How much does he weigh? He looks fine to me... maybe a little big, but definately not unhealthy, I'm just used to looking at my very lean dog <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Even in the photos I can see where his ribs end and his stomach area indents. I'm no expert though, and you are right, it's hard to tell from pics - but I've seen plenty of overweight shepherds around.

It really is hard to tell from the pictures. You have a good looking boy there. The general rule is that you should be able to feel his ribs and be able to see the last 2.

From the pics, he looks ok. Hard to tell of course, but obviously not obese. The more research I do, the more studies I find to support keeping the dog extremely lean. I just got bad news on my boy's hips and elbows, and the vet said that he would've had much bigger problems if he wasn't so skinny. He's 96lbs, and when I take him swimming, I'm always afraid someone's gonna call the ASPCA because I don't feed my dog <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />! When he's wet, he looks like a bony black wolf. I've always been careful about his weight because he's oversized to begin with. Your dog looks big for 6 mos, so you may want to do the same. I think I found an article on HD that Ed wrote where he mentions keeping the dog extremely thin, and not listening to people who tell you he's too thin. If I'm wrong here, I'm sure I'll find out fast! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Anyway, as long as you're feeding him RIGHT, I wouldn't worry too much about him getting "too thin". He's probably still growing fairly quickly, so if this is a temporary heavy phase, he'll probably grow out of it, but if he's always on the heavy side, I'd back off of the food or get more low-impact exercise. He's still too young to run hard. Good luck with him-he's a good looking boy!

From what i can see he looks good. HArd to tell though just from a picture. Very handsome!

One guy went as far as to tell me "feed the dog enough to keep em alive", I know he was exagerating a little, but a healthy dog is a lean dog. If someone tells you your dog's skinny, tell em "he's fine, go away and play with your fat dog, leave mine alone". My 19 month old male is 65lbs, 24.75" at the top of the shoulders and has a small frame compared to the bigger boned 85lb GSD's - so I hear "he's so skinny" all day long when he's out around the general public.

Tell them thanks, atheletes (SPELLING???sorry i'm a product of the oklahoma education system) are not supposed to be fat.