Overweight/Underweight?

[Jo Russell]

Given that dogs don't always conform to breed specifications for height and weight, for various reasons (ie. genetically a particular animal may grow up to be kind of "chunky" or "leggy", for example, in comparison to breed standard spec's) or in the case of mixed breed animals for whom there are no spec's, how do you know whether your dog's weight is okay or not?

Unless they're obviously terribly obese or absolute skin and bone by sight, what's a good guide? I have read in a number of places that you should be able to, when you run your hands down a standing dogs sides, easily feel without too much pressure on the flesh, 3-5 ribs at the back of the ribcage and that they should have a waist. Is this a regularly accepted measure by most?

I think when they're still growing that perhaps this measure wouldn't work so well. I mean pups will sometimes grow out first then suddenly grow taller so that any puppyfat they were carrying seems to magically disappear.

With regard to my own dogs, both adopted as adults, I have a 15lb Pomeranian and a 50lb LabxSamoyed. This Pom, by breed spec's, should be a real unhealthy "fatty", but he's not by the rib/waist test. So I figure he's something of a throwback or genetic reversion toward the original Pomeranian, who, when first discovered in Europe a couple of centuries ago was closer to 30lbs. As the breed spread throughout the world it was bred down to what we have today.

My Labx, who I've only had for about 3 months, looks like she's going to be a perpetually "skinny" looking dog. She was very thin when I adopted her. You could see almost all her ribs and her spine. She had just weaned a litter of pups (and no, she definitely wont be having any more), so I figured she just needed to rest and be well fed in order to recover her condition.

Well, in the first 3-4 weeks she was with me she put on a little weight, hair she'd lost grew back in but ... I can still easily feel her spine and more ribs than I "ought" to be able to. She's never lacked vigor, or seemed in anyway unhealthy. She's been wormed. When I feed her more she just poops it out the other end. So it looks like, for her, "normal" weight is slightly underweight looking, given that that is where her body has settled. I've stopped worrying about her weight/appearance.

I don't really have a question, but am interested in others' thoughts and experiences on this topic.

*edited a little for punctuation

[Melanie Xarti]

I'm familiar with the whole chart of severely thin through morbidly obese. And I understand its value. I also think that some dogs can carry a few extra or less pounds and be healthy still... just like a person who is just a bit plump or on the skinny side yet still is in good health.
My current Springer Spaniel is 35 lbs (granted, he's sick). Many people are surprised to learn he's an old man, because he still looks puppy size to them. Besides suffering weight loss due to illness, he also has a narrowness to his body.
My last Springer Spaniel was 26" tall at the shoulder and weighed 80lbs! Way above the "standard" for his breed. Yes, he was a bit overweight, but he was also just big and barrel chested. My vet understood this.
Then there's Peanut. She's not fully grown yet, but is at an optimal weight for her current age and energy level. Still, she has a slender appearance.
So I hear where you're coming from. :p
Before I knew Jake, if someone had told me there was an 80 lb Springer, I would have said impossible, or pictured a giant butterball on stick legs. But Jake was just Jake... an unusually large dog for his breed.
But I would hope that before anyone decides their dog is just naturally fat or skinny, they do what you did and take action to try to reach a 'normal' weight. And check for worms. And talk to a vet. And so on. Just to be safe and comfortable. :dogrun:

[Krysta Smith]

I know what you mean. It's hard to tell with mixed breeds whether or not they are the proper weight. Given that I've never seen Lola's parents :shock: I don't know if they are 15 to 20 pounds or if they're larger than the standard at 30 pounds. So I really don't have anything to go by. She's not overweight by the charts at the vet clinic (although the vet says she could lose a pound or two but I think that's due to her 2 week quarantine when she wasn't allowed to do anything physical because she was spayed). She's pretty much all muscle, though, as she LOVES to run. Some days she could run forever. Other days she'll run around the backyard and that's enough. I think it really depends on the dog. I mean, not all dogs are going to have the exact same body type, especially when you take into account different ages and breeds. Even within a breed you can have varying weights. My neighbours have 4 Shih-Tzus and the largest of them is at least twice the size of the smallest. So you can't really base their proper weights on the breed standard, can you? Anyway, I don't know if that makes sense because I'm tired and I'm rambling:)

[Grace Erick]

It doesn't matter what breed dog you have, there is always a standard on which to judge whether they are overweight. I think the best way to describe a dog that is their correct weight is to say their ribs are lightly covered. Being leggy or anything else has nothing to do with their weight. It's the body, the rib cage that is looked at primarily. There are many charts that show you how much a dog's rib cage should be covered. I think it's plain to see anyway if your dog is overweight or not.

