Dog Community

Sad statistic at vets office/vent

Posted : 6/18/2007 1:16:43 PM

Warning, I am on my soapbox here, I have STRONG opinions about this. [sm=soap box.gif]

I got a letter from my vet on Saturday saying that Ben was due for his annual checkup, so I called this morning and as it happened, they could fit me in today. Ben was a champ, vet says he's strong and healthy, he behaved perfectly except for slobbering on her a little.

We were just heading out the door into the reception area when she stops me and says "I love seeing your dog. He's the only labrador registered here who is reliably kept at his perfect weight. Some of the others, even if we put them on diets, they come back in and they're fat again, and some never lose the weight even temporarily." I just goggled at her, said thanks and that keeping Ben trim was important to me, and we went out to pay....in the reception area while they were swiping my card, as if on cue a huge fat lab walked in.

Now yes, this makes me feel good because it's nice to be recognised for the effort I put in to keep Ben in the best condition possible. I feed him good food, and make sure he gets enough hard physical exercise. It's easy to make a lab fat because they won't stop eating, given a choice. They are the most incredibly food motivated dogs. But really....labs are POPULAR dogs here...that vet's office must have more labs than any other kind of dog...and mine is the ONLY one who isn't fat, or allowed to get that way?

I cannot STAND people who let their labs get fat just because "oh, he loves to eat!" Well yes, I love to eat too, but there are little things called self control and exercise...and since most labs will not self-regulate their food intake, it is up to the owner. So is taking your dog for a damned walk. Do these people not realise the health problems they are setting their dog up for? This makes me SO MAD I want to throw something. Overfeeding a dog to the point where it is consistently fat is animal abuse, IMHO. That my dog is the only lab at a healthy weight registered to one of the most popular vets offices in my city is PATHETIC. And those owners are the same people who give ME crap at the park because my dog is "too thin". Well yes, compared to your obese animal who is just sitting there while my dog outruns a collie, he is pretty thin. Angry

These people don't even need to train a recall into their dogs because it can't run far enough or fast enough to get away, even if the dog had the inclination, which they don't.

I feel so sorry for those dogs, I really do, but for the owners I feel nothing but incandescent rage. Angry

Vent over.

Jewlieee

Posted : 6/18/2007 1:29:53 PM

I get mad about this too. When I go to the vets 9 out of 10 dogs are seriously obese. They can barely hobble around they are so fat. It drives me nuts. Do people ever exercise their dogs?!

The other thing that bugs me is when my husky was in her prime she was VERY fit. Not an ounce of fat on her and her muscle tone was very defined (I ran her *a lot*). My Grandma and just about every stranger I met would tell me how skinny she was. Everytime my grandparents came over they'd feed her table scraps behind my back then come in and say I just gave Dakota a piece of ham, she's so skinny! You don't feed her enough *sigh*

(Now, she is a bit over weight (she's down to 55 lbs and should be about 50) but I can't exercise her like I used to so I try to moderate her food intake.)

Anyway, atleast its good to hear that some vets get on owners about their dogs weight. That's the bright side.

RoyallyYours

Posted : 6/18/2007 1:46:43 PM

Isn't it sad? Akasha was overweight for a while because my parents thought I wasn't feeding her enough, so would do what Jewlieee's grandparents did. I finally got through to them and got her down to her perfect weight.

I cannot believe the number of people who tell ME I'm abusing MY dog because she's so skinny, but they're walking around with a 125 pound Lab. Ri-i-ight.

Amitiel

Posted : 6/18/2007 1:53:45 PM

last year Max weight-in at the vets @ 120, the vet (female) said not bad but he really needs some weight off no more than 10 lbs - do not do it over-night, no crash diets or extreme exercise changes - this year Max came in @ 114.8 the vet partner (her hubby) said he was looking good, very strong (pulled the vet off his feet [

]

, and if he had any extra weight it was not bothering him I then took him and had him groomed - I think he may still benefit from those 4 lbs coming off

We "free feed", they are taught this from day 1 with us, both Max & Sugar are Golden retriever mixes and also have the food motavation (sp) but are trainable to not gourge themselves, they have an entire backyard to run, play & explore (my poor grass - oh well rather they were happy), we are working on their training (and Scooter is learning in self-defense), & Amy is the alpha when I am not there (the smallest oldest, with razor sharp teeth - their noses are so big an easy target for a nearly blind dog)

Aina

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:14:10 PM

I hate it when people over feed their labs. They look much better trim and fit. Where I live a lot of people do humting and things like that so am used to seeing fit dogs like Ben. But there are some that are overweight and they do not seem to be as happy or have the energy they should.

meghanbe

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:19:45 PM

I caught a really interesting show on Animal Planet On Demand a few weekends ago called "Fat Pets". It was really sad and infuriating. The focus was on England, where apparently there is the highest percentage of obese domestic pets. You wouldn't even believe what some of these people were doing to their dogs. I felt so bad for the poor animals.

