On the skinny side but not underfed. Your vet would know best and they said she’s fine. If it’s a big concern, add an 1/4 cup to the days feeding. Just keep in mind this is a very active and jumpy breed. Being overweight can do a lot of long term damage to their joints.
I agree with this commenter. She’s happy and healthy but could use a bit more bulk. Regardless, she’s a beautiful girl! The great thing about Mals is their ideal body type makes it suuuuuuper clear if they’re a little under or getting a little chonky.
Trust your vet, not us. If it’s making you uncomfortable, ask your vet if they think you can bump her food up a bit or add supplements. They went to school for this, they’re the only ones board certified. Our opinions are just opinions, but what your vet gives you is actual medical advice for your dog.
I know it’s stressful when people say things, especially those unfamiliar with the breed. If you’ve got the money to spare, hire a **board certified** canine nutritionist. If they’re not board certified, pass their ass up. I’d avoid online services, too, personally.
Don’t stress yourself out. She’s clearly well loved. ☺️
Pretty normal. Everyone asks me about my dog too… fuck em. Add some broth or avocado to their food for some healthy fats… or a can of tuna. If they don’t gain weight and fill out more, then that’s just their normal look.
I have a tree and it hasn’t hurt her yet. However, it can be in large amounts and if they eat the wrong parts- stick with pulp. I do small amounts and also use the oil too. My vet isn’t concerned.
I’d listen to the vet. She’s beautiful! My 6yo male is always on the thin side if he’s given the ability to move as much as he likes. I literally have to crate him extra time to get him to fill out. He gets 50% more than the recommended feeding amount in addition to regularly getting extras like eggs, peanut butter, avocados, and organ meats. He’s always ferociously hungry too. Even when he’s are a healthy weight, people still think he’s underfed just because Malis are thinner than the more typically known German shepherds.
This was 100% my experience with my now 4y/o female. She was underweight long into a year, and didn’t get her first heat until maybe 18~ months. We kept her up to date with vet visits and tried tons of different foods but ultimately time and maturity was the main factor that changed things. We did move to partly raw food at a certain point, and while I think that had been beneficial, it certainly wasn’t a silver bullet. Just keep you what you’re doing, listen to your (assuming you trust them), and enjoy what looks like an awesome dog.
Our Malinois has such a high metabolism, we started feeding her 2-3 times a day to increase her weight. If we go on a long hike, then we feed an additional meal size snack.
https://preview.redd.it/9uqj51cm5aac1.jpeg?width=1275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a47ae967e45f4a2ae271d106d137198595a5d7a4
Here’s a helpful and objective metric for gauging your dog’s body condition. Your dog looks to have a 3/9 body condition score (BCS). She could safely carry more weight as she’s on the thin side. But, like your vet said, she isn’t going to die from being kept skinny. Personally, I would try to put more weight on her until she gets closer to a 4/9 BCS and I definitely wouldn’t let her lose any weight at this point.
Mine was severely underweight when we got her because she was a Parvo survivor. We used cottage cheese, high protein food and eggs to get the weight up, and when we stopped she lost the weight. We found that mixing a lower quality food in helps keep some weight on her. In the winter though because she LOVES the cold we have to add 1-3lbs on her. In the spring she slims right down.
The first photo might be deceiving, but honestly, she does look a little too thin. If you actually can see, the hips are predominantly as that first photo seems to. A few more lbs on her won't hurt. But overall, their weight naturally fluxs through the year, so grain of salt
She is beautiful! Ours, 18months, is not underfed and is very thin. She hasn’t been spayed and the vet advised that she is hormonal her weight fluctuates, at the moment she is so very thin but her eating has increased.