I'll tell you what my husband said about a two dogs from the same litter and one went to the country where it remained the correct weight, excerisizing a lot and the city dog got heavy had many problems and died 5 years earlier, so activity and being the correct weight will help your dog live longer with good food.

[Amber]

I'm glad this had been started! I have a question for all of you then. Sally is a 19-20 lb. Peekapoo/Shih-Tzu mix. I've heard of a few Pekingese and Shih-Tzu's getting close to this weight range, but Sally's belly looks more like two bellies! lol

I'm afraid that if she loses weight, she'll lose weight in the wrong places (like female humans when we try to go on diets!) and her belly won't go down in size, but she'll get bonier in other places! Am I worrying for nothing or what? The vet says she's an average weight, but her belly laps over itself and makes little blackheads in the crease. I'm trying to get rid of this problem. Thanks so much!

[Jo Russell]

This is definitely worth repeating.

But I would hope that before anyone decides their dog is just naturally fat or skinny, they do what you did and take action to try to reach a 'normal' weight. And check for worms. And talk to a vet. And so on. Just to be safe and comfortable.

I've been looking at my "skinny" girl again, ran a google search and read a whole lot more about "right" weight and condition and if she is underweight, it's only just. A lot of my perception and worry may have to do with having people look at her and think that I'm not taking good care of her. I guess I haven't been feeling totally confident even though I know intellectually that all is well.

The things you and Krysta described, Melanie, about variations within a breed were what I was thinking of. Illness or not and ability to exercise or not are usually shorter term things but are certainly times when a dog's body can get out of condition and/or pack on a few pounds too many. Perhaps, in the case of dogs whose early life has been less than ideal, so that dietary and lifestyle faults have been longterm, their bodies may never recover full/ideal health.

Grace, I think the size of the dogs skeleton/frame does impact weight, when you're just talking numbers and not looking at condition, which is what many people get stuck on... As you say, the truer indicator is the physique of the dog. There are a lot of technically "fat" dogs around though, aren't there. I think that generally people see a well covered dog as a healthy dog, when in reality a lot of "well covered" dogs are probably at least a little bit overweight.

Exercise is important, but in the case of Amber's Sally, who I think is the wee rescue who basically wont move, what can you do with that? Amber, I was struggling to understand how any vet could possibly say that a dog with what sounds like Budha belly rolls was fine as she was?? Then I figured that if he knows the rest of this particular dogs story, the vet may have been saying just the right thing, when there seems little that can be done immediately in your situation. It's just going to take time to bring her around, in all ways. Having read some of your other posts, she is coming along.

I'm gonna assume that you've done everything you can to get her moving, like enticing food treats... peanut butter, liver paste or anything she might get a taste for, first in her safe haven, then risk coming out for. I think you probably know more about this stuff than I do... treat balls and chewy sticks and other things used to draw a dog out. It might be worth making her diet "worse" for a while if it would help to get her confident about moving around.

I don't have much else for you except for bad jokes... I've been envisaging her (headphones on, towel around shoulders) pounding away on a puppy sized treadmill then resting up on a vibrating blanket as a way to get her body moving. ;) Sorry.

Oh, have you thought about massage? Like TT. Tellington Touch, I think it's called. It's a wholistic healing therapy, as I understand it. Maybe you know about it already and for some reason you can't make it happen, but if you haven't heard of it, it's a way of working with dogs for all sorts of issues. It might be worth a try with Sally, seeing as the regular diet and exercise options aren't feasible at this point. At least, if she would allow you to rub her belly, you could work out those blackheads.

[Amber]

She will DEFINITELY let me rub her belly! lol. It's one of her favorite spots for me to rub...hehe.

[Grace Erick]

Jo, I do agree that the weight of the dog should be determined by their size and build. That is why there are pictures of dogs, which I can't seem to find on the internet of how a dog should look irregardless. They show pics of a dog from above and a side view.

A dog should have a thin covering over their ribs. Like you say, a little more than a thin covering can put them in the overweight category. There is definitely no way to put a number (figure) on a dog's weight just by using their breed as a guide. My chihuahua is 3-1/2 pounds and her brother is at least 4 pounds and they are both their correct weight.