By Heidi Clayton
According to the American Kennel Club, 56 percent of all dogs in America are considered obese. Many veterinarians consider obesity to be the biggest threat to a dog’s health. Obesity can cause many of the same health issues in dogs that the condition could cause in humans, including heart issues, diabetes and arthritis. Left unchecked, obese dogs simply do not live as long as dogs that are fit.
Recognizing your dog might be overweight can sometimes be hard. You are with them every day, and sometimes the weight gain starts gradually.
Let’s start with how to tell if your dog is overweight. When looking at a dog from the side, the belly from where the rib cage ends to the groin area should tuck up. Their belly should not remain level or have a bit of a swing to it. You can also stand over the dog to look for a defined waistline just beyond the rib cage and touch their rib cage to see if you can easily feel ribs. If you can’t see the abdomen tuck upward, feel their ribs or see a waist, you may need to put your dog on a diet. You can also take your dog to a veterinarian to weigh them and then get a “body condition score” that measures your dog’s weight on a scale of one to nine. A score of four out of five is the ideal weight.
Next, let’s address how to correctly feed a dog. The most common cause of obesity in dogs is the same as in humans, which is eating too much. Dogs will never say no to more food or treats, so it is up to you to regulate their daily caloric intake. I find most commercial brand kibbles recommend way too much food for most dogs in relation to their activity levels. When you add how many treats your dog gets in a day to those recommended portions, it is usually way more calories than the average dog expends.
I feed my dogs a raw diet. Every day, I measure each dog’s food. I subtract an ounce or two if it is a day when my dogs did not get out and exercise or if they were given lots of treats for training.
When measuring out kibble, I believe that you can easily subtract at least one-half of the recommended cup to feed your dog. You could also even subtract an entire cup and substitute it with green beans, cabbage or Brussels sprouts to add volume to their meals.
You may also want to speak with your vet about a prescription weight-loss kibble. These kibbles are made with less calories and less grams of fat. They also have a higher fiber content. Just remember that the amount you feed your dogs still matters.
When directed to feed a dog one cup, remember it is precisely one cup. That is, do not serve a “heaping” cup of food. Also, even if you’ve switched your dog to a diet food, remember to avoid giving them regular, non-diet treats. If you use regular treats for training purposes, you must then serve them a smaller food portion to even it out. Feeding your dog diet foods is not helpful if you give your pet too much of it or do not decrease the level of treats given.
Feeding multiple dogs when one is on a diet may become a challenge if the heavier dog decides they would now like their housemate’s portion. I avoid this by feeding all of my dogs in their kennels if one is bullying another to take their food. This way, I know that everyone has eaten the exact amount I gave. If you do not use crates in your house, you may have to adjust where everyone eats so that the dieting dog can not steal food. It is also helpful to not leave a food dish down all day for your dog to eat freely from. Give them a reasonable amount of time to eat, then take the dish away.
Before you start an exercise program to get weight off your dog, it is important to decide how much weight they need to take off and adjust your feeding habits accordingly. Once you have a diet plan in place, you can start the next step of getting an exercise program ready.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at https://fouronthefloordogtraining.net
