How do you tell if my dog is a little overweight

How Can You Tell If Your Pet Is Overweight?

Reviewed for accuracy and updated on November 5, 2019, by Dr. Katie Grzyb, DVM

According to the Association for Pet Obesity Preventions (APOP) 2018 Pet Obesity Survey, 55.8% of dogs are classified as overweight or obese.

That means that most pets these days are overweight, even if many of their owners dont realize it.

But dog owners should be paying more attention to their dogs weight, since being overweight puts your dog at risk for many diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease andarthritis.

And while your vet can diagnose an overweight or obese dog, its easy for you to determine, too, if you know how.

Here are some tips for how to tell if your dog is overweight so that you can start a conversation with your veterinarian and help get your dog back to a healthy weight.

How to Determine If Your Dog Is Overweight

Here are three of the most reliable tools for determining if your dog is overweight.

Body Condition Score Charts

The best way to determine whether a pet is obese is by using a measurement system such as the body condition score, says Dr. Jim Dobies, a veterinarian with South Point Pet Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a member of the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association (NCVMA).

Body condition score charts help you figure out where your pet falls on the healthy weight scale. Most body condition score charts work on a scale of 1-5 or 1-91 being emaciated, and the highest number being morbidly obese.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has a great example of a body condition score chart that depicts the side view and top view of dogs that are emaciated, underweight, average, overweight and obese.

Visually Assess Your Dogs Body

But you can also assess your dog without using a dog body condition chart, Dr. Dobies says.

The best way to visually assess your dogs weight is to stand above them and look down on them. You should be able to feel their ribs but not see them. If you can see them, they are too skinny, Dr. Dobies explains.

If you cant see your dogs ribs, and you cant feel them by placing your hands on the sides of their chest, your dog is overweight, says Dr. Dobies.

Dogs should also have a nice taper at their waist (between the abdomen and where the hips go into the socket), he says. If there is very little or none at all, they are too heavy and theyll be oval-shaped.

And a very obese dog, he says, will have a pendulous abdomen, hip fat and neck fat, all of which are very noticeable. But pets dont usually reach this point of obesity until theyre at least 7 years old, he adds.

Healthy Weight Protocol for Dogs

Veterinarians can also use tools like the science-based Healthy Weight Protocol, which was created by Hills Pet Nutrition in conjunction with veterinary nutritionists at the University of Tennessee.

A vet takes measurementsfour for a dogthen inputs them into the Healthy Weight Protocol system to determine your dogs body fatindex. By comparing this with a chart, your veterinarian can tell you exactly how much weight your pet needs to lose if they are overweight.

This system allows vets to take a more scientific approach to a dogs weight loss needs. It helps them to determine exactly how many pounds a dog would need to lose and how many calories a day they need to do that healthily.

Talk With Your Veterinarian

Your veterinarian is your greatest ally for maximizing your dogs overall health. They can help you determine whether your dog is currently overweight and help you devise the best plan for helping your dog shed the extra weight in a safe way.

By: Amanda Baltazar

Featured Image: iStock.com/Firn

Help! My Dog Is Overweight

Belly rubs are so much fun when your pup has a few extra pounds on him. But if your dogs too overweight, it can actually cause a whole bunch of other health issues and you definitely dont want that.

Luckily, theres a pretty easy way to tell if your dogs overweight, and there are plenty of things you can do to help him get down to a healthy size.

The Dodo spoke with Dr. Zach Marteney, a veterinarian and medical director at Meadowlands Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey, to find out everything you need to know about helping your overweight dog.

Is my dog overweight?

You might think your dog looks healthy until one day you wake up and realize he looks a little chubbier than he did a few months ago.

Other than just noticing that your pup looks a little round, you can tell your pups overweight if hes struggling to get up or has more difficulty walking, is panting more than usual, gets easily tired or winded, or needs help getting up stairs.

You can tell for sure whether or not your dog is overweight by using whats called a body condition score.

The best way to tell if a dog is overweight is to check a body condition score, or BCS, a nine-point [or five-point] scale to evaluate a pet for healthy body condition, Dr. Marteney told The Dodo.

What is a body condition score for dogs?

A body condition score is what your vet references when trying to figure out whether or not your dogs overweight, but once you know what it is, you can use it, too.

Much like a body mass index (BMI) in humans, it's not perfect, but it gives a systematic way to evaluate pets for obesity, Dr. Marteney said.

When checking your dogs body condition score, you should first touch your dogs rib cage to check if you can feel his ribs. You should be able to feel them with gentle pressure, Dr. Marteney said. They should not be prominently sticking out (too thin) and should not be completely hidden by too much fat.

There are also visual indicators thatll tell you whether or not your dog is underweight, overweight or just where he needs to be.

When looking down onto the dog, there should be an evident waist a narrowing between the ribs and hips, Dr. Marteney said. If there's no waist, it's likely the dog is overweight. Additionally, when viewed from the side, the abdomen should be tucked up tight under the pet.

