Ribs or no ribs?

Hi all, I'm just writing a post about weight/condition. I personally don't think my girl is fat, she's pretty lean if I'm honest but she's not super muscley cause she's still pretty gangly (which I don't mind at all, I couldn't care less if she's muscley or not ). Anyway I was walking her yesterday after coming back from the field and a man was talking to me who owned staffs too and he said she's in nice condition but it would be better to see her ribs more to show more definition and get her extra weight off her. I'm all up for opinions and stuff but what do you guys think? Looking at body charts it does say the ribs should show, but she's quite a funny shape! She has a pretty broad rib cage and tiny waste so she looks funny if she has too much food or too little food; she has a hour glass figure though and she does have a very bold abdominal tuck, I don't think she's fat but you can't see her ribs but you can feel them. I'm happy with how she is if I'm honest but how do you guys like your dogs? Ribs showing or not and what do you think is "perfect" body condition?

The ideal standard I think is that the bottom two ribs should be visible. That being said it's a personal preferance and as long as they are properly exercised and healthy looking it's not a worry

I can see Loki's last rib or two, but it depends. Weirdly, you can see his spine before you can see his ribs, and I don't like to see his spine so easily, so at the moment I have him so that I can feel his ribs but not see most of them, and his spine isn't noticeable. I think being able to see the ribs a bit is OK, and it looks great on other people's dogs, but it just isn't for me, I wouldn't feel comfortable with it, myself.

Thanks for your answer jstaff! I completely agree her ribs don't show t all though, not sure I'd be comfortable with them showing since she's a weird shape! Do Sukis back two ribs show?

Yeah I'm very much the same as you Tara! Her spine has always showed when she curls up into a super tight ball though, even when she was in her chunky stage I'll probably keep her as she is, just interesting to see others opinions

Not the best answer here but they do show most of the time. It really depends on if she has fed recently or drank alot of water, as well as the angle that you look. I really judge condition more by the tummy tuck. If the stomach is concave than they are well conditioned. If they are flat or bulging they are too fat.

At her age I would't worry at all as she will put on alot of muscle in the next two years

Thanks again! Any answer is a good answer yeah she has started filling out recently but I'm not really bothered about her getting muscly she's my big gangly goofball just shocked me when someone said she could lose a bit of weight!

Cody also take into account she is still a baby.. She isn't fully grown yet by a long shot.. I like a healthy looking dog, but at the moment Steff is overweight I have just cut meal sizes down a bit as she has been sick and with all she eats and no exercise she is a very pudgy puppy

As long as Ebony looks healthy and you don't over feed her, tone and muscle definition will come with age She looks pretty healthy to me

Thanks Kylie! I'm really not bothered about muscle or anything like that, wouldn't care if she stayed this way forever just made me wonder what everyone opinions are of perfect condition ect awww you make her sound so cute and cuddly though! at least you know what's best for her I'm loving her smile in your avatar

I like when you can see some muscle and a couple of ribs. You can't on Maxi at the moment though, but she is on a diet

Thank you Annie! Maxi does look great for her age

I agree I love to see definition and ribs, but as a pup I don't think it matters much.. Puppy fat is a great excuse to spoil our babies while we can

Hahaha agreed! I don't think there's anything better than scrunching all her extra puppy skin when she jumps on me for cuddles

CodlingKid wrote:Thank you Annie! Maxi does look great for her age

Thanks, but unfortunatenly I loved her with food during her first month with me and she gained 3.5kg in that month Still working on getting that off lol
She gave me that face after every meal that looked like it said, "really is that all mum?" And I fell for it

Bless her, those eyes a definitely hard to resist it won't take long I'm sure though! When I first cut Ebonys 2 meals down to one she'd give me the eyes too! I'd normally give her a biscuit or something so she didnt feel like she'd lost out too much

Aww Cody I think ebony looks great, darcy is still growing and I can see her last 2 ribs but don't really like it

Thanks Hayley! I think Darcy looks great too though I didn't recognize her in your avatar!!! Haha loving her harness, it's the kind I wanted for eb before everyone bullied me into buying the one she has now

She looks all grown up doesn't she where's my puppy gone

Louby just turned one this week, and i went to the vets on tuesday and asked her if she thought Lou was too thin. But the vet said she has a 'perfect physique' with just the right amount of fat layered over her ribs & spine.

Personally i dont like that i can see her ribs, especially on walks when she's a but exerted, you can see all her ribs.

She is very muscly, with very defined leg muscles, and some people, not in the know, have asked if she is male as they assume she cant be female being so muscly.. I dont believe she is like this because of anything i do, i think its just in her genes to be lean & muscly.

She really does Hayley! Awww Darcy's growing up!

