Like humans, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight in our fury friends. Unfortunately I see so many dogs who have had one or two tit bits too many which can lead to serious health conditions relating to being over weight. These could include:
- Arthritis, joint damage and joint pain.
- Type 2 diabetes.
- Heart disease.
- Reduced exercise endurance and stamina.
- Increased anaesthetic and surgical risks.
- Reduced liver function due to a fatty liver.
Whilst regularly weighing your dog is good practice, weighing alone is not a good measure to ensure your dog is healthy. Taking a hands on approach and using the Body Conditioning Score (BCS) to physically and visibly assess the ribs and waist will really help.
You should be able to feel your dogs’ ribs without having to apply excessive pressure. Having to apply pressure would indicate your dog is overweight. If ribs are visible your dog may be underweight. The BCS chart can be used to show if our pets are underweight, overweight or ideal weight. Aim for your dog to be a score of 4 or 5 on this scale.
It’s rare I see under weight dogs, it’s mainly dogs who are a 6 – 7 on the BCS chart (and yes, it’s usually a Labrador : ). There’s nothing wrong with giving your precious a treat now and then, but always ensure you account for this and decrease their daily amount of food to balance that out.
Always feed healthy, high protein diet, treats and chews, such as the ones suggested in our Shop. Also check out our article on Dog Food.
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Process
- First, look at your dog from above. Does their waist (the area between their rib cage and hips) curve in, go straight across, or curve out?
- Next, look at your dog from the side. Does their abdomen (tummy) tuck up, go straight across, or droop down? Are their ribs, spine, and hips easily visible or covered with a little (or a lot) of fat?
- Then, run your hands across your dog’s ribs, spine, and hips. Are bones easily felt right under the skin or are they covered by fat? Use your own hand as a guide. Make a fist and run a finger over your knuckles. This is what too little fat feels like. Lay your hand flat and feel your knuckles again. This is what a good covering of fat feels like. Flip your hand over and feel your knuckles through your palm. This is what a dog’s ribs feel like with too much fat covering them.
- Finally, assign your dog a body condition score using the following charts:
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Small Dog BCS
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Medium Dog BCS
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Large Dog BCS
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If your dog is above BCS 5, don’t go all out decreasing their food. Start by taking away any treats and decrease each meal by 10%. Continue decreasing by 10% each week until BCS 4 – 5 is reached.
Bin the boring food bowl and invest in a variety of interactive toys so they can work for their suppa. Check out our article on Ditch The Food Bowl.
Always ensure you weigh your dogs food out on Digital Scales. Avoid using cups as there will be slight variants. It will say on the back of each brand a guide to daily requirements.
Increase their exercise where possible, fast paced on lead walking is best for fat burning.