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

[Charlies_Dad]

He looks great! Pls ignore those who provide these comments.

[Busderpuddle]

I think he looks completely normal.............

[XTRAWLD]

The last 2 ribs should be visible, and they look like they are. Most ppl that aren't familiar with greys don't know any better. Just brush the comment off as best you can.

 

About the hip bones - Ryder's hip bones remain visible even as he got excessively tubby.....so you can try to get rid of those, it just might not go completely.

Edited May 5, 2014 by XTRAWLD

[RedHead]

If most other dog breeds looked like greyhounds (ribs, hips, spine showing) they would be underweight. Groomers, vets, etc. are often given those little diagrams showing overweight and underweight dogs. So...in defence of the groomer, if she is going by the general rules, your dog could be seen as underweight to someone who is not familiar with sighthounds. Maybe if you go again, you could show her what the ideal greyhound standard is. I agree, too many dogs are overweight, people's perception of overweight and underweight is often off.

[IansMom]

He's perfect!

[a_daerr]

Skip a few sandwiches...

[sobesmom]

It's VERY common for people that aren't around greys a lot to comment that a grey is "too thin". And - for most dogs - a grey's build would indicate underweight. So they're not "wrong" - just not knowledgeable about this certain breed, which has a "different" physique.

 

Get used to it - and just blow it off. Sometimes you can educate a bit "greys naturally run thin" but that's enough. Don't take offense - and don't try to "correct". Just roll with it. If you have a grey - you will ALWAYS get comments from people about their build. It's not their fault - they probably mean well - just roll with it.

Edited May 7, 2014 by sobesmom

[sobesmom]

If most other dog breeds looked like greyhounds (ribs, hips, spine showing) they would be underweight. Groomers, vets, etc. are often given those little diagrams showing overweight and underweight dogs. So...in defence of the groomer, if she is going by the general rules, your dog could be seen as underweight to someone who is not familiar with sighthounds. Maybe if you go again, you could show her what the ideal greyhound standard is. I agree, too many dogs are overweight, people's perception of overweight and underweight is often off.

I agree. Given general "dog health" standards - visually - greys look underweight. To a person trained to visually evaluate all breeds of dogs by "normal" dog standards - a groomer "would" think a grey (all of our greys) was underweight. If I saw a lab that was built like my (now overweight) grey I'd mention that he was underweight.

[Guest jettcricket]

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.

My thoughts exactly.

[Guest MZH]

Here ya go. How to Know if Your Greyhound is at the Proper Weight http://wp.me/pKYhj-28b

 

It's got photos and a chart. It will surely let you know if you're feeding correctly or not.

 

Edited May 7, 2014 by MZH

[cometdust1]

This article was posted by Nittany greyhounds to facebook today. My boy is overweight. It's very good and has pictures and a chart showing racing weight vs pet weight. the link is www.greytarticles.wordpress.com/feeding-nutrition/how-to-know-if-your-greyhound-is-at-the-proper-weight/. Sorry, I don't know how to make it so you can click on it.

Edited May 7, 2014 by cometdust1

[Guest MZH]

The link I posted above your post is a hot link but I don't know how to repost it either! LOL

[FiveRoooooers]

Linky

[Guest MZH]

How'd you do that, Jan?

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Looks like he is ready to race to me

[FiveRoooooers]

How'd you do that, Jan?

Highlight the text that you want as the link, then click on the "link" icon in the toolbar (B I U, it's the ninth one) and paste the weblink in the bottom box, click ok.

[MP_the4pack]

Someone at GIG had a very obese grey. Looked like a lab. I didn't say anything, but I wanted to.

 

But according to the Nittany article, my girls are fine. (Bwat's a little underweight, just a tad, Emma is perfect and Tanzi is fine or maybe a lb overweight. Just a tad)

[Guest FoolishLemming]

So if I'm reading that article correctly, retired greyhounds should be at or slightly under racing weight? It's so hard to tell when you are new to greyhounds! I'm constantly going back and forth whether I think my dog needs to lose just a bit or if I think he's ok where he is. Right now, I can see spine and ribs, but I can't see clear definition on his hips. I guess I need to get a more recent weight on him until I have a better feel for where he should be.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that he's a bit on the pudgey side though.

[Sambuca]

Honestly, weight is just a number. Look at body condition, that's what really matters. The dogs will probably lose some muscle and gain some fat. That makes them lose weight. I will adjust food based on what my dogs look like and not necessarily the number on a scale.

