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Killing with Kindness
I saw this article yesterday and just and to write something about it since obese animals are one of my biggest pet peeves. This is a great article and covers a lot of things regarding obesity in pets, so please read it as well. Plus, the site in general has a ton of great articles. Killing With Kindness
About 20 years ago when I graduated from school my very first client had a huge German Shepherd. When I say huge, I mean *huge*. He weighed over 120#. When I’d take him out to train him people were impressed with his size & say “wow, how much does he weigh?”, as if it were a good thing. My response to them was always “thirty pounds more than he should.” He was an impressive looking dog named Magic, you can see his picture on my website at Animal Attraction Unlimited. Almost completely black, plush coat, large head & chest, great looking and scary as well. What I never understood about the people who asked how much he weighed was couldn’t they see he was having trouble walking? Couldn’t they see his back end giving out? The dog was only 6 years old and couldn’t walk 3 blocks without panting heavily and having difficulty. Yet people were impressed by his size? I just don’t get it.
There was also a person in a group dog training class I’ve attended. His first dog was a small sized, Golden Retriever that was at least 20# overweight. The training class was upstairs, which the dog had trouble negotiating. That dog died an early death due to complications from being so heavy. Despite all the comments from the class instructor regarding the dog’s weight the owner just wouldn’t listen. After that dog passed away he got another one. The second is also a smallish Golden Retriever. Within 10 months of owning this dog, she too, was carrying 15+# of extra weight. Some people never learn.
It is so sad to see animals like this. It’s not only dogs either as plenty of cats are heavy as well. And what also confuses me is that when I mention to clients their dog could stand to lose a few pounds they are shocked. Many of them were just at the vet a week before and the doctor didn’t say anything about it. The thing is vets think they will lose clients if they tell someone their pet is fat. But, if the animal stays heavy it will die early and they still lose a client. I don’t understand why they don’t tell people. Maybe they think the person will take it personally & think the doctor is actually talking about them. If someone has an answer for that please enlighten me. One time I took my first pitbull to the vet. She was a new vet at the clinic I go to and when she first saw him she said, “isn’t he a little thin?” Gee, they’ll say when an animal is thin but won’t mention when an animal is fat when being thin is much more healthy than fat? Anyway, my response to her was that no, actually, he is a few pounds heavier than I like and I was planning to take some weight off. She looked at me as if I was nuts and proceeded with the exam. When she finished she apologized to me. She said I was right and that he could stand to lose a pound or two. Then she told me that she is just so used to seeing heavy dogs that he was thin in comparison.
So, how do you know when your pet is fat? The general rule of thumb is to feel their ribs. Standing over your dog, place your thumbs together on their spine with your fingers draped down on either side. With very little pressure in your fingers, run your thumbs up & down their spine. You should be able to feel the bumps of the ribs. Now I don’t mean their ribs should be sticking out and there isn’t any fat or muscle on them at all. What I mean is you should feel the outline. Even if your dog has a heavy coat you will still be able to feel them, so don’t blame their coat if you can’t. In a dog with little coat, like a Doberman, or Rottweiler, I like to be able to see the very last rib. If you can see the outline of the last rib then you don’t need to run your thumbs along their spine. In addition, when looking down at your dog you should see a waist line. There should be an indentation from below the ribs to the hips. And from the side the abdomen should tuck up after the ribcage to in front of the hind legs. If you don’t see or feel these things, chances are high that your pet is overweight. This goes for cats also, except for the side view. Most indoor house cats don’t have an abdomen that tucks up, but everything else is the same.
What do you feed your pet? Don’t just take for granted that what you feed your pet every day is what he should get every day. And no matter what, don’t ever go by what’s on the back of the dog food package. Use that as a general guideline to start with, but then feel your dog each week to see where he is. Dog food manufacturers don’t care if your dog is fat. They also don’t care if you throw food away. Either way, they make more money so they tend to put higher amounts on the label. So, let’s say you usually feed 2 cups of food a day. Don’t just go along merrily feeding him 2 cups a day for the rest of his life. Feel your dog. Every week I feel my dogs to see if they are getting enough food or not and adjust it appropriately. During the Summer they don’t burn as many calories as they do in Winter when they need to stay warm. When it’s hot outside they don’t run around as much on their own, they don’t like the heat any more than we do. Generally my dogs need less food in hot weather, then, when it gets cold I up it a bit. I’ll also add more fat to their diet when it gets colder. If you train your dog with food during the day, or give your dog treats you need to take that into consideration before feeding them. If you only feed once a day in the morning but you know you will be training with food later then don’t give him the full amount. If you feed twice a day or just in the evening, subtract an amount equal to the treats they got during the day. It’s really not that difficult to do.
