One third of dogs obese

My housemates parents came over and exclaimed.
"God, they are so...skinny!!?!!" over my two 3yo JRTs.

Sure they are dear - they are bred to MOVE...
and move they do!
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The sad fact is people are killing their dogs with kindness and ignorance. Dogs should be lean and fit not podgy and slow. But then isn't everything going that way? I see soo many fat kids its unreal and I wonder what their parents are doing to them..?
 
Inside every fit dog is a fat one screaming to get out,the more so if it`s a border terrier,labrador or bull terrier..and as for cavs,don`t think I have ever come accross one who was anything but fat and wheezy.Us Humes are really cruel to our dogs are`nt we!
 
Only one third???? Good grief, I would have thought the percentage higher. Okay, maybe one third is obese, but more than half are overweight! I am Edinburgh's Fat Dog Police. I'm constantly bangin on about my clients getting their dogs slimmed down. I've had as many people though, tell me that their "vet said it's weight is fine". hummmmmm

I'm with Kitsune - I've certainly seen my share of non-fat cavvies. The bigger offenders at the moment in my area seems to be Yorkies, Westies, Spaniels, Lhasas, Bichons....
 
Doesn't surprise me, in fact I would have thought it was higher.

I have a fat dog, he was obese through our lack of knowledge about food, I openly admit this BUT when we realised just how large he'd gotten (you don't notice it creping up when you see them everyday) we got his weight down to a healthy level as quickly as was healthy. He's still larger than I'd like him to be but I can't feed him any less and at present there's no way he can be walked any more. I'm the only person who has time to walk him more and I physically can't. He's not an active dog, if I want to take him for more than one walk a day it's through coercion. It's not easy but I'm determined to ensure he's healthy.

I have learnt my lesson and I won't allow my new dog to do the same. She's far more active than he was, gets as many (short at present) walks as we have time for with walking them separately, lots of play in the house and monitored food intake, and good food too.
 
I remember being totally outraged watching a programme once that featured a hugely overweight rottie girl and the owners got into a verbal fight with the lady at the dog groomer who was trying to tell them they were killing the dog.

The owners ( actually the wife, husband was sheepish wimp ) was the most dangerously ignorant woman i've ever heard.

At least the others on the programme were educated and changed their ways.
 
LOL yeah thats the one. Did you see that greaseball of fat that woman was chopping up for her at the end.

Poor dog never stood a chance.
 
I openly admit our Goldie got a bit podgy (not very extreme)! It was like catch 22 - she needed exercise to lose weight, but couldn't walk that far as she had HD, but the excess weight was causing her HD to become painful...so, diet it was, no biscuits it was, and swimming lessons twice a week!! And the weight DROPPED off the vet said he'd never seen a dog lose weight so quickly and look so good afterwards. We'll never let her put a pound over what she's meant to be again.

When I worked at the tack shop in the vets we had a poster with an empty basket, filled with a folded blanket, toys etc - I can't quite remember the caption but the idea was overfeed your dog and you lose it.
I remember quite clearly a lady coming in one day with a Border Collie and it looked like a black and white barrel with four sticks for legs and it was huffing and puffing, panting away - she proceeded to buy a bag of weight loss food AND 4 bags of sausages/pigs ears and pork rolls - I was tempted to follow her round the shop with that poster!! :mad:
 
mollichop said:
You and me too - but it also makes me really happy to se so many people running and cycling with their dogs - seems to be getting more popular round here :)
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I wish I could persuade Jack to to run with me.....the lazy git just refuses! I've managed to convince him power walking is a good idea but that's as far as he's willing to go.
 
mollichop said:
You and me too - but it also makes me really happy to se so many people running and cycling with their dogs - seems to be getting more popular round here :)
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I wish it was here! People are so lazy with walking dogs.
I cycle with Abe and everyone STARES at me like its the craziest thing they have ever seen.
 
It's mad isn't it? I know of a fair few dogs who now run off lead along a bike whereas before the owners wouldn't dare not hang off them as they were under exercised and under stimulated. - happy owners - happy (slim) dogs! :)
 
You know, I don't see too many overweight dogs in NYC, largely because, in the absence of gardens, people have no choice but to walk their dogs/take them to the dog park. Out of the city is a different matter. We've been on a tiny island for the past month, and barely anyone here walks their dogs. My heart breaks every time I walk past this run-down home with a Pit/Basset and a dachshund, just sitting there on the front lawn, both overweight, both obviously never walked, and both of which scamper the length of their property whenever we walk by.
 
Sorry I'm late....I was in SB...
Oh My COD!!!!!!!!!!!
How stupid are those people???
Those dog's are panting constantly.....they are not healthy....they are dying a slow and possibly painfully death while those fools sit back and watch!!!!!!!!
 
