Overweight Dogs

I am very crucial about my dogs weight. I have two pitties adn nowadays you mostly see overgrown hipppos that they try and pass as pit bulls. Breed standard is 35-55 lbs MAX and your supposed to see a lil rib so by standards my dogs are over weight but I most pitties exceed breed standard nowadays.

I tell my friends, heck the vet should back you up on this, lol!

I think he should be able to recieve your critsicm if he cares for his dog. Try and find a pic of what the dog should look like. I know he's a mix but you might be able to find his closest breed standard and show it to your buddy.

Plus if his dogs are bad shape thats a sign he may need to get his butt walking too, LOL!

Personally, I cannot stand it and besides a medical condition, I see NO excuses.  Animals depend on us for proper diet and exercise.  Why would someone get a pet that depended on them if they didn't care about its physical condition?  Honestly, I'm far more forgiving about things like dogs that have no manners and dogs that have issues like fear or reactivity that the owners have not sufficiently addressed than I am about overweight pets. 

When casual dog owners or non-dog people tell me my dogs are too thin, I'm not put off, I'm happy because that means they are at a good weight and in good condition.  My GSD friend and I laugh about how when our vets say our dogs are "thin" we know they are "perfect."  When you look at dogs in the wild, they would be considered thin or even emaciated based on pet standards. 

Thank goodness, I don't know anyone close to me that has a fat dog.  For reference, I would consider these two to be too big:
 

And these two to be just right.  If they were "bigger" it should be their bone structure and muscles.
 

Honestly, from the pic the dog looks like a rot/lab mix and the first thing I thought of is how prone those breeds are to joint issues.  Therefore, the whole weight thing is super important. 

I would bring it up casually--not in a critical way.  You could mention that you think *your* dog is a bit overweight (whether he is or not) because you can hardly feel his ribs anymore.  You could tell a story about "someone you know" with a dog that is having ALL kinds of EXPENSIVE problems with arthritis and the vet says it's because the dog was too heavy for too long.

Also, when you get together you could bring your dog and you could do dog activities, that require exercise on the dogs' part--that way the dog is getting some movement.

However you bring it up, just remember this---people often project their own feelings onto their dogs.  When you say the dog is fat, even if you mean well, you are wounding the owner's ego and he might even think the comment is meant to be critical of their dog owning skills. 

He absolutely thinks I'm being critical of him as a dog owner.  I probably come off as thinking im a good dog owner.  He has had other people tell him his dog is heavy and he won't hear of it.  I tried to recommend better foods for him and have even given him food but he just makes jokes about how much i spend on my dogs.  He made a funny about how I serve my dogs their meals with a white towel draped over my forearm.  I found that extremely funny though.  Maybe I'll go meet him tomorrow to walk our dogs together.  We have never done that....maybe that will help when he sees what Sam looks like.  Thanks for the suggestions....I don't want to hurt his feelings and when I mean well...it may come out like I'm being a meanie.

I don't like to say anything about weight to anyone.  It's a sensitive subject for a lot of people.  And, having been big I'm a little more touchy about it myself. 

It is sad how animals are now being faced with the same obesity epidemic as humans.  It's not that people do it initially, or that they are completely blind to it.  I think for a lot of owners has a way of creeping up on them.  There is also often the projected feelings of how horrid diets are so how can they subject their babies to it, especially when dogs are so good at getting their humans wrapped up around their little doggy tails.  Who can resist those puppy dog eyes?  If it was my friend I would be blunt, but not in a nasty way and go on to tell them the health risks that their inflicting on their dog.  I would also try to help them with coming up with a better meal plan for their dog.  Let them know that they don't have to starve their little canine friend, and there are a lot of easy simple changes they can do that can make a lot of difference in the long run.

 I'm really aware of my dog, Kirby's weight.  I like to keep him nice and sleek and watch him like a hawk since it is real easy to get a tiny dog overweight by not being careful of portion control when it comes to the size and quantity of treats.  That being said, it is amazing how a full thick coat can effect appearances.  Whenever I look at Kirby he looks fat to me even though I know he is not.  To my eye I would guess he currently looks like he weighs 15-20 pounds but he only weighs 9.  I get the same kind of surprise when I look at Shelties.  They all look like little fatties to me but there is no way you can really tell unless you get your hand under the dogs coat.  There was a little Sheltie owned by one of the staff members in the vet clinic that was adorable and I would have guessed weighed 25-30 pounds.  My jaw dropped when I found out she was only a little 12 pounder.
 

i know the feeling of no matter what you say he wont listen, my friend she has two dogs a fox terrir and a dal. the dal used to be over weight but now its old and is under weight i feel but the fox terrir is a porker hehe i swear shes like 3 years old and weighs close to 30lbs insane and my friend she always says to me "its not my dog its my brothers dog" or "i dont care its my brothers dog i dont even like her" she is kinda mean and rather hateful to the dog i mean she doesnt hit it but i just hate how she speaks about it and stuff and she always says to "shes fat and i dont like her" they dont feed them on any kind of schule or anything. i dont think the dal eats because the fox terrir eats it all befor the dal gets to it. it annoys me that no one in here house will do anything about it.

