Obese dogs WHY? Health

She's probably about 22" to the shoulder or so and is currently 52 lbs. During the winter she usually goes up to about 55 lbs. Nigredo is about 26" at the shoulder and is currently 93 lbs. I can feel her ribs fine, but they can't be seen.

Unlike fat boy, she has a waistline. Honestly, I can feel his ribs through the side blubber, but you have to press a bit. Jade doesn't have any muscle, so she does kind of look "soft" but I really don't think she's fat.

See, that sounds better to me. She's not much taller than my older boy and he's about 50lbs give or take, although I haven't had him weighed in years!

Thanks Malka. They understand about big Gray. None of us WANT him to be fat... he just kind of is and there's not a lot I can do. I run him each day until he's plum tuckered, and then I walk him on his leash as well.

He's a young labby guy, he's quite active. I've had all his bloods etc done and he's been checked by several vets, all saying he is overweight but otherwise perfectly healthy. He gets less than 2 cups of food per day with no treats. He's always hungry, but I refuse to feed him any more than that.

I REALLY don't think Jade needs to lose weight, but I guess some people disagree. She's an old dog and she looks okay to me. She IS pretty lazy, and she's sometimes in no mood to exercise... but I often take her with us anyway. I'm glad to be here, it's always good to learn things and discuss important issues.

The main issue is that Jade has absolutely NO muscle. None on her shoulders, almost none on her back legs, and none on her ribs or really anywhere else. I have no place to let her off lead and so she can't really run (not as if she'd run anyway) so she's just "flimsy". I don't see the point in trying to put muscle on an old dog like her, so I think she's okay as she is.

Nigredo is only an inch shorter than your boy, and only 5 lbs heavier... but I bet he LOOKS way heavier than your boy. It's all about build. He's fat, but he's very strong and has got lots of muscle, as well. If I could knock off the fat, he'd really be good to go.

Had a look at Nigredo in his pics from yesterday...





He does look as if he's past the "heavy" mark on the diagram but not yet reached the "morbidly obese" mark yet. So I guess he is obese. My poor guy. He's such a happy and energetic young guy, it doesn't even make sense that he's just totally fat like he is. I wish there was something I could do. I'm actually starting to feel a bit sad about it so I think I'll stop posting about it for a while. Truth hurts, eh?

I agree don't think she looks fat at all. She doesn't have tone but she's not over weight. My old girl doesn't really have much tone anymore either. She lost weight during her cancer and after she got fat quick. Looked like a sausage but was easy to take off, it's just she doesn't have much tone anymore. I've seen older dogs in good condition but I'm pretty sure their owners kept working to maintain it and they are probably more active with her being retired I don't feel the need to even attempt it.

I'm sure some FB might be less active and being brachy means heat intolerance and less wind so you would want to be careful. There is more to it though than simply slow metabolism vs high metabolism. The big issue I see is still over feeding. Like the logic behind giving the dog a short walk because it's obese than buying him a happy meal as a treat for walks (true story).

I think with most those breeds it can still go either way depending on owner. I know you are saying your area. My ex BIL GSD was huge and I've seen more like that though not too often I admit. Some owners keep their Pits fat, it drives me insane. One has had multiple Pits all pretty fat current one is hugely obese. Same with the couple I mentioned earlier in thread. Others do it to brag about the weight same with Am Bullies. I've seen some very ripped Am Bullies but too many owners want to add extra 20-30lbs. They say xxlbs on vet scale well the dog is 25lbs of excess fat I'm not impressed. Same goes for a lot of Rotts and I'd have to think Chihuahuas too none of the ones owned in my family have ever been obese. My mom's does like to try to eat cats food and after spay she gained extra weight you had to watch her and manage it. She was never fat before that, she wasn't spayed until 5yrs old it wasn't even early.

If you are doing everything right that's all you can do. Short of metabolism boosters or fat burners which isn't something you probably want to give him (could be dangerous, unknown side evfects) you've done everything you can do medically and with diet/exercise. There is only so much we understand with genetics and epigenetics is barely even known at this point. With situations like his it's beyond our scope. As long as he's happy and isn't directly hindered by his weight I wouldn't feel too bad. I understand being frustrated because it makes no sense to us humans because we can't find the cause.

