A healthy weight for your dog

Making sure your dog is within the right weight range for their breed, age and sex is really important – and can affect their life expectancy, mobility and comfort. Looking after your dog’s weight means that you are feeding a good diet and exercising them regularly – both of which have a knock-on effect on their entire well-being: coat condition, organ health, eyes, teeth, breath and joints. So you can see how using weight as a barometer can improve your dog’s general health overall.

Excess weight can lead to pressure on the joints and conditions such as heart disease, osteoarthritis and cancer. An underweight dog is likely to have a weakened immune system, loss of muscle strength and be deficient in essential vitamins and minerals. Both are dangerous and can be avoided with the right care.

A good place to start is to know the weight range for your dog. You can find out by asking your breeder, vet or researching it online. Be assured that the ideal weight range is a guide and you can also tell by touch and sight. If you can clearly see your dog’s ribs and other bones, he is underweight. Sight and touch also applies to a dog who is visibly fat and has a hidden shape because of an over-large abdomen.

Here’s a quick guide to try at home:

STEP 1: The rib check. Run your fingers along their ribs – can you count them fairly easily? If not, they might be overweight.

STEP 2: The spine check. Can you feel their spine from top to bottom? If not, they might be carrying some excess weight.

STEP 3: The waist check. When you look down from above, can you see a waistline, nipping in slightly? If there is no waist, your pet might be overweight.

You’ll need to weigh your dog to see how he compares with the weight range guide. You can ask our Nutritional Advisers to help as they offer a free weighing service. They can weigh each time they drop off your dog’s food and you can keep a track of it together. Alternatively, if you are registered with your local vet, they will have weighing facilities you can ask to use. Or, you can pick up your dog, get on the bathroom scales, note the weight and subtract your own weight from the total. This is easier if you don’t have a St Bernard!  

Knowing your dog’s weight, and with a goal weight in mind, you can get started. Trophy’s excellent products will provide all the nutrition your dog needs and, with some expert advice on quantity, you can feed the right amount so your dog feels satisfied - without adding additional calories. Conversely we can advise on ranges where you can gently increase the portion size to gradually add weight until your dog is at the right size. To maintain, it’s a question of balancing exercise with food intake until your dog stabilises at the correct weight – just like humans! Don’t rush either increasing or decreasing your dog’s size - as with all dietary changes it must be introduced slowly. By working alongside your Nutritional Adviser you’ll be able to track the results of your efforts and make small adjustments as you go.

Remember to include the calories of any treats in your dog’s diet so you’re not undoing all your hard work unthinkingly! Treats can be healthy too so maybe keep them to a minimum and include some fresh vegetables instead of biscuits every time. A cold carrot to crunch on is great, as are apples (no pips or core), pears, a little banana and green beans.

Other clues to your dog’s health include their energy levels and coat condition – if your dog seems generally healthy, happy and waggy then you may need to simply adjust their exercise levels or the amount of food to see a beneficial difference. Use the services of our Nutritional Advisers as they are experienced in all aspects of canine care and will have some great suggestions in terms of diet and supplements as you seek to improve your dog’s weight and health.

Author: Sandra Herbert