Weight in dogs can be even touchier than weight in the human (and yeah, what everyone said above about people projecting your comments onto themselves is SO true).

YOU can't tell this guy a thing -- but you can put information in front of him so IF HE CARES he will see it and decide to do something about it.

some dogs defy getting them thin -- I know now that Muffin the Intrepid likely was hypo thyroid which is why I never could get weight off him -- it made a WORLD of difference with Billy when I finally got him diagnosed.  3 years later he's a whole different dog!

The older I get and the more elderly dogs I've had the more we try to keep them thinner.  Because it helps SO much when they are lighter to keep the arthritis under control. 

 Luna is hardwired for back problems -- this is probably the pic easiest to see how 'long' she is

Because of that I'm super concerned that she not carry extra weight so we can KEEP that back in good shape.  So she's truly what most would call "skinny" -- but it's a weight she stays 'at' easily -- so it seems right for her.

The guy that had Kee before us, way overfed her -- she was getting about 12+ oz of food twice a day (he'd just open a can and dump it).  She was way too heavy when I got her and it's taken me 2 years to get her at a proper weight.

It's honestly something this guy has to come to on his own terms. Because anything you can say is going to sound mean and offensive.  People tend to feed their dogs the way their families did -- and they may truly think a dog will only eat what it 'needs' to -- (which is a fallacy) so they just keep putting out more and more food thinking the dog 'needs' it.  (and to give less is tantamount to starving the poor thing)

But bottom line -- people tend to think food = love -- to any affection tends to revolve around treats and yummy stuff. 

For me, cooking for my dogs was the best solution because they are so impacted by what *I* do.  It's not that the can is too big or the bag recommendations are too much -- it's what *I* fix.  You have to be a bit obsessive, I think, to be diligent enough to 'fix' a problem like this -- and it's very difficult for a lot of people to get round it mentally.

I don't like to see dogs with ribs showing if that breed isn't supposed to show ribs.  I think a lot of people get a little crazy with it and actually keep the dog too thin.  (MHO)

Oh gosh...I can't see ribs on Maggie...she's too furry.  Many people think shes a lot heavier than what she really is.  She is about 103lbs but looks bigger cuz of all the hair.  She can win awards for her beggin too...it's hard not to give in.

i know what you mean about fur lol Boomer looks like a fatty till i give him a bath and all his fur is stuck to him like a wet ragdoll lol then im like wow you look 10lbs lighter lol although i think hes about 14lbs now but looks like hes almost 20lbs some times.

i can see how people feed there dogs like there family. because my friend they never have sit down dinners and dont eat to healthy i can see how it carries over. lol me on the other hand im bad if im busy or theres other things to be done i wont eat but im stricked about my dog he gets feed right and on a schule. go figure but then again i waste no time in making food for my boyfriend when we are together so end the end i take good care of everything and everyone around me but my self lol

as for the dog will eat when its hungry some dogs will over eat and others wont. like Loki you put food down and he will eat and eat. but emiley you put food down and she will eat it but you put another bowl down and she will pass it up. same with Boomer i was feeding him 3 times aday the proper amount and he wasnt eating half the time so now i feed him twice aday with about the same and he finishes it off no problem. my sisters dog daisy shes free fed(going to change when boomer gets older and spends more time outside) and she isnt over weight nor does she empty her bowl. we fill her bowl full once a week and it last all week we dont fill it again till its empty

The dog in the picture is much to big! He/She should slim down. Max is over weight too, he came back to us bigger than he was before he was stolen. (if you didn't know he was gone for a month) Even before tho, I was oblivious to how big he really was. People would comment "Oh he eats well" or "you like those cheeseburgers don't you?" And it dose make me upset so I can see where your friend is comming from. What really got me tho is when I took Max to Pet Extream (a pet store) the other day. They had a scale and I put him on it just for kicks. It was bouncing around beween 99-104! I totally freaked out! I changed it diet immediatly! When he was taken he was only between 70-85.

I suggest you might want to go on a pet supplies trip with your friend. Have them bring their dog and you take yours. If there is a scale weigh both dogs. There will most likely be a chart saying how much the dog SHOULD weigh. If the owners are unwilling, you could offer to take the dog to the dog park along with your dog. Let us know how it goes.

Maybe these sites would help:

Body Condition Scores

Your Pets Ideal Weight A Visual Guide

Evaluating your dog's weight

There is a ginormous rottie that comes to the dog park. He is obese. Not plump, not fluffy, not a little padded.

His owner loves to say how the dog is "all muscle."

It is quite sad. The dog is awesome. A lovebug, very calm and self assured. His owner means well. He's a nice man. He is totally blind to his dog's weight issue.