Hi all, I have a few questions about the weight of an English lab. My almost 19-month old fox red lab, Kona, has been gaining weight the past few months. She was 58 lbs at the beginning of January (around the time she turned 1 year old). We had twins 2 weeks later, and my father-in-law had her for a few weeks while we adjusted to life with 2 newborns. We later learned he had been accidentally feeding her 2 cups 2x/day instead of 1.5 cups 2x/day, and it showed. She was 63 lbs by the end of January, and still 63 lbs at the end of March when she had her annual vet appointment. We have cut her food back twice since then, and she now gets 1 cup 2x/day. Everyone has still been making comments about her weight gain, so I asked my husband to weigh her again tonight and he said she was 75 lbs! I almost fell over. She certainly should not have gained 12 lbs since January. We do not give her treats or table food, only an occasional piece of a banana or piece of other fruit she likes. It is never much. My husband tries to walk her at least one long walk a day, two if he is able. She also runs around and plays with neighborhood dogs several times a week. The only other change in the past 2 months is that due to my husband's work schedule and me having twins to take care of all day, instead of taking her outside myself to do her business like we had been since we got her, I let her in the backyard by herself. I cannot always see what she is up to, but I know she is eating various things in the yard (for example: she loves to chew up sticks). Now I'm wondering if the weight gain is due to something she is eating outside since we cut her food back twice already and she is getting daily exercise. So my questions are: 1) At what age do labs usually stop gaining weight and are considered at their full size? 2) What is a normal weight for female English labs? 3) Could she be gaining a lot of weight from eating things in the yard? Is there any way to deter her from doing so? 4) Should we cut her food back more? She is on Victor High Pro Plus. 5) What can we do to help her lose the excess weight? Sorry for the long post but any help you can give is appreciated!
Hi Joanna, it's great that you have spotted there is a problem and want to help your lab regain her figure! Weight is very variable because the bone structure and muscle on dogs - even of the same breed and type - can vary so much. Focusing on weight charts can unfortunately lead to dogs being overfed. A better guide is the shape and feel of your dog. Here's an extract from our 'Fat Labrador' page Look at your dog from the side. Does his belly slope upwards towards his groin, or is it a level line from his front legs to his back, or even worse is it sagging down between his legs? Your Labrador should have an upward sloping line from the base of his chest, towards his back legs. Now look at the dog from above. Can you see a ‘waist’ just in front of his hips? You should be able to! Your dog should not be the same width all the way down his body. Look at your dog from the side again. Can you see any ribs? You should not be able to see a lab’s ribs whilst he is standing still though you may well be able to see the last one or two when he is eating, drinking or bending and twisting. Run you hands along his rib cages firmly. Can you feel his ribs? Ideally you should be able to just feel, but not see, your dog’s ribs. If you can see ribs when he is standing still he is too thin. If you cannot feel his ribs at all with your hands he is too fat! [READ MORE....] Not impossible depending on what is in your yard (do you store animal feed of any kind for other pets for example). But sounds unlikely. If your dog is carrying too much weight then a simple way to shift that weight is to weigh the meals you have been giving your dog and write down the quantity. Now subtract one third and feed that amount instead for one week. At the end of the week assess your dog again - look and feel - if they are still overweight, but no fatter, carry on with the two thirds quantities for another week. If you think that the dog is even fatter, you may need to reduce the quantities even further Once your dog has regained their figure, then you may need to add a small amount of food back again to maintain their new weight. If the pleading eyes make you feel mean, remember that you are doing this for her. She will be healthier, and happier when she is slim again.
Thank you. We do not store any feed of any kind in the yard. I will try cutting her food back again for a week and see if that helps.
Did your vet say she was overweight? My girl is slim and fine boned, however it was between a year and 18 months that she put on another 10 lbs of muscle and her chest filled out. At a year old she was 55lbs and at 18 months she was 65lbs, with no change to her food or routine. At 2.5 yrs, she is always around 65-67lbs. She started to look more like an adult too...could it be that? I believe labs fill out and mature up to age 2 in some cases, and they are definitely not filled out by a year old. There is a thread on here about weight gain and growth that you might be interested in looking at.
I think a few months ago she was just filling out and looking more like an adult, but she now seems a bit overweight. I can't feel her ribs. I would expect her to be around 60-65 lbs, but not 75. We have not been back to the vet since that weight gain so I am not sure what he would say.
Yes, if you can’t feel her ribs then it sounds like it’s more than filling out. I took a look at the food she’s on and one thought is that some dogs do better on different ratios of protein vs carb. That’s a really high protein food so it could have something to do with that, especially if she’s not getting a ton of exercise...something to consider based on the feeding guidelines.
Thank you, I was wondering about that too. She is on the same food the breeder had her on when we got her. Are there any other foods you can recommend? Or just cutting back on that food?
How long have you been doing two cups a day? I would give that at least 6 weeks to see if she slims down a bit, and if so the food may be ok. I cut back my dog’s food in the spring (she’s slightly less active In the winter) and she lost around 5lbs over approx 2.5 months. She gets a lot of treats daily though so that is why I cut back her kibble as well. If she’s not slimming down, then you might want to look at some different food options. There are a lot of good quality large breed dog foods available so it’s hard to decide what’s best...I did some research online on ingredients (dog food advisor) and got samples from stores to find one that worked for us.
Hi @Joanna L. If you can't feel ribs your girl is overweight. I've just been looking at the calorific content of your girl's food. According to the manufacturer each cup contains 450kcals. So on 4 cups a day she is receiving 1800kcals, not far short of the recommended a human female. Based upon a good weight of 30kg (66lbs) a dog on average exercise should be receiving around 1200kcals per day (sorry I haven't calculated the exact number but it is a guide as each dog is a little different)- including all food, treats etc. So it would seem that the key problem is too many calories a day which aren't used by the body and are converted to fat - just as it happens with us. With current exercise levels, and if she isn't losing weight you might need to cut back some more.
Thank you for the info! The 4 cups a day was an honest mistake by my father-in-law but even going back to 3 cups and then 2 cups is obviously still too much. I will cut back more and see if it helps.
If your girl isn't losing weight, and you've excluded treats etc boosting her daily calorie intake - not forgetting reward treats can come from her daily kibble portion, it may be worth a chat with your vet and possibly a change of food to one with a lower calorific content.
