Obese dogs WHY? Health

Eh, my Nigredo is porkier than I'd like him to be, and I am as well. We get out and take walks daily and we're both currently in good health and can move and exercise just fine. I don't feed him a lot, he's just an early neuter and has garbage metabolism. my last dog was RAIL SKINNY regardless of what I fed, so it's all just the individual dog sometimes. My Jade is fine and at around 12 years old, hanging right in there.

What irritates me is smokers. At least us heavier people don't infect others with our poor life choices. If a smaller person who is a smoker has a go at me for being larger, they can rest assured I'm going to go in on it. It's terrible for our pets, too. It's something that isn't addressed as it should be.

Nigredo (fat)


Brownie (skinny)


Jade (about perfect)

People would call Brownie "anorexic" and stuff because his ribs would show. I could never put any weight on him though so I learned to deal with it. He had quite a bit of pit bull in him (fought like a demon possessed too unfortunately) so I really think that's what made him all ultra skinny.

Now that's interesting with the picture of Jade. Sophie is guessed to be an AmStaff, Shepherd, Boxer mix. Except for droopy ears she looks quite a bit like Jade from that angle.

Thank you for the compliment on her. I try to keep them at a good weight even if they are not showing.





In Callie's case you have all the more reason to keep him at good weight.

I think the pediatric neuter they do can certainly lead to problems. In general if a dog has trouble losing weight or gaining weight there is usually an underlying health problem. A slow metabolism will be caused by something. It isn't always easy to pin point even in humans so dogs are far behind on finding all the causes.

Brownie looks good, not too skinny. I can believe you got comments as so many people are used to seeing an out of shape dog.
While you will see many Pits in prime condition for conformation or work you don't need to be a Pit to be fit.

Boxer


Doberman


Jack Russell


Plott Hound from AKC website


Cane Corso (this is my Corso's Aunt)


Rhodesian Ridgeback


Labrador


Malinois

That photo of Brownie he was in condition and looked better than normal. Normally he was just a skinny dog with no fat and no muscle.











He is over 13 years old in all those photos. He was skinny like that his entire life, and he got called all kinds of names. I remember being hurt when someone told me that I was starving him because I wanted him to look like a pit bull when he was really a "Lab mutt". I didn't starve him and I tried everything to put weight on him but I couldn't. That really did hurt my feelings because I'd never starve any of my dogs for condition purposes only.

He lived to be over 15 and NEVER had any joint problems whatsoever, he was still jumping and running like a boss at 14 years old. It wasn't anything I did, he just had good genes and whatnot.

People can be so stupid is all I can say. Insensitive with their assumptions. It sounds like he had a good life to me. It's hard to say why he wouldn't gain weight but I read a study that as far as lifespan dogs under weight live longer than over weight.

This is one of my girls in her prime, she's still active and fit at 9 years of age

Brownie looks perfect. Definitely not to fat or thin. It's a shame when people don't recognize a dog at it's peak condition. I'd say Jade looks a little overweight though still.

You can't really tell with my two hairier dogs that they're as fit as they are because the coat makes them look bigger. However, my old girl at nearly 13 has maintained her ideal weight her entire life, and my youngster is a very nice weight and developing good muscle condition with a nice depth of rib. The only one of my lot you can see in his 'full' state is my older boy.

Jade doesn't look overweight to me. She's about 12 years old now and she doesn't really have any muscle, but her weight is okay. Now Nigredo of course is over weight, but she really isn't. Her build is about like that of the dog I see in your photograph.. and he doesn't look overweight at all.



She was quite young here, and looked VERY different from how she does now



She WAS a tad thinner a while ago when Brownie was alive...



She looks a tad heavier here... but she's really okay. The sagginess under her belly is from years of mammary tumors, which kept appearing one after the other (should have had her spayed) and after a while we stopped having them removed.

Nigredo had something remotely resembling a waistline when he was little... BUT it quickly disappeared.

I have to agree with Lou that Jade certainly looks heavy too. Brownie looked perfect IMO!
With all due respect, Nigredo looks more than a bit porky.. borderline obese. If increased exercise and less food does nothing, I'd probably look to blood test for underlying issues, to be honest.
Far too many seem to have a skewed perception nowadays - a woman came into work with a bulldog the other day. Poor thing was waddling, wobbling all over the show, a complete barrel. Another woman (rightly) said "what a chunk!" while fussing him... the owner replied with "he's small for the breed, actually"
Um. No. Your dog is about to keel over. Breed is NOT an excuse to be fat.

Here's Gwenny she's a sighthound mix and fairly young, but really all dogs should have a waist, easy to feel (even view in some breeds) ribs and some form of tuck up.

Except Nigredo has had every blood test, thyroid test and everything else under the sun. He's a blood donor and he's absolutely healthy. And "with all due respect" he's seen several different vets and not one has called him "obese" and though I admit he's too fat, there are far fatter dogs than him. I've reduced his food by over half and upped his exercise and it's been months and no results.

There isn't anything else I can do at this point short of feeding him pretty much nothing. Some people have told me that him being the breed(s) he is along with a pediatric neuter has absolutely destroyed his metabolism and doomed him to be fat, and at this point I believe them. Nothing has worked and there are no underlying causes that could be found.

Same as my Brownie, you pick sighthounds which are naturally skinny so it's pretty easy for you to say other people's dogs are fat. Jade isn't fat, at this point she may not be perfect but she isn't fat. But then, compared to Brownie who was just a sack of ribs, neigh all dogs I see around here are fat.

I thought Jade didn't appear to have a waistline in your first reply earlier BUT the angle and her color I wasn't sure if it was an illusion. We can only tell so much by pictures vs seeing the dog first hand.

