Is Your Dog Over Weight?

I have found this topic to be quite the debate amongst vets, dog owners, and the general public. While one person may say your dog looks just fine, the other may say your dog is absolutely over weight! But how can we really tell? I will explain!

You should be able to feel your dogs bones (aka: ribs) underneath the layer of skin and tissue quite easily.
However, you should not see your dogs ribs too easily, as in, they should not be popping up from the fur/skin.
If you cannot feel your dogs ribs, that’s a good indication that your pooch may be over weight.
If you really have to hunt for those rubs, your dog is absolutely over weight.
While standing directly over your dog, you should see a very definitive waist. For example, your dogs chest and rib cage should be wider than your dogs hip/belly area. There should always be an indent to the waist.
If your standing over your dog and its waist is the same size or larger size than its ribcage, your dog is over weight.

Some people find chubby dogs cute and adorable, while that may be true to the eye, whats going on internally is the most important thing. When your dog is over weight, they too go through physical and mental issues, just like us humans can. Physically it makes it difficult for them to get up or down just simply because of all the unnecessary added weight to their bones and muscle structure. It can damage or injure bones and joints, as well as add layers of fat around their organs. Dogs are not meant to be over weight, they are only meant to carry enough fat for energy, not for insulation purposes. Extra weight can easily make your dog hot all the time, or get hot much quicker than a healthy weight would. These animals need to be monitored more closely in the summer months for risk of having a heat stroke. Also, an over weight pooch may live a lesser amount of years because of the damage it has done to its body while aging. So if you want your furry friend around for a while, I suggest taking a look at his or her weight, and make the proper adjustments if needed. Always read the ingredients in your dog food, the first ingredient should always be a good protein source. Also, look at the sugar content of the food and the carbohydrate levels, as these two items will add more pounds to your pooch than needed. A raw protein diet is the healthiest way to go in our opinion, which is exactly what the wolves get out in the wild. So please, keep an eye on your dogs weight and pay attention to those ingredients, it may save your companions life!


Contact K-9 Specialist

Contact K-9 Specialist