Even wet it's hard to tell if she's normal adolescent skinny or if she is truly underweight. I gauge it by checking the fat cover of the spine and hips. Brush your hand down her spine and over her hips. You should be able to feel the bumps of the vertebrae and the points of the pelvis, but they shouldn't feel sharp. (Imagine how it would feel if you put several acorns under four layers of a very thick luxuriant towel and ran your hand over them. ) There should be a moderate fat pad between the two pelvis points. The dog is a bit thin if you notice a depression between the two pelvis points. The dog is much too skinny if the fat pad is so thin you can feel the spine between the pelvis points. Your dog has developed a middle aged dad bod if you have trouble finding the spine and pelvis points at all.

 

Another way to determine whether a dog is healthy weight is to run your hands along the ribs. The ribs should feel obvious, a bit like your knuckles on a relaxed hand. If the ribs feel like your knuckles on a clenched fist, your dog is too thin. If the ribs feel like the bones in the back of your relaxed hand (or at not perceptible at all), the dog is too fat.

 

Or does feel (maybe even not as visible) as my knuckles on my relaxed hand it’s just the way her stomach has suck a prominent tucked that makes me concerned.

 

Poodlea have a tuck up and tend to be lean

 

Based on your description and your vet's lack of concern I think you are fine. She's still an adolescent, so she's going to be a bit skinny even without the IBD issues. Plus, as Twyla mentioned, it's normal for poodles to be lean with a high tuck.

Poodles were originally a hunting breed. It might comfort you to look at pictures of some of their hunting cousins. Try searching for pictures of a Viszla, a Weimaraner, a German Shorthaired Pointer, or English Pointer. You'll see a similar long leg, deep chest, and high tuck as on a poodle.

 

Based on your description and your vet's lack of concern I think you are fine. She's still an adolescent, so she's going to be a bit skinny even without the IBD issues. Plus, as Twyla mentioned, it's normal for poodles to be lean with a high tuck.

Poodles were originally a hunting breed. It might comfort you to look at pictures of some of their hunting cousins. Try searching for pictures of a Viszla, a Weimaraner, a German Shorthaired Pointer, or English Pointer. You'll see a similar long leg, deep chest, and high tuck as on a poodle.

Thanks so much for this reply. It’s just the fact that she is half cocker spaniel that made me doubt but she definitely has her fathers poodle genes and only the long cocker ears and eyes. Thanks 🙏 pics before her grooming🤣 it might be also my lack of knowledge about the fact that I thought puppies normally are chubby…

 

A fit poodle has a tuck up

 

What is IMS? A specialist? If they say your dog is fine, that’s who I would trust. If it’s a chart or guide, I would get an opinion from a vet. As far as I know, a dog that acts healthy and is not gaunt (truely starving where you can count their ribs by looking) won’t have adverse health effects from being too skinny. I know I’ve said it here many times before so sorry if you’ve already seen this but I spent 2 years trying to put weight on my skinny young JRT and the next 11 trying to keep it off. Many would have said my adolescent poodle was too skinny as you could easily feel her ribs and her spine between her hips. Her vet said she was perfect. Now as a mature adult, her condition is perfect. Her ribs are as @athamese described and her hips are as @cowpony described. Would they be if I had tried to make her gain weight? I surely do not know! But I do know that dogs have many problems as they age from being overweight, so I didn’t want to do anything to help that happen.

 

Thanks for taking your time to share. An IMs is an internal medicine specialist, who dogs with chronic illnesses in stomach / intestines or allergy go to as they are further educated in this specific area.

 

Even wet it's hard to tell if she's normal adolescent skinny or if she is truly underweight. I gauge it by checking the fat cover of the spine and hips. Brush your hand down her spine and over her hips. You should be able to feel the bumps of the vertebrae and the points of the pelvis, but they shouldn't feel sharp. (Imagine how it would feel if you put several acorns under four layers of a very thick luxuriant towel and ran your hand over them. ) There should be a moderate fat pad between the two pelvis points. The dog is a bit thin if you notice a depression between the two pelvis points. The dog is much too skinny if the fat pad is so thin you can feel the spine between the pelvis points. Your dog has developed a middle aged dad bod if you have trouble finding the spine and pelvis points at all.

thanks for replying! I cannot really feel the hips and maybe a little her pelvis. Her spine has always been really prominent to the feel but not all the way down to the pelvis! Her ribs feel the same as if I relax my hand and feel the bones on top of my hand (over my knuckles)
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