[Feisty49]

So if I'm reading that article correctly, retired greyhounds should be at or slightly under racing weight? It's so hard to tell when you are new to greyhounds! I'm constantly going back and forth whether I think my dog needs to lose just a bit or if I think he's ok where he is. Right now, I can see spine and ribs, but I can't see clear definition on his hips. I guess I need to get a more recent weight on him until I have a better feel for where he should be.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that he's a bit on the pudgey side though.

 

The article doesn't say a GH should always be at or slightly under racing weight. The second example picture in the article shows a male at a racing weight of 74 lbs. (too thin) and the same male at 88 lbs. after having lost a few pounds. The chart at the bottom of the article doesn't make a lot of sense because it indicates that the racing weight is also overweight. Can't have it both ways.

 

Baron looks terrific.

 

Annie raced at 61 pounds. When I adopted her out of a foster home, she weighed 69 pounds. She now weighs 64-65 pounds and looks perfect: great waist, 2-3 ribs (maybe not 3 ribs 5 minutes after a meal), nice hip bones. I wish I could say the same for myself. LOL

 

When I'm questioned about her weight and her being skinny I take it as an opportunity to educate people about Greyhounds and what makes them healthy. I've never had someone be snarky about it.

[Guest k9soul]

I think what the chart is saying is that that range can be overweight, and for some dogs if they replace muscle with fat (since it takes more fat to equal the weight of a smaller amount of muscle) even their racing weight may be a bit overweight. That's how I read it anyway.

 

As for the dog first pictured, in my opinion he looks perfect!

Edited May 8, 2014 by k9soul

[KF_in_Georgia]

Both my dogs had a 5-pound range in their racing weights! With that much variation in their posted weights, if I let either dog get at the top of their race weights - let alone over - I'd have two labs on my hands.

 

Silver raced at 55 to 61 pounds. I focused on her wins, and most of them were about 57 pounds. Her weight now falls between 56 and 57 pounds. Hip bones are visible; ribs, less so. She's 9 and has been out of racing since January 2009. I've had her since August 2011. She was dumped by a previous owner and picked up by AC when she weighed 51 pounds. Her weight has stayed stable at 56 except when she was helping angel Sam finish his meals last year, but I got her weight down again after he died.

 

Tigger raced at 67 to 72 pounds. Most of his wins were at 70 pounds. He weighs just over 68. His ribs aren't visible, and neither are his hip bones, although they're all easy to feel. I may get him down to the point where there are visible hip bones, but I'm not going to worry too much about that. He's 7 and has been out of racing since September 2011. I've had him since November 2013. He's a bounce from a previous home; he came back to SEGA weighing 68, and his weight has stayed there.

 

Both dogs get weighed every couple of weeks. A local pet store has scales where customers can check.

[NeylasMom]

Weight depends a lot on muscle mass. Since Zuri developed LS its been harder to keep him conditioned and his weight has dropped dramatically. One of the reasons why I don't think its worth paying attention to racing weight. I just go buy how my dogs look.

[greypop]

Weight depends a lot on muscle mass. Since Zuri developed LS its been harder to keep him conditioned and his weight has dropped dramatically. One of the reasons why I don't think its worth paying attention to racing weight. I just go buy how my dogs look.

[Brandiandwe]

I was just remembering taking Brandi to a new vet. He's the go to guy for all of the racing dogs in our area, so he see a lot of greys. We were taking a medical history, and I told him that apart from the peeing issues, she seemed perfectly healthy, and didn't look too bad. He agreed and commented that 'She's looking pretty good!' I grinned and said 'You know, I was just comparing her to the racing dogs here, and thinking that she could definitely stand to lose a couple of kilos.' He laughed and told me that, yes she could, but for a pet, she was looking pretty good.

 

She's since been switched to a raw diet and has lost the weight. I'm seeing him again in a couple of weeks so I'm looking forward to his input. I know when I've got my dogs 'right' when breeders, trainers and vets in the industry look at them and tell me that they look fantastic. And this means that other people's opinions don't really matter as much.

 

The only thing that really bugs me about their weight is that the old truism about owners starting to look like their dogs hasn't really happened for me yet. I'm still a bit overweight, but my dogs groove along looking awesome. Which probably means that if I paid as much attention to my own health and diet as I do to the dogs' I'd look pretty good too.