Ideal Weight Question

[juliepoudrier]

WEll I just had my vet tell me yesterday that Phoebe needed to gain weight. I had just put three pounds on her. She had been at 33-34 pounds, which was too thin, and is now at 37. Frankly I think she could stand to lose a pound (35-36 is good for her I think). And yet the vet spent a lot of time arguing with me that a fit working dog should weigh more and I should feed her more. Then went on to say that her body condition score was a 3-4. Um, if the scale is 1-5, then is he suggesting she should be a 5??? Even if the scale went to 6, she wouldn't be considered thin. She has a fat layer over her ribs.

 

Anyway, I was simply astounded that he argued with me over her weight. Needless to say I'm ignoring him and am going to get her a pound or so lighter....

 

I have no idea how tall she is. I will say that my dogs, male and female, weigh between 30 and 42 (the latter being my largest male). You clearly can't judge without seeing the dog, but you can certainly be aware of large swings in weight either way. If your dog looks skeletal, then it's *probably* too thin. If it doesn't have a waist, it's probably too fat. But for me the real issue is that they maintain what I consider a healthy weight without the yo yo effect. I do put my hands on my dogs to make sure I think they are at a good weight.

 

J.

[airbear]

But 35% of your dogs' weight is in their satellite-dish ears.

[Gideon's girl]

Last I checked the scale went to 9.

[Pippin's person]

WEll I just had my vet tell me yesterday that Phoebe needed to gain weight. I had just put three pounds on her. She had been at 33-34 pounds, which was too thin, and is now at 37. Frankly I think she could stand to lose a pound (35-36 is good for her I think). And yet the vet spent a lot of time arguing with me that a fit working dog should weigh more and I should feed her more. Then went on to say that her body condition score was a 3-4. Um, if the scale is 1-5, then is he suggesting she should be a 5??? Even if the scale went to 6, she wouldn't be considered thin. She has a fat layer over her ribs.

 

Our vet did the same thing--dogs at 3.5 or 4. I thought it was the tartar on their teeth but she said it was their weight--that they were a bit underweight--and she's a vet who does performance activities with her dog!

 

Ours weigh in the same range as Julie's--our biggest is at about 47 and the smallest at 28 or 29 (but much less of that in the ears than in Julie's pack). Pippin, at nearly 10, has gotten a little more padding than she should have--she used to be a steady 37 lbs (she's got a pretty large frame for a bitch) and at the vet last week she was 41! She was so embarrassed.

[Maralynn]

There are a couple of different charts for body condition scoring. The Purina one goes to 9 but I've seen some on other sites that only go to 5.

[Beach BCs]

Texas: 20in @ 36lbs (medium build)

Georgia: 19in @ 28/29lbs (light build)

Faith: 18in @ 22lbs (bird-like build)

 

For years my vet told me my dogs were a bit thin. (Faith might be...) but nowadays she seems to like it. "Their skin...they've never been chubby!" Georgia is deceptive, she has so much hair! My friend was telling me how she'd gotten her Boston down to the low 20s. She nearly dropped her teeth when she found out Georgia's weight.

[Maralynn]

Kenzi is medium boned, lanky, 21" and weighs 37-38#. For about 6 months during her first year with me I couldn't get her above 32-33# and she felt like a skeleton. She's at a good weight and has great muscle tone now. I actually like to keep her at a tad heavier than ideal (37) because if she has a really active day the weight seems to melt off of her. Kipp is medium boned, stocky build and 18ish" and is at his ideal weight of 29-30#.

[airbear]

When I had my dogs x-rayed at Christmas, and the vet put their films side by each on the screen, it looked like the x-rays of 2 border collies and one guardian dog LOL! Lou has such enormous bone, he almost appears to be a different breed. Thus, his 52lbs on a 24" frame might be the correct working weight for him, but it might be overweight for a dog of the same height but without his massive bone.

 

Wick is 20.5" tall and weighs 32lbs. Of course, she doesn't have a tail, so perhaps if she did, she would weigh 35lbs. She has medium bone and she basically is all legs. Where Lou runs, Wick flies.

 

[BCjetta]

Hannah was almost always lean. She was 20 inches and 33 lbs normally.

 

This is a pic after I'd cut all her belly hair super short. Some people would think she looks too skinny.

 

This is her with the longer hair.