“But he’s looking at me like he’s hungry” or “I feel guilty when I’m eating and he looks at me *that way*”. My answer to this is, so what? Guess what people, dogs know how to act. They are much more adept at training us and manipulating their environment than we are. They easily learn that adopting a particular facial expression or posture can get us to do a certain thing. If they put a particular look on their face which has worked before to get them food they will do it again. Dogs are scavengers. Most dogs eat whenever there is food available. They’ll eat even if they aren’t hungry just because it’s there (well, okay, that applies to me as well).
I know that many dogs that are used to getting a large amount of food start to steal things when you cut back. I think this happens because they are used to having that full feeling and when you feed them less food they think they need more. When I began taking weight off Magic he did this. He started getting into things looking to fulfill a need. The way I handled it was to feed him vegetables. The vegetables were mainly the frozen mixed kind that I just defrosted & put in his food. They filled up his stomach to give him that feeling, but didn’t add many calories. I’d also add shredded carrots to his food, those really took up a lot of space in his stomach. Shredding carrots seems like a lot of work, but it wasn’t. I just took a little food bucket to the nearest Jamba Juice, or smoothie place, and asked them to place it under the shoot of their carrot juicer. I’d return an hour or two later & have enough carrot shavings to last a week. They throw that pulp out anyway so they were happy to give it to me.
When you have a pet their health is your responsibility. Health doesn’t stop at feeding them and giving them water. They need exercise, they need to not eat junk food, which many of the dog foods out there are, and sometimes they need to be deprived of things they think they should have. That is all part of being a great pet parent. As the other article states, there are many forms of animal abuse and cruelty. Making your pet obese is both cruel and abusive. Please, feed your pet wisely.
Here is an article that talks about some of the physical causes of obesity and how to determine if your pet has one of these diseases.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
It makes me so sad that people let their dogs stay overweight. My own mom’s dog is at least 30% overweight, she’s a toy dog so it’s easy to overfeed and I have been telling her over and again that she needs exercise. It’s hard to get across the severity of the situation..
August 11th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
So Lola apparently is just right. People always say to me when they first meet her, “wow she is so thin!” and i say – “no, she’s what she SHOULD be… most dogs are just overweight.” my vet posts on Lola’s receipt/health guide thing after every visit whether she is “thin”, “normal” or “overweight” – and she’s always been “normal” – but i guess they don’t ever really TELL me that. so maybe they’re telling clients by the paperwork, and the people aren’t looking that the doctor selected “overweight” or are just ignoring it/don’t care. i think obesity in animals is every bit neglect as underfed animals
August 11th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
You are right Marla, Lola looks great and it’s so important to keep her that way. I find it interesting that your vet has it marked on a sheet of paper but doesn’t talk to you about it. I’d be curious to know if she were heavy if he’d say something about it or just mark the paper & hope you see it? Keep up the great work with her.
Laura
August 11th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for chiming in on this. It is such an important topic that people don’t seem to understand. Yes, a toy breed can be difficult to keep at a good weight. The tiny amount of food they need just doesn’t seem like enough to some people. The people though, don’t seem to take into consideration how tiny the dog’s stomach is though. It’s so easy to over feed. If your mom is someone who gives her dog a lot of treats try talking her into giving carrot chips instead. Or my mom’s dog loves the frozen veggies still frozen. Don’t give too much corn though, a lot of starch & sugar. Keep on her about it. Her tiny dog could live to be 16-18 years old, or she could lose her much earlier just from being heavy. Thirty percent is a huge amount on any dog, let along a tiny dog.