Jack is at his ideal weight right now, and a friend of ours kept making comments about how he was so "skinny", and gave me a hard time about not giving him more food when she saw me feeding him one morning. Meanwhile, she was overfeeding her puppy to a ridiculous extent. A large bowl full of kibble twice a day, plus all kinds of biscuits and cookies throughout the day. Meanwhile, the puppy gets very little exercise (which has caused a whole lot of other issues I won't even get into!) This friend housesits for us on occasion and comes over to visit frequently, and had this horrible habit of being a cookie dispenser to our dogs, as well as hers. We asked her as politely as possible to please not give our dogs treats, but it's amazing how people won't take you seriously when you say that. We have a senior Pomeranian who's a bit overweight, and we've been trying hard to help her lose about a pound. Impossible when she's being fed cookies whenever this particular friend came over.

I happened to watch "Fat Pets" with this particular friend, who of course thought the whole thing was sad and awful. The funny thing was that about a week after we saw that show, she told me that she'd reduced the amount of food she'd been feeding her puppy, because she "was getting so fat". It's true, the puppy had been fat since shortly after this friend adopted her. My partner and I talked about it a few times, and wished she would realize that Jack wasn't underweight, and that this was what a dog was supposed to look like. Apparently that show helped.

marynh

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:23:40 PM

Molly is thin...yes she could probably stand to have an extra 5 lbs. on her frame...but she's just a thin dog and probably healthier for it. I get comments from people all the time "don't you feed that dog? what do you feed her? she is kinda thin don't you think?
I wonder if these same people would comment on someone's overweight dog?
I once saw a beagle at the vet's office (another breed easily prone to overeating) that was so large he could barely move his legs. Why is he here I asked....JOINT PAIN - well DUH

Benedict

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:33:14 PM

Ben weighs 62 lbs....which actually is more than I thought he did, but every single ounce of it is muscle. The vet said not to be worried about the number anyway...the way he actually LOOKS is a better indication of whether his weight is healthy.

What baffles me is, as was said, that the UK has the highest rate of animal obesity...but we are also allowed to let our dogs off-leash to run in pretty much every park. So it's not even like people have the excuse here of not having anywhere to let their dog work up a sweat and burn off some calories...they have the opportunity and CHOOSE not to use it. It infuriates me.

mudpuppy

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:36:56 PM

I don't think I've ever seen a non-fat lab. [sm=eek.gif]
And yeah, when someone holding the leash of a waddling ball of blubber accuses you of "starving" your dog it's hard to remain civil.

Benedict

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:39:26 PM

Mudpuppy, check my sig...that's a non-fat lab. [

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Bobsk8

Posted : 6/18/2007 2:47:32 PM

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

I don't think I've ever seen a non-fat lab. [sm=eek.gif]
And yeah, when someone holding the leash of a waddling ball of blubber accuses you of "starving" your dog it's hard to remain civil.

I have seen Labs in great shape, and their owners usually feed a quality food, exercise the dog, and measure the amount that the dog eats.

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 6/18/2007 3:00:07 PM

i like watching the srs competitions on versus (sunday mornings at 11am). there are some truly fit labs on that show. of course they have to be, being working labs (gun dogs) and all. these dogs look much different from the labs i have seen on dog shows on animal planet.

http://www.superretrieverseries.com/

diane303

Posted : 6/18/2007 3:28:51 PM

I get the same response from my vet. He tells me that it is such a pleasure to see dogs that are so fit.

I also have had some come up to me and remark how "skinny" they are - then I look around and see this this "foot stool covered in fur" ungulating next to them. If I remark that their dog is a "bit portly", the answer I get is "Well, Fluffy is just our fur baby - she's built for comfort. We don;t make her work. We just pamper her". Poor Fluffy can barely make it around the block.

It's amazing how these people can put a responsible pet owner on the defensive, though, isn't it.

It brings to mind the one woman on the Animal Planet Fat Pet program with the 200 lbs. + rotty. If I were that groomer, at best, I would have told the owner that a letter from her vet was required because I was concerned about the dog dying from a heart attach on the grooming table. At worse, I would have refused to groom the dog and I would have informed her that I was tempted to call Animal Control on her for animal abuse.

g33

Posted : 6/18/2007 3:56:59 PM

Playing a bit of devil's advocate here - but are you SURE you're looking at a "fat Lab", or are you looking at a properly bred Bench Lab?

The majority of Labs out there now are pet bred, which means that they tend to take on the lankier and taller field-bred Lab traits. I can't tell you how many "giant" Labs I've seen that are well over breed standard for height. No lab should weigh over 100 lbs - they are to be considered a MODERATE sized breed. Most Labs that you see out in the world are not correct type.

My Lab is 68 lbs and trim. He comes from field lines and is within breed standard for height. He's a well-bred dog but he is NOT a bench bred Lab.

Would you consider the following Labs to be "fat"? They certainly aren't - but seeing correct coat on a Labrador can give the illusion they're fat, UNTIL you get a chance to put your hands on the dog.

These dogs are all titled champions in both show AND field.

One last one - a very typey Lab that can be found in many field AND bench pedigrees.

Benedict

Posted : 6/18/2007 4:09:22 PM

Gina...

Yes, I know what I am looking at. Even a bench lab will look physically fit and will be able to move. I see labs that are so obese they can barely walk. I am trusting my vet that the labs she sees are overweight for the type of lab they are. Ben's a field lab and they are not as common here as bench, so I often have to explain the type difference to people, but even so, people think I am starving my dog, and all the labs I see are grossly out of shape.