Mrs McFisher wrote:Louby just turned one this week, and i went to the vets on tuesday and asked her if she thought Lou was too thin. But the vet said she has a 'perfect physique' with just the right amount of fat layered over her ribs & spine.

Personally i dont like that i can see her ribs, especially on walks when she's a but exerted, you can see all her ribs.

She is very muscly, with very defined leg muscles, and some people, not in the know, have asked if she is male as they assume she cant be female being so muscly.. I dont believe she is like this because of anything i do, i think its just in her genes to be lean & muscly.

Ohh well she sounds in great shape my girls back legs are very muscly too, her front half not so much I think it's cause she jumps around like a kangaroo so much! She always gets called a boy cause she's big and I always try to slip in a "she" or "her" when were talking I don't know what her parents look like since she's a rescue either! But as I said, I don't care about muscle really, just interested in opinions Have you got a picture of your girl?

She's very young to be worrying about anything like that, if the guy had been raising Staffords (or dogs in general) before he should have known that.

She looks in great shape. I prefer a lean dog myself

I just have the pic in my avatar - ive tried to work out how to put pics on here but im rubbish - she is the white one. The other is my brothers staffy, Bella, her one and only friend.

MatLogan wrote:She's very young to be worrying about anything like that, if the guy had been raising Staffords (or dogs in general) before he should have known that.

She looks in great shape. I prefer a lean dog myself

Thank you Mat I'm not all that bothered if I'm honest! She's happy and healthy so that's all that matters just threw me off a bit when someone said she could do with losing weight cause you can't see her ribs there's some strange folk about here though; I've been asked if ebony cried when her "skull cracked" before too

Mrs McFisher wrote:I just have the pic in my avatar - ive tried to work out how to put pics on here but im rubbish - she is the white one. The other is my brothers staffy, Bella, her one and only friend.

I do love white staffords I'm sure she'll make friends over time! have you looked at how to put pictures on? I can talk you through if you don't understand

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12017-how-to-post-a-photos-onto-the-forum

well i did set up a photbucket account like the step by step guide says. but then ive no idea x

With regards to her making friends, im too scared to let her near other dogs 'just to see'...its a high price to pay if she starts on them.

Alrighttt then, have you got photos on photo bucket? Or do you need to upload them? I know what you mean, have you tried classes ect? Maybe it'll give you confidence seeing her around other dogs in a controlled environment x

Yes i have, just been on again trying to do it...i shall spend time on it later.
We went for a one to one training session, due to the fact that we know Lou would totally disrupt a class if we just turned up, she has not been socialised at all, we found her as a stray, so dont really have much background on her even though we located the owners.
The trainer brought her own dog in, and she said lou dosnt have the social skills to interact wth other dogs, and she would just basically pee them off. So im not sure wether she would try to rip their throat out, but she could annoy them that much that they nip her, then she nips back and could turn into a fight.

Lola is very skinny you can feel all her ribs and her spine the Vet said she was perfect. Lily is the opposite she doesn't have a waist, no ribs show and Vet says she needs to lose 7kg! They get the same amount of treats etc Lily is more prone to be fat.

Mrs McFisher wrote:Yes i have, just been on again trying to do it...i shall spend time on it later.
We went for a one to one training session, due to the fact that we know Lou would totally disrupt a class if we just turned up, she has not been socialised at all, we found her as a stray, so dont really have much background on her even though we located the owners.
The trainer brought her own dog in, and she said lou dosnt have the social skills to interact wth other dogs, and she would just basically pee them off. So im not sure wether she would try to rip their throat out, but she could annoy them that much that they nip her, then she nips back and could turn into a fight.

Oh no that's such a shame At least you tried with her, and are sensible about socializing ect Well done for not giving up on her though, and well done for rescuing her too Here's a little step by step to help you get started next time you try:

1. https://beta.photobucket.com/
2. Sign in (if needed)
3. Click upload
4. Click "library" on the top left next to where it says "Upload to"
5. Click "Create new folder" It's the first option and should appear in blue
6. Name your folder to whatever you want (don't use punctuation)
7. Where it used to say "library" it should now say the name of the album you've just created, if it does, click "browse files" which appears in the middle of the screen in blue.
8. Find the folder on your computer, select which ever files you want OR if it's easier for, don't click "browse files" and just open up the folder with your pictures in and drag the pictures from the folder onto the photo bucket screen within the dotted area.
9. After they've uploaded automatically, the pictures will show across the bottom, right click them and "open in new tab"
10. When the page has fully loaded, it should say on the right hand of the picture "Links to share this photo" click on the very last link named "IMG", it will copy automatically.
11. Click back onto this website, go into the Galleries ( https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f8-staffordshire-bull-terrier-galleries )
12. Click new topic, right click then click paste! The link will appear as a link, the photo wont come up until you post, if you want see how it looks then just click "preview" right under where you write your post!

