Is my dog overweight?

ncmc

So I weighed my beautiful Cocker Libby this morning and the little puddin is weighing in at 14.4kg (after brekkie in her defence!). I have done a bit of Googling and the information is a bit contradictory, some sites say she should weigh 11-13 (whoops!) some say 13-15. She does look a bit on the ‘fuller’ side at the moment, but she really doesn’t eat that much and she gets loads of exercise so not sure why she would be overweight. She is a tall dog for a Cocker; she has always been bigger and taller than the standard. She is 5 years old and neutered. Any advice?

TooManyDogs

Mine are all mutts so I can't use a general band of ideal weight. I go by how they feel when I run my hands down them, you should be easily be able to feel ribs and for her to taper in at the waist. If you think she's a little tubby maybe reduce her feed slightly and weigh her in 2 weeks time

falabo

I have a golden cocker spaniel, not even 2 years old and she weights 14.4 kilos. the vet said she's fine but no more than this.she has a very slight belly but I also notice that it could be a lot of hair cos she's back from the groomer or I give her a good brush she looks slimmer.

I think those dogs would put on weight VERY easily but 14.4 kgs seems about right. you dont want her to be skinny either.

Do you leave her food available to her all day or do you have meal times ?

I started weghing the food and give her the exact same amount and I'd say she weighs 14 kilos now and looks perfcet. as long as you can feel the bones but not see them it's fine.

I think having her on "portions" of food is the key, along with daily exercise of course.

Hope this helps,

Vince32

Do you know the calorie count for the food your giving it per 100g?

If you do, this might help: http://mycockerspaniel.com/wt_loss.htm

.5kg is hardly anything to worry about, but if you have to reduce it's weight then do it gradually over 2-3 weeks, and consult your vet before doing so.

Jesus Shaves

Bring them out walking or running twice a day, Any dog getting regular exercise will not be overweight.

falabo

darokane wrote: »

Bring them out walking or running twice a day, Any dog getting regular exercise will not be overweight.

OP said:

"she really doesn’t eat that much and she gets loads of exercise"

paultf

ncmc wrote: »

So I weighed my beautiful Cocker Libby this morning and the little puddin is weighing in at 14.4kg (after brekkie in her defence!). I have done a bit of Googling and the information is a bit contradictory, some sites say she should weigh 11-13 (whoops!) some say 13-15. She does look a bit on the ‘fuller’ side at the moment, but she really doesn’t eat that much and she gets loads of exercise so not sure why she would be overweight. She is a tall dog for a Cocker; she has always been bigger and taller than the standard. She is 5 years old and neutered. Any advice?

I have 3 cockers: 2 girls and 1 boy. The youngest girl is small for a cocker and weighs 10kg. The other girl is 11kg - again smaller than standard size. The boy is around 13kg - he is bigger.

The Cocker Spaniel Club of Ireland is good for describing the breed. On their website: http://www.cscoi.ie/standard.html

They state this:-

"Height approximately: dogs: 39-41 cms; bitches: 38-39 cms. Weight approximately: 12.5-14.5 kgs."

But applying that to my dogs, my 2 girls are underweight and Darby is OK! Maybe the weights quoted on the website are for show dogs?

I think it depends alot on the build of the dog. Some dogs are just bigger. And not all dogs would fit a show standard?

Also the food. At one point Darby went up to 14kgs. So when I got him on Burns their customer care told me not to add anything extra to the food and not to give too many treats. On a vet visit he's weight dropped to 11kg! Vet said he was perfect! John Burns of the food says that "Burns dogs are always slim." Their customer care are always saying a slim dog will live an extra 2 years. With Burns I only give 10g/Kg - looks small in the bowl! Plus they get a couple treats a day and exercised. (I wonder is Burns popular amoung show people if their dog looks slim or even underweight?)

OP I am not an expert on this, but if your dog doesn't eat much and is exercised, maybe she's of a big build and that would explain her weight? In saying that she fits into the standard quoted on the www.cscoi.ie site.

DerTierarzt

This is how a vet assess whether your animal is obese or not, actual kilogrammes of weight are not as relevant as you may think:

Body Condition Scoring

ncmc

Thanks for all the replies! It definitely isn’t a lack of exercise, she is walked for 25 mins every morning, she comes jogging with me 3-4 miles 3-4 times a week in the evening and gets a good long walk on days we don’t jog. She really doesn’t eat a lot either, she gets two cups of James Wellbeloved per day and quite frequently she doesn’t eat all the evening feed. I would say in that body conditioning score, she is somewhere between normal and stout. The only extras she gets are a couple of spoonfuls of my porridge in the morning and I do give her a couple of raw hide twists in the evening to help clean her teeth, could these be causing the extra weight?

I know she isn’t mad overweight and she looks in great condition, I would just hate her to get fat as she gets older, so want to keep her nice and trim if I can.

mymo

I use raw chicken drumsticks and thighs to clean dogs teeth, give them once a week instead of one of the dry food meals.
My boy would be springer size but only eats 1/2 to 3/4 a cup of dry food a day, he gets about an hour of exercise a day, some days near twice that, and at least half that is off lead running with his friends.
The small dog gets half the food he does, same walks but is heavy, not quite overweight but I do watch her as she did get a bit too heavy before. I just cut down the food, for both of them as I found she was cleaning up his left overs.
I go by the shape of the dogs, and the feel, unless she feels overweight I wouldn't worry too much about kg weight.