Jack too thin?

[GretaJack]

I have always taken a huge effort to make sure that I don't have fat Labs. Especially since Greta has a bum leg it is very important to make sure that her weight is kept in check.

Yesterday, once I got home for work and before I left for my night job, I was lounging with the wondermutts. Jack is laying on me and I am scratching him. He felt ribby to me. I make him get up and hold a stand. I examine him from all directions. From top view I definitely can see his rib cage, not a lot, but I can see it. Then from the side view I swear I could see ribs, too. I am ******** out. Not cool. I was stressing about all night at work. I get home and do the whole examine process again. Now he didn't seem so bad. So I accredit it to that fact he might of hit a growth spurt (Jack is 16 months old). He is starting to widen now, filling out nicely.

He is a picture of him from a couple of weeks ago and I don't think he looks thin at all. Please keep in mind that Jack is an english bred lab, bred for field trialing. He is not the heavy boned canadian that you see in dog shows. I have to steal the digital camera from work tonight to take some more pictures. Please tell me what you think.

[Dax]

He looks lean but not overly thin. It's a lot easier to fatten them up after they are 2 years of age than it is to take the weight off.

By they way what a beauty...

[erdog3]

He is just a little on the thin side, the neck should have deep folds, the rest should be fairly well built. You should only be able to see the last 2 ribs, if you can see any more than that, yep, feed him up.

[smehta1]

He looks beautiful. I had a similar fear with Chloe a month ago since I too could see her ribs from the top - but the vet said its normal and that she was perfect. But I'm not a lab expert...so maybe I'm not the right person to ask

[GretaJack]

I snuck home on a early lunch to let the dogs out. It was raining this morning so I let them stay in. Now it is quite nice ( for November in WI). After looking at these I do think Jack is too thin, especially in the last picture. I did worm all the critters about a week ago. The last pictures makes me want to take him to the vet immediately. If you compare them to the other picture I posted, he has lost weight dramatically. Let me know what you think..

[Lessica Jake]

He does look awfully skinny in that first picture. He has changed a bit since that other photo, but wasn't that a few weeks ago? Since he's an active animal, I'd feed him up for a couple days maybe before I took him in to the vet if there aren't any other changes in him or symptoms of anything else.

[dobermom]

He does look thin. I agree with Lessica, feed up a couple of days. He is a young active dog. I have watched Cliffords weight very close, when I weigh him if he hasn't gained I wonder why. I wouldn't panic, feed him big meals and keep a close eye on him.

[BabyElephant]

Poppy is from the "working breed" line of dogs and she too is going through various growth stages. He doesn't look too thin, but a little bit more weight wouldn't go amiss. If he is currently "filling out" then he will probably be OK in a few weeks, don't worry too much.

I have to say I know what you mean about people being used to the show breed of labs - I quite often get asked if Poppy is a "proper" lab!!

By the way, he looks very handsome, I'm sure Poppy will like him

[BabyElephant]

As Lessica says, he does look different from the other picture. I would say he looks too thin from these pictures. If he is still active, and otherwise acting normally then just feed him up and make sure he is eating all his alloted food.

If he changes in any way then I would take him to the vet. Weigh him today and then see how you go for a couple of days, he will probably be fine.

[lou3]

he's lean but very fit, fat dogs are terrible. he looks great to me.
Have to say though he's not a very typical example of an english bred lab, the preferred type over here IS what you describe as the canadian lab with heavy bones and a wide-set heavy head for both shows and field trials. This is a dog bred by a friend of mine who is much more typical of an english lab.