Your view on obese dogs?

[Hyshqa]

I suppose it's not exactly news to anyone that over a third of all dogs in Britain are overweight, it seems only too common nowadays. But something that has surprised me is the number of huskies and malamutes I've either seen or seen photos of that are overweight. It seems to me that it would be incredibly difficult to actually make a dog like that overweight due to their natural need for a lot of exercise, the boundless energy they seem to have, and the impression I get that they don't tend to be particularly big eaters. In that respect I'm referring to dogs that do not have underlying medical problems.

So how do people here feel about obese dogs? If your dog were to start putting on weight would you do anything about it or just let them carry on as they are?

I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated about the whole thing if I'm honest, that someone could take on a breed known to need a certain diet and certain levels of exercise, and let them develop into something so unhealthy it will potentially shorten their lives and cause a whole number of painful medical conditions. Kiska is at a perfect weight at the moment, she always has been. Since her spay her appetite has shot through the roof and I get stared at multiple times throughout the day where she is asking for more food. I'm not giving in and upping her food, she was on a large amount anyway. Luckily her activity level has so far remained the same, but if she were to start putting on weight I'd definitely get her out more and consider cutting her food to stop her becoming obese.

[SA DA KA]

Hi Steph,

What a great thought you have and what a good article. It also frustrates us to see overweight dogs as well as cats, just knowing by them being extremely overweight, it could lead to several medical problems for the animal, ie; diabetes, joint pain and injury, heart and lung issues...

Food: Just like people, you are what you eat so we would make sure if our dogs became very overweight, we know one thing, treats would be cut in half because it is not about the size of the treat it's just that they are getting something and the action. There is a picture of a heavy set person with a dog that say's "if your are extremely overweight, then you are not walking your dog enough. That could also be said the other way around.

Great Thread!

Husky Lovers in Vermont.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Hard 2 say , u know the issues I had with skyla and how hard I tried 2 get her too loose weight but it doesn't seem 2 have any effect on her she's still the weight she was last year , she dropped 6kg when she blew her coat n now has put it back on again and I never changed her diet or walks I think she's just naturally a big dog , however if I thought she was actually fat I would do my best 2 slim her down

There's no excuse for a fat dog imo it's just laziness , unless a dog has a thyroid issue

I've only ever had one person say 2 me 'make her loose weight now!'

And I know some pics can make her look bigger then she is n I always worry people are judging me about that

Like kiska , Skyla's appetite seems 2 have rocketed but she's only being given what she normally has nothing extra

[Vlad]

It really upsets me i have a friend that used to have 2 obese dogs i tried to tell her but she would still feed them slices of bread like treats eventually it led to them having problems walking, bad joints and an early demise .I see it people have a duty of care towards any pet ,as they cant make there own choices of what and when they eat so its upto there humans to look after them and keep them as healthy as possible. Obese people have a choice what they stuff down there throats ,pets rely and trust people to feed them and give them quality of life they surely deserve.

[Val (Zebedee)]

I have what is classed as an obese dog -Diesel - he got "obese" by eating the equivalent of 200gm lean mince for morning meal & 2 chicken wings for an evening meal. He is now on 300gm of kibble a day, as worked out by a vet and in 6 months has lost about 3kg. 300gm is just over 2 mugs full A DAY!!! I bet the majority of your dogs eat more than that. I personally know dogs that eat WAY more than that! You all know how often he goes out & walks for hours - you see enough dog meets with him in! He does not appear to have any underlying problems; we traced his breeder (as he was a rescue) and his Dad was the size of a small cow! I have posted pics of his Dad on here previously. Those who come on meets with us know not to give him treats ( he may have the occasional piece of heart or something courtesy of Dan but that is not a "bad" treat and that is maybe on a monthly basis).

So there are some very sweeping comments about overweight dogs here, not all are big because they are lazy etc. Fair enough, if you know the dogs don't go out or get fed titbits constantly, the owners need educating, they could be "killing with kindness" but this is not a black & white subject.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

I have what is classed as an obese dog -Diesel - he got "obese" by eating the equivalent of 200gm lean mince for morning meal & 2 chicken wings for an evening meal. He is now on 300gm of kibble a day, as worked out by a vet and in 6 months has lost about 3kg. 300gm is just over 2 mugs full A DAY!!! I bet the majority of your dogs eat more than that. I personally know dogs that eat WAY more than that! You all know how often he goes out & walks for hours - you see enough dog meets with him in! He does not appear to have any underlying problems; we traced his breeder (as he was a rescue) and his Dad was the size of a small cow! I have posted pics of his Dad on here previously. Those who come on meets with us know not to give him treats ( he may have the occasional piece of heart or something courtesy of Dan but that is not a "bad" treat and that is maybe on a monthly basis).

