Big Paws Only Dog Forums

From the pictures he looks ok to me, but if you are concerned maybe he is too thin. It's been my experience with Giants that in the first 2 years or so they grow taller so fast that they just don't have a chance to fill out.
But my 3 yr old St./OEM X has a weight issue, we, like you, have tested for all kinds of things, and he never looks quite right. In build he's a lot like your dog. Unlike your dog, you CAN see his ribs (barely) and he's very light in the rear end. I boarded him at the kennel where I work recently, and had them give him Eukanuba Low Residue, as I was out of his food, and had no time to go to the store. Well, they were at the kennel 5 days, and I swear his ribs are less noticeable! Low res is a veterinary formula, supposedly for sensitive stomachs. I'm arranging to order some from work, it might be worth a try!

Anytime one of mine swallows something foreign or big like that, I give them a 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup of Olive oil in a little bit of rice or kibble, it helps lubricate things- makes them more likely to pass gently.

I taught Earnest by taking him to busy places like the park, the ball field, and Petsmart where people and dogs would walk by frequently. As soon as he "alerted" on something (ears up, attention drawn) then I'd have him sit. I held a treat enclosed in my fist, and whenever his attention wavered I'd move the hand with the treat around his nose, even sometimes opening my hand enough for him to sniff it or even try to lick it, but not enough for him to get it.  He didn't get the treat until the distraction passed.  If he bounced up from the sit he got a correction and back into the sit.   
So instead of teaching him to pay attention to me with a command or correction, I taught him by this method to look to me whenever something interesting happens.  (by watching his behavior and distracting him when he became intent on something).
Now I have a dog who comes back to me, even off lead, when other dogs approach while we're hiking, or if something unexpected happens. He even returned to me when a deer jumped up out of the grass and ran away just a few feet from him!  It took a few months for him to be solid on it, and once he was sitting and looking at me automatically when another dog approached I added a long line and instilled the habit of returning to me.  One of the big keys to this was not allowing anyone to greet him or pet him while we were practicing. 

Here's the kind of situation where the philosophy of "Bones" applies.
I have a friend with a very tall yellow Lab, he's almost as big as my Dane mix.  They are first time dog owners, but really did their homework, went to lots of classes, and he is very well trained (he is now a therapy dog). 
Well, she asked for advice about a sudden change in "personality".  At first she thought it was her camera, everytime she asked him to sit and pointed the camera at him, he got up.  When she went to put him back in the sit he refused, and when she tried to force him he growled (throaty growl with no teeth).  The next day he again refused the sit, and growled at her husband when he tried to make him.  He did lay down, but continued to refuse the sit command, or layed down instead.
Everyone insisted the dog was "testing" them, and recommended NILIF and other "alpha reinforcing" techniques.  Most people said that growling is NEVER acceptable, and that the dog needed strong corrections for this behavior.
I know this dog, it was really out of character for him.  Then they posted pics of their recent snowshoe expedition.  There was the dog, plowing through some really deep snow.  I called her, and we had a discussion about long-legged dogs and the effort involved in walking in snow over their hocks.  She took him to the vet, and it turned out he had an inflamed tendon!  It was very sore- that's why he didn't want to sit, and he was growling to try to tell them that forcing him was hurting bad.
I NEVER "correct first and ask questions later" I have always tried to figure out where the behavior comes from and what the dog is trying to tell me. 

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64194,00.html

They already microchip people. On another board I belong to, I see an awful lot of people who would be willing to give up an awful lot of rights to things like privacy and probable cause because our government has them so afraid of terrorists that they think it's necessary for their own personal safety.  I happen to live my life in such a way that I am as equally aware that I could be hit by a bus as killed by a terrorist, and take about the same level of precaution against it. 
Don't you think the government could convince an awful lot of people to do it on their own- in the name of "Homeland Security"?

I had a Dane that as far as we can piece her story together was left locked in an empty house when her people moved.  She went through a window to get out after several days, I adopted her from someone who caught her wandering the streets. 
That dog had SERIOUS separation anxiety. She would break windows in my house and come looking for me. I'd brought her to my job once when I first got her, the first time I left her alone it took her 2 hours to find me, after that it took more like 15 minutes. She'd show up at my friends' houses, refuse to be caught, and keep looking until she found me.   I barricaded her in a room with only one window, and put plexiglass in the window so she couldn't break it, she ate the window sill and pulled all the sheets and blankets off the beds, pulled all my clothes off the hangers in the closets, and made a big pile of all my possesions in the middle of the room, then burrowed into them.  Her gums were bleeding and full of splinters from the windowsill, and her feet were all bloody where she had tried to claw under the doors. The carpet was shredded (but only under the doors) and the wall under the window was clawed. I put her in a crate and she destroyed it, and injured herself pretty badly trying to get out. I finally screwed a giant hook into the wall, and if I had to leave her I would chain her to the wall with a harness so she couldn't reach the windows. (no, I would not recommend this, but I had run out of ideas)It did work- but the area she could reach was pretty dilapidated by the time we were done.  It took a long time for her to believe I would always come home. She finally did get to where she could stay home alone without being confined-she even stopped breaking the windows.  After a few years I was even able to kennel her when I went on vacation.  Whenever I moved she had to ride back and forth with my belongings, and it made her very anxious until we slept in the new place.  She was about 2 when I got her, and she died in my arms after 10 long wonderful years- best dog I ever had.
Does SA exist? It sure does!

You do have to be really careful choosing a vet.  I'm somewhat aggressive with the vet, I used to be a vet tech, and I question everything. If I have to argue with them, I leave. I WON'T do all of Earnest's vaccines at once, it makes him sick and droopy for a few days, sometimes he runs a low fever,  so I like to space them out.  More than one vet argued with me that he'd be "fine" and it was ok for him to be sick from the vaccine.  No, it's not.
The last time I was at the vet (I won't go back) The tech walked in, grabbed Earnest, and squirted yellow paste down his throat. I said "is that Strongid?" She said yes. I said "what kind of worms did he have?" She said "his fecal exam's not ready yet". ?!!!! We're giving him wormer before the results of the fecal?  Then she comes back in smiling and says "the results were negative".  Then WHY did we give him poison?  When I asked she said "oh, we always do it twice a year". But if he doesn't have worms, he doesn't need wormer. Then they argued with me about "prevention".  Well, they don't eat anything off the ground (training) I keep my yard really clean, and except for going to work with me at the kennel, they're not really around other dogs much - isn't that prevention enough?

A friend on another board sent me this link :

http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem/893957