Laura
August 13th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Very informative article. When I first became a pet owner I was completely unaware of how a properly weighted dog should look. My rolly-polly puppies turned into rolly-polly adults because I did not portion the food for them. I always kept the food bowls filled. Big mistake! Both of my dogs (golden retriever and yellow lab) were easily 20 pounds overweight, but I never really saw it. It wasn’t until I had 2 friends enrolled in the Animal Training program at Moorpark laugh at how big they were, that I realized I had not been doing my dogs justice. More food does not equal more love, no matter the sad puppy faces you get. My friends showed me (just as your article does) how to tell if they were properly weighted. My boys were “sausage dogs” with no waist at all. It takes effort but is well worth the extra time you can spend with them…and of course they become more playful and energetic without the extra pounds.
August 13th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Great advice. I’m forwarding this article to all my friends. We focus so much time and attention on the problem of childhood obesity, yet no one bats an eye when they see a chubby dog waddling down the street. I love how Laura explained that as “pet parents” we are responsible for our dogs health by keeping them fit and trim so we can give them the comfortable lives they deserve. Thank you Laura.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Great points Laura. I also feel that the propensity to feed our animals more than they really need is somehow connected in a very base way to the rising obesity in our country. In a society where more is better than quality and that true exercise is to be hinted at rather than actually done, we and our pets consume less healthy food that our bodies are really not suited to eat. If I am honest with myself, I would have to say that I sometimes overfeed my pets too, but it comes more from wanting to be a good “dad” and less from my thinking they are somehow not getting enough nurishment. Your article here has me wanting to rethink my approach to making a more concerted effort to evaluate their health, which up until now has been kind of on auto pilot. Thanks!
August 13th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I completely agree Cliff. Being heavy in this Country is becoming a way of life, so if people overfeed themselves they will also be more likely to overfeed their pets. And if they don’t exercise they are also less likely to make sre their pets get exercise. On the opposite side though, I find it much easier to deprive my pets of food that bad for them than I do myself. What does that mean?
August 13th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
You are welcome Nancy. You are right that childhood obesity has been in the news a lot lately, but it seems to me that the right people, meaning the parents, don’t want to do anything about it if the number of people at McD’s & other fast food places are any indication. Then we have all the video games that are “like” sports, but not really sports. The Wii stuff for instance. It’s fun, but does it really compare to getting outside & riding a bike, climbing a tree or playing some ball? I don’t think so.
Thank you so much for reading my blog and taking the time to make a comment. It’s nice to know I’m not just rambling to myself
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August 13th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Hi Sheri,
Yes, they do act more their age when you take the weight off. I had a client with a lab who was overweight and they just couldn’t seem to take the weight off, I think because they couldn’t visualize what she was supposed to look like. I took her for a month or so & they were amazed when she came home. They were able to see the difference in both her shape & her attitude. She was acting like the 3 yr. old dog she was. My gray area though is older dogs. Most dogs lose weight & get pretty thin as they get older and lose muscle. But then if they get sick, even an upset stomach for a few days, they don’t have any extra to pull from. So I have to admit that I’m in a little quandary over that. If you add just a pound or two extra for that emergency, you are also adding more weight for their back ends to carry around. It’s a tough to win situation and a judgment call. But, we can only do the best we can.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Thanks for your article on pet obesity. I have a question, but I will need to give you some history. So, I apologize for the length of this in advance. But hopefully there will be some nuggets that others can relate to. I have a 4 year old female yellow lab who I have (until now) managed to keep at a healthy weight. People were always commenting that she was such a “petite” lab. She wasn’t really petite, she weighed 60 pounds. But this was a good weight for her. She ran like the wind, and was full of energy. Last year she started showing signs of lameness, which quickly progressed to not being able to walk, sit, or get up without pain. After many tests, x-rays, and a visit to an orthopedic specialist, she was diagnosed with idiopathic immune mediated poly arthritis. She has been on prednisone and various supplements for 9 months now, and will be on a low maintenance dose of pred possibly indefinitely. We won’t argue the pros and cons of prednisone here, but in the first 3 months she gained 5 lbs as we experimented with diets, and because she couldn’t exercise. I admit I overfed her (I assume I over fed her since she gained weight), but it was hard to tell how much to feed her since she was acting so hungry. She’s ravenous, and a whole host of related behavior problems have emerged. Despite being an otherwise well trained dog, she now counter surfs, begs, steals food, pushes through doors, etc. and most recently has started raiding the cat box! No more kisses for Me!! She is so motivated to do it she manages to jump the 3ft high gate I erected to block off the room. She’s on a high quality diet recommend by a holistic vet. But the amount I’m giving to keep her at her current weight of 63 lbs, seems like so little food, especially since she always seems so hungry. She only gets 1 cup kibble (no grains) in the morning, and ½ cup dehydrated (honest kitchen) and ½ can wet in the evening. So, finally, here’s the question. I’d like her to slim down about 3-5 lbs since any extra weight will aggrevate her lameness. But she’s already so frantic about food, and I worry that if I further reduce the amount of food, she might not get enough nutrition, and her behavior problems will get worse. I would really appreciate your words of wisdom!!
