Puppy class

[Social]

Keeping your puppies lean during formative years is best, but in the puppy show ring, puppies seem to be a bit more "hefty" is there a reason for this?

 

[Annina]

No. There absolutely should NOT be any reason to keep any dog "hefty".
Some people and judges do unfortunately think though that the word massive (which a newf should be) is synonym for overweight (which it is not). Massiveness comes from the build/body, not from the fat layer around the ribs.

 

[Capri]

^and that's me again writing it. LOL. I need to permanently sign out from Annina's account.

 

[R Taft]

My dogs are lean and some Judges mention it........I say why (health and working) and that they are muscled and they feel the dog and seem to agree. Motion, conformation and standard is important, weight is not

 

[heather pluciennik]

My husband keeps telling me Morgan should be bigger. I think shes fine weight wise. Just should be a little taller and wider. I did have a ex judge tell me she was hefty. My friend and I looked at each other like what! I don't want a fat newf and she does do a lot of swimming and walks. No need to shorten their lives to look a little heftier.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Some pups do have a lot of coat giving them that puffy look, but they can be thin underneath it. That is why judge have to put their hands on the dog to really see how much is coat and how thin the dog is. Judges usually discount an overweight dog.

 

[Garden_girl]

I agree with what Lynn said. Tucker had a ton of coat as a puppy (he still does) making him appear much larger than he actually was. When Murphy was a puppy, he matured very quickly. He was lean, but broad-like and appeared bulky, he also had a lot of coat. Moby, OTOH, doesn't have much coat, he would look tall and skinny in a show ring. He's not too thin, but because of his height and lack of coat, he looks thin. Ya gotta put your hands on the dog to know for sure *sometimes*.

 

[CMDRTED]

I agree, today the judge told me structurally, Tigger is great, but she would have preferred a more adult coat.

 

[Murphy]

Please.. keep your Newfs lean... Murphy is 36 inches at the shoulder and 150lbs.. Given his issues anything more could be catastrophic.... given the weight they carry on their legs my surgeon could not stress enough to not let them get overweight.. .. even if totally healthy.. :uhoh2:

 

[Angela]

Amen Jen.

 

[new_2_newf]

A good coat and good grooming can hide a multitude of sins. Some puppies have crazy amounts of coat naturally. Some puppies are 'done up' in a show of some impressive grooming talent to appear to have more coat or look fuller in some areas. I am 99% positive not many of them are anything bu quite lean unless they are in the middle of some freaky pre-growth spurt slightly-fatter-than-normal stage.

A groomer that knows what they are doing with a show dog is nothing short of magical.

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

I would imagine that a responsible owner/handler would not keep their pups chubby for show. I bet they've just been fluffed or naturally have copious amounts of coat. When my girl is "in" coat, she definitely appears overweight because she has more coat than a wooly mammoth, but she isn't overweight. I keep her at a perfect weight at all times.

 

[KatieB]

I've seen some overweight pups but for the most part it's usually coat. In fact the ones with huge coats need to be kept even leaner so they don't look fat. Mojo never had a big coat so wasn't an issue with us. We also never had a judge overlook us because he didn't have a huge coat.