Obese dogs WHY? Health

I think that this should be cruelty just like starving.
Barring medical reasons of course.

Dogs rely on us to care for them so it's really not fair to them. I don't understand why owners keep their pets over weight? It doesn't make sense at all. Some times dogs don't get enough to eat or appropriate medical care but dog food and vet bills cost money. No excuse if you have a dog but some people might say they couldn't afford food or vet bills as to why the dog is neglected. When it's an over feeding issue it'd be less money to feed the appropriate amount and of course giving proper exercise is needed.

Most importantly is the health concerns associated with obesity. I'm sure there might be more than I even know but joint issues hip/elbows/knees can occur or make an existing problem worse and more painful and the arthritis, increased incidence of hypothyroidism and diabetes, over heating faster, higher likelihood of tumors. There is really no excuse I can see for a normal dog to be anything other than fit.

It's a big concern for my Pikey because I allowed my previous Beagle to become overweight and it led to congestive heart trouble. I'm feeding weight control food which I have had to cut back because he still seems slightly heavier than I would like. He was very thin when adopted so feeding was no problem for awhile. Meanwhile, every time I feed him, I'm conscious that I don't overdo it.

That is good to be conscious and at least make an effort. In one studies Beagles showed to be in the top 10 for over weight breeds. It also included Labs and Rotts. The study was on over 20,000 dogs of all breeds.

The only sentence that made sense to me was "Barring medical reasons of course."

As I am sure most people here know, my beloved Pereg was severely epileptic. The epilepsy alone gave her the gimmee gimmee munchies after seizures, and you cannot argue with an epi after a major seisure. Plus her medication itself caused the gimmee gimmee munchies.

She weighed 17 kilos at the start and went up to 22.2 at one stage. I did manage to get her weight down but it just crept up and up and up and she was probably around 22 kg by the time I had to have her euthanized.

I am being ultra-careful with tiny Tikva although she is still on four meals a day because of her age, and although fully weaned, even though she has a habit of sitting by the opening side of the refrigerator, having unsuccessfully managed to open it, and crying that she is hungry.

Once she is fully on raw I am sure she will be happier, and no way will I allow to get her overweight. With Pereg I had no choice. Tikva is learning what "wait" means. Maybe she will one day learn what "sit" means? I can but hope. So I am giving her less than she wants but she seems to be doing OK and I know that being half a Doxie being overweight is Not A Good Idea. Especially not having seen her massively overweight dam.

I think it's appalling how many overweight humans there are as well. We were leaving a store the other night and two customers in front of us were just huge. One was young and wearing a skirt and shirt she was all but busting out of. The other woman was older and the size of three of the younger one. I can't feature either of them taking a pup for a daily walk. Like you say, I pity people or pets who are overweight from a medical condition but just over eating is unhealthy.

It's easy to judge, I've got problems with mental health, and there are times when I'm almost at a shut down. Although I always do my best to ensure the girls get everything they need, at times, when I'm really bad, the first thing that goes is long walks, and, if I don't cut back their portions, the Labs are prone to sticking weight on, even Rhuna was a bit porky last year when I was really ill. They're all pretty much at their ideal weight now, but sometimes it's not just because the owner is ignorant, sometimes they too need help.

I feel the same about humans. I will always try to stay in shape and healthy. As it's not of benefit to us humans either. Some people I see can barely breath or walk. But it depends on why they are over weight as medical can be a reason some medical problems prevent physical activity & such but the worse is when a side effect is weight gain.

I wouldn't judge you poorly in your situation. You are responsible it sounds like you do what you can and try to keep them fit. You don't over feed them and you are not a lazy person. Medical reasons are legit. Some might be mental health and others have physical limitations too. There can be legitimate reasons though that usually doesn't lead to obesity with a responsible owner. Maybe the dog will be over weight at times or even a little over weight most the time but it's a big difference between that and the owners who don't care. I knew one couple who fed their dog way too much kibble plus human food bacon, biscuits & gravy, eggs, pizza, hamburgers this was all the time not just occasional treat. That poor dog was so huge and not exercised either. My uncles dogs were very fat too he keeps the bowls full of kibble constantly. He isn't one to listen to advice either.

I do see dogs that I think have too much wobble, and a lot of the time the owners are blind to it. But when a dog gets to the point it struggles to walk, then yep, there's something drastically wrong with the perception of the owner. I do remember bumping into (not literally) the owner of a chocolate Labrador when Indie was a youngster, probably about 9 years ago now, and it was the only time I'd ever seen this woman out and about with her dog, where I used to pretty much know most dogs and owners in the area. Her first comment was incredibly rude, she couldn't believe Indie was a pedigree, as she was far too skinny to be a KC pedigree. Her own dog struggled to trot, while Indie was running around trying to get him to play. I never saw her or the dog again.

Sounds like some I've come across that say my dogs are too skinny or starved and too small to be pure bred Pit Bulls. These are not the XL Pit mix owners but ones with incredibly obese Pits like fat = size to them. So they brag of their dogs weight even though they are 20-25 lbs over weight. The legs jiggle and they think that's muscle, fat covering the chest and shoulders is a "nice wide chest". You can't feed your Pit into being huge or bully but they sure try and the dog suffers.

