Are they over weight?

[sgtfrog]

Millie is now 7.5 months old ( I'm not 100% sure how tall she is since i cant accurately measure her But my rough measurement is 17 inches maybe more) and she weighs about 15kg ( 33 pounds) more or less. and she is LEAN and I think underweight. I can feel all her ribs and pelvis. She's still a growing girl!

We free feed Millie. As in, we keep her food bowl full all the time. As soon as its getting low we just put more food in there. We have no clue how much food she eats. Shes not a pig and she controls her self well. My guess is that she eats well over a cup a day... We also give her lots of treats, teeth cleaning treats and things like that. She's also not very active compared to other dogs on this forum. spends most of the day sleeping. I only take her out for a walk once a day for 20-min-60 mins. I play with her in the house a bit throwing a ball or playing a tug here and there.

Wow.. reading this post, I'm shocked at how little food/kibble you give your dogs... 1/4 cup.. 1/2 cups a day.... =). But this is our first sheltie.. We dont know what were doing . OUr vet is the one that suggested we free feed Millie and its working great so far. No weight issue , dog is happy and well taken care of.

 

[Justicemom]

I can feel all her ribs and pelvis. She's still a growing girl!

.

You should be able to feel your dogs ribs, sternum, backbone and pelvis as wel as see a slight hourglass shape(smooth down the fur). You have to check all these areas because different dogs carry weight in different areas. I have seen dogs who I can see ribs when they turn who are very overweight because they are carying all they weight in their chest or back.

I explain it like this. Hold your hand out flat, palm down and feel your knuckles that is what the bones on your dog should feel like. Now ball your hand up and feel your knuckles that is a dog too thin. Now open your hand back up, flip it over and feel your palm right right below your fingers that is an overweight dog.

Better to keep growing puppies slightly on the lean side.

 

[sgtfrog]

You should be able to feel your dogs ribs, sternum, backbone and pelvis as wel as see a slight hourglass shape(smooth down the fur). You have to check all these areas because different dogs carry weight in different areas. I have seen dogs who I can see ribs when they turn who are very overweight because they are carying all they weight in their chest or back.

I explain it like this. Hold your hand out flat, palm down and feel your knuckles that is what the bones on your dog should feel like. Now ball your hand up and feel your knuckles that is a dog too thin. Now open your hand back up, flip it over and feel your palm right right below your fingers that is an overweight dog.

Better to keep growing puppies slightly on the lean side.

Yeah, That's exactly how millie is. On the lean side for a puppy same feeling you explained with the palm down hand open knuckle feeling. So shes a healthy weight however i still feel like she could gain a few more lbs =).

The vet told us if we free feed her ( which he recommends) she would be slightly fatter than a dog with a controlled feeding time however, this hasn't happened. We've free fed her since she was a 3 month old puppy ( when we brought her home) and She's always been good at controlling her eating. Pretty much only eats what she needs and never over does it. Hopefully this keeps up over the years. If she ever does start getting fatter we'll start controlling her food/feeding times.

 

[Justicemom]

Yeah, That's exactly how millie is. On the lean side for a puppy same feeling you explained with the palm down hand open knuckle feeling. So shes a healthy weight however i still feel like she could gain a few more lbs =).

Most owners feel the same way. Resist the urge, most dogs are overweight.

 

[SheepOfBlue]

Oh and Trasper you will have no chance of keeping up with my brother unless you shed pounds.... for a runt he is fast.

Signed
Sca

 

[mbfrench]

Millie is now 7.5 months old ( I'm not 100% sure how tall she is since i cant accurately measure her But my rough measurement is 17 inches maybe more) and she weighs about 15kg ( 33 pounds) more or less. and she is LEAN and I think underweight. I can feel all her ribs and pelvis. She's still a growing girl!

We free feed Millie. As in, we keep her food bowl full all the time. As soon as its getting low we just put more food in there. We have no clue how much food she eats. Shes not a pig and she controls her self well. My guess is that she eats well over a cup a day... We also give her lots of treats, teeth cleaning treats and things like that. She's also not very active compared to other dogs on this forum. spends most of the day sleeping. I only take her out for a walk once a day for 20-min-60 mins. I play with her in the house a bit throwing a ball or playing a tug here and there.

Wow.. reading this post, I'm shocked at how little food/kibble you give your dogs... 1/4 cup.. 1/2 cups a day.... =). But this is our first sheltie.. We dont know what were doing . OUr vet is the one that suggested we free feed Millie and its working great so far. No weight issue , dog is happy and well taken care of.

