 or 12 weeks. I move my pups to 3 cups a day over 3 meals at 10 weeks and whatever they don't eat in 20 min a pick up. By 12 weeks they are finishing 3 cups a day. I will go to 2 meals a day at roughly 4.5 months old and still give 3 cups till I switch to adult food at about 9 months maybe 10 months. I only adjust based on body condition not age.


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## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks Goldens and Friesans. I like the idea of adjusting the evening meal.
Maggie's Voice: thanks for your comments. My Maggie would finish an entire bag and attack the next one so I don't think she would ever leave food. We are upping her to 3 cups a day so hopefully that will work. 
Jules


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

JulesAK said:


> Thanks Erm for the feedback. We are getting ready to reduce feedings down to twice a day so I will increase each one a bit more. Maybe 2 1/2 cups a day to start.


Personally, I would almost double that amount. Young dogs need more food than adult dogs. He's gonna burn all those calories growing up. I'd give him 2 cups per meal, twice a day and see how that goes.

I currently have 7 Goldens and have raised a lot more than that. Every puppy is different. But they all require more food than you'd expect during their "teens."


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

Your Maggie must be like my April! LOL! My vet asked me once how much I was feeding her (this was when she was a puppy-like maybe 12-16 weeks). His advice to me was to let her eat as much as she wants for 15 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't follow his instructions because she would've devoured the entire bag of food in 15 minutes and been looking for more! I worked as a groomer for my vet, so he knew he could tell me if she was too fat or too thin without me getting upset with him, and he always told me her weight looked great-I just never told him I didn't follow his advice for allowing her to eat anything for 15 minutes, lol! I think how much you feed and how long you leave the bowl out is a very individual thing depending on the dog. I watched my cousin's border collie for a couple weeks once and they had been having trouble getting her to eat (they were actually force feeding her!). Part of the problem is that she was a bit overweight and just not hungry, the other part was she was just too busy/distracted (she was a CRAZY demon puppy-like think of the worst puppy of any breed you've ever seen and this puppy makes it look like an angel!). But I started putting her food out for 15 minutes, than taking it up. She quickly learned to eat when it was out, and eventually lost that extra weight because my cousins listened to my advice and fed her a bit less and picked up the bowl after 15 minutes. So it just depends on the dog. Ask your vet for his/her honest opinion about your dog's weight-tell him/her you just really want to know so you can keep her at a healthy lean weight.


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## MushyB (Oct 31, 2018)

I just weighed Barkley (he's 1 week shy of 6 months) and he's 48.4lbs. I'm still feeding 3x/day, 3.5cups: 1 cup am/pm & 1.5 cups at lunchtime. Starting tomorrow I'm going to begin weaning him off his lunchtime, adding 1/4 cup to AM/PM over 7-10 days until the lunch time feeding is gone...we'll see how it goes, our boy loves his mealtimes!

Just this weekend, a friend that hasn't seen Barkley stopped by and the first thing he said was "Oh my God, feed your dog, he's so skinny!", and quite honestly, knowing how overweight his dogs are, I just laughed it off. Tomorrow we get his Lyme/Rattlesnake boosters, and I'll check with my vet to make sure he's on the right track weight-wise, but having had multiple Goldens, and struggled with weight with most of them, while B is still growing, I think keeping him on the leaner side will be better for him in the long run.


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## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

DanaRuns said:


> Personally, I would almost double that amount. Young dogs need more food than adult dogs. He's gonna burn all those calories growing up. I'd give him 2 cups per meal, twice a day and see how that goes.
> 
> I currently have 7 Goldens and have raised a lot more than that. Every puppy is different. But they all require more food than you'd expect during their "teens."


My husband corrected me that we are actually feeding her 2 1/2 cups a day. I was using the feeding guide on the bag that said for a 50 lb adult dog, at 5-6 months she should have 2 1/3 cups. I thought that meant per day? Now I feel bad if I wasn't feeding her enough 

She is such a small thing that I will just have to watch her. She is going to be so happy about the extra food in her bowl  

I really appreciate everyone replies.

Jules


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## David Pearson (Aug 30, 2018)

Jules, Luna is running about the same shape as Stuart. Stuart is taller so he will weight more and 27 weeks old now. I did up his intake to 3 1/2 cups a day. Lean is good 

Is it time to start feeding them twice a day? 

I will see if I can get some good photos of Stuart in the next day or so posted. 

Lean is good for puppies, bottom of Paragraph 5 : https://www.grca.org/about-the-bree...r-obtaining-a-healthy-golden-retriever-puppy/


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

JulesAK said:


> My husband corrected me that we are actually feeding her 2 1/2 cups a day. I was using the feeding guide on the bag that said for a 50 lb adult dog, at 5-6 months she should have 2 1/3 cups. I thought that meant per day? Now I feel bad if I wasn't feeding her enough
> 
> She is such a small thing that I will just have to watch her. She is going to be so happy about the extra food in her bowl
> 
> ...


The bag of food recommended amount listed will always be for the daily feedings. So if it says 2.5 cups... is per day not per meal. You just break that amount into how many feedings you give per day.


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## MushyB (Oct 31, 2018)

JulesAK said:


> My husband corrected me that we are actually feeding her 2 1/2 cups a day. I was using the feeding guide on the bag that said for a 50 lb adult dog, at 5-6 months she should have 2 1/3 cups. I thought that meant per day? Now I feel bad if I wasn't feeding her enough
> 
> She is such a small thing that I will just have to watch her. She is going to be so happy about the extra food in her bowl
> 
> ...


Definitely ask your vet: females are typically smaller/lighter than males, and she looks perfect in her photos to me (my totally untrained, non-dog-rearing-expert (ha!) eye), but everything I've read is that when they are forming their bones/muscles as "teens", so you bump up their food, then once they hit adulthood, decrease the food to maintain their adult weight. 

Barkley has definitely gone through a few phases where it seems like he's got all this extra skin (his little face is so squishy! Freakin' adorable), then all of the sudden, he's just taller. His tail has it's own mind - it's crazy long to me! It's been amazing to watch the process of him growing up; a bit of me almost wants him to just stop here because he's so dang cute, and I can still pick him up, but he's going to be lovely at his adult weight too. 

Hope Maggie enjoys her extra food tomorrow!! :grin2:


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