Nevmarco Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 As senior instructor at our agility club it falls on me to ensure the safety of dog and handler. I am trying to get a feel for the "ideal" weight of a working BC. My dogs are around the 500mm mark and weigh around 18 - 20 kgs. We have a new dog in the club and his vet has given him a certificate that says he is not overweight at 27kilos. The dog measures 495mm at the withers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Hmmm. I'm with you - that seems a bit on the heavy side. My previous Border Collie was a big solid boy - weighed about 26kg, but he was 545mm at withers. Not a natural jumper, though I tried to keep him pretty fit. My current 2 - bitch 490 at 13.5kg and dog 500 (+?) about 17.5. Mind you, they are both fairly light framed, and on the lean side, (deliberately). It's a bit hard to argue with a vet certificate though. Probably all you can do is concentrate on having the dog as well conditioned as possible, and get the owner to understand that if s/he is serious, the dog will likely do better if on the lean side. It might be worth having on hand the body condition info which I think is on the Purina web site. My personal view is that it's better to have agility/flyball/herding dogs on the lean side of normal. (Now I wish I could just apply that to myself!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Forgive me, as math is not my strong suit, but I translate all this to mean that a 20" dog is weighing in at 60lbs? If so - yes, this is too heavy by far. I've a friend who insists her 20" dog is 'perfect' at 50lbs and I see him as very fat still. My 20" dog is 42lbs. My 17" dog is 28 lbs. My 21.5" dog is 46-50lbs, and I prefer him at 46. But I have learned that people do not like to hear that their dog is fat. Just keep pointing out how the dog is labouring to jump and his stamina is suffering and maybe your student will want to take some lbs off the dog. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babineaus102 Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 not to hi jack this post but just how big can a male get? I am getting a little worried about my male. He is now just a hair shorter than my female who is maybe 18-20" and weighs 39lbs. This pup is only 15 wks. I'm really hoping he is not going to grow into his name. lol of Bruiser. I figured he would be about 50-55lbs full grown. Can some really get bigger than this? Not that I would love him any less of course just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob d Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Interesting stuff. I just measured Sparc - 16 months old now, he's about 21", and about 38 pounds. I had thought he was reasonably lean, and this was my intent for him (he's a jumper)- but being around working (herding) dogs a few times lately, Sparc, not looking fat or heavy, is most definitely NOT lean.. "Does all this fur make me look fat?" (sorry, couldn't resist sharing a photo) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borderco1 Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 My Jack is right about 23.5 inches and 40 pounds. He is not a light boned dog, but is very thin. We fight to keep any weight on him, he is a smooth coat and you can see some of his ribs. Our vet says he is in fine health and his coat is wonderful. The vet thinks he will gain a few pounds in muscle mass as he matures (he is 15 months) , but we don't expect him to get over 45 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border_collie_crazy Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 not to hi jack this post but just how big can a male get?I believe they can get upwards of 26" tall and 65lbs from what I have read. for weight, because of my, rather unusual, dog I go only by feeling the ribs, "ideal" is you should be able toi feel the ribs easy with a layer of fat over the ribs. I tend to consider that porky lol my dogs are kept lean, some people think they are too thin, sport and working people think they are in perfect condition lol Happy is my very abnormal dog, and the reason I cannot judge the size of a dog if only given the weight, aa by weight Happy would fit in the small dog catagory lol she is 21" tall, and she is 25lbs, thats lean, 30lbs would be her "pet" ideal, I consider her porky at 30lbs however. Misty is 18" tall but has a more typical build lol she is 30lbs and lean, still light compared most BCs that I know however. and dont ask where Happy got her abnormally light boned frame from, that is beyond me, her family that I am aware of are all either typical or tanks lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevmarco Posted March 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Great feed back guys, thanks. I guess their is no average and I go along with the "feel the ribs line". If you can feel the ribs with a thin layer of subcutaneous matter (never call it fat)under the skin the dog is in good shape. Now, if anybody knows how to instill this idea into all vets heads we could see a lot less of those overfat, underworked back yard BC/s. Quote "When you go to bed dog tired, it could be because you have growled all day" Anon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 FYI on conversion from metric - 495 mm is approx 19.5 inches and 27 kg is approx 59.5 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.