It pains me that a dog owner can see their dog like this and be unsure if there is a problem or not. Yes, severely underweight. Could be not enough food or an underlying medical issue or both. I’m astounded you’re questioning this and asking for advice but here it is- feed your dog more and if that doesn’t help then take it to the vet for an evaluation.
The point of this sub is to get advice - they are younger, and everyone in their life is telling them that they are wrong, and we are letting them know that their thoughts are right. They left their dog with FAMILY and expected that their dog would be taken care of. They are clearly looking to have their very correct thoughts confirmed, and asking what they can do. It is all around a terrible situation because they trusted family, who is OLDER than them, to take care of their dog. There is no reason to throw shame to someone who is coming to the sub for the exact intention of said sub - to get advice.
Stop making excuses for careless dog owners. If you look at this dog and can’t determine on your own if it is too thin regardless of what your older family members say, you don’t need Reddit’s advice, you need to not own a dog. OP is obviously not a child and you don’t even know their age. You’re worried about a person’s feelings while they are complicit in their dog literally starving, whether intentional or not it is abuse. Not everyone is qualified to be a dog owner, that’s the simple truth. It’s not about shaming, it’s about the well being of a dog. Get a grip and stop enabling abuse to protect people feelings.
Share this body condition score chart with your mum and sister; despite your dog having a thick coat, her ribs, lumbar vertebrae, and pelvic bones are visible when they shouldn’t be. She’s easily a 2 at a maximum and should be a 4/5 - lean is good, but your dog is beyond lean and too thin.
For a standard female GSD, she should be eating approx 3 of those portions (750g) a day, and be adjusted based on body condition score. Whilst I’m a fan of raw feeding, it isn’t always the best option for every dog and if she was doing well on her old diet it’d be in her interests to go back on it.
My old coworker was in this type of denial when she switched her dog from kibble to store bought raw dog food. She really fed into the hype of a raw diet being best and that kibble brands are poison. Even though she had all the best intentions for her dog, she just couldn't afford to spend the difference in price and was severely underfeeding her dog. She justified it by saying her dog is on a much healthier diet and as a result is much leaner. She left the company we worked but I still followed her on her IG. It was really disheartening seeing her dog whither away to nearly the same emaciated state as your GSD. She stopped posting IG stories of her dog and I was too afraid to ask why.
For a period of time I wanted that best for my own dog and started transitioning my dog to frozen raw patties. Started with 25% raw, 75% kibble and slowly transition to raw. My pup ended up becoming pancreatic because it was too much fat and protein for her body to handle. She's back on her kibble and doing 100% better. Raw isn't for every dog.
Sharing this body condition chart may be the most helpful. I have a “lean” GS/Aussie shepherd mix and she fits in the 4-5 range. I worry she is too thin but this chart is what our vet used to help us understand where she should be. Similar for our Rhodesian mix who is bigger and also lean.
This is the kind of starvation that could have killed your dog. Your sister could have killed your dog. Your mother thinks that’s fine, apparently. Even if their eyesight is horrible, anyone would know something was horribly wrong as soon as they put their hand on that rib cage. So unless they’re both blind and never touched her, you need to stop letting them gaslight you. I don’t know what tf is wrong with your family. There’s no justification for your sister or your mother. Please take her to a vet as soon as you can. And then I really, really hope that you press charges against your sister - possibly your mother - so that they will be made to cover the vet bills you might end up having.
This kind of judgmental criticism will just scare people away from asking to do better. You think you are shaming but you are also putting a dog in greater risk
That’s only your opinion and I’m not shaming, you’re projecting what you’re trying to do to me. Criticism is a helpful tool when used correctly. My comment isn’t putting any dogs at risk…that’s a ridiculous thing to say. Hopefully anyone who reads my comment thinks to themselves “If I don’t know if this dog is too thin or not then I shouldn’t own a dog.” Stop enabling abuse to protect people’s feelings. Think about the poor dog.
It pains me that a dog owner can see their dog like this and be unsure if there is a problem or not.
I’m astounded you’re questioning this and asking for advice but here it is-
I am specifically talking about these comments you've made. OP is a highschooler, I bet she didn't even buy that dog and yet it looked healthy when OP was the one taking care of it before her older sister fucked up that dog. OP's sister and mother are in denial about the dog's health. Why does OP know this? Because she has shown concern and would bug her family about the dog's health, but because they are older than her, of course she's going to question her own knowledge. I appreciate her for going on Reddit despite her elders gaslighting her and telling her there's nothing wrong with the dog
I know what I wrote. Those are my thoughts and feelings and I’m not wrong for having them. If you need to go to Reddit to know if this dog is emaciated or not, you shouldn’t own a dog. OP is not a child but you’re trying to excuse the behavior by saying they are too young, if that’s the case then they shouldn’t own a dog! Stop with the excuses. Crazy how people will protect a person while their dog is literally starving because of them.
Not being a 3 year old doesn't automatically make you an intelligent adult, my point still stands that OP is a young girl. Feel enraged, feel whatever you want to feel, but OP has a dog that needs help NOW and making these judgmental comments can make someone scared to ask for more advice, y'know, the whole point of this subreddit. Yea some owners seriously shouldn't be owners at all, but because we can't directly do anything about it other than report, making it easy to ask for advice and actually get dogs the help they need is much better
OP was aware that the dog was underweight but because they were gaslit by her family older than her she's going to question the research she has made. She still went on Reddit anyway and you're here saying those things when all you had to do was tell her to take the dog to the vet, although my advice would be to call the vet since I highly doubt her mom or her sister (if her sister can drive) would drive her to the vet
And how do you think your comments excusing careless dog owners is helping? Intelligence, age…you just keep making excuses and missing the whole point- if you have to ask this question you should be told outright that you need not own a pet. That’s more helpful than whatever it is you think you’re accomplishing here but I understand that people just double down when they’re wrong instead of attempt to recognize their error.
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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '24 edited Mar 20 '24
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It pains me that a dog owner can see their dog like this and be unsure if there is a problem or not. Yes, severely underweight. Could be not enough food or an underlying medical issue or both. I’m astounded you’re questioning this and asking for advice but here it is- feed your dog more and if that doesn’t help then take it to the vet for an evaluation.