Well y'all, I was waiting for Lani or JM to answer you. Miya as you know is far from a heavy dog and has this also. I went searching, and lo and behold it was a gsd forum that I got some kind of an answer. According to gsd owners, it is called a wet dog. the reasoning behind this is....in the gsd world the working lines are dry dogs you wont see that neck thing, show dogs you will. Some say it is the genetics of the working lines vs show and others say it's because working lines, well work harder than the show lines.

Here is part of the explanation...-A dog whose skin stays tight to their body, tight to the muscling, is referred to as "dry"
-A dog whose skin hangs loose on their body, not tight to the frame or muscling, is referred to as "wet"...........they say it is mostly a boy thing, well my girl has it too, haha. They also mention front angulation. It's quite a debate over there. Many say it is a lack of conditioning to the front end of the dog, others say it is the way some dogs just are. I hope I helped out on that. Hopefully Lani of JM may come back on and respond.

I can see maybe the lack of conditioning to the front end of the dog. Kohdi doesn't pull at all so he probably lacks muscle there, Mishka pulls hard and her little chest seems bigger and tighter. Thank you for all that info Renee, this has been an interesting thread to me

I believe this loose skin is simply genetics, though it has no use in Siberians and I would not breed for it. It can be seen in morbidly obese dogs, but has little to do with conditioning. In my other breed, heavy dewlap is desirable, and provides the dogs with another level of predator protection. The fit dogs have it no matter what.

Now I will say, a dog that has an incorrect layback, particularly too steep of a shoulder, will have a skin wrinkle....this is not a dog that should be bred for reasons beyond loose skin.

Yeah, I don't know if Kohdi has an incorrect layback/too steep of a shoulder, the moob thing I notice when he has his harness on. It doesn't bother me but I am concerned sometimes he's fat and I just don't know it. I tried Amy's "feel" thing but it's difficult for me to say so I guess I'll just have to keep having him weighed or something.

HuskyMom09 wrote:

Now I will say, a dog that has an incorrect layback, particularly too steep of a shoulder, will have a skin wrinkle....this is not a dog that should be bred for reasons beyond loose skin.  

There are many, many reasons Ami should not be bred...thankfully, he is neutered (and one he should...he has a wonderful temperament!)  This pic is the closest I've ever come to a good side view - taken back in early November when his coat is at its minimum.  Huskymom - is this "incorrect layback" or a chunky dog or just a furry one...or you can't tell from this photo.  At issue here is ongoing disagreement as to whether he is overfed or being starved (hubby and me have different opinions.)

Thanks.




PS:  his feathers are a mess - he got into some little very prickery barbed ball thingies in the beach brush and I ended up cutting them out quickly because Ami wanted to pull them out with his teeth and I didn't want them embedded in his esophagus


This might be slightly better but is an older picture. And he is in full coat here. Hmmm...not much difference. He's just a furry one.

jmscott wrote:

I believe this loose skin is simply genetics, though it has no use in Siberians and I would not breed for it. It can be seen in morbidly obese dogs, but has little to do with conditioning. In my other breed, heavy dewlap is desirable, and provides the dogs with another level of predator protection. The fit dogs  have it no matter what.

Dewlap? Is that the Brahma bull neck thingy or the loose skin over the shoulders and the upper, forward rib cage? One minute I'm thinking, amid getting fat and then 10 minutes later, I might pay his belly or his back and his spine, hips or lower ribs feel sharp and pronounced and then i worry I I starving him

You can see the loose skin in this spanish mastiff.

Leo has that loses chest skin not sure if it a small amount will stay or go away when he is done filling out.

wow , that's one fluffy Ami.

i did find a picture of one of leo's sister with the short coat like their dad. that his breeder shared with me

@Amy, in your first pic I notice a difference in coats between my Kohdi and Ami, but in your second pic, not so much! Haha. Is his coat trimmed or anything in that second pic?

Ok, loose skin like on the Mastiff, Kohdi does not have. What I'm mostly seeing is when I put his harness on, the coat/skin (?) puffs out through the openings and it reminds me of moobies

You are probably seeing coat tufts protruding from the openings. That is pretty typical with a coated breed as the harness sinks down to the body...which is a good thing, that means he's actually putting his weight into the harness not just slacking off.

Nope, Jimmy, the only trimming is on his feathers in the first photo. And it wasn't really trimming, it was hacking out the pricklies before Ami could swallow them.

I think he had way more coat the first year because he was outdoors from early morning until midnight and slept in an unheated out building. The past two years he's been inside at night and I've noticed his coat retreating to the point I wonder if he really is wooly... right up until I have pull buttocks out of his feathers again.

Thank you Huskymom that's good to know! I've already started taking him on walks more solo because I don't think he's been getting the exercise he should be when I walk them together, plus he runs with me so I'm hoping I won't have to worry he's overweight.

That's interesting Amy. First pic I definitely see the wooly in him, even like where your hand is on his side, the way it sinks down into him , but the second pic he reminds me a lot of Kohdi! His feathers and stuff don't seem as long in that pic but his coat itself does seem longer in some areas than Kohdi's. Ami is beautiful Amy