I went to the CLA gamefair on Sunday and I was shocked by the amount of fat dogs there, I thought (obviously a huge generalisation on my part) that the majority of visitors to the show would know how to keep their dogs healthily. And (ducks as the PC brigade throw stones) there were quite a few obese people with obese working breed dogs... why would someone like that choose a very active breed of dog?
 
EAST KENT said:
Inside every fit dog is a fat one screaming to get out,the more so if it`s a border terrier,labrador or bull terrier..and as for cavs,don`t think I have ever come accross one who was anything but fat and wheezy.Us Humes are really cruel to our dogs are`nt we!
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LOL - I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of cavaliers which were neither fat nor wheezy :D I dont think your average CKCS breeder would appreciate the generalisation :p

The stats are obviously flawed though, I have three dogs and NONE of them are fat :D:D:D In fact the vet told me off when I took Islay in, I critically said she was looking a bit well rounded by her standards and he said she was perfect :D
 
Allmine are under the specified breed weight, I will not have over weight dogs after seeing the health issues that come with obesity, I have been asked on many occasion is my "rotti a baby/puppy":confused: because basically she looks young because she is slender, poss the msot slender rotti in the world:rolleyes::D my akita is also nice and trim, all the ones I board msut be a good 20kg over mine:eek:
I find some people have real issues cutting down their dog food or feeling the amount they should feed is no where near enough:rolleyes: "aw, he/she will be satarvinggggggggggggg;)

Of course I need to practice what I preach with myself:o:p
 
I have five dogs - springers x 3, Large Munsterlander and Golden Retriever and I have an obese dog - one of the springy springers. Molly is five years old, very active, and is fed less than the other dogs - in fact I am ashamed of her! A friend came round last week and said "I've just seem a dog which looks just like Molly only five times the size!". "Where?" I asked, expecting her to say she'd just seen a giant black and white Springer whilst out riding......."There!" she said, pointing to Molly who was rushing around us! I put my hands up and, yes, she is very overweight, literally about twice the size of Ruby, my skinny Springer. I want to have her spayed but am delaying surgery until I can get her weight down, but how do I get it down when she is fed far less than any of my other dogs? I never feed her titbits, she is fed raw plus a small amount of Chudley Sensitive; I am at a loss as to how to reduce her weight. She's full of energy, "plugged into the mains" in fact! But still she's HUGE! And, no, she doesn't have any thyroid symptoms, before you ask! I want a sylph-like dog! How do I attain my goal?? Not all owners of fatties are ignorant and uncaring!
 
KC I think the people who are feeding sausage rolls and chocolate buttons are the subjects of our ire :p

Was going to say a vet check but you answered that question...get her a treadmill :p
 
Fat dogs are a thing I often rant about :o it makes it worse when the people make pathetic excuses such as "he keeps eating the cats food" how about putting it on a surface that only the cat can reach? "he steals the other dogs food" feed them seperatly or supervise them? "he doesn't like going for walks" sure, thats why he drags you along. "he's too old to go for walks" yes, because seven is ancient for a medium size dog. "his legs are too bad to walk" probably, because of the obesity.

Can you tell I know quite a few people with fat dogs :o and don't get me started on cats with their bellies nearly touching the floor *hyperventilate* I don't get how that happens, my cats have ad lib food and they are still slim, in fact, they could do with putting some on.
 
I'm sure that animals will have different metabolisms....why wouldn't they? My husband and I certainly do! I wouldn't say I'm obese, but I could stand to lose a few (or more). And yet I'm fairly fit - I am on my feet all day grooming dogs, I go to the horse 2x a day, I ride 5x a week. I am on the go from 6 am to 10 pm without fail. My huband strolls off to work at 9, goes to bed a bit later, having spent the majority of the night in his "man den" watching telly. He golfs once or twice a week and does the gardening (mows the lawn, weeds etc). He has a desk job. He consumes as many calories as he possibly can, probably about 2500-3000. I am constantly looking to cook lower fat, lower calorie meals for myself (but I don't diet religiously). The difference? He weighs 9st at six foot tall, I weight about 10st at 5'3". My weight can go up to 11st if I don't watch it, but getting down to 9 stone for me is a constant battle of weight watchers and gonig to the gym 5 days a week and running in between!!!

I think that if you are a) aware of the dog/cats weight issues and are b) actively doing something about it and c) don't let it spiral out of control, then that's far more acceptable than turning a blind eye or making up stories like "oh yes the vet said his weight is fine".

I have another customer with a very very fit, active trio of cockers - two of them working type. The youngest is a bitch of about 18 months. She is the leanest wee thing - you can see muscle definition and if you press you can feel her ribs. While i wouldn't say she was underweight, I think she's got some room to gain. She gets chastised from other dog walkers that her dog is too skinny!!!

None of my dogs are fat, though two of them have been at different times. But my horse on the other hand...I got him while he was fat and we're still working on it. He's really hard to get shaped up, but I think his metabolism is messed up due to some time being starved in a past home.
 
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