I hope this helped, and I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of Louby



Thanks for your post Claire I think they're both beauties It's amazing how they can differ even though you treat them the same!

My brothers dog - the brown one in my avatar - gets more walks than Louby does, simply becuase of his work patterns, she maybe gets more treats than Lou, but thats cos Lou isnt allowed them as shes on a hypoallergenic diet. Anyway, Bella is 9 months old, and she has practically no muscle definition at all,. shes not necassarily fat, but she is much more softer.

They must be like us, some are tall, short, stocky, wiry etc...

Yeah, all dogs are different I don't think my girls ever going to be a muscle machine She's just a big gangly goof ball I posted the step by step to help you upload your pictures above

Thank you, im just working my way through it now..

No problem! I see you've changed your avatar, she's looking mighty cute

Ribs! on short haired dogs i always want to see about 5-6 ribs, the outline that is.

I prefer a very very lean dog, but most people think seeing bone means skinny and it's not always the case!

Thanks for your reply Ella! Your boys are in excellent condition

I like lean myself. That being said. My three get similar exercise but the boys play a bunch more each day and Piggie moderates so she is not quite a lean as I normally like, but that is ok. She is in way better shape than when I got her. She was nicknamed Fatty Patty in our house and sometimes we still call her that even though she has lost a bundle of weight!

Fatty Patty is a fab name Thanks for sharing your experience I do prefer lean myself! I think it looks better on some dogs than others though; not sure my girl would look too good as lean as I'd like with her funny shape You dogs have awesome names by the way

CodlingKid wrote:Thanks for your reply Ella! Your boys are in excellent condition

Thanks

I like lean fit dogs myself, ribs are okay as long as the dog is muscle toned and not just starved. My boy marley is showing last couple of ribs but has plenty of muscle while laska at 12 months has just started to convert her puppy fat into muscle and is showing alot more ribs so Ive upped her food. amazingly she is on 100grams more food per day than marley.
I love working dogs and this pic shows what stunning dogs they are.
you can see the ribs but you dont get muscle like that with starvation, thats a really fit dog

Thanks for your great answer Nathan! I agree, that is a very fit dog From pictures your pooches look extremely healthy Are they fed on raw?

CodlingKid wrote:Thanks for your great answer Nathan! I agree, that is a very fit dog From pictures your pooches look extremely healthy Are they fed on raw?

thanks mate, the dogs send you a lick as for raw no not really. main daily diet is kibble and when they are worked or have a long walk I feed raw beef and fish for a high protein hit. nothing speacial really but I do weigh everything i give them so I can keep track of their intake and match it to how active they have been. sounds like a ball ache but you soon get into the habbit and it kind of gets instinctive on how much extra of less to feed them.

Saying that i have seen some awsome dogs in great shape not showing ribs at all! so i suspect its down to the individual dog in part.

Agaaain, thank you for a brilliant answer I never thought about the protein hit hmm, I might steal your idea there if you don't mind I've always fed her pretty much the same way she was fed in the kennels since I worked with her there, and I did weigh out her new food and I use a cup with a marker on it where it should be full to; but I guess it doesn't always get the same amount every time so I might start to weigh out her food too She's in good shape though, she's just incredibly out of proportion so she looks funny sometimes haha. I really do admire your dogs condition though! You should deffo post more pictures of them

It is about preference - i personally dont like to see so much skeleton on a dog. Louby isnt quite as lean as that, but when she is in 'pulling mode', she probably isnt far off.

Not the best pic but kind of shows off his body shape!

I may be biased but that's the shape I like

StuW - Louby looks more or less like that. x

Mrs McFisher wrote:StuW - Louby looks more or less like that. x

Near perfect condition then

Ah Bailey you handsome devil he really is looking in tip top condition Stuart thanks for sharing!

CodlingKid wrote:Ah Bailey you handsome devil he really is looking in tip top condition Stuart thanks for sharing!

Thank you I would try get a side on pic of Sierra but she's just a wee fat puppy ball

Bless her! I don't think I've actually seen any pictures of her while I've been a member on here! hehe, have you posted any?

I personally don't like dogs to thin, some staffs suit being thin some just don't look good in my eyes and it always looks to me as if they hardly get feed, but that's my own opinion...
On my boy sometimes (but hardly) I can see his ribs but never his spine I also don't like to feel to much of his spine but I can feel his ribs, the vets always say he's in excellent conditions and he's an example of the breed as most of them are to fat.

I wouldn't let your girl get any slimmer than what she is, but that's my own opinion

Thanks for you answer! Like I said up above, I'm happy with how she is so I won't be changing anything just wondered about opinions deffo agree that some suit it and some don't though! dragon is lovely