Skinny-Shamed By Pet Store. Is My Greyhound Too Thin?

[Guest CleverJason]

I took Baron to a pet store yesterday to get his nails trimmed, and the grooming employee told me he was way too skinny and badly needed to put on weight. Which surprised me, because I thought Baron was at a pretty healthy weight. The groomer admitted that she rarely saw greyhounds. So, I would greatly appreciate the opinions of the people here who often see greyhounds! Is Baron too skinny?

 

Some things to keep in mind: He is a tall, broad-chested greyhound. His racing weight was 80 pounds, to give you an idea of how big he is. His ribs and back ridges will probably always be visible given his build.

 

[Houndtime]

He looks fine to me.

[duncan41]

Baron looks like my boy, Dalton. Dalton is a big boy, too, and although Greyhound-Data says Dalton raced at 74 lbs, at 76 lbs he looks emaciated! He now weighs 78 lbs and looks perfect!

 

If Baron feels good, eats well, good poops, has been given a clean bill of health by your Vet, then I would just assume that the grooming person's comments came from lack of exposure to Greyhounds.

[PatricksMom]

Looks fine to me. I think the fawns look skinnier at the same weight as other colored greyhounds. Plus, she probably had no idea what she was talking about.

[Guest BiggiesOwner]

I think he looks healthy - we had a woman at the dog park with an obese boxer (the poor dog looked miserable - barely able to run) telling us how we really need to feed our greyhound more because she could see his ribs. Then she proceeded to tell us how her dog loves the candy and pasta and gets to eat whatever he wants....

 

Different people have different opinions on dog weights - stick to your gut about what is right for your dog - we certainly ignored the pasta & candy diet lady!

[fionasmom]

He looks like my bridge boy Andy. He was a big rangy guy about 85 lb. He ate 5 cups a day and no matter what,his backbone was always quite visible.

[inugrey]

I find it absurd that the groomer volunteered such a strong opinion and then admitted to not seeing or knowing the breed. She's a groomer in a pet store, not someone with knowledge. Your dog looks perfect. You want to see some bones on a greyhound.

[Time4ANap]

Go with your gut and what your vet says.

 

I try to keep Rocket at 4-5 lbs over his racing weight because i think he looks better and feels better at that weight. That being said, he is actually too heavy at the moment because of our lack of walks this past Winter. He is slowly working it off, but he also is starting to get that
"senior build. " Even with the extra pounds, he is happy and healthy, but I know those Winter pounds will shed off of him soon since we are back to 2-3 walks a day.

[DonnaBehr]

He looks greyt!!!

[Guest AimeeBee]

He looks perfectly fine to me! Not too thin, not like a "labrador on stilts". I wouldn't give that groomer any more thought.

[krissy]

You should see ribs on a greyhound. He looks fine.

 

The problem is most dogs are overweight. In my practice I would say that at least 60% of the dogs/cats I see are overweight to some degree.

 

A fat greyhound is a very sad sight to see. (A fat any dog is a sad sight to see, really).

[KristenMichele]

I get that all the time too. " LOOK how skinny that dog is" , " they need to feed that dog more" Fanny's racing weight was 56lbs and she weights 55.6lbs. She's a greyhound not a lab that looks like a tick!! Lol!!

[OwnedBySummer]

He's gorgeous!

[ZoomDoggy]

If he is at or slightly above his racing weight, and you can't see more than a hint of the last three ribs near his abdomen, then his weight is fine. That groomer obviously doesn't know the breed (as she admitted) and shouldn't have spouted off an uneducated opinion. I shouldn't be amazed anymore at how rude people can be. One time as I was walking my big beautiful male grey, two overweight women made a point to observe within earshot that my dog "sure could use a sandwich." I turned back to them and observed that they sure could use to skip a few sandwiches, since we were all offering unsolicited opinions.

Thankfully, more often than the annoying critical comments, I tend to get compliments on my dogs when out in public. People have stopped their cars in the middle of the street to roll down their window to shout to me how gorgeous my dogs are.

[Guest larock]

He looks fine to me.

Ditto

[ozgirl2]

Lee Livingood (who wrote the Greyhounds for Dummies book) gave a really good way to tell what a good weight for your grey is.