 

When she was young and up until about 10 she was 33 pounds. She almost died at one point when she was 11 and went down to 30lbs which was too lean so for a while she was on a high calorie food and I didn't realize she got up to 37lbs. The hair can hide them gaining weight (or losing weight) and then all of a sudden you realize. However, when I realized her weight was a bit up she had the beginning of renal failure and heart disease so I knew it was only a matter of time before her weight would go down.

[Sue R]

Last I checked the scale went to 9.

 

I just Goggled and see that the same set of pictures may be used with either 1-5 or 1-9, but am not aware which is the more recent use of numeration. So apparently, some folks are on the one scale and others on the other, which could lead to a lot of misunderstanding. I would think that the vet should be clear on which set of numbers he/she is using to avoid a problem.

[Sue R]

I have no idea how tall my dogs are but I do know that Megan is shortest and lightest, doing well at 35#. Celt is taller and is ideal at around 42#. Dan is long and lanky and runs about 50-52#. None of them are fat. None are heavily-boned. Megan is very round-chested while the boys both have rather slab-sided chests, Dan more so than Celt.

 

Our vets are always pleased to see them compared to the multitude of obese, unfit, and badly-fed dogs that they see so frequently. One vet took a double-take when checking respiration and heartbeat (which were low and slow) until she reassessed in light of their active lifestyles and regular exercise.

 

If only I watched my eating and my exercise like I do that of the dogs - I'd be in a lot better shape all around!

[Shetlander]

I think Quinn has become too heavy by a lb or two but the vet remains unconcerned. We actively disagree about the Sheltie. She has so many ailments as she approaches 15, that he wants her at a weight I consider plump. Since she can't do much exercise and is currently enjoying her food, she is staying plump to his satisfaction. I concur that vets see so many fat dogs, they may only see slim dogs when they are very young or very ill.

[mum24dog]

 

 

Anyway, I was simply astounded that he argued with me over her weight.

 

So am I. :)My vets wouldn't dare; new vets don't comment more than once. I'm not rude but they get it pointed out that they are used to seeing overweight pet dogs more than fit ones.

 

If I'm concerned about their weight I will say so. They have scales in the waiting room so clients can drop in and weigh their own dogs.

 

I'm intrigued about the scale of condition that has been mentioned. My vets seem to use a scale from all right through borderline to not all right for each thing. They take a minimalist approach in general.

[Gideon's girl]

I just Goggled and see that the same set of pictures may be used with either 1-5 or 1-9, but am not aware which is the more recent use of numeration. So apparently, some folks are on the one scale and others on the other, which could lead to a lot of misunderstanding. I would think that the vet should be clear on which set of numbers he/she is using to avoid a problem.

I totally agree. Both scales are useless if you don't know which one is being used.

[alligande]

My dog is about 23" and is currently 53lbs and is nicely thin, he has been as heavy as 57 which I thought was a little heavy but by the standards of most pet dogs he was still skinny. He is a very long dog, when I measured him for an airline approved crate, he needs the very largest vari kennel the one intendend for mastiffs, he does look lost in it though....

[jb777]

Never take your eyes off your dogs weight. I will buy a scale next time, I saw one on Amazon that looked good. The rib thing is good, but I want to know what is going on more accurately. I had no idea what was happening to mine. I've learned a lot from seeing your photos.

 

You can see in the pics how wrong I was about her weight. I had no idea that 36 lbs was ideal for her? I thought something was wrong.

 

Thanks

[Maralynn]

Nobody said 36# was ideal for your dog. We just said what was ideal for *our* dogs and added a few caveats. Feeling for body condition is pretty darn accurate and easy to do. IMO its a better way to tell if your dog is at an ideal weight than weighing them. And once I have a baseline to go by, I can pretty much tell you how much my dogs weigh by feeling them

[mum24dog]

I agree Mara.

 

Unless I have a particular need to monitor a dog's weight closely, eye and feel is as good a way as any. Usually mine get weighed once a year at their annual check up. As adults I don't think any of the four I have now have varied by more than a couple of pounds.

 

I don't weigh their food either; I just know how far up the bowl it should come.

 

And the good thing is that most healthy but chubby dogs will drop weight in days if their food is cut down - or a skinny dog will put it on as easily if food is increased.

 

If they don't lose or gain weight as required, that's the time to visit the vet to see if something else is going on.