I walk in a very busy place. On our walk each day, Charlie and I will meet about 20 dogs, and see another 20 more. On a busy day, up to 50 or more. One day, I counted 35 off lead dogs in the small field next to the car park. It really is a busy place! Today, I met a very typical Chocolate Labrador - totally OTT friendly, and happy. But also massively overweight. The dog was 3 years old, and started playing with Charlie next to a ditch. Charlie is a show line dog, he isn't light - he is 22.25 inches and 29.3kgs (he has lost 0.7kgs recently ) moderate and slim. This dog looked pet bred (not bred for any characteristic in particular) but was so heavy it made me very sad. Charlie was bounding over the ditch, jumping around as you'd expect a young Labrador to do, and the other dog was keen but basically incapable of getting off the floor. This isn't a Chocolate Labrador thing - although I notice it more in Chocolate Labradors than in other dogs as the contrast with Charlie is so striking. I'd say it's not even a Labrador thing - I actually think Beagles and miniature Collies (what? what? so who first bred a miniature Collie for goodness sake...) are the worst. But I see Staffies, Terriers, Mastiffs, Cross Breeds, Schnauzers in all the same state. It makes me wonder what on earth is going to reverse this trend in over weight dogs....really. Whatever we are doing now, isn't working.
My sister currently has her cocker on a diet so that he's in prime condition for when I come to visit, because she said she can't have me looking at him disapprovingly
I agree that we see far too many overweight dogs .....I don't know what people see when they look at their dogs ....do you stop noticing it? My most unbelievable moment was a couple of years back and Chris and I had stopped for lunch in Liverpool City Centre ...a couple arrived at the table,next to us with an overweight yellow lab....of course we couldn't wait to strike up a conversation with them so,we could have a pet of the dog .....I asked how old he was and one of them answered four...but I really thought they were going carry the word on to say four......teen as he looked so elderly.The Reason for his obesity became apparent when their food came and the a plate of burger and chips was delivered for the dog....we were really upset watching it,I was brave enough to ask if he ate like that a lot and they nonchalantly said,'He doesn't like dog food,so he eats what we do.....'
Oh, that is sad. I think people become blind to it. My parents' dog is overweight. My Mum thinks it's OK she's "a little plump" because she's a rescue dog and had a horrible start to life, so why shouldn't she be spoiled now. She also says it's because she's had puppies. Errr...no. It's because she's fed too much! They don't see that it's actually unkind to the dog to have her overweight. She's not obese like some you see, but she's definitely fat.
Our vet holds weight loss clinics which must be a sign of the times. I try and keep my boys (once grown) at around the 30kg mark, George is currently 30.4 as he is getting some of Henry's training treats. I saw a chocolate lab in the vets who was so big he looked like a table with four skinny legs, the poor soul was so out of breath just sitting still. I also find that keeping an eye on their weight and exercising them properly helps me keep my weight in order too. After my Harry died in 2002 I had four terrible labrador-less years due to my work commitments and gained a stone! I ended up changing jobs for no other reason than to have another lab, it was a great decision.
I think that's the rub of it ....not that every dog is a rescue dog of course but I think it's owners 'over loving' their dogs that can contribute to weight issues ....not realising they could be killing them with kindness. I don't intend that in a mean way , We all know the starved look they can give you,and we all love them so much,we want to make them happy .....I can see how it can happen,and of course the odd treat is no problem at all ,like anything it's moderation.It must be really hard when a dog has had a poor start in life to not want to compensate for that....I can completely understand that x I also think there is an anthromorphic element to it......Dexter is our world .....but he is a dog and we see him as a dog ( of course many,many MANY people that know us will disagree with that statement!) not as a 'human' so whilst he is loved to absolute bits he is fed and hopefully given what a DOG needs to live healthily and happily. I just think we don't have them for long enough as it is,so let's give them the best chance at optimum health that you can and keeping weight in check is key to that..... Good on you Lynne for jacking a job that meant you could have a lab ! I think that was key for your optimum health! X
I can't tell you how many times i got asked by people if odin is a pure bred lab because he looks so different from what most non dog and even a majority of dog people expect a lab to look like here in austria odin is a tall 32 kg muscular and slim working line dog and that doesn't fit the picture of the chubby tail wagging and slow dog that they expect to see when thinking of a lab. So here in austria the biggest problem is that people who buy a labby as a pet don't expect their dog to be slim in the first place and think its perfectly normal for him to be a fat little piggy because thats how labs are supposed to look im their mind i'm not shure how to conquer that but there seems to be a big lack of information about how to feed your dog.