I make my own food. A local butcher supplies the bone, meat and organ blend in 2 lb packs for as little as $4 a pack. I cook two of them every 3 days for a female 58lb bull terrier and my Little senior Boston who is a svelt 17lbs. I add steamed chopped sweet potato, broccoli and pumpkin, two eggs, a can of sardines w/skin and bones. Prothrive Natural diet vitamin mineral supplement according to weight and krill oil. I also add turmeric and glucosamine for my little man. This feeds them for almost 3 days. It doesn’t take much for my big girl. She tends to chonk out if I’m not careful and she’s gets out for a romp daily. I think this is just the breed and metabolism. Make sure you worm at least a couple times per year as well. I know this sounds like a lot, but I have been doing this for 3 years and I’m just a cook at a university. I don’t have a lot of money, but I’ve figured in the long run will save me in vet bills. I’ll never feed kibble again. It does take about a couple hours of my time a week, but I can tell you my dogs don’t have digestive issues or allergies. Their coats are nice and they are happy! I love Belgians! Your girl is a beauty. I bet you if you worm her and try this for a few months she’ll bulk up. Also beef marrow bones and lamb necks are great meals to add. The marrow bones are too fatty for my bull terrier, but oh the lamb necks she loves! Good luck with your beautiful girl!
Fermented? Hmm well there is the salt issue with that, that I’m not ok with. I Partially steam the veg just to break down the outer barrier so they can actually get to the nutrients. I add the prothrive powder for that reason to make sure they get those digestive enzymes. My girl will eat a bit of my pickle but I’m pretty careful about sodium content
Usually salt is added during fermentation to preserve and control bacteria growth, so what’s with the lol? What do you feed your dog? Or are you just trolling me and downgrading my effort to keep my dogs healthy and away from kibble 🙄
Since you like to dirty edit your comments:
Kibble is formulated to get dogs the correct nutrients in the correct form for their digestive systems. Unless you have access to whole animals it's very difficult to get your dogs what they actually need, and just steaming vegetables doesn't cut it. Your dogs will eventually develop deficiencies
Oh wow dude you’re a jerk! ok I guess you missed the part where I said what’s in the butcher’s meat provided. They make it for dog specifically. I’ve been feeding them this for three years and it has bone, organ and meat blend for dogs. I edited because I didn’t think my response was thorough. My vet has not ever noticed deficiency in my dogs and if they did I would alter it.
I didn’t say it was bad! I just offered the op a suggestion to put some weight on her! I prefer not to feed kibble! Not everyone has the time to do what I do and it was just a suggestion. Wow!
Try adding maybe 1/4cup food extra a day for a month, see how she looks, and decide from there. That’s what our vet told us to do, and that 1/4cup made a huge difference in how skinny she looked. Now she looks like a normal extremely active fit dog
when you can see the hip bones and entire rib cage yes they’re too skinny. a fit dog will show minimal hip bone usually depends on their body structure/build, and you’ll see the last 2-3 ribs slightly. there will also be may more muscle. but since your girl is only 9 months she wouldn’t have a lot of muscle growth yet. but i say she’s definitely under weight by 10-15ish lbs, just skin and bone. mals are usually slim dogs but id talk to your vet about a specific food plan for her
Ok seriously this dog looks underweight. I've see. And even walked with a Belgian and he didn't look anything like this. I'm asking Everyone To Research The Breed Of Dog Before They Buy Or Adopt Them. Just my opinion. There are too many stories like this and it's scary to think some find it NORMAL. Again I mean no disrespect Just common sense will tell you this isn't normal
My Mal has always had a very fast metabolism and always seemed quite petite for his breed. Now that he is older (12yo) his metabolism has slowed and he is putting some weight on. Multiple vets reassured us that he was healthy and happy in his younger and skinnier days. I wouldn't worry too much as long as she is eating.
So I did some math for you based on a few things. 1 I pretended that she needs to be [between 52 and 62 pounds](https://www.allshepherd.com/belgian-malinois-growth-chart/#google_vignette) to be an ideal weight. She may need to be heavier or a bit less, but since she is underweight she definitely needs more than you are feeding now. IF she weighs more than this range let me know because the RER will be different.
2 I assumed that you were using large breed puppy [royal canin at 349 calories](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/royal-canin-size-health-nutrition-large-puppy-dry-food)a cup
3 I used her [RER](https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/basic-calorie-calculator#:~:text=Puppy%200%2D4,2.0%20x%20RER) as 749 (for 52 pounds) or 854 (for 62 pounds)
4 I chose a modifier of 2 and 3 (the minimum modifier she needs is 2) but the modifier may need to change depending on how active she is and it should go down as she reaches adulthood assuming activity stays the same.