 

Make a fist and run your fingers over your knuckles - that's too skinny for a grey's ribs

Now run your fingers over the back of your hand - that's too 'fat' for a grey's ribs

Now run your fingers over your fisted fingers - THAT'S what you should feel of a grey's ribs.

 

I really liked this analogy!!

[MP_the4pack]

He looks perfect. What I am finding out is that most people think FAT dogs are a good weight. I am sickened by the number of obese pets out there. Not just a little overweight, but downright obese. And people think that's a good weight. I keep my girls a smidge overweight....like maybe 3-5 lbs. But really, most people have become accustomed to seeing fat dogs.

[Sambuca]

He looks fine to me.

 

My response would have been "I was at the vet last week and he said the dog looks fantastic. Are you a vet?"

[Remolacha]

He looks perfectly fine to me, ignore the groomer!

[scullysmum]

One word... No!

[seeh2o]

He looks just right to me and very handsome. Aside from not knowing what a greyhound should look like, she's probably used to seeing overweight dogs, so her world experience is skewed in the wrong direction. Take what she said with a grain of salt.

[NeylasMom]

I find it absurd that the groomer volunteered such a strong opinion and then admitted to not seeing or knowing the breed. She's a groomer in a pet store, not someone with knowledge. Your dog looks perfect. You want to see some bones on a greyhound.

 

My answer: "Actually, greyhounds are meant to have a streamlined build. It's part of their many adaptations for speed. A greyhound at a healthy weight will always have the tips of his hipbones and the outline of a few ribs showing. In fact, one of the great things about them is that if you keep them at a healthy weight, they don't have issues like hip dysplasia that many other large breeds do." or something along those lines.

 

In other words, I know what I'm talking about and my dog is at a healthy weight. You on the other hand have no clue what you're talking about and what you're suggesting would likely lead to medical issues in my dog. Now piss off.

[Guest CleverJason]

If he is at or slightly above his racing weight, and you can't see more than a hint of the last three ribs near his abdomen, then his weight is fine. That groomer obviously doesn't know the breed (as she admitted) and shouldn't have spouted off an uneducated opinion. I shouldn't be amazed anymore at how rude people can be. One time as I was walking my big beautiful male grey, two overweight women made a point to observe within earshot that my dog "sure could use a sandwich." I turned back to them and observed that they sure could use to skip a few sandwiches, since we were all offering unsolicited opinions.

 

 

He looks fine to me.

 

My response would have been "I was at the vet last week and he said the dog looks fantastic. Are you a vet?"

Haha, I was tempted to say something snarky, but I didn't want her to take it out on Baron! And I wasn't sure that she was wrong. Thanks everyone! I appreciate the confirmation that he's just fine. If you don't know your hounds, don't comment on the pounds.

[NeylasMom]

If he is at or slightly above his racing weight, and you can't see more than a hint of the last three ribs near his abdomen, then his weight is fine. That groomer obviously doesn't know the breed (as she admitted) and shouldn't have spouted off an uneducated opinion. I shouldn't be amazed anymore at how rude people can be. One time as I was walking my big beautiful male grey, two overweight women made a point to observe within earshot that my dog "sure could use a sandwich." I turned back to them and observed that they sure could use to skip a few sandwiches, since we were all offering unsolicited opinions.

I would have loved to have been there to witness that.

 

I find that generally the comments I get about my dogs being skinny aren't ill-intentioned and with a little explanation people get it, but I wouldn't take as kindly to a "professional" who admitted she didn't know much about the breed and still felt she could tell me he was too fat. Which is why while I'd still be nicely explaining the facts, inside I'd be telling her to piss off.

[silverfish]

He looks fine, though some would say if you can see that much of the hip pointers he is underweight. Having said that ...

Lee Livingood (who wrote the Greyhounds for Dummies book) gave a really good way to tell what a good weight for your grey is.

 

Make a fist and run your fingers over your knuckles - that's too skinny for a grey's ribs

Now run your fingers over the back of your hand - that's too 'fat' for a grey's ribs

Now run your fingers over your fisted fingers - THAT'S what you should feel of a grey's ribs.

 

I really liked this analogy!!

 

If I used that analogy for Sid he'd certainly be fat! He is an odd build, but then quite a few of our greyhounds don't conform to the 'norm'.