So there are some very sweeping comments about overweight dogs here, not all are big because they are lazy etc. Fair enough, if you know the dogs don't go out or get fed titbits constantly, the owners need educating, they could be "killing with kindness" but this is not a black & white subject.

I hope you didn't take my comment the wrong way hun obviously it wasn't aimed at anyone on here I just meant that most ov the time it is due 2 laziness tho not always

[Val (Zebedee)]

it was no particular comment, Nix, but sweeping statements don't help & I was pointing out there is another side to the coin, that's all hun, x

[Hyshqa]

Hard 2 say , u know the issues I had with skyla and how hard I tried 2 get her too loose weight but it doesn't seem 2 have any effect on her she's still the weight she was last year , she dropped 6kg when she blew her coat n now has put it back on again and I never changed her diet or walks I think she's just naturally a big dog , however if I thought she was actually fat I would do my best 2 slim her down

There's no excuse for a fat dog imo it's just laziness , unless a dog has a thyroid issue

I've only ever had one person say 2 me 'make her loose weight now!'

And I know some pics can make her look bigger then she is n I always worry people are judging me about that

Like kiska , Skyla's appetite seems 2 have rocketed but she's only being given what she normally has nothing extra

Skyla is a big dog in general, height included. It's natural she would also weigh more than the average husky. I think the photos you shared of Skyla with her shaved belly go some way to show she's not exactly overweight, just extremely fluffy

My nan has two jack russels, one of which is pretty morbidly overweight, the other is perfectly slim. I've mentioned to her before that he is a right porker but she always throws back "But he eats half as much as her and she's really skinny, he's not being overfed". He gets at least an hours walk a day (and this is running madly around a field after a ball, not gentle on lead walking) so he's ok in that respect, but I can recall dog-sitting him a few years ago before they got their other jack russel and I happened to mention that he had been begging a lot while they'd been away. Upon hearing this the first thing she did when she got home was to put down a massive bowl of ham slices and cheese for him. I've also seen the amount of kibble she feeds him and it's definitely not appropriate foe a dog that small. The unfortunate situation is that the other dog probably has a fantastic metabolism and can burn off all of the food she's given, while the poor little male just gets fat off of it. For a dog that underwent surgery to fix a snapped tendon in his back leg (that subsequently ended up being pointless because they didn't make him rest afterwards and he stretched the replacement beyond any useful employment) I'd have thought she'd have wanted to put as little strain on him as possible. I know she cares about him a lot, but I wish she would recognise obesity for the silent killer it is.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

it was no particular comment, Nix, but sweeping statements don't help & I was pointing out there is another side to the coin, that's all hun, x

:-) that's ok then I was worried I had offended or upset u , I know how it feels 2 b on the receiving end ov comments n it's not nice n like D skyla doesn't get over Fed or under exercised n her mum was a big dog aswell , I think I'm watching 2 much animal rescue where it is about lazy people not bothering lol

[Hyshqa]

I have what is classed as an obese dog -Diesel - he got "obese" by eating the equivalent of 200gm lean mince for morning meal & 2 chicken wings for an evening meal. He is now on 300gm of kibble a day, as worked out by a vet and in 6 months has lost about 3kg. 300gm is just over 2 mugs full A DAY!!! I bet the majority of your dogs eat more than that. I personally know dogs that eat WAY more than that! You all know how often he goes out & walks for hours - you see enough dog meets with him in! He does not appear to have any underlying problems; we traced his breeder (as he was a rescue) and his Dad was the size of a small cow! I have posted pics of his Dad on here previously. Those who come on meets with us know not to give him treats ( he may have the occasional piece of heart or something courtesy of Dan but that is not a "bad" treat and that is maybe on a monthly basis).

So there are some very sweeping comments about overweight dogs here, not all are big because they are lazy etc. Fair enough, if you know the dogs don't go out or get fed titbits constantly, the owners need educating, they could be "killing with kindness" but this is not a black & white subject.

I didn't mean to offend. It sounds like genetics is a big part of why Diesel is like that, some dogs will be prone to inheriting a metabolism that would have been fantastic if they were wild and needed every bit of energy they could get their teeth into. Combine that with people who think their dog need to be fed more than they actually do each day and no wonder so many dogs are obese. There was an article in Your Dog magazine recently that was written by someone who fed their jack russel "one heaped tablespoon of kibble a day" and that was plenty for that dog so the reality of what dogs actually need is probably a bit shocking for most. Throw in the misleading guidelines on most dog food products and sheesh! Kiska gets two cups of food per day, not sure what it works out as weight wise, but I do think it's too much for her. Before her spay, when her appetite meant she was mostly indifferent to her food, she would probably only really eat about a cup of that a day and leave the rest. That's what's built her up to the 23kg she is today (glad I didn't follow the packaging guidelines which would have worked out at about 3 1/2 cups a day if I remember correctly!), so now that she's actually finishing her 2 cups and looking for more I'm definitely keeping my eye on her.