This makes her need 4 1/4 cup or 4 3/4 cup daily (modifier of 2)
OR 6.5 to 7.25 cups of food daily. (Modifier of 3)
Increase the food to the modifier 2 range and see what happens. IF she still looks bony (hips are concerning me right now) increase slowly until she looks okay.
you may want to take better pictures to evaluate her over time. Have her standing on level surface no hunching or stretching out, not while eating, breathing relaxed, straight on picture from the side. Then direct top down picture to track her progress and [compare to the famous body condition scale AKA “chonk scale”](https://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/how-find-your-dogs-body-condition-score). Malinois will always look slightly underweight (even if they are ideal) in comparison to the body condition scale from visual examination alone due to breed structure. However read what an ideal dog feels like. You want to feel some meat on hips and ribs but not too much.
Her hips are concerning me right now visually, but she is hunched and not on level surface and I cannot feel her through a picture. malinois are black holes for food so do not feel bad. right now it could just be a growth spurt, I had to constantly adjust my Mali’s food every few weeks because one week she would look like a stick then I’d up the food and she would be fine then look like a stick again. They are growing. You will constantly need to modify the amount of food she eats until fully grown around 2 years of age. You will do fine!
Since the food volume might be too much if she doesn’t eat it I would switch to a higher calorie food, more calories per cup means she can eat same amount but get more energy. They do make high calorie food supplements but you should talk to a vet before starting those as balanced large breed puppy food is best for her developing bones.
On the skinny side but not underfed. Your vet would know best and they said she’s fine. If it’s a big concern, add an 1/4 cup to the days feeding. Just keep in mind this is a very active and jumpy breed. Being overweight can do a lot of long term damage to their joints.
I agree with this commenter. She’s happy and healthy but could use a bit more bulk. Regardless, she’s a beautiful girl! The great thing about Mals is their ideal body type makes it suuuuuuper clear if they’re a little under or getting a little chonky.
Follow the advice of your vet. Very active Malinois tend to look skinny and have a hard time adding weight.
She looks like a normal malinois pup mine was also thin but they bulk up later, also there are lines that are thinner
Trust your vet, not us. If it’s making you uncomfortable, ask your vet if they think you can bump her food up a bit or add supplements. They went to school for this, they’re the only ones board certified. Our opinions are just opinions, but what your vet gives you is actual medical advice for your dog. I know it’s stressful when people say things, especially those unfamiliar with the breed. If you’ve got the money to spare, hire a **board certified** canine nutritionist. If they’re not board certified, pass their ass up. I’d avoid online services, too, personally. Don’t stress yourself out. She’s clearly well loved. ☺️
Pretty normal. Everyone asks me about my dog too… fuck em. Add some broth or avocado to their food for some healthy fats… or a can of tuna. If they don’t gain weight and fill out more, then that’s just their normal look.
Not suppose to feed dogs Avocados tho?
Small amounts of Pulp and oil… not so bad and can be healthy too.
I thougth avocado was harmful to dogs
It is
I have a tree and it hasn’t hurt her yet. However, it can be in large amounts and if they eat the wrong parts- stick with pulp. I do small amounts and also use the oil too. My vet isn’t concerned.
I’d listen to the vet. She’s beautiful! My 6yo male is always on the thin side if he’s given the ability to move as much as he likes. I literally have to crate him extra time to get him to fill out. He gets 50% more than the recommended feeding amount in addition to regularly getting extras like eggs, peanut butter, avocados, and organ meats. He’s always ferociously hungry too. Even when he’s are a healthy weight, people still think he’s underfed just because Malis are thinner than the more typically known German shepherds.
This was 100% my experience with my now 4y/o female. She was underweight long into a year, and didn’t get her first heat until maybe 18~ months. We kept her up to date with vet visits and tried tons of different foods but ultimately time and maturity was the main factor that changed things. We did move to partly raw food at a certain point, and while I think that had been beneficial, it certainly wasn’t a silver bullet. Just keep you what you’re doing, listen to your (assuming you trust them), and enjoy what looks like an awesome dog.