August 16th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Hello Yvonne,
Thanks for your comments and questions. I’m terribly sorry to hear about your dog’s issues, especially at such a young age. What I know about Immune Mediated Arthritis is there are 2 kinds. You say her’s is the idiopathic kind, which leads me to believe they tested for the secondary or systemic type, which affects the larger joints in the body. Also, it’s cause is an infectious disease like lyme, ehrlichia, a bacterial, fungal or viral infection. If these have not been ruled out that is where I would begin. If there is an underlying issue which is still present then all the pred in the World won’t help in the long run. Some vets also treat with a drug called azathioprine, or Imuran, in addition to steriods.
In general, steroids are very bad for long term because they suppress the immune system. However, sometimes we have no choice in order to make our pets comfortable. The good thing is that the disease your dog has is treatable and has a good chance of making a full recovery, though it may take a while. But double check about ruling out any underlying diseases.
Now, to keep her weight down and stop the counter surfing. As you know, one of the side effects of steroids is increased appetite & water intake. Also, steroids in general make you become more bloated even if you don’t eat more. I like the Honest Kitchen stuff, as well as the grain free breakfast you are feeding her. When I feed H.K. food I add more water to it than it says. You can try that so the food is more filling but it’s only water. The 1/2 c. should come out to over 1 cup of food. I’d also make sure the canned food you are feeding is grain free, and maybe feed that either as a lunch or snack just before bedtime to spread out the food more. As for the counter surfing, that’s going to be a management issue until this is resolved. If she gets anything off the counter in the meantime she may continue the behavior even after the is stopped. If you have a pool that would be great low impact exercise for her. No pressure on her joints but she’s burning calories. You can also add veggies to her food but stay away from stuff with too much starch or sugar like corn, yams, potato, beets & carrots. Shredded zucchini is good for taking up space, or low sodium canned green beans, but rinse them a few times to get extra sodium off of them.
I hope this helps. I feel for you & your girl.
Laura
August 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am
We’ve had our standard poodle for almost 8 years and it has been a constant battle to keep his weight under control. He will eat anything! (money, leather, aluminum foil). When we first got him (he was one year old) we were feeding him what the dog food manufacturer suggested and he gained 5 lbs. in the first month. We cut way back and he acted like he was starving. Luckily we know an animal trainer who also suggested the vegetables and boy did they help. Max now gets 1/2 cup of kibble twice a day (we found two small feedings worked better than one large) along with a hefty amount of mixed frozen vegetables and other treats (kibble, jerky, doggy cookies) for training and play throughout the day.
Love your site – terrific information. Thanks
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:26 am
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September 20th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Very very good article. I am amazed at the “humanization” of over eating in some of the dogs that I train. I often have to tell my clients that dog obesity is a “people” problem not a dog problem. Far too often I find that the people that over feed their dogs use food as comfort and pass that trait on to their dogs. Thanks for the article.
September 20th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Hi Cindy,
Thank you. Obesity in pets is a big issue, no pun intended. Even bringing it up to clients we need to be careful, which is the reason many vets don’t tell their clients the pet is heavy. Instead they either have a chart hanging on the wall showing what to look for in a heavy pet and hope the person looks at it. Or they have a check box on the info sheet that goes home with the pet stating if they are at the correct weight. No one reads those! But “dog-forbid” they should tell people to their face about this all too important aspect of their pet’s health for fear the person might take it personally and leave for another vet.
September 20th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Thank you! Sorry for the delay in responding. I greatly appreciate your comments. Please keep reading
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February 3rd, 2010 at 10:13 am
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February 16th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Thank you Lawrence! And yes, I got the pun
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