Dog obesity?
A reader asks…
How can people tell if their dog is overweight? I heard that obesity is one of the main health concerns for dogs. And that like 48% of dogs are overweight and only less than half of their owners realize it or admit it. How can I tell if my dog is to heavy? And what could I do to help him be fit?
(Scroll down to read answers)
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Look at the dog standard on AKC website – and weigh your dog.
Look here:
http://www.placervillevet.com/canine%20body%20condition.htm
This will give you a guideline of what your dog should look like – then you can also ask your vet – they will weigh your dog and give you an idea of what the dog should weigh.
Ok, first weigh your dog, and find out how much he is suppose to weigh for his breed. If he’s overweight by even 7 pounds try to get him to lose weight. They sell special kinds of food at pet stores that help with weight loss. And take him for walks around the neighborhood! =) good luck!
More than likely you can tell if your dog is overweight. Depending on what kind of dog you have, small or big, but you can research the type of dog and it will say what that type of dog is supposed to weigh. As for helping it, there’s food you can buy that is for dogs who are overweight. Pedigree weight maintence, and also you can contact your vet, they have prescriptions and special formulated dog food for dogs who are very overwight. Exercise with him and NO human food, people really don’t know how much they are hurting their pets by giving them tables scraps. Good Luck!!
Ask your vet.
To work on the problem – give a set feeding schedule of a set amount of food, and lots of exercise.
when you go to the vet just ask him/her how your dogs weight is. or you can tell your vet if you are suspicious about your dogs weight.
You can tellif your dog is fat if you can’t feel his ribs. you should never really be able to see ribs except possibly on sight hounds which you will still only be able to see the last 1-2 clearly. also your dog will have a waist between where his hips are and where his ribs cage ends. you shoudl be able to feel his ribs easily. I would consult your vet to give you idea of where your dog is at and where he should be at. Hope this helps – as for keeping him trim – feed him good food and don’t give him alot of scraps (in moderation) and walk him frequently.
In general you want to be able to feel ribs but NOT see ribs. See a waist but you don’t want to have a huge indent.
Sometimes it is hard to tell an actual number if your dog is a mutt or is taller or shorter than breed standard. Some dogs also have more muscle than others so it can be harder to tell from that.
As for maintenance, I feed a good food -one that has a balance between protein and fat. I don’t really do much in the way of treats -ever- my guys get bell pepper or blueberries for training bits.
For actual weight loss I would suggest a high protein diet like Innova “Evo” or Natures’ Variety “Instinct”. They also have some veggies in the kibble that can help them as well. These are all round good foods, they cover the needs that your dog has for nutrition so they aren’t miserable while losing weight. Purina, Pedigree, Eukanuba, Science Diet and so on basically cut all nutritional value and add lots of fiber. So your dogs poos more and is hungrier because it’s nutrients are cut drastically (ok, these brands don’t really cover the nutrients that dogs need to begin with but oh well)
As always keep your doggy active!
I hope some of that helps