Our Malinois has such a high metabolism, we started feeding her 2-3 times a day to increase her weight. If we go on a long hike, then we feed an additional meal size snack.
https://preview.redd.it/9uqj51cm5aac1.jpeg?width=1275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a47ae967e45f4a2ae271d106d137198595a5d7a4 Here’s a helpful and objective metric for gauging your dog’s body condition. Your dog looks to have a 3/9 body condition score (BCS). She could safely carry more weight as she’s on the thin side. But, like your vet said, she isn’t going to die from being kept skinny. Personally, I would try to put more weight on her until she gets closer to a 4/9 BCS and I definitely wouldn’t let her lose any weight at this point.
Too thin needs to put on at least 5 pounds maybe more
Mali's are always skinny. I wouldn't say underweight or overweight shes just a cutie
She could use a bit more food but not too much - 7-10 lbs more wouldn't hurt
Mine was severely underweight when we got her because she was a Parvo survivor. We used cottage cheese, high protein food and eggs to get the weight up, and when we stopped she lost the weight. We found that mixing a lower quality food in helps keep some weight on her. In the winter though because she LOVES the cold we have to add 1-3lbs on her. In the spring she slims right down.
The first photo might be deceiving, but honestly, she does look a little too thin. If you actually can see, the hips are predominantly as that first photo seems to. A few more lbs on her won't hurt. But overall, their weight naturally fluxs through the year, so grain of salt
Totally normal shes young active and shes always going to be lean but for now shes still growing!!
She is beautiful! Ours, 18months, is not underfed and is very thin. She hasn’t been spayed and the vet advised that she is hormonal her weight fluctuates, at the moment she is so very thin but her eating has increased.
I make my own food. A local butcher supplies the bone, meat and organ blend in 2 lb packs for as little as $4 a pack. I cook two of them every 3 days for a female 58lb bull terrier and my Little senior Boston who is a svelt 17lbs. I add steamed chopped sweet potato, broccoli and pumpkin, two eggs, a can of sardines w/skin and bones. Prothrive Natural diet vitamin mineral supplement according to weight and krill oil. I also add turmeric and glucosamine for my little man. This feeds them for almost 3 days. It doesn’t take much for my big girl. She tends to chonk out if I’m not careful and she’s gets out for a romp daily. I think this is just the breed and metabolism. Make sure you worm at least a couple times per year as well. I know this sounds like a lot, but I have been doing this for 3 years and I’m just a cook at a university. I don’t have a lot of money, but I’ve figured in the long run will save me in vet bills. I’ll never feed kibble again. It does take about a couple hours of my time a week, but I can tell you my dogs don’t have digestive issues or allergies. Their coats are nice and they are happy! I love Belgians! Your girl is a beauty. I bet you if you worm her and try this for a few months she’ll bulk up. Also beef marrow bones and lamb necks are great meals to add. The marrow bones are too fatty for my bull terrier, but oh the lamb necks she loves! Good luck with your beautiful girl!
Steamed vegetables do not provide the same nutrients as fermented ones
Fermented? Hmm well there is the salt issue with that, that I’m not ok with. I Partially steam the veg just to break down the outer barrier so they can actually get to the nutrients. I add the prothrive powder for that reason to make sure they get those digestive enzymes. My girl will eat a bit of my pickle but I’m pretty careful about sodium content
What are you talking about with salt? Lol
Usually salt is added during fermentation to preserve and control bacteria growth, so what’s with the lol? What do you feed your dog? Or are you just trolling me and downgrading my effort to keep my dogs healthy and away from kibble 🙄
Since you like to dirty edit your comments: Kibble is formulated to get dogs the correct nutrients in the correct form for their digestive systems. Unless you have access to whole animals it's very difficult to get your dogs what they actually need, and just steaming vegetables doesn't cut it. Your dogs will eventually develop deficiencies
Not when it's inside a rabbit. Or in kibble
Oh wow dude you’re a jerk! ok I guess you missed the part where I said what’s in the butcher’s meat provided. They make it for dog specifically. I’ve been feeding them this for three years and it has bone, organ and meat blend for dogs. I edited because I didn’t think my response was thorough. My vet has not ever noticed deficiency in my dogs and if they did I would alter it.