My statements and opinions are based on people that in general do nothing to correct a problem they (surely must) know is there. I've met Diesel before and know you're working with him and his weight, so my comments definitely do not cover you in the slightest, I'm sorry if that's the way it was taken. I think it's fantastic you're putting in the effort that you are

[lovemysiberian]

My Taz was overweight when I rescued him.. he was 80 lbs. He got like this living in a New York City apartment without proper excercise and a diet of hot dogs, etc (his previous owner was a chef). He was 9 years old when I rescued him, and I thought there was no way at that age that I would get him to an acceptable weight. This was him before:

After about 1.5 years of excercise and a healthy diet, this is what he became (20 lbs lost):

I credit his lifespan of 15 years to this weight loss. I euthanized him due to hip dysplasia, which I'm positive I would have lost him sooner had he stayed so overweight. I was completely ignorant to his dysplasia up until a week before I put him down. I'm sure he was in pain when he was that heavy. Him and I are both lucky that he was still quite active in his old age, despite the hip dysplasia, and were able to do this.

So, it infuriates me in his case, because there was absolutely no excuse for him to become that obese, when he was perfectly capable to keep in shape. I completely understand if there are reasons a dog has a hard time keeping the weight off, but when it comes to my Taz and others like him that are more than capable, I do get upset. It did take a while, but I'm sure he felt so much better!

[persephona]

I hate seeing dogs that look like a barrel - I don't mean dogs that are a bit chubbier. I understand that dogs, like humans, have different metabolisms and in some cases it can be really challenging to get a dog to slim down, especially sterilised dogs and senior ones. In my opinion, it's not the end of the world if the dogs is a bit chubbier - after all, not all dogs are naturally lean.

But I think there is really no excuse when a dog looks like a barrel on 4 legs - I have seen a fair share of dogs looking like that (most of them were small breeds) and I think it's outright cruel. Sure, the dog's got an appetite, but I bet the dog would also love to be able to walk properly. Especially with the temperatures we get here during the summer - obese dogs have a very hard time. It makes me feel really sorry for them when I see something like that - poor things breathe so heavily and struggle to actually move. There is this particular owner with a fatty pug - he keeps the dog out all day during the summer, but the dog is sitting next to him on a bench and not really doing any exercise. I wanted to speak to this man a few times, as the dog is definitely overweight and doesn't need to be sitting all day, but eventually gave up...

[Daniel Cameron]

I have been putting weight on wolf this past year both fat and muscle. He has got to where the weight is right for him 23kg, he was 16kg before I got him, but now stamina on the runs has dropped, I am now increasing the runs to lean him up more as he is not so cut in at the waist as before but trying to maintain the mucle mass. I want my dogs to be the best dogs that I can turn them into. but if I dont keep a vigal it could easily go either way.

I had boxers for 14yrs, and because of their exercise they where without an illness untill the end when they both got cancer

But I think what dogs are over weight, are so through love, even if it is killing them or at best lowering their life span, People will continue to show affection through food.

[lebe03]

There is no denying that Polee is a big girl and I'm sure many would consider her to be obese and presume she gets very little exercise. However nothing could be further from the truth as she's always up for a walk and it's always me that has to reign her in.

Does she like her food? - no she loves food and for that I'm grateful.

Does she like exercise? - she loves it and I often get tired way before she does.

Is she overweight? - for the breed standard she's definitely overweight but she's also taller than the breed standard

However both our vet and an orthopaedic surgeon have said her weight is fine which is ok by me.

[Daniel Cameron]

Just a ponder, How many people feed working dog food and do not work their dogs, only walk them?

[Synphny]

I think what contributes to the obesity in dogs is that most people think that dogs should eat as much as humans do. Couple of my neighbors have huskies and they feeds them like people with 3 meals a day which resulted in them looking like barrels with 4 paws. I also believe that dog food companies are partially responsible by giving inaccurate information on how much to feed dogs. Overall it really is up to the owners to do their research on the breed and feed them within reason and not assumptions.

