I took Dizzy out to a show this weekend for socialization, and Ceara took a very nice pic of him stacking. He's a bit stretched out, but I wanted to share. For the show gurus, what do you think about his development? To me, he looks a bit short in the body and leg, do you think he will lengthen as he grows, or will he stay that way? He seems to grow around and then up. The woman that stacked him, Jackie, also mentioned she thinks he's a bit overweight and described him as "cobby". I was thinking he was overweight as well, but a vet had said last week she thought he was too thin. Also, what do you think about his head, muzzle, and stop? I would really appreciate any feedback since I'm so new and inexperienced. Thanks in advance. I'd like to know what his faults and positive attributes are. We are going to another show this coming weekend, and I hope to get some photos of him in movement.



Edit - for anyone curious, here is his pedigree: http://pawvillage.com/pedigree/pedigree.asp?ID=LD62FDJYFJ

I can't comment on the stacking and showing questions, but I do have a comment about the weight thing. Siberians are not supposed to be "thick" dogs. They are lean, mean, running machines. As many people have noticed from here, it seems that a lot of vets aren't very familiar with Sibes and therefore you vet could think he is too skinny when really he's perfect. From your picture, I would say he is definitely not too skinny, but a "plan view" photo from above him would help to see what his waist line looks like.

He's got a nice tuck in the waist from above, and I can feel his ribs okay, but he jiggles when he runs lol, he also has a super thick coat right now so that makes it hard to see too. I'll wait for the responses on the stacking stuff and then post one from above for the weight thing! Thank you for your help.

Also, even though he has fast maturing lines, he is still young. The jiggle could still be some puppy pudge?

Good point.

I've come to the conclusion that vets definitely don't seem to know that sibes aren't supposed to be huge.

All I know is I want to hug that puppy so bad. Lol.

Ha ha, yeah he looks like a big stuffed animal... You'll have to wait until he's sleepy to get a hug in lol.

I agree he is overweight.  You can be somewhat forgiven for that as he is a puppy and they do go through various stages of growth from stretched out and gangly to looking overweight in no time.  He appears to have a nice layback of the shoulder, which is excellent as that is a major problem cropping up in the breed.  I would like to see him more over his front legs, but he appears to have a good start of chest coming in. He is short of loin, but again he's a puppy and he could grow a lot still. His biggest fault right now in profile is he has no neck.  That is likely just a development phase, my girls are going through the same thing.  Nice head, nice stop, good croup and tail set.  I'd really like to see him move and in an ideal world put my hands on him.  He's a nice start for sure.

Cato Now:







Cato at 8 mos on the left (notice all the fluffy coat, short back, short and the difference in front, not developed fully):






5 Months (notice the short coat, obvious short back...yes I know this is a horrible picture but it's what I have):








In all stages the vet said he was underweight - breeders I know say he is perfectly fine. I like having a trim dog. If that fat on top of his back is flopping back and forth then try to lose 5 pounds via roadwork. You need to think about walking him a lot more

Thank you both so much for your responses! I would prefer to have him more on the trim side as well and I think Cato looks amazing! I was looking at some of Cato's puppy pix and noticed some similarities between him and Dizzy. I saw a couple people ask if he was a mal, and I get that question about Dizzy too! I was concerned about over walking him. Since I live in the city and everything is concrete, so I've probably been overly cautious about length/distance of walks, do you think its okay to do 25-30 min of walking on concrete a couple times a day at a comfortable trot for him?

Yes, i think that's fine. You need to get him in shape for the ring - let him pick the pace and you will be all set.

Please upload a better picture of head - needs to be closer up of the front and side

Okay, I'll try and get some good headshots tomorrow, we have class tonight so he'll be tired of me fussing with him by the time we get home lol. Thanks for the walk and weight advice.

I agree that should be fine- being overweight is hard on the joints as well and he needs to be in proper condition to be shown. Some judges are not nice about out of condition dogs.

Here's my comparison Denali at 7 months-


Current-

Oh wow! That is a big difference in terms of weight/conditioning, Dizzy looks really chunky compared to Denali! He also looked down right fat next to Mechta, but they are so different in so many ways, its hard to compare them, he is heavy boned on top of the extra weight. It really helps to see pups at around the same age. I suspect I am over feeding and that may be causing his digestive problems as well. I was trying to get him up to 3 cups a day, but it seems like he looks and functions best on 2-2.5. Thank you both, boot camp starts tomorrow. I will post some head pix tomorrow as well.

Denali developed a lot different than some show males I have seen, he got more gangly and coyote like after that photo and completely fell apart for a while. All of which is normal development and the reward is him now as a mature adult. I actually had a judge reprimand me hard for my 'out of condition' dog in a mid summer show since he was spending so much time inside he was turning into a marshmallow so I had to suck it up and get up god awful early every day to get him biked. Lesson learned! Looking forward to seeing how your boot camp goes

Here are a couple of updated pix... I think he looks much better in terms of conditioning. What do you guys think?









He kinda has the yoda ears happening in these pix, he's really sleepy...

Mornin' Jen. I can't give technical info of course but he looks better than even just a few weeks ago, yeah? Seems like he trimmed down a bit and has a nice indention at the hips.

Looks what your plan for him is working.

When you look at him from above is the widest part his ribs? That's how Link is. He's go a nice hourglass curvature and the widest part is his ribs, but I can still feel them easily.

What's the plan for Dizzy's neuter, still a go? Did the second testicle drop?

His tuck up is much better - glad to see his length of body is better.

That being said, I can't evaluate much more because he is hyper-extended in the rear. Could you let him either free stack or don't place his feet so far back. It throws everything else off

See how Cato's feet are not further than his rear?

Thanks to Ceara, I have some better pix from this weekend. I wish the grass wasn't so long so you could see his feet, but she took a great shot of him free stacked, and the two headshots. I love the last one, except he looks so sleepy lol.

Dizzy in movement this morning at the dog park.

Wow, he's looking great from your last pics Jen. He's so handsome. Him and Link have very similar structures, it's so obvious now that Dizzy is catching up.

I think both of their hip, tummy, and rear areas look great. The area I'm looking to improve over the next few months is around the shoulder and back to the ribs.

Looks like Dizzy also has the wings of fur there too, so that skews everything. I thought this morning I should get Link in the tub and then take pics

Well, he has a neck now at least. Most huskies I've seen have those wings. Freshly bathed, and blow dried, they are a lot less obvious. He badly needs a bath. I don't love his croup though, I think its too abrupt or something. I'm curious to hear what the others think too.