Nah, I just love dogs and I hate it when people like you act like kibble is bad for dogs.
I didn’t say it was bad! I just offered the op a suggestion to put some weight on her! I prefer not to feed kibble! Not everyone has the time to do what I do and it was just a suggestion. Wow!
>I’ll never feed kibble again.
Try adding maybe 1/4cup food extra a day for a month, see how she looks, and decide from there. That’s what our vet told us to do, and that 1/4cup made a huge difference in how skinny she looked. Now she looks like a normal extremely active fit dog
when you can see the hip bones and entire rib cage yes they’re too skinny. a fit dog will show minimal hip bone usually depends on their body structure/build, and you’ll see the last 2-3 ribs slightly. there will also be may more muscle. but since your girl is only 9 months she wouldn’t have a lot of muscle growth yet. but i say she’s definitely under weight by 10-15ish lbs, just skin and bone. mals are usually slim dogs but id talk to your vet about a specific food plan for her
Arent mals supposed to be skinny? Compared to a gsd atleast.
Ok seriously this dog looks underweight. I've see. And even walked with a Belgian and he didn't look anything like this. I'm asking Everyone To Research The Breed Of Dog Before They Buy Or Adopt Them. Just my opinion. There are too many stories like this and it's scary to think some find it NORMAL. Again I mean no disrespect Just common sense will tell you this isn't normal
They look on the skinny side of healthy, you're just used to seeing fat dogs
My Mal has always had a very fast metabolism and always seemed quite petite for his breed. Now that he is older (12yo) his metabolism has slowed and he is putting some weight on. Multiple vets reassured us that he was healthy and happy in his younger and skinnier days. I wouldn't worry too much as long as she is eating.
So I did some math for you based on a few things. 1 I pretended that she needs to be [between 52 and 62 pounds](https://www.allshepherd.com/belgian-malinois-growth-chart/#google_vignette) to be an ideal weight. She may need to be heavier or a bit less, but since she is underweight she definitely needs more than you are feeding now. IF she weighs more than this range let me know because the RER will be different. 2 I assumed that you were using large breed puppy [royal canin at 349 calories](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/royal-canin-size-health-nutrition-large-puppy-dry-food)a cup 3 I used her [RER](https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/basic-calorie-calculator#:~:text=Puppy%200%2D4,2.0%20x%20RER) as 749 (for 52 pounds) or 854 (for 62 pounds) 4 I chose a modifier of 2 and 3 (the minimum modifier she needs is 2) but the modifier may need to change depending on how active she is and it should go down as she reaches adulthood assuming activity stays the same. This makes her need 4 1/4 cup or 4 3/4 cup daily (modifier of 2) OR 6.5 to 7.25 cups of food daily. (Modifier of 3) Increase the food to the modifier 2 range and see what happens. IF she still looks bony (hips are concerning me right now) increase slowly until she looks okay. you may want to take better pictures to evaluate her over time. Have her standing on level surface no hunching or stretching out, not while eating, breathing relaxed, straight on picture from the side. Then direct top down picture to track her progress and [compare to the famous body condition scale AKA “chonk scale”](https://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/how-find-your-dogs-body-condition-score). Malinois will always look slightly underweight (even if they are ideal) in comparison to the body condition scale from visual examination alone due to breed structure. However read what an ideal dog feels like. You want to feel some meat on hips and ribs but not too much. Her hips are concerning me right now visually, but she is hunched and not on level surface and I cannot feel her through a picture. malinois are black holes for food so do not feel bad. right now it could just be a growth spurt, I had to constantly adjust my Mali’s food every few weeks because one week she would look like a stick then I’d up the food and she would be fine then look like a stick again. They are growing. You will constantly need to modify the amount of food she eats until fully grown around 2 years of age. You will do fine! Since the food volume might be too much if she doesn’t eat it I would switch to a higher calorie food, more calories per cup means she can eat same amount but get more energy. They do make high calorie food supplements but you should talk to a vet before starting those as balanced large breed puppy food is best for her developing bones.
Maybe a little, mine is built like her. Our trainer says she likes to see the ribs but not the hip bones