Does anyone else have a very slim Labrador?

[TwoMagnificentLabradors]

Our lovely boy is 2 and a half now and still skinny as a rake. His ribs are easily visible. He’s in great health but just never puts on weight. Eats all his dinner ration, eggs, cheese, sardines, plus training treats, leftovers, dropped kids food etc. He gets less exercise than other Labs I know- 46-60 minutes longline walk and 2x 3 hour gundog walks a week. A bit of time just arsing about the garden with the puppy. He’s 26 kilos and very strong. He had the hormone implant three months ago and we thought he’d pile the weight on, but nope. His litter mates are slim, but only one is almost as skinny as him ( his mum is small too). His puppy Lab companion already has a fair covering on her, so we definitely don’t underfeed our dogs.

Our vet and my sister and BIL ( also vets) reassure me he’s healthy and fine, just slim, and he has no digestive trouble. But we’ve been asked if he’s ‘really a Labrador’ and if he’s unwell. Does anyone else have a whippety-Lab? I’ve never met another like him! Do they all fill out in the end? I do wonder if there are potential health issues I need to know about. It’s not really what you think you’ll be worrying about when you bring a Lab home, is it?

My friends lab is about the same age. He's absolutely adorable, but he's FAR too heavy. He's still very bouncy, but he's young. I've been trying to suggest they cut down in his treats but she's a relatively new friend, so I didn't feel I could be too blunt.

fortunately he had a vet visit and the vet said they have to cut each of his 3 feeds down by 40g & cut down in the treats. He's 44kg. Currently he just looks like a huge cuddly puppy, but it's not good for him & he'll end up an overweight dog if they don't deal with it now.

poor bugger looks well pissed off at his reduced meals!!pay no attention to anyone remarking on his size. People are used to seeing greedy labs overweight, not healthy weights ones like yours.

im very confused why you want yours to gain weight when the current weight is healthy. It's like you're reacting to public perception of your care . At least 3 vets have said it's a good weight!

I have a 2 1/2 year old Lab with so much energy a really glossy coat and really happy loves everyone. After a serious vomiting incident he did look thin. The vet went into overdrive and did every blood test under the sun and an upper abdominal scan which showed nothing. He has now labelled him as having a chronic condition. I was a nurse and don’t think there is anything wrong with him at his age he will always be on the slim side. People see so many overweight Labradors they are not used to slimmer ones and will will always give there opinion. You know your dog

I have a slender one too. He's 25kg, and 3 years old. Vet is most pleased to see one that isn't fat.

Mine is almost 18 months and is 30kg. Someone asked me yesterday if he was a cross

His ribs should not be visible but easily felt and often the rearmost one shows anyway. Yes, there are lots of overweight Labs about but ribs showing that obviously on a body condition score would suggest he needs to put on just a little. My two year old boy was 23 kg and the vet suggested he should put on a couple of kg, so over six months we did and he looks better. In a slanting light his ribs are almost visible.

That's what working Labradors are supposed to look like. Labs are so food motivated and have boundless energy so it's actually really rare to see a healthy one. Most of these chunky barrel shaped Labs are just fat. They eat like gannets and don't get nearly enough exercise.

Ours looked like you described. She was near impossible to exhaust. I had her out for nearly 10 hours one day on a day out with kids, running round with another dog like a lunatic for hours. Got her home she dropped like a stone. Thought she must be absolutely knackered. Was she fuck! Slept a couple hours then wanted to go out for her bedtime walk. She lived to 15 in the picture of health.

Aha. 10 hours is the magic number. I can take mine (per pic above) on a 10 mile walk and as soon as he's home, he is looking for his toy to play 🤦‍♂️

Loads of nose work does the trick eventually, but he has boundless energy.

Then again, we are just back from evening walk and he is having a moment of cuddle.

My two are both trial and working stock labs, wiry and with boundless energy.

Mine is another retrieving breed and was exactly like you describe before the snip. I really regret getting the op done… It’s a choice now between permanent hunger and literally sucking the oven gloves for morsels of food, and being satiated but fat and prone to joint issues.

Your lab sounds really healthy.

if the dog is healthy and happy that’s the only thing that matters.

Our yellow lab is lovely and slim. He’s nearly nine now. He stays at 22kg without much effort. Vets rave about his weight. He doesn’t get a lot of food and we don’t really give treats.

He’s absolutely not working lines either. Very much show type, but was an assistance dog.

Slightly off topic, but I did have a giggle at a 26kg dog being described as a "whippety-lab".

My 1 year old whippet is just under 13kg and the previous 2 were of a similar kind of size.

I do know what you're getting at, it just tickled me.