Is Your Dog Fat?
Fat dogs are a ‘pet peeve’ of mine. That’s funny, right? Good, because fat dogs are not. I’m sending out the memo now, once and for all, let me be clear. Food does not equal love.
While I’ve struggled with my own weight issues during my adult life, I’ve always managed to keep my dogs thin. How’s that? I believe it’s my responsibility as their owner-guardian-steward-pet-havin’-word-du-jour to keep them skinny.
And it’s probably skinnier than you think it is. For our purposes today, Rocco will be our fine physical specimen. Rocco is oh about 25lbs-ish of fit as a fiddle. And pretty much has been his entire life. I only weigh my dogs every so often though, so I’m usually not worried about poundage as a number. Nope. It’s all about…
The Tuck. The visible tuck of their waist as seen from the side.
And above.
A clearly defined waist from all angles, with not much tummy hanging past it or bulging at the sides. That’s the goal. A little ribbage, seeing a rib or two, especially as a dog turns away from me, doesn’t even freak me out. It’s certainly preferable to those bones being buried under layers of flub.
For our fluffier dog friends, weight monitoring is a little more hands-on, but still involves the rib bones. Get in there and feel those ribs. Can you? Can you do it easily? Or do you really have to press and dig around in there? Fur or no fur, ribs should be easily palpable. If you are having to dig, its time to cut back.
On that cutting back, dogs cant open the fridge. At least mine can’t. They may forage on occasion – more on that later this week – but it doesn’t contribute to their calories in an appreciable way. If it does, I adjust accordingly. I’d swear my dogs are trying to eat us out of house and home. They do not lack for treats or bones or much of anything. They aren’t denied, but they certainly aren’t fat. Here’s why.
Excess Food. Wasted Money. You’ve seen my dog spending. Who can afford to have a fat dog? Fat dogs eat more. Fat dogs cost more. It’s that simple. If you have one dog or seven (who has seven dogs!?) every pound of overage equates to dollars down the drain. Or more appropriately, left in piles in the backyard. Because what they don’t store in their reserves, they leave as bigger gifts for you to pick up afterward. Canned, kibble or raw. This is true no matter what you feed them
One Word: Arthritis. Not really one word. Several. Diabetes, respiratory problems, tumors, or how about just gas? As with humans, obesity means a myriad of canine health problems. Different from us though, a little bit of weight can make a big difference to their small bodies. When Ford came to us he was 4lbs, that should have been 6. Those 2lbs accounted for 1/3 of his body weight, making 2lbs a big deal. Now that we’ve got a whopping three old dogs with mobility concerns, I am even more diligent about this. I can’t imagine taxing them further by having them carry around excess weight. Even if I’m not constantly monitoring their exact weight, I get concerned when we see about a 3-5lb increase. The low end of that for the little dogs (not including tiny Ford), and the higher end for the big dogs. Dont wait for weight to become an issue deal with it…
Daily. Every day you make the decision about how much food to put in that bowl. Just you. Not the dog. Hugo is a bottomless pit of hunger. He acts just as hungry after he scarfs down his breakfast as he does when he hasn’t eaten for 8 hours. He is a pug. His mission in life is to convince me he needs more food. And I could give it to him. And it would make him happy. Everyone likes happy dogs. But, long term that’s about you. Not the dog. The best interest of the dog is to limit their food. We look at our dogs at each meal time, and vary their amount of food accordingly. Are they looking thin or thick? How much exercise have they gotten? That’s how we determine how much goes in the bowl. Not by the squealing, pleading and black flips of one perpetually famished pug.
I’ll say again, fat dogs are not cute. To me, it’s not funny. I see wasted dollars and compromised health. For. No. Reason. Dogs are opportunistic scavengers, programed to eat when there’s plenty. If there’s always plenty, they are going to pack on the pounds. It’s not their fault. (Side Bar: If you have one of those gloriously non-food motivated dogs, you are an enigma to me). This is my solution: Think before you scoop.
Do you have a fat dog? A non-eater? A dog you struggle to keep weight on or off? What are your strategies for dealing with pooch portion control?
Comments
I’m with you on fat dogs. When I adopted my second dog, she was a whopping 25 pounds (for a short miniature schnauzer, that is HUGE). She lost 5 pounds in the first year, and is now down to 18 pounds. My vet thinks she’s at a good weight, I think she can still stand to drop a bit more (she has a droopy tummy, but that may be because she was bred? Who knows – she was a stray, intact, matted so much she had to be shaved right down, and fat – odd combination). When she first came home, she had problems going up and down the stairs, couldn’t jump up onto the couch or bed (yes, they are allowed on the furniture), and basically spent the entire day either sleeping of begging for food. She’s like your Hugo – NEVER full.
Now, she is active, she plays, she runs around the yard, she can boogie up and down the stairs, her favourite spot is the back of the couch, looking out the window… and she can jump up on the kitchen table. Ask me how I know….
Yeah, her tummy may always remain droopy if she was bred irresponsibly. Poor girl. We’ll forgive her.
