Is My Husky Too Thin?

[xjocelyn]

Saria is my 1 year and 4 months old Husky and I've had her ever since she was 2 months old. She has gone through many different dog foods (depending on availability) and she has not had any bad reactions, like diarrhea, to any of them. Her digestive system is pretty well, and has not had any vomiting other than car rides. At the moment, because I am not home too often, I leave her food bowl and water bowl full at all times during the day, but someone's always home. There's also many food bowls around the house (because she's not my only dog) that contain the same dog food since I buy the big containers. So I'm not completely sure how much she eats a day, but I do know that she fulfills herself and poops/pees regularly. Recently, a friend came over who used to have a huuuge Malamute and a Husky and commented that Saria looked too thin and that I was a terrible owner for letting her starve. Personally, I believe that Saria is perfectly healthy and fine, because she has not shown any sign that makes me think she's unhealthy.  Is Saria thin for her body build and for her age? Or is she perfectly fine?

 

The first picture of her is when she was a puppy at 2 months old.

The rest are recent as a 16 month old.

 

 

 

[Elyse]

She may just be going through her leggy stage - very skinny looking, they look like their all legs, etc.

 

My general rule of thumb: you should be able to feel a little bit of fat covering the ribs. If there's no fat at all, she might be underfed. Although, from the pictures, she looks fine. There isn't anyway you can monitor how much she eats? Maybe if she's fed separately in another room while someone watches?

 

Is there a way you can weigh her? Your vet should weigh her for free (just ask!), and if you have any pet stores around they might have a weigh scale too that you can use.

[xjocelyn]

She's around 60 pounds at the moment. I weighed myself and then weighed myself holding her and just subtracted it to find her weight , since it's the only way to get her on a scale lol

[Applebear]

She looks good to me, though the pictures are a bit hard to tell with her curled up and stretched out [which will make her appear thinner]. Like Solitary mentioned, she could just be going through that awkward teenager stage. Ro went through it, all legs. lol I still worry at times he's too thin, but most I ask, tell me he looks good...so I try to tell myself to stop being a overprotective mom. 

 

Now that you know her weight, when you are worried she may be too thin...just weigh her again to confirm it one way or another. It'll help guide you if there is really a problem or just imagination taking it's toll.

[Steve]

From the pictures she looks fine, but its hard to tell. Like others have said, the ribs should not be too obvious, and I always watch the pins on the hips should not be prominent. 60LB sounds like a good weight.

Bear in mind your friend had a Mal as well as a husky - the Mal would be double the weight, and some huskies are big, so she may have been expecting a bigger dog through her own experience.

[Its_A_Husky_Thing]

60lbs for a female husky defiantly isn't too small lol. Breed standard for females are 40lbs or so....and male standard is 60lbs or so.

[HuskyGuerl]

I agree with everyone above..and about 16 months is when my echo went through the all legs stage he looked so skinny but he wasnt he weighed good and was healthy..I think she looks fine and beautiful :-)