Just back from vets after Dexters inoculations,He has lost 3 kg, I am a tad worried about weight loss,so thought that first would worm him ( 17 month old GSD) or should I just up his intake of food ? He seems fine I thought that he looked good , quite tall & very light on his feet,can run for England .Has 2 chix wings for breakfast I/2 kilo tripe for tea ,egg ,veg,liver .marrow bones in moderation. Am I being overly worried or it a sign of some thing else <
Waiting on check up blood test taken .He has never been a avid feeder ,will walk away if distracted.

If you don't worm regularly then yes, that is the first thing you should do. Use any of the good quality wormers - panacur, drontal, milbemax, easimax - you can buy them cheapest from online sites like medicanimal.com

I wouldn't necessarily worry about weight loss in a young active animal if there are no other signs of illness. I always go by the look and feel of the dog. Teenage dogs can often be tough to keep weight on as they burn so much.

What was the blood test for? If you say he looks good, then I don't see the problem :-)

My entire male Malinois goes up and down in weight a LOT depending on many factors. One thing that ALWAYS makes all my Malis lose weight is moulting, they need almost twice as much food during a moult as when they don't moult. If your Dexter is anything like my Z, I wouldn't worry too much if he is otherwise healthy. Here are Z's weights for the past few years to see what a big difference there has been -he's a dog that's never been ill a day in his life. He's 6 years old.
24.9 kg on the 23rd Feb 2010
31.45 kg on the 23rd Feb 2011
30.65 kg on the 30th April 2012

See how much he gained in a year! 6 ½ kgs!! That was just by adding some extra food, nothing else. (He was too thin to start with but now gains easier when he is more mature and so need less food now. The thin weight was at 4 years of age.)

My neutered male Malinois was 29.9 kg on the 13th of June 2011, but only 26 kgs on the 30th of November the same year so a big loss of almost 4 kgs in just a few months. He was too thin then but certainly isn't now, he just gained it back naturally.

I found I had to put a shep back on puppy food at that age as no matter how much she ate she was still underweight - she took until she was 5 before she 'filled out' and held onto the weight, she usually had a good appetite though... when you've wormed him you could try to add some pasta to his diet as this can help them put weight on.  Would he eat more for breakfast - I used to buy turkey wings for mine... a couple of chicken wings may not be enough, if he'll eat more.

For the size of the dog 2 chicken wings doesn't seem alot for one meal,then he is being active all day so will burn of body fat when not having enough calories in that first meal of the day,my dachsies will eat one as a treat.

If I'm giving my 4yr old male Dalmatian chicken wings I would give him at least 6 in one meal and he also has 2 meals per day, so something different for tea. His weight is also prone to fluctuate and I just adjust accordingly.
Wouldn't recommend upping him to 6 wings in one go as it could cause constipation.
Paula

He wont eat any more wings than the 2 I give him ,any more & they stay on the floor being ignored.Or they are taken out into the garden & buried LOL much to OH's disgust.Lawn has never looked this bad !!!
The bloods were a normal check up one .they have come back normal .He weigh's 34.5 kgs down from 37+
Will worm him & see how he goes
My daughter has his sister from another litter (older) & she is like a barrel.She has trouble trying to get the weight off her . thanks for all replys

I must agree that I had thought of that, I use a puppy kibble as a training treat ,so might give him a small mid day meal of that .

Just had a look and Zuma weighed 36 kg at 18 months and was about 26". he was 45kg a few weeks ago - and is on a diet to lose about 3-4kg, Vet said 45 is ok but I think he needs to lose a little bit  He is now 5 yrs

Having had a lot of GSD's over the years am aware of danger of high weight on joints.
So dont want Dexter to get to large, I thought that he looked fine & a bagsd instructor had told me he was the best weight of all my dogs that she had known.He is not a chunky boy,more fine boned although he has a big head .
I have ordered wormer so will go that route for now ,If he has not put weight on a few weeks will up his provisions .
thanks for all replys I feel happier knowing that others have the same problem.