Its amazing what weight loss does for their energy level and stamina. Just like us I suppose. 5lbs down! Lucky girl.
I usually disagree with my vets weight ranges too. I’d rather they be a little of the thin side than a little on the porky. Easier to spoil than deprive.
I’ve got one like your Hugo who is never full. He thinks he’s wasting away each and every moment which makes rationing his food hard. Its a constant struggle to keep things under tabs but we do fairly well with it. I agree though, food is NOT love.
My other dog we struggle to get to eat enough. He’s somewhat finicky but just doesn’t like to eat much at a time. With one who’s always on the search for extra food it gets tricky to give the little guy enough access to his food sometimes. All about balance though.
Ooooh, that would be a challenging combo. I’ve not every experienced the non-eater. If one of mine isn’t eating its cause for alarm, because they are all scarfers.
Love your conscientious approach though.
My dog is a forager by nature; I suspect he was in charge of finding his own food until he was taken to the shelter as a puppy and that mentality still prevails. And he is a little genius when it comes to finding food… for his short stature it’s amazing just how much of the counter he can actually get to! About two years ago, my medium-sized mutt weighed in at 85lbs (about 40 lbs heavier than the previous year)… the vet said he was morbidly obese… I was shocked and mortified. Mine is one of those fluffy dogs that’s a little more difficult to “see” the chub on. We started to become really vigilent about where people food was left; Riley can take out a loaf of bread before you even realize he’s in the kitchen. Just yesterday, he weighed in at a still chubby 62 lbs, but much improved. His shape is better and he’s certainly more happy to run around. I know we have work to do still, but I am happy that he continues to lose weight, even though my 3 year old loves to “share.” I look forward to your post on foraging, as well.
P.S. – I love all the dog information, I’ve already made a few changes to Riley’s diet based on your tips – so keep it coming!
Wow! Taking off 20lbs+ is quite the accomplishment! I’ve had some chubby (and downright fat) foster dogs, who were ‘highly food motivated’, to put it nicely. There is a formative and perhaps personality aspect that comes into play there, and I agree those fluffy dogs are challenging.
Keep up the good work! I’m betting Riley will be svelte in no time. Despite his best efforts (and the toddlers!)
I absolutely judge people with fat dogs (and cats, for that matter). Barring some sort of metabolic problem, fat dogs are by and large the result of owners simply not caring for them properly.
Our two may not be quite as thin as they could be (the Deep South summer heat has limited exercise recently), but they’re definitely not overweight and never have been. We have to be especially careful with our collie mix, who came to us as a stray puppy and has genetic hip/joint problems that would be exacerbated by excess weight. She’s already had a partially torn ACL and is only three years old.
I don’t claim that we’re perfect, but indulging your dogs until they’re obese is not love. Dogs are like children: Their health and well-being is entirely in your hands. It’s not mean to say no to them. It’s not mean to deny them as many treats as they want or inappropriate table scraps. It’s the best thing you can do for them.
As an aside, ours actually really like apples and cucumbers, so they do get small pieces of them as treats whenever I’m cutting them up for myself. They even know the sound of me slicing or eating them.
HA! My childhood dog could hear you peeling an orange. I am not kidding.
Most dogs love fruits and veggies as snacks. There are very few mine won’t eat. Just the other day there was a whole cabbage eating in the yard thing. I though that cabbage was going to make it to the Chickens… not so much.
I hear you! I’m a judged, too. I’m staying with a friend whose dog is twice as wide as he should be. So frustrating. For him food does equal love. It’s terrible.
Judge, I mean. Friend just said right now “I’ll give him a turkey sandwich.” “Just like a little person.”
Eeek! I’m all about feeding dogs real food, but a sandwich!? I would bite my tongue clean off trying to stifle that commentary.
It is really interesting for me to read this. I think I’ve gotten really lucky (?!) in that my dog appears to be one of the the exceptions, as have most of the dogs that have been a part of my life in the past. He never eats more than a small portion of kibble in a sitting, and even when tastier homemade dogfood or table scraps are on order, he will often turn up his nose after he’s had a few bites. We feed him twice a day, roughly correlated to our breakfast and dinner times, but he usually leaves a good portion of his meals in his bowl, opting to snack a bit or two at a time while we go about our day. Usually he chooses to eat his food when we are nearby, and will often not eat anything if we are away or distracted by interesting activity. In fact, if we have any problem with food with him, it’s getting him to eat at all when there are circumstances outside of the normal routine. Overnight visits with friends and family often mean we have to sit with him and coax him to eat a few mouthfuls.
I hope your blog is around for many years because someday, I know we are going to need help knowing how to feed a ‘normal’ dog!
I’m with ya, sister! Love this post. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m totally a nerd about dog weights.
When I moved in with my partner, I insisted on shaving a few pounds of flub off each of his two dogs. Back when I adopted my beagle she came to me at 25lbs, but for the last few months she’s been very healthy at 19lbs. They’re so much more active at slim weights, and their mobility and ability to turn quickly.. they’re just so spry! I “spoil” them with raw bones once a week now, but I also cut back a bit of their kibble for that day depending on how meaty the bones are. No table scraps except for the rare occasion when an accident happens.
