How skinny is too skinny?

Food, Fitness and how to keep them healthy.

Postby mnp13 » June 12th, 2006, 10:03 pm

msvette2u wrote:
Admittedly, he has lost a little muscle, but not much.


Loss of muscle mass, especially in a working dog, combined with the ribs and backbone showing, IS a concern. And yes the former photos showed more muscle mass.


there is a difference between running around in a kennel all day and being in a crate. He gets exercise, but not as much as he used to. when he is in the house or yard he never stops moving. I'm sure he ran 10 miles a day in his kennel, he doesn't do that now.

My dog is not starving, he has lost muscle because when you don't use muscle it gets smaller.
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby Marinepits » June 12th, 2006, 10:08 pm

mnp13 wrote:when you don't use muscle it gets smaller.


Happened to me once I stopped going to the gym. Not so buff anymore. :(
Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.
User avatar
Marinepits
Proud Infidel
 
Posts: 15621
Location: New England

Postby mnp13 » June 12th, 2006, 10:12 pm

Marinepits wrote:
mnp13 wrote:when you don't use muscle it gets smaller.


Happened to me once I stopped going to the gym. Not so buff anymore. :(


Honey, I'd kill for that figure... don't complain to me.

I'd look like a Granny Smith apple if I wore the sweater you had on in Enfield!
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby Marinepits » June 12th, 2006, 10:24 pm

mnp13 wrote:
Marinepits wrote:
mnp13 wrote:when you don't use muscle it gets smaller.


Happened to me once I stopped going to the gym. Not so buff anymore. :(


Honey, I'd kill for that figure... don't complain to me.

I'd look like a Granny Smith apple if I wore the sweater you had on in Enfield!


Thanks! :oops:

And, no you wouldn't.
Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.
User avatar
Marinepits
Proud Infidel
 
Posts: 15621
Location: New England

Postby bouvierz » June 12th, 2006, 11:13 pm

Michelle-

When I do investigtions I use a BCS (Body Condition Score) And if the dog scores less than a 4 I usually issue a vet slip or if the dog was just seen by a vet then we ask that their vet contacts us . Now of course we have to know what the breed is suppose to look like... I dont expect a greyhound to look like a mastiff. :wink: In the original pic you can see the dogs ribs, spine and his chest apears sunken in. Im sure its just a bad pic. But if he looked like that in real life he would be considered thin not lean. Someone made a statement that their dog are lean and ACO hasn't taking their dog yet... Well first of All Im not an ACO Im a cruelty investigator (big difference in my area anyway) and we arent out there just taking peoples dogs away. Its a case by case baises. I only remove peoples animals if their in immediate danger or if the people refuse to comply with corrections that need to be made. Pictures can be deceiving I took courses on taking good photos of investigations and its easy to take a deceiving photo. :D
User avatar
bouvierz
Hyper Adolescent Bully
 
Posts: 326
Location: Upstate NY

Postby mnp13 » June 12th, 2006, 11:21 pm

bouvierz wrote:Pictures can be deceiving I took courses on taking good photos of investigations and its easy to take a deceiving photo. :D


lol

like the "before and after" weight loss photos - which are often taken within 5 minutes.

Yes, that first picture is bad. It is an excellent example of how a bad stack will ruin your chances in a show ring. Luckily I had already won BOB!!

I don't deny that he is lean, and could probably do fine with two or three more pounds, but I don't think he is anywhere near as thin as people seem to be making him out to be.
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby SisMorphine » June 13th, 2006, 7:57 am

mnp13 wrote:Image

*psst* You're going to see more muscle tone when a dog is standing like that anyway because it's an un-natural position so the muscles jut out more :)
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France
SisMorphine
They're like service dogs gone wrong.
 
Posts: 9233
Location: PR

Postby mnp13 » June 13th, 2006, 9:39 am

Hopefully it will be bright and sunny later this week and I'm going to take a picture from the same angle so I can actually compare.
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby muse » June 13th, 2006, 11:04 am

This thread has been SO helpful to me. Ive always thought that a dog with some fat on them was the way a dog was supposed to look. I never really looked at my Jess and thought she was fat. I always saw her as thick.

After reading this thread and seeing the pics of Riggs I know I was mistaken. The idea of muscle vs fat never really occured to me since Jess is just naturally muscle heavy. Id much rather her muscle tone show as some of your dogs do instead of a smooth all over look. I think they look amazingly well conditioned.

The muscle tone is probably one of the things I like most about this breed. But I think I shied away from it because of the image I had of pit bulls. So I softened mine up some, made them appear less threatening. Now, I realize that this, Riggs being one example, is truely how a pit bull should look.

So thanks for this thread, it opened up my views.
The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.
User avatar
muse
Confident Young Bully
 
Posts: 544
Location: Maryland

Postby dogcrazyjen » June 13th, 2006, 1:03 pm

Tallulah was 43 pounds when I got her. She is 16.5 inches at the shoulder. Since going on raw, she is down to 37 pounds. I can fit her collar around her waist!

