From StopCanineObesity.com: “The numbers are startling. Recent studies show that while veterinarians estimate 47% of their canine clients are overweight, only 17% of dog owners believe their dogs fit that description.”
I see overweight (I don’t usually call them “fat”) dogs all of the time in class. Dogs that are on the thin side live longer (I’ve heard up to a year, on average) and have less joint troubles than overweight dogs. It’s hard to decide if your dog is fat, when you look around and the rest of the dogs are overweight, too. How do you tell if your dog needs to lose some fat? Your dog should have a waist and you should able to feel ribs without a lot of effort. Make a fist and rub your finger over the back of your hand, your knuckles, and the base of your fingers, where rings go. If your dog’s ribs feel like:
- The back of your hand, your dog needs to lose some fat.
- Your knuckles, your dog may be too thin.
- The base of your fingers, your dog is just right!
Another Fat Dog test – if you put your dog’s food bowl down and she doesn’t scarf it up in one go, either there’s some other health issue, she doesn’t like your food, or you’re feeding too much dog food and she’s carrying some extra fat.
We feed dogs a lot of treats during training. To avoid making your dog fat from treats, you’ll need to lower their daily calories from other sources – less food in the bowl, for instance. No snacks for free. Buy smelly, low-fat dog treats. Feed your dog small tidbits as treats instead of big pieces. Another low-fat dog treat idea: you can also sometimes get away with putting treats and dog food together, in a baggie, the night before your dog’s class. Then your dog’s regular kibble will smell like a treat! Check out the forum for more low-fat treat ideas.
The amount you feed your dog directly affects their weight. Even a rounded scoop makes a difference! The amount stated on most dog food bags is *PER DAY* and it’s also a bit over what you should feed your dog. AND that amount assumes that your dog isn’t getting dog treats, which tend to be high in fat.
Recommended Reading: Fat Dog Thin by David Alderton, published in 2007 or the Pet Health and Diet Record Book where you can keep track of all kinds of things about your dog – health check-ups, weight, injuries, treatments, etc. By Marie Logue in 2006.
