Are you feeding your dog the best dog food in the market, taking them out for walks, doing certain activities regularly, and still wondering whether they are at a healthy weight? Take a deep breath and relax, because you are not the only one suffering from this dilemma. As a responsible pet parent, you may know the exact weight of your dog at the moment but is it ideal for their breed? The answer depends on a lot of factors.
For any dog to maintain a healthy and active life, it is essential to maintain proper body weight. Several researches conducted over the years on dog health concluded that proper intake of food has a chance of extending your dog’s life about 2 years longer than their actual life span. This lays importance on the diet a dog should follow.
While a pet vet can help you with an answer, there are certain ways adhering to which you can find out if your dog is at a healthy weight or require major lifestyle changes.
Ideal Weight Differ By Pet Origins
There are hundreds of breeds of dogs and each breed is different in certain aspects. Let’s talk about the tiny cute Yorkie and a gorgeous Golden Retriever. While one is hardly 8 to 9 inches, the other is about 22-24 inches tall. This means what sounds ideal weight for a Golden Retriever is way above the normal range for a Yorkshire. And this difference is not marked simply by their height. It is marked by their skeletal size, coat density, as well as muscle density.
Even though The American Kennel Club has issued a size and weight chart for each breed, veterinarians talk about observing a huge difference even in dogs from the same breed. While Golden Retrievers as per the AKC should have a body weight of 55-75 pounds, I know a Golden Retriever pet who is 90 pounds and is absolutely in good health. Wondering how? The extra 10 pounds is due to his large and wide muscle frame.
Conduct A Profile Analysis
Analyzing the biology of dog is an effortless technique to determine whether your pet is at a healthy weight or not.
Check whether your dog’s abdomen is at an elevated position than its ribcage, which means from the front legs, the underside inclines upwards to the rear gradually.
If this inclination looks steep, then your doggo is underweight or malnourished. On the other hand, if you notice shallow inclination or no sign of inclination, then your pet is overweight.
Another reliable way to analyze your dog’s health profile is by lowering yourself to a level with your furbaby and viewing from the sides.
Follow The BCS System
Just like the Body Mass Index or BMI can tell whether you are at a healthy weight, the Body Condition Score or BCS can determine the ideal weight for your dog. BCS is a standard system adopted by veterinarians and dog food manufacturing companies to examine and evaluate your dog’s body composition and health.
The BCS system rates your dog from 1 to 9, where 1 stand for undernourished and minimal muscle mass, and 9 indicates overweight and excess fat deposition. If your dog gets a BCS rate between 4.5-6, relax! You have a healthy and sturdy guy!!! You can feel their ribs when cuddling but not see them. They have a decent waistline, no matter whether it is a chubby breed like pugs and bulldogs.
Understand The Difference Between Fluffy And Chubby
A lot of times pet parents are left in surprise on their visit to a dog salon. You might be living with the illusion that your dog is in good weight only to see the groomer cut off a chunk of the hair coat and alas, your furbaby’s weight drops beyond the minimum weight range.
On the contrary, you might end up discovering a chunk of fat deposition that you had no idea about because of the hair coat covering. While their dense fur coats can cover their fat deposition, they can mask their weight loss too.
To make sure your dog is at a healthy weight, conduct a profile analysis following the guidelines mentioned above. Other tests that can be done personally at home are rib and overhead examinations.
Swiftly move both of your thumbs along your dog’s spinal cord with your palm going atop its ribcage.
If your dog is at a healthy weight, you will get to feel its ribs under the fur coat and skin. On the contrary, you will not be able to feel any difference, meaning there is too much fat deposition.
A dog that is at a healthy body weight will have a body shape similar to an hourglass. You will be able to tell by simply standing in front of your pet’s face and slightly bending to look down.
If it is at a normal weight, you should be able to see the waist tucked well behind the ribs.
In case your dog’s waist is narrow than its ribcage and individual ribs are noticeably visible, it is a clear indication that your pet is underweight.
If the waist happens to bulge out past the ribs or in line with it, then it is time to take your dog for some exercise and reduce their diet.
To help your dog enjoy a better and healthy life, it is important to take care of their weight. While excess weight can end up giving birth to numerous health issues like arthritis, diabetes, and certain skin injuries, being underweight can affect the immune system, delay any wound healing, affect mobility as well as result in loss of muscle strength. Besides taking help from a veterinarian, you must regularly examine the Body Condition Score, and decide the meal size accordingly. This will keep your dog stay healthy and happy during their senior years.