In your other replies the 3rd & 5th pics she appears to have a waistline but the others she doesn't. So again hard to tell. Like she looks overweight at first glance in the 4th but then when you really look you can see an indentation of waste I think.

I don't think I'd call her obese, at 12yrs old not only does metabolism slow down but with age muscle mass tends to be lost. This leads to fat being evident and a squishy verses hard appearance. At 12 my dog certainly has waste but she doesn't look at all like before. She looks out of shape because she is lol.

In the photos it looks like Nigredo is leaning towards obesity. Though none of them are that easy to tell and none of us are seeing him in person. In humans 25-30% body fat is considered obesity but I don't know the comparison to dogs nor his body fat percentage. I'd say if you've had all the checks then nothing you can do. As I said before it's hard to pin point even in humans all the causes. I think the neuter very well could have played a role. S/N can mess with hormones and hormones / the endocrine system can play a role in weight. If you give him exercise and don't over feed you are doing about all that you can do.



This is common weight chart for dogs, same one I see at vets. Anyone can look at the chart then their dog to gage where there dog fits in.

Some conditioned dogs lean towards thin if you have problems keeping good rib covering what has worked for me is raw chicken skin. Makes coat look shiny and gives a little fat covering in addition to muscle.

Based on your photo's Myra, Brownie looks just fine to me. I certainly wouldn't have passed a comment about him. Put it down to uninformed bad manners.

I sympathise with your current two, as I wish I could get a pound or two more off the Beags, they are both middle aged, neutered, and being Beags. are soooo hungry - or should that be greedy!

Jade is certainly not in shape. She's an old dog, and she doesn't have much muscle. She's not a fat dog... maybe not perfect, but no vet etc. has ever told me she needed to lose weight unlike FAT BOY there. He's sadly just fat. What irritates me is when people say it's because we don't love the dogs or are too lazy etc.

Do you know what I would give for him to not be fat? Do you know how hard I've tried to help him? Nobody knows any of that. They see a fat dog and they go "Irresponsible owner!!" Don't you think I know he's fat? Can't you see he's a very LOVED dog and of course I'd try to help him however I could?

It's too easy for someone with sighthounds or another naturally skinny dog like my Brownie who had lots of pit bull and wouldn't and simply COULDN'T gain any real weight, to say "Breed is no excuse for fat!" I mean that is REALLY EASY for them to say. Bulldogs are naturally lazy dogs, often riddled with joint issues and are a LOT harder to keep in shape than a sight hound.

I've tried to help Nigredo, and it simply hasn't worked. I'm not going to give up, but it is what it is.

I LITERALLY just went outside with the dogs and took these photos. You guys are telling me that Jade is fat and needs to lose weight, too? i KNOW Nigredo is fat, my poor guy. I'm NOT trying to be a smart ass, but if she's fat then I will put her on a diet, too. I don't WANT fat dogs, Nigredo is just fat by accident and I didn't think she was fat. I've never been told she needed to lose weight and she looks okay to me.







She really looks about right to me, but compared to Nigredo... I guess it's hard for me to see a fat dog unless it's FATTER than him.

She looks fine to me in those. Like I said it's hard to tell by some pictures but she doesn't look fat.

If people are doing the right thing that's not their fault if the dog is over weight it's just that all too often owners are not like you. They simply over feed to the point of obesity.

While I think breed and individual genetics, etc can play a role I do agree with BlueJay that in general it's not an excuse for obesity. This is French Bulldog very fit. Other fat FB owners got on their case that the dog is skinny, starved ect they said when posting the photos.

Okay. Because I thought I was losing my mind. I know Nigredo is fat, but I didn't think Jade was fat. I realize my perception is probably slightly off since I'm so used to seeing Nigredo so I thought to ask. She's old with no muscle, but she's not just lard like chunky guy beside her.

That's the first time I've ever seen a fit French Bulldog. They're always fat or at least not fit. They're pretty hard to keep fit seemingly. Some breeds are naturally lazier and have naturally slower metabolism. I've seen English bulldogs that simply REFUSE to exercise. They literally WON'T MOVE, much like a mule.

Great Danes, Grey Hounds, APBT, Saluki, Dobermans, Yorkies, Poodles, and pure bred GSDs, are neigh never fat here. Rotties, Labradors, Chihuahuas, Mini Pins, American Bullies, and Beagles, are often fat here.

How tall is she and how much does she weigh @mjfromga?

I'd say she's bigger than I'd like her personally. But I can't get my hands on her so it's hard to tell. Can you easily feel her ribs?

No one is saying you're a bad or irresponsible owner. Just giving our own opinions and having a general discussion.

My youngster is about 27'' to the shoulder and weighed 88lbs at his last weigh in some months ago. You can quite easily feel ribs and even his hip bones are easily felt too. He is about perfect weight wise, although may well weigh more now as he continues to fill out and mature.

I do not think it is fair on Myra if Jade is maybe a bit overweight. Those of us know Jades's story know about her and her age, would not worry about a wee bit overweight. If she is.

Nigredo is different. He was a very young neutered dog before Myra rescued him, and it is difficult for her to get, let alone keep, weight off him. He is not over-fed and he gets more than enough exercise. He is just a podgikinthat could certainly do with losing weight, but how? Myra cannot starve him and I am sure that she does not over-feed him. And he definitely gets enough exercise.

Those who said Brownie was skinny and underweight - he was not. That was just how he was. Just as Nigredo is as he is now.

Having had epi Pereg I know how very difficult it is to get weight off a dog, however little you feed them. Fair enough hers was due to epi and medication, but what is Myra supposed to do getting podge off Nigredo?

He is not over-fed. He gets more exercise than most dogs. He is just a podge.

What would you do in such circumstances?