[Sid_Wolf]

kira is slightly bigger than I would like, we didnt change her food amount or anything after spaying, she just got bigger, she was always very slim before, everyone else says she is fine but i like them to carry no extra weight

Looking back, they were fed a diet where the protein didnt match up to the exercise, they work, but not enough to need the protein amount they were on (30%), they're now all on skinners and the 2 biggest (kira and grey) get about 1 cup a day each, keyu gets just over 1 and Diesel gets 2 (different breed and trying to put weight on)

Kiras weight doesnt seem to be changing much, grey has lost enough to now have a nice weight and is maintaining that weight well, keyu's amount maintains her weight and diesel is putting on weight and now looks a healthy lean rather than skeletal

I'm going to be increasing kiras exercise, taking her on more solo runs, she's not big, just bigger than I want her to be

[Michelle Melsom]

I hate seeing overweight animals...owners killing them with "kindness" they feed them cake and whatever human food that has a ton of sugar and salt in it -.- I watched a thing where this lady had a super overweight rotti and the groomer said something about it and the lady flipped lol She said its her dog and she will do what she wants with it. Was sad :/

[Elyse]

Suka's a big boy, so at a healthy weight he's around 76-77 pounds. When I wasn't exercising him 2 winters ago, I don't know why now, but he went up to 87 pounds and he was kinda chubby!

When I got him from the shelter, he weighed in at 68ish pounds...so that was really thin for him!

I would NEVER let him get overweight again, even just a little bit. I think the concern, for me, is to NOT starve him and make him underweight because I'm so scared of him being overweight again.

It really irks me to see overweight dogs and cats. Likewise, it saddens me to see them so underweight that they're considered emaciated. Their ribs and hip-bones clearly showing. That's also why I stopped volunteering at the humane society, SO MANY emaciated dogs there it broke my heart. (They wouldn't eat due to lots of reasons, Suka was one of those who wouldn't eat, but mainly due to stress....)

[HuskyMom09]

Obesity leads to so many other issues, I am not for it in my dogs (I can't speak for myself but hey I know I'm a work in progress!). I know my dogs swing with their weight based on time of year, when they start getting heavy I cut them back 1/2-1cup when they start going the other way back up. It depends on our activity level as well...but the extreme obese Huskies and malamutes I often wonder if they have been checked for thyroid function, because that often leads to really heavy dogs quickly.

[SaraB]

Here in Florida it's hot 90% of the time. I really hate seeing overweight dogs. They just can't deal with the heat down here!

I only read the first few comments, but it's funny, I have the opposite problem. Siku is spayed and she refuses to eat sometimes and if she does eat, she looks like she hates it most of the time. Elara, however, is still intacted and she could eat a horse! I swear she's always hungry. It's kind of annoying, but makes it easy to train her with food motivation! I have to watch what I give her, cause she can put on weight very quickly. I have to watch Siku to make sure she keeps the weight up!

[Rosemary]

I struggled with Ozzy's weight for a long time and have to keep an eye on it all the time. He is now at the perfect weight but it has been a struggle. If Ozzy had to eat the same amount of food as Micah, he would be rolling down the road - it does have a lot to do with exerceise but genetics play a big roll too.

My husband and I often argue about his weight - he thinks Ozzy needs some 'meat on his bones'

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

There is no denying that Polee is a big girl and I'm sure many would consider her to be obese and presume she gets very little exercise. However nothing could be further from the truth as she's always up for a walk and it's always me that has to reign her in.

Does she like her food? - no she loves food and for that I'm grateful.

Does she like exercise? - she loves it and I often get tired was before she does.

Is she overweight? - for the breed standard she's definitely overweight but she's also taller than the breed standard

However both our vet and an orthopaedic surgeon have said her weight is fine which is ok by me.

shes like skyla n our vets have never told me she needs to loose weight either

n shes ALWAYS running around n wanting to play with the others aswell

[Povodny]

Loki gets fed the same as the rest of them an at one point put quite a bit of roll on, he did this when he was quite young and it was also the first time he'd had his chemical castration. He stopped cocking his leg, gained weight became lethargic and disinterested in things. Once it wore off he started cocking his leg and managed to lose the weight. He had the implant again last dec and hasn't had any of the previous side effects. On reflection we think he was probably a bit young when he had it the first time. Togo had the same implant and has never had side effects but he was older when he first got it done

[Emma]

Obesity induced through parental negligence in both dogs and children alike is a form of abuse. However, there's a big difference between being a few pounds overweight and morbidly obese! People come in all shapes and sizes and so do dogs. Some will always be a little larger than others and IMO there's nothing wrong with that. If their weight is stabilised albeit a few pounds heavier than most, it's not the same thing as a weight gain that's escalating beyond reason.

Well that's my opinion anyway.