However, you can hardly see ribs, no backbone showing, and muscle sicking out all over. She bounces when she walks, like a lightweight boxer. She has energy, and stamina. I think that watching how the dog moves and how long it can function without rest is a good indication of muscle and health.

Jack, my Dal/Whippet mix is so thin you can see both rib and spine, he is 35 pounds and about 22". He eats as much as Tess, who is taller and 20 pounds heavier. However, when he walks his hips swivel because there is so much muscle in his thighs. He ran on two teams in flyball this weekend, which meant over the weekend he ran nearly 90 heats. An out of shape dog would not have been able to do that.

Pics are very misleading. I think that it is obvious when they are emiaciated, but the line between toned and ,and just thin, can be hard to see in a pic.
dogcrazyjen
Devoutly Bully
 
Posts: 922
Location: FingerLakes NY

Postby PittieLove » June 17th, 2006, 10:46 pm

My dog shows rid and tone without any work. I havent been "getting him out there" only a few walks and fetch in the backyard. He is in great shape for just that.
Some dogs are just TO skinny, and people wont admit it, thats really annoying. (no one on here is like that, so far..)
Bulldog Pride.
User avatar
PittieLove
Confident Young Bully
 
Posts: 478
Location: Orlando, Florida

Postby rockermom » June 18th, 2006, 9:29 am

PittieLove wrote:My dog shows rid and tone without any work. I havent been "getting him out there" only a few walks and fetch in the backyard. He is in great shape for just that.
Some dogs are just TO skinny, and people wont admit it, thats really annoying. (no one on here is like that, so far..)


Yeah me too wonder how Rocky would be if I exercised him as much as I should. People always comment on what great condition he is in. does not really play fetch. But now that my son has begun running him I suppose he will get even more muscle. Although I dont care to see ribs He is quite thin looking without ribs showing.
User avatar
rockermom
Supremely Bully
 
Posts: 1085

Postby Romanwild » June 18th, 2006, 12:26 pm

I went to Michelle's cottage last night to visit her and her parents.

For the record Riggs looks extrememly healthy and ripped. He is high energy and does not want to let go of the tug! Ruby is looking her usual beautiful self.

On the other hand that biotch Michelle said my dogs were fat! :evil:

I will probably not get invited back since Dreyfus broke a frame and I broke a bench. :|
User avatar
Romanwild
I live here
 
Posts: 2931
Location: Watertown NY

Postby Malli » June 18th, 2006, 11:25 pm

:lol3:
User avatar
Malli
E-I-E-I-O!
 
Posts: 6341
Location: CANADA EH?

Postby mnp13 » June 19th, 2006, 2:24 am

Sorry Charlie... your dogs need SlimFast. :fastRoll: You stop feeding your dogs and I'll start feeding mine. Deal? lol

I did get lectured for calling your dogs fat though. :oops:

My dad fixed the bench, much to my mom's dismay, as she was hoping it would be taking a trip to the fire pit next weekend.
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby lipshipsattitude » June 20th, 2006, 4:09 pm

Here is Rory's ribs, they always show, I never gave a second thought to it since she eats a lot and the vet said she was healthy. I guess I was always a lil more curious about the sucked in tummy some seem to have. My mom swore for the longest time that my girl had worms but I kept telling her no, they are all like that.
Image
lipshipsattitude
Hyper Adolescent Bully
 
Posts: 254

Postby mnp13 » June 20th, 2006, 4:17 pm

She looks good.
Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
User avatar
mnp13
Evil Overlord
 
Posts: 17234
Location: Rochester, NY

Postby pitbullmamaliz » June 20th, 2006, 5:25 pm

I think she's boo-tiful! Inara's tummy gets all tucked up like that too when she's sniffing something or eating. She has a beautifully tucked waist normally, but it really sucks up sometimes!
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

http://www.pitbullzen.com
http://inaradog.wordpress.com
User avatar
pitbullmamaliz
Working out in the buff causes chafing
 
Posts: 15438
Location: Cleveland, OH

Postby PittieLove » June 21st, 2006, 1:34 am

I dont think my dog is skinny, he will be at conditioned weight in a week or two, i will post another picture then
Image
(you can see his ribs even if hes not doing whatever hes doing in that picture)
A dog is skinny, when he has little muscle mass or tone w/ rib, spine, and/or hip bone. A dog is fit when he has tone w/ ONLY rib.
Bulldog Pride.
User avatar
PittieLove
Confident Young Bully
 
Posts: 478
Location: Orlando, Florida

Postby DemoDick » June 23rd, 2006, 1:48 pm

A dog is skinny, when he has little muscle mass or tone w/ rib, spine, and/or hip bone. A dog is fit when he has tone w/ ONLY rib.


Sometimes, but not always. You can see my dog's ribs and spine and he's certainly not "skinny", he's ripped. It's just the way he's put together. His spinal column sits above his loins and that makes his vertebrae stick out. Ruby is the opposite. Her spine sits low in her back muscles and even when conditioned you can't see it.

Demo Dick
"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama
"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge
User avatar
DemoDick
They Like to Fondle My Gun
 
Posts: 1910
Location: New York

PreviousNext

Return to Nutrition & Health

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

cron