I’ve never met two veterinarians that agreed on body condition. For me, too skinny is if their hip bones (above their tail) don’t have any padding, or if I can feel their spine easily, or if their isn’t much padding on the front of their chest below their neck. Or if I can see ribs too easily, such as when they’re standing normally. A good skinny has all the things you’ve mentioned.
Yep, Vets never agree. Part of getting to know your dog is understanding ‘their ideal weight’. It varies for breeds and for individuals. My Dals have a tendency toward ribby-ness, and actually the spine on Hannah is almost always prominent for some reason. Yet she’s been within the same couple pounds her whole life.
Spry is an excellent word to describe the benefits of weight loss.
I have two dogs, both the same species (labs), both raised from puppy by my husband and I. They’re both quite young, one year apart in age.
One will look at me adoringly whenever the possibility of food arises, hanging around the kitchen in the hope of scraps when I’m cooking, and generally bugging guests at dinner. This despite the fact they’ve never been allowed scraps from the table, and the occasional treat of cut off fat or whatever is put in their bowl at dinner time.
The other is not interested. Not even a little bit. As long as she has her toy-de-jour, she’s happy.
The result is that I have to feed them separately, or else one dog gets very very fat very very quickly while the other starves! A real hassle! Also things have become a lot more challenging since my baby was weaned, and the dog now has to be kept out of the dining room while baby is eating.
I am sensing a two dog household theme here. One eater + One non-eater makes for a unique challenge.
I think if we had a toddler, I could almost stop feeding my dogs entirely. And just increase what the baby was fed. I’m sure there would be a captive high chair audience at meal time. The positive there is it creates a wonderful baby=good association for the dogs.
Thanks for the guidance here. We have a really hard time keeping Scooby the elderpin at a steady weight. He fluctuates a lot between just right and pudgy.
I’d wager the elderpin is pretty good at the “feed me. feed me. feed me.” mind manipulation.
Resist!
I have to shamefacedly say that my 4 dogs are all packing extra weight. Due to our work schedules, and traveling for work, we tried to make our dogs as easy as possible to take care of, so the neighbor boy could just check on them, etc. So we just have a big bowl of food out, which we replenish when we see it empty. I did try to implement a feeding time, when everyone would go into a kennel to be fed, but it was beyond difficult.
What can I say for myself, other than I did rescue 4 dogs. No, I didn’t set out to have this many, but the skinny puppy I found on the side of the road, who turned into a 100 lb giant in a few months, wasn’t getting any adoption offers, nor was the coon hound who showed up one Christmas. and btw, the giant is actually pretty trim. the coon hound is the plumper of the bunch.
It happens. While I’d encourage you to not replenish that food bowl quite so often, your dogs are definitely better off than the alternative. Even if they are a little chunky.
What are your thoughts on bones? I have a Jack Russell who is fit as a fiddle and a JR/chihuahua mix who is LAZY. I know his dad (a long legged, probably 10lb chihuahua) and his mom (a short legged wider Jack Russell) and struggle with what his weight should be. He has a chihuahua head and a jack russell body but is also what I call a “hot rod” (shorter in the front than he is in the back). He’s about 22 lbs and the vet tells me he should lose weight. While I see the tuck from underneath, I don’t see it from above. My dogs gave up breakfast long ago and only eat once a day. I give them a little treat in the morning before I go to work and they eat a measured dinner at 5. Twice a week I give them some sort of bone (bison cartilidge or beef tendon I get from a small, local pet store). I walk them for exercise 4-5 times a week and tell them we’re “going to work on their fitness” Fergie style. But he’s LAZY all other times. He’ll play about 30 minutes a day and I live in SC. The 1st week in July was over 100 degrees and we couldn’t walk. Any suggestions? Should I quit with the bones? I don’t think he’s overweight but I want him as healthy as possible.
By bones, you mean cured treats right? Not raw meaty bones? As in these don’t need to be refrigerated I’m guessing. Usually those type of treats are pretty low in fat (bully sticks are. Pig ears are not. Not sure on tendons specifically) but for small dogs it can definitely contribute to their calores. The sourcing/manufacture/processing on those types of treats is generally pretty darn disgusting, so I dont buy them very often (if at all). They do provide some much needed recreation though. I’d swap it out for a raw marrow bone once a week, and feed that in place of their evening meal.
Speaking of evening meal, I usually recommend twice a day feeding, especially for small dogs in order to maintain their blood sugar. Don’t increase the quantity of food they are getting, just break it up over two meals. That should help keep their metabolism going too.
(I know this is an older post, but I just found you via your comment on MMM’s blog). I have one of those crazy, non-food motivated dogs. He’s a 13yo border collie mix and has been thin his entire life – even during 7 or 8 years of free feeding. My roommate generally compares him to a cat. And Eeyore. But he’s an amazing dog and doing quite well in his advanced age. I am sure it is mostly due to his weight.