So in general, you should be able to tell if your dogs overweight if you cant feel his ribs or if he starts to get a bit of a belly.

As a dog gets overweight, its ribs become harder to feel under the fat covering, it loses its natural waist and the abdomen starts to hang down or even starts to look distended and over-full, Dr. Marteney said.

Why is my dog gaining weight?

There are a whole bunch of reasons why your dog might be gaining weight, but the most common one is that hes simply eating more calories than hes burning.

Most dogs get overweight by eating too much and not getting enough exercise, Dr. Marteney said. Healthy weight management is all about calorie balance. They need to burn the same number of calories they're taking in.

Thats why its important for you to keep an eye on how much your pup is eating and make sure hes getting enough walks and playtime in. Be sure to feed your dog the appropriate amount by checking the feeding instructions on his food.

Keep in mind these are only guidelines, and you may need to adjust them based on your individual dog. I think about it the same way as a 2,000-calorie recommendation on human food packaging, Dr. Marteney said. It's a great place to start but should be adjusted as needed to maintain a healthy body condition.

If your dog has been getting enough exercise and not eating too much, there could be something else to blame for a sudden gain in weight, like an underlying medical condition.

Some dogs suffer from hypothyroidism, [which is] decreased function of the thyroid gland that results in a much lower baseline metabolic rate, Dr. Marteney said. This slower metabolism results in weight gain.

Conditions that can cause weight gain in dogs include:

Any change in weight should be discussed with your family veterinarian to make sure there's not a medical condition causing it, Dr. Marteney said.

Some other factors that can lead to weight gain include age, breed and neuter or spay status. Older dogs are more likely to become overweight, and certain breeds are predisposed to obesity, such as dachshunds, beagles, pugs, Labs, golden retrievers and basset hounds. After a dog is neutered or spayed, the decrease in hormones can cause weight gain if you dont adjust the dogs diet or exercise.

Problems for overweight dogs

Being overweight can cause a bunch of other health problems for your dog, such as:

• Arthritis
• Joint problems
• Diabetes
• Kidney disease
• Liver problems
• Breathing problems
• High blood pressure
• Heart problems
• Cancer

So if your dogs overweight, you should talk to your vet to work on a weight-loss plan ASAP to keep him healthy.

How to help your dog lose weight

When youre trying to help your dog lose weight, the first step is to figure out whats causing the extra weight gain in the first place.

If a medical conditions causing his weight gain, for example, youll have to treat the condition first so he can actually stay at a healthy weight.

But if its a matter of eating too much or not getting enough exercise, then the solutions pretty straightforward. If there's no medical cause for your dog's weight gain, diet and exercise are the answer, Dr. Marteney said. An overweight dog should eat less and move around more.

But dont expect your dog to magically lose all the weight overnight. It can take a while.

Slow, steady weight loss is the goal, Dr. Marteney said. It may take six months or more to reach our goal, but as long as we're continuing to make progress, we're successful.

Heres how you can get your dog down to a healthier weight.

Try diet dog food

When it comes to weight-loss dog foods, there are few different types to choose from.

According to Dr. Marteney, you can try a formula with fewer calories, which will make it easier for your dog to burn more calories than hes eating. Diet dog foods also generally have fewer carbs and more protein and fiber.

Try this Natural Balance low-calorie dry food from Chewy for $33.98

You can also go with a prescription dog food made specifically for weight loss.

Try this Purina Pro Plan Overweight Management wet food from Chewy for $46.99

Just make sure to discuss any diet change with your veterinarian, Dr. Marteney said. They can help you make sure youre choosing the best food possible for your dog and that youre transitioning him safely to a new food.

Be sure to measure the amount of food youre feeding your dog so you dont overfeed him, too.

Watch the treats

Giving your dog treats can add on to his calorie intake pretty easily, so you should be careful about just how many you give him while hes trying to lose weight. Most vets recommend that treats make up only around 10 percent of a dogs caloric intake.

Make sure to pay close attention to any treats or table food your dog is receiving those are calories, too, Dr. Marteney said. A 1-ounce piece of cheese for a 20-pound dog is like an average adult eating two and a half cheeseburgers. A little bit adds up quickly.

Try to find ways to reward your pup other than just treats, like extra playtime and pets or even taking him on a super long walk (plus, thatll give him some extra exercise).

Try these Purina Pro Plan Lite Snackers treats for dogs on weight loss or management programs from Chewy for $10.49

Make sure your dog gets enough exercise

Losing weight isnt just about the food. Its super important for your dog to get enough exercise every day so he burns calories. Otherwise, all the food he eats will just keep adding up.

In addition to a healthy diet, exercise burns extra calories and helps maintain lean muscle mass, Dr. Marteney said. Even an extra 15- to 20-minute walk every day adds up, and it's a great way for you to spend more time bonding with your pet.

Gaining weight happens, so if your dog gets to be a little overweight, theres no need to panic. Talk to your vet to figure out the right diet and exercise regimen, and youll get him back to a healthy weight in no time (like this obese rescue dog who cant stop smiliing because she lost half her weight).

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