Me too Christoph.....Dexter's weight and appearance is a big factor in people questioning me about what he is mixed with ......greyhound is usually the favourite! I think the information is there to be sought but you have to be committed to pick through a lot of it and find what works for your dog ....My dog is kibble fed and as a first time dog owner I had no idea until I joined the Forum that you didn't HAVE to feed the recommended amount on the bag .....(Being how I am I would have questioned this once I'd have have seen Dexter gaining too much weight.....but this together with the common perception that labs should be chubby can cause a lot of damage ...
I do wonder if it's a 'Labs should be fat thing' - if it was just that, all the other breeds kept as pets would be thin. But this isn't the case, at least not how I see it. I see dogs of all breeds that are overweight. So it just really must be that people generally don't think about it, or can't recognise an overweight dog.
Yes,you are right .....its easy just to slip into Lab references but you do see many overweight dogs of all breeds and mixes .....
Makes me wonder if maybe owners are using more treats in training but not adjusting the feed to compensate ? We have to watch Millie because she is on steroids which make her ravenously hungry , whereas Sam looks like a greyhound in a fur coat I also go with the " feeling sorry for the rescue theory " its a tough one to ignore .
I do wonder about the role of kibble in this - I mean, I do think a good quality kibble is absolutely fine to feed a dog, but the combination of keeping my dog thin, and using a lot of training treats (which I'm always careful to choose for nutritional value as well as taste) means I feed Charlie who is an energetic intact male, no more than 100g of kibble a day. This means I'm at about 1/3 of the recommended amount of food. So it does require some mental discipline to cut a dog's food down that much from what he 'should' be eating, and it also makes me pour over the overall make up of his diet to make sure he is getting enough of the stuff he needs.....
Both Tatze and Twiglet are on half what it says on the packet - they are far too generous with their portion sizes = they sell more. On a FB Lab forum a person put 'do you think my Lab is fat?' as someone had commented to her when they were out on a walk - he was huge! I said he could probably do to lose a few kilos - she was affronted and lots of people jumped in saying 'ignore her, he's beautiful just as he is' - as if it's about looks! .
I used to meet a lovely Lab called Dennis, but then didn't see him for a while and when I did, to me horror he was FAT! The owner said they wanted to show him and the breeder said he must have more weight on him and to feed him up, tragic. When I worked for the vet, he used to tell many owners that their dogs were too fat, the answer was always 'but I don't give him very much' - I can now identify with that remark! I keep my dogs lean and it does seem they don't get very much to eat, a mug and a half of kibble each a day, plus the odd titbit. They eat half of what my German Pointers did, I think Labs are 'good dooers' make very good use of food
Honestly, I do not meet as many overweight dogs as I used to. But there is one so fat it beggars belief the poor thing can walk. She is some kind of terrier mix and, no word of a lie, she is easily twice as wide as she should be. I keep my mouth shut. I have been meeting her owners for years, through two dogs of theirs and two of mine and in any other respect you couldn't hope for better dog owners. They know she is overweight but they give her treats any way. Correct, SHE gives her treats anyway. Poor dog. Might be literally loved to death, as the saying goes.
im working on tillys weight at the moment cutting the chews out and replacing with carrot sticks longer walks cutting her food down and slowly she seems to be getting slimmer and i think im going to change kibble soon to a low fat one. There are alot of owners who ive seen with labs who dont care theyre overweight and waddle when they walk! i was walking her the other day and saw a owner walking her choc lab without a lead who was 'big' the dog had a poo she left it 10 min later she came back and let her dog eat its own poo!
My friend has a Whippet cross and has let her get so fat (despite me telling her not to overfeed her) she had pancreatitis as a result. The vet said it was the result of overfeeding but still she lets the dog get fat again.
Ruling out health problems there is only one way dogs become fat and that's by overfeeding. Many owners don't measure out their dog's food but 'judge' the amount and we all know how poor people are at estimating portions. If titbits are added it is a recipe for disaster. My vet's practice in France used to have posters on the walls showing the comparative value of 'treats' of human food to a dog, it's because of those posters that Juno rarely even gets a sliver of cheese as a treat