I was at a show with a good friend of mine, on arriving, myself and a friend got told if we wanted to be placed with our pups, we needed to add weight to them. The judge didn't look at either of our pups more than a dirty glance, and the BOB was an incredibly overweight dog, with, apparently, not an ounce of fat on him, owned by a friend of the judge. I'd rather never win a show, than play by the rules of some of those involved with showing, same goes for any competition. My dogs are what they are, if people don't like them, tough.

That is incredibly wrong. How can they claim not an once of fat I'd be devasted if that happened in my breed. If it ever came down to it I'd drop shows rather than have a fat dog.

I had posted this before, but this is the condition I show her in.

I have fought shy of contributing to this thread as I am conscious of being perhaps as much as a stone (14 lbs. for those of you in the US) overweight myself. Is this permissable at rising 73 years old? I'm not sure, but it does get harder with age and infirmity. I tell my husband, (who is 78 next month), that it is thanks to the dogs that we are as fit as we are.
Eddie's weight increase, (on the same ration), was the first thing that alerted me to his low thyroid problem. He has been on Thyforon for just over a month now, and has dropped a kilo. We give the Beags at least an hour's exercise a day, plus their obedience training sessions. They also do some tracking, and have jumps in the garden. This is only just enough to keep to a healthy weight - so how do those, 'Sunday walk', dogs cope? We certainly never see them out on weekdays.
A Border Collie, (which I probably should not identify), is shaped like a rugby ball. The owners have been warned that the dog should lose weight, and recently told me that they had changed to grain free. Commendable, but the dog also has free access to a dish of Spillers Shapes biscuits! They have now told me that they have changed to Bakers Complete, because it is a better food ................

I'm very lucky in that if I'm not up to going far for walks, the land at the back of where I live is free to roam, so can just walk them out there and let them have a good run around on the hill. And one of my friends helps walk the foxhound, she's hard to keep weight on, mind you, if she helps herself to any food she can find she soon puts it on! She managed to sneak about 1.5kg of suet bird pellets before I cottoned on to what she was doing, the resulting swollen tummy and bottom explosions were quite spectacular, she did look very pleased with herself *sigh*

@Tarimoor So she's not called Guilty for nothing then. Such an appropriate name for a Hound!

Her spoils so far include:

Dog treat tin (managed to get lid off and empty)
Full tub of Yumove
Sugar basin
1 loaf of bread
1 packet of bagels
1 packet chicken noodles
The dog treat tin again, this time lid trashed
Left over kibble from when parents stayed with their dog
Kibble bought in for possible litter with Rhuna, about 5kgs in return visits
Half a tub of suet bird food
Chicken risotto

Yep, her name certainly suits her! She's due to be spayed next week, so hopefully she won't burn off the calories quite so readily, and I can keep some weight on her a bit easier.

Ed is actually quite good (for a Beagle), but I have learned to be careful with Merry, - she nearly got Charles' tuna salad last night. However, she has scored one or two 'hits', and some of my treat tubs now have frilly edges. It's a good job they are soooo pretty.

A stone is hardly anything to worry over. Especially with age, we all age and our bodies experience changes related. There is a big difference between a little extra weight for a dog or human vs obesity. For your age it seems you get around well too. I hope to stay active so I can remain able to keep dogs when I'm your age. It sounds like you are doing great.

Sounds like when my dog ate a bunch of uncooked rice. That didn't go over to well.

I am almost totally inactive but weigh far less than I used to, probably because of the food I eat. Unfortunately the weight - or rather fat - that I do have is in my front, with matchstick arms and legs. But thanks to my wheels [and occasionally my crutches in my little home] I think I am still capable of having a dog - even though teeny meeny monster is rather a nuisance at times.

Before I changed Pereg onto raw I used to keep a lidded bucket half full of the kibble from the main airtight container. The lid of the bucket, when pressed down, sealed it and it had a little tab to unseal it and lift it off.

On day I had not sealed it properly and in trying to get to the kibble Pereg managed to tip the bucket over. The difficulty in trying to sweep it up when sitting on the floor while Pereg was eating as much as she could, was extremely difficult!

We can now add scalding hot pan of chicken broth to Guilty's list of stolen food items. My kitchen floor is absolutely soaking wet through! On a plus point, the carpet has been licked pretty much clean......

Nice picture Bulldogs, I have to admit Callie is a bit heftier than that but you can still see the muscle.

It's easy to judge, I've got problems with mental health, and there are times when I'm almost at a shut down. Although I always do my best to ensure the girls get everything they need, at times, when I'm really bad, the first thing that goes is long walks, and, if I don't cut back their portions, the Labs are prone to sticking weight on, even Rhuna was a bit porky last year when I was really ill. They're all pretty much at their ideal weight now, but sometimes it's not just because the owner is ignorant, sometimes they too need help.

All apologies, I don't want to sound like I'm judging bigger people. The younger woman I was talking about was flaunting every curve...you go girl. And I do know emotions can affect our weight. If I gave up the vodka I'd weigh 110...I probably should...but sometimes we pick our poison. But no, my dogs are in great shape.