I used to feed my doggy poison. :D

[renki]

Also illbewaiting, how much does your dog weigh, or do you have pictures of them being "skinny". Often dogs at a healthy weight are labeled "skinny" but I understand that because it was only up until a year ago I educated myself on proper weight for dogs. Some dogs are different than others, some will stay at a decent weight even though you feed them a ton, others will get fat in the blink of an eye.

Well he used to be a stray dog before I took him home. The day I adopted him I took him to the vet too. His weight was 35 kg/77 lbs. Which is not enough for a German Shepherd. The vet told me he should be around 45kg.
4 months later he still looks skinny to me. Even his ribs are visible. Maybe the reason is that he's 8 years old?
Here are some pics:

Its a medium haired down so it makes it harder to tell. Can you have someone hold his head and stand behind him while he is standing and get a picture?

Bella is a pure bred bull mastiff. she should be weighing 100 to 120. Though, she looks best at a good weight for her is 90's. With that type of coat its hard to tell. Please refer back to the link I sent you.

It goes based on the body type... not all goes in a breed weigh the same

[MoonfallTheFox]

That shepherd looks healthy to me.

[renki]

That shepherd looks healthy to me.

I do agree but I would like another angle

[fish7]

I refuse to feed my dogs most brands of dog food, especially Iams, Pedigree, and Beneful. I also refuse to feed them Blue Buffalo due to the idiotic commercials. They don't need any money. C: I've found through my research that the best brand so far is Halo. Orijen is also good however Evo (which I used to feed them) was taken over by the Iams company. Anyways, this may sound slightly creepy, but I taste all of my dog's food. ._. The majority of them taste like salty cardboard, but a few taste like yummy crackers. (Oh, btw, I don't eat dog food often in case that's what you're thinking. That would be disturbing >_<)

[.yuanfen]

I wish we could afford Orijen...

When we adopted my dog, they gave us the info that he'd been eating Hill's Science Diet for his time in the shelter; and they gave us a large bag of Science Diet after we adopted him.
However, he didn't seem to like it all that much. We found this to be 100% true a few months later, when we decided to experiment with Natural Balance. We mixed it in with Science Diet, as directed.
Guess what?
He picked out the pieces of Natural Balance, ate those, and then left the Science Diet in the bowl. Any attempts to feed him Science Diet were futile.

I read that a lot of dogs don't like Science Diet, as well as a rumor that Science Diet is sponsored so much by vets and shelters because the company sponsors veterinary courses.

And then we discovered Blue Buffalo; we tried that, and he is very healthy with Blue Buffalo (With Natural Balance he had loose stools and overall wasn't as healthy as he is now). He really likes it, too; this is the only time I see him really excited about his food.

[renki]

I wish we could afford Orijen...

When we adopted my dog, they gave us the info that he'd been eating Hill's Science Diet for his time in the shelter; and they gave us a large bag of Science Diet after we adopted him.
However, he didn't seem to like it all that much. We found this to be 100% true a few months later, when we decided to experiment with Natural Balance. We mixed it in with Science Diet, as directed.
Guess what?
He picked out the pieces of Natural Balance, ate those, and then left the Science Diet in the bowl. Any attempts to feed him Science Diet were futile.

I read that a lot of dogs don't like Science Diet, as well as a rumor that Science Diet is sponsored so much by vets and shelters because the company sponsors veterinary courses.

And then we discovered Blue Buffalo; we tried that, and he is very healthy with Blue Buffalo (With Natural Balance he had loose stools and overall wasn't as healthy as he is now). He really likes it, too; this is the only time I see him really excited about his food.

probably because it was bug infested! ugh! I have nothing good to say about science diet ... -.-

[Dakonic]

That shepherd looks healthy to me.

I do agree but I would like another angle

I agree. When looking at a dog's weight it should go by the individual not the breed. Ribs aren't a bad thing but you shouldn't to be able to count them all visually. (not feeling, you should be able to feel them.) Something my vet always tells her customers. Make a fist. Rub your fingers across the fisted fingers, that is similar to what your dogs ribs should feel like. You want to feel the very top of the hip caps as well.

Decent picture reference

[Darkest.Nation]

I feed my Mini Schnauzers Natural Balance (after Merrick and Nature's Variety, due to loss of availability) and they seem to be at a healthy weight. I can feel their ribs, but not really see them. They are muscular and hardy, too. They can definately take a beating if they run into a fence (which they did once... they got excited).

Does anyone perhaps have a dog food that might be better for them that is around the same price and "plan" as Natural Balance? My schnauzers cannot take a high protein diet (like Innova that people feed their Akitas, Shephards or Malamutes) due to their breed, but I'd like afor the food to be mainly meat, with grains, minerals, vegetables, fruit and vitamins as well. Also, my male dog has a sensitive stomach and choking problem, so perhaps dog food with sensitive stomach/grain-free and small breed forumulas or wet food formulas? Our schnauzers also have the schnauzer bumps, so I need a forumla that perhaps controls the bumps and perhaps lessens the "sleep" that gets on their eyes?

I buy my food at Petco (for US, perhaps Canada?), not to get off topic. They have a good selection of dog food there, and their stores and animals (my parakeets <3) always seem to be much cleaner and healtheir. But that's just my opinion. Let's see, near me they sell Solid Gold, Wellness (which seems to be top-rated and most popular), Halo, Eagle Pack, Innova, Holistic Select, AvoDerm, and some others I can't name at the moment.

[hippie.mouse.]

Thanks for the info!! I'll keep it in mind when buying food for my golden retriever!!

[~illbewaiting]

That shepherd looks healthy to me.

I do agree but I would like another angle

I agree. When looking at a dog's weight it should go by the individual not the breed. Ribs aren't a bad thing but you shouldn't to be able to count them all visually. (not feeling, you should be able to feel them.) Something my vet always tells her customers. Make a fist. Rub your fingers across the fisted fingers, that is similar to what your dogs ribs should feel like. You want to feel the very top of the hip caps as well.

Decent picture reference

Thank you for the advise ^-^ His ribs are visible but I can't see them all.
I'd try to make some pictures from other angles but It's rainy outside so I can't.
Maybe he is healthy. It's just me being paranoic about my pet's health.