Is my 9 month old underweight/bad vet advice?

[jonesy4000]

We took our nearly 9 month old EM to the vet today for a checkup and to address some period limping. It's his first visit since he completed his final round of puppy checkups and vaccinations several months ago. He's been limping periodically, which I understand is a fairly common symptom of growing pains. However, after the visit I'm concerned about two things: 1. Is he underweight, and 2. is my vet giving me bad advice?
1. He's about a week shy of 9 months and currently 128 lbs. Based on all of the growth charts I've seen, this is quite small. Depending on where you look, average weights seem to be around 155 lbs. for a 9 month old male EM. Should I be concerned?
2. The vet advised that we switch over to adult food in order to slow his growth. I understand that he's concerned about the growing pains, but this seems really early to make that switch. And is slowing his growth what we want at 128 lbs.? This is the same vet that recommended having him neutered at 6 months, which we've ignored.

Any advice? Am I giving too much credit to the internet and not enough to the vet, or does he perhaps not know as much about giant breed dogs as he should?

 

[Michele]

Post a picture of the dog

 

[jonesy4000]

I don't have anything recent of him standing, but these are from a week ago.

 

[Big Gus]

Good looking dog. I’m no expert but since I don’t see his ribs I’d say he’s fine.

 

[jonesy4000]

Thanks. I don’t think he’s underweight in the “too skinny” sense, just that he’s smaller than what I would expect a male mastiff to be at this stage. I know that not all dogs are the same, but it seems curious to me that the vet would want to slow his growth.

Here’s a pic of him standing from today. He’s mid-turn so it may not be the best angle.

 

[Big Gus]

What was the weight of the dogs parents?

 

[Boxergirl]

He's not too thin or too small, in my opinion. You're right that the pictures don't really show a good angle, but I don't see any rib and you do want to see a good tuck and be able to easily feel the ribs without digging. There are a lot of body condition charts posted on the forum and online. That's what you want to look at rather than the number on the scale. I try to stay away from the weight charts. Size is determined by genetics and bigger isn't always better. Slow and controlled growth is imperative for our big dogs. Lean is best. The advice to switch to an adult food is good, or to an all life stages food that has the proper calcium to phosphorus ratio. The advice to slow growth is also good. That's what you want. Slow and steady growth and a lean body to put less stress on the joints.

 

[jonesy4000]

What was the weight of the dogs parents?

I don't know the exact weights. I can try to get that info tonight. I can say that his mom was probably a little above average. His father seemed a little small to me, but that may have just been because he was next to an absolutely massive male. Our pup was the largest of the litter.

 

[jonesy4000]

He's not too thin or too small, in my opinion. You're right that the pictures don't really show a good angle, but I don't see any rib and you do want to see a good tuck and be able to easily feel the ribs without digging. There are a lot of body condition charts posted on the forum and online. That's what you want to look at rather than the number on the scale. I try to stay away from the weight charts. Size is determined by genetics and bigger isn't always better. Slow and controlled growth is imperative for our big dogs. Lean is best. The advice to switch to an adult food is good, or to an all life stages food that has the proper calcium to phosphorus ratio. The advice to slow growth is also good. That's what you want. Slow and steady growth and a lean body to put less stress on the joints.

You can definitely see some of his back ribs when he's standing, but they're not poking out at all. He seems to be on track with regard to body condition, if not weight. And the vet agreed that he was healthy. I'm not trying to manufacture a bigger dog than he's supposed to be, and I understand that the growth should be slow and steady overall, I'm just trying to wrap my head around why it should be even slower than it is. Of course, as I type this I'm realizing that maybe the growing pains aren't as normal as I've been led to believe?

 

[Boxergirl]

It sounds like he's where you want him. What food do you have him on? The correct calcium to phosphorus ratio is very important.

 

[jonesy4000]

It sounds like he's where you want him. What food do you have him on? The correct calcium to phosphorus ratio is very important.

He's on Holistic Select for Large and Giant Breed Puppies. I feed him a 50/50 mix of the standard version and the grain free. Both have 1.3% calcium, 1.0% phosphorus min.

 

[Boxergirl]

That sounds good. It's on par with adult and all breed formulas with the correct ratios.

 

[glen]

He looks just fine to me, i dont feed puppy food, mines on sn all stage food, slow and steady growth...every dog grows at different stages of age, my middle cc had a growth at near 3 yrs old.

 

[jonesy4000]

Thank you all for your replies. We're going to try switching him to adult food and we'll see how that goes.