What a kind and excellent post. I do love my dogs and I do everything I can to keep them healthy. Brownie was mostly skin and bones, he didn't have any real tone either but as a male, he had more than Jade. He could still jump 3-4 feet straight off the ground at 12+ years old, so he was certainly a fit dog. Cancer got him in the end at over 15 years old.

Big Gray will be headed back to the vet soon for another blood donation and I'll ask again if anything can help. Artificial metabolism boosters will probably do more harm than good, I'd never give him anything like that. I've heard green tea can really boost metabolism and I've seen the tablets, but not sure it's safe for dogs.

No way is Jade fat or overweight. She is an elderly dog who originally belonged to Myra's mother, and how she is is now is because of what she was. Myra does the best she can for Jadey and as long as Jadey is happy and not overweight, then she is fine.

Yes, Nigredo is podgy, no doubt mostly due to juvenile neutering, but he is healthy, he is happy, he is not over-fed and he gets more exorcise than many other dogs.

Comparing his size to that of a sight dog or lurcher is like comparing chalk to cheese.

They are not the same thing.

Nigredo does love to run and play, and we do it each day for as long as he likes. If only it would help him lose weight. He does have mild HD as well and the vet told me that keeping some muscle in his legs would help "hold it together" since I can't get any weight off of him he really needs to stay active.



He's a happy guy, and I'm not willing to give up. Maybe there is still some way to get him to lose weight. For now we will keep up the exercise and reduced diet.

Chromium picolinate would be one. As far as what is considered a natural supplement. That doesn't make it safe though.

I looked it up. It sure doesn't look safe. It looks like if you do it wrong, it will really mess up blood sugar levels because it's mostly used to treat diabetes in pets. Nigredo is perfectly healthy. Because he's a blood donor, I have to stick to natural stuff for him. I'll certainly ask the vet about it, though.

My old girl at nearly 13 years....

Maintained the same weight all her life and still fit as a fiddle thankfully. She gets about a palm full of dry food 2x daily with a couple of fork fulls of wet food mixed in. An average size can of dog food will last her easy 5 days or more. I never feed as recommended by food manufacturers as I believe they tend to be over generous in their portion sizes. If I was to follow their recommendations she'd be getting nearly a tin of wet everyday!! I think that's where alot of owners go wrong in these situations sadly.





She proves that age is just a number

Nice photos of shaggy girl. Brownie was the same way. Jumping sky high at age 14. Mostly Labrador, he was pretty impressive in that he not once had any mobility problems in his entire life. He was 25" at the shoulder and 60 lbs. Jade is about 12 and she's never been an athletic dog but she's doing just fine.

I was mistakenly feeding Nigredo close to the bag recommendation, turns out it was way too much. However even with a drastic reduction and no treats and more exercise, he hasn't lost any weight. Oh, well! He moves okay for a fat dysplastic dog and we're going to keep at it.

Georgina at 18 inches tall at the shoulder weighs just under 18 kgs (39.5 lbs) which according to her breed standard is 2 kgs or 4.5 lbs underweight. Compared to my previous Pei who was only 16.5 inches tall and 16.5 kgs (36 lbs) Georgina looks lanky and all legs! We've had a heatwave with temperatures of up to 40C for the past 6 weeks and as a result she's lost some muscle tone through lack of exercise. Like most short muzzled breeds she doesn't cope well with the heat and much prefers colder weather when she's at her most active.

Gwylim at 14 inches weighs nearly 8.6 kgs just under 19 lbs which is heavy for a Miniature Schnauzer. His cousin Mikey at the same height weighs 7 kgs (15.4 lbs) which is nearer to the breed standard. Gwylim is quite a stocky boy, but hasn't got an ounce of fat on his body ... it's all bone and muscle! He's still quite fit as he copes with the heat much better than his big sister.

I feed mine a home cooked diet of meat/poultry/fish mixed with a selection of veggies as well as eggs, cheese and yoghourt or kefir. They also get raw chicken necks/wings or feet for breakfast a couple of times a week. Kibble (grain free) they have only occasionally and it's really in case, like last year, they have to spend some time in kennels where they'd have no alternative. Thankfully, neither of them are keen on treats or anything sweet and won't touch food unless its put in their bowls.