I think you could be just lucky. Free feeding any of our dogs it would spell disaster. Earnhardt would even lick the bag if we left him with dog food there for him. your dog is still very young,there is time yet for appetite issues to come about.Especially when they are going thru hormonal changes. I saw it with both of the boys. Jasper would inhale food,Trapp went totally off his food.GRRR.... Then they were neutered,and that was a fix for sure.Problem solved.

And I have to say,I am truely embarrassed that these boys have got so out of wack on their weight. Shame on me really. They maintained such a good weight on TOTW,I never had issues.
But since the recall,and my added work load since our store opened,I have become lax & I do really believe that Brian is the biggest of all to blame.

Like for instance..on the measure cup where it specifically has a line for 1c...he will fill that container to the rim. WELL...that is like adding another whole 1/2 cup to the ration of food. So I know he does not look at those lines on the cup. I say a 1/2 cup for the boys 2x a day...well in actuality they were getting 1-1/2c and possibly more..DUH!

So I had my rant with Brian. He knows I am serious about this problem,and if need be I will measure food until these boys get back in check with thier weight,as the same with Mia. It's inexcusable as far as I am concerned. I ranted with him,because he is the one that feeds them 95% of the time.

 

[mbfrench]

Oh and Trasper you will have no chance of keeping up with my brother unless you shed pounds.... for a runt he is fast.

Signed
Sca

But they have Earnhardt as thier arsenal! And hes got some "git up & go"! I have faith that by the time of the gathering,they will have lost weight,I will see to it,as I am on a mission!

 

[sgtfrog]

I think you could be just lucky. Free feeding any of our dogs it would spell disaster. Earnhardt would even lick the bag if we left him with dog food there for him. your dog is still very young,there is time yet for appetite issues to come about.Especially when they are going thru hormonal changes.

Yeah we Might be lucky! We'll see how it goes but so far free feeding is working GREAT for the last 4+ months.

The reason we started free feeding her shortly after bringing her home the first time ( maybe after a few weeks) is because when we were controlling her food she would RAVAGE her bowl every time and was ALWAYS hungry and begging for food. She would go nuts at the sound of the food bag. + she was slightly aggressive when food was around. Our vet suggested to free feed her ( something he does with his dogs) and to always keep her bowl full all the time and warned us she might ( might not) be a bit heavier than a dog thats eating controlled portions. Ever since we started free feeding her she's realized food is always there , she doesn't beg for food , she doesn't go nuts or ravages food when it's around , she eats when she wants. It's been working great and I'm definitely going to do free feeding with my next dog.

That said, I wouldn't free feed a beagle or Labrador retriever hahah. My last dog was a beagle and he would eat anything in front of him. I guess we're lucky that millie seems to be able to not over eat and to keep her weight steady!

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I think you could be just lucky. Free feeding any of our dogs it would spell disaster. Earnhardt would even lick the bag if we left him with dog food there for him. your dog is still very young,there is time yet for appetite issues to come about.Especially when they are going thru hormonal changes. I saw it with both of the boys. Jasper would inhale food,Trapp went totally off his food.GRRR.... Then they were neutered,and that was a fix for sure.Problem solved.

And I have to say,I am truely embarrassed that these boys have got so out of wack on their weight. Shame on me really. They maintained such a good weight on TOTW,I never had issues.
But since the recall,and my added work load since our store opened,I have become lax & I do really believe that Brian is the biggest of all to blame.

Like for instance..on the measure cup where it specifically has a line for 1c...he will fill that container to the rim. WELL...that is like adding another whole 1/2 cup to the ration of food. So I know he does not look at those lines on the cup. I say a 1/2 cup for the boys 2x a day...well in actuality they were getting 1-1/2c and possibly more..DUH!

So I had my rant with Brian. He knows I am serious about this problem,and if need be I will measure food until these boys get back in check with thier weight,as the same with Mia. It's inexcusable as far as I am concerned. I ranted with him,because he is the one that feeds them 95% of the time.

Try not to be too hard on yourselves, these things happen some times.

 

[Emmasmom]

Michele, sorry you are having issues with the weight problem. I know I am with Emma. I use a dry measuring cup instead of a weight mesuring cup - the 1/3 cup size or the 1/4 cup size. This is easier if Dad has to feed, then he doesn't have to remember what to feed. I just leave the appropriate one in the bag.