Obesity and the dog

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm just writing this, so people realize that they should keep an eye on their animals weight.

Just an exemple about obesity for people to realize that some dog might be suffering. When I usually explain this, people go :o because they never realized how much their animal were in pain(bones problems, arthritis, diabetes etc..)

People have a hard time to think about weight on a dog Ex: 6 lbs on a 125lbs human is little but on a 6 lbs dog that mean that you just double the weight(12 lbs) so tell me what is going to be the difference on the human weighting(at the perfect weight) 125 lbs if you double the weight it end up to be 250lbs.
What is your dog suppose to weight normally? So is your dog overweight???

Here is a nice diagram to guide you(I don't like Purina but the diagram is well done)
[url]http://www.purina.com/dogs/nutrition.asp?article=292[/url] .

If the dog is overweight it should loose weight gradually, on an extended period of time. (Don't starve the dog :x I say it because some people do it and it is bad to do that)

[Guest Anonymous]

Poor little poodles :cry:

[Carolk9s]

I am somewhat fanatical about keeping my dogs fit, my family and friends know the first thing I am going to do is check their dog for ribs! 8)
If I can't find 'em, they get the 'glare' from me.
I am a 'full figured' gal myself but I'll be danged if my dogs are going to be fat!
I had my work cut out for me with a friend and her now deceased Golden Ret. I had told her that her dog needed to lose at least 10 lbs. Her vet thought the dog was just fine. You could not FIND that dogs ribs so matter how hard you tried. I kept up my gentle persuasion :wink: and she finally started her boy on a reducing plan. After he had lost about 5 lbs, her vet told them he needed to lose some weight. Duh!
I will admit my Aussie mix girl could lose 2-3 lbs, she has always put on weight terribly easy. I've had her thyroid checked and that is fine. As soon as my flu is all gone and it is a tiny bit warmer in the am, we will be going to the park for daily walks again.

[Guest Anonymous]

With dogs, especially pups, it is much better for them to be 10% underweight than 10% overweight. If you have a large breed pup, I would recommend keeping them between a 3 and a 4 on the chart above.

The negative consequences of being a little underweight as a pup pale in comparison to being alittle overweight.

I have a Presa Canario pup. He will be about 150 pounds when full grown. He is currently 9 weeks old--almost 10 weeks--and he weighs about 25-30lbs. With pups, it is SO easy to monitor their food intake. If he looks a little thick one day, I just cut back on the food a little that day. Nearly instantly, you can notice a difference. If he gets a little too thin, I will add a chicken wing or two to his dinner.

I say this over and over again, but feeding a RAW diet is the ONLY way to go. You may think it is expensive--it is actually about 1/2 the price of good kibble. You may think it takes too long--it onyl takes me about 30 mins once every 3-4 weeks.

Look into it, you wont regret it.

Joseph

[Horsefeathers!]

[quote name='jweissg']I say this over and over again, but feeding a RAW diet is the ONLY way to go. [/quote]
I strongly disagree. I have a dog here that did a major crash and burn on a solely raw diet, and that was following the "experts'" instructions to the letter. She simply does not do well (to say the least) on a raw diet.


I know that raw is great for lots of dogs... not disputing that at all, but I just do not believe there is a one size fits all diet for every dog. Not every dog will thrive on a raw diet, so it's very misleading to suggest it's the ONLY way to go.

[Guest Anonymous]

You are right, I should have known that some dogs may not do well wih RAW. The only absolute is that there is not absolute.

What was the nature of your dogs problems with RAW?

Joseph

[TDG]

[quote name='jweissg']I say this over and over again, but feeding a RAW diet is the ONLY way to go.[/quote]


mmmh, i think the "only way to go" is to carefully evaluate a dog's individual needs and develop a feeding and supplementing plan that meets them.

some do well on raw, some don't.

and to be honest, i don't see the need to push someone who has a strong personal aversion against raw meats into feeding raw either. home cooked diets have been fed successfully to dogs for centuries and are a viable alternative.

[Guest Anonymous]

I totally agree with you TDG

Every dog is different

:thumbs:

[pomeranians]

Hmmm...

One thing I HATE about those charts, is that they always describe the ideal as "Abdominal tuck evident". Though, right in the AKC Labrador retriever standard it says that lab's... "underline is almost straight, with little or no tuck-up in mature animals".

What about if you happen to own a pure-bred lab? Those charts are going to make you think your dog is overweight when its not, and some people may make their dogs anorexic! :evil: :cry:

Sorry, I had to get that out. But I do think that those charts should have some kind of note at the top, mentioning that factor that some dogs are SUPOSE to have straight "underlines".