Indeed you don't want him overweight, there's a happy medium there somewhere - 5 was the earliest I had to start reducing my shep's dinners - when she actually started to fill out... before she was always very skinny, but athletic so I didn't worry about her.  she does agility so is very fit.  At a small show a few weeks ago she even won G4 jumping, so proud of her... She'll be 6 in January :-)

Hope all goes well with your boy.

Thanks PennyGC,
Am happier in my own mind now ,Just a shock when vet said how much weight he had lost.
So course of action wormer ( havent seen any) then if no weight gain a small meal midday .

I agree that age might be a factor - it's a funny age for boys and they do go through a skinny phase around now

Interestingly all three of my dogs lost weight in the last month or so - even when food rations didn't alter.  I've often noticed weight loss at this time of year - I walk for longer in good weather and the dogs stay awake and active later into the evening, the house is also busier during the school holidays and the dogs have less time to snooze :)  I generally up their rations a bit in the summer :)

I also wonder about your portion sizes.  I have two wire haired vizslas that are around the 30kg mark and they would be waifs on your rations.  My youngest is 2 years old and he is currently on 500g of minced meat and 25g of kibble twice a day.  I've added the kibble to increase his weight as he was looking a bit thin.  When I swap a mince meal for bones I feed a large turkey neck and a large chicken wing (or 2 smaller ones), or a couple of chicken portions. 

It's tricky if you have an unenthusiastic eater but it's worth trying to add a little extra if you think he needs it.  A few grams of kibble can make all the difference to your dog's weight without increasing the amount they have to eat by too much (if that makes sense!).  Some dogs get a bit outfaced by large portions don't they.

Thanks dogs a babe.
Have  3 others that I feed, the eldest 10 years old ,a very large heavy castrated boy.A 9 year old  boy,not castrated, he is just now at his age putting on a bit of  weight.Plus a girly of 2 i/2 that is a little tub .they are all fed the same amount. Dexter is the only one that is to my mind a good light weight.
Whilst the other 3 hoover their food up ,he takes his time ,likes to be seperate from others . Their day starts with the 2 chicken wings ,the others would eat more,but as they are on the heavy side I feel that is enough.Then for tea they all have 1/2 kilo green tripe ,so 3 of them are on the heavy side of normal ,& 1 is under weight all fed the same .
So worming then a bit of Kibble  extra for Dexter lunchtime .

> 3 of them are on the heavy side of normal ,& 1 is under weight all fed the same

Have you ever used a raw food calculator?  You can calculate what % of bodyweight they're on (or should be on to maintain, lose or increase weight) which is interesting - one here.  I feed my older dog a lower % of his bodyweight as he's not as active so he's on 3%, my 5 year old is on 3.5% and my 2 year old is on 3.75%.  You would expect your youngest to be on a higher percentage, possibly up to 4% as they just run so much off don't they :)

No I have never even heard of that before,
So Charlie (10 year old ) because of his cdrm and not as able to burn it of should not be on as much as Dexter (17 month's old) & still growing ?
Bengie (9 year old ) as getting older dosent need as much to maintain?
Bella (2 1/2 ) very active always on the go but a little tub should also not have as much as Dexter?
Have now wormed him & given him a couple of hands full of puppy Kibble lunchtime should  this up his weight a little,?
How soon should there be any gain ? will need to take him back to vets for a weight check. Thanks for info

To your 4 questions - in theory, yes, although much depends on the actual dog as some seem to use their food differently.  Some dogs, like people, only need to look at food to put the weight on whilst others are lean for life!  At different life stages I've had older or temporarily inactive dogs on as low as 2.5 % all the way up to 10% for puppies.

After increasing food I'd expect to see some noticeable weight gain after 2 weeks - you could probably put weight on in a week but I think it better to slowly increase until you reach an acceptable weight.  When you've got it right you'll feel and see it and probably won't even need to check the scales :)

Thanks again dogs a babe,Will tell my daughter to cut down her 2 (Charlie&Bella)Bengie i will keep on same as he is a acceptable weight,& dexter will get a small kibble meal midday for two weeks & see how he goes .