Overweight?
- Thread starter BOO'S-DAD
- Start date
Hello! Welcome to the forums. It depends on the dogs build. you can not go simply by weight and height on shelties. They all vary some are very athletic and muscular, some are thicker boned. If you can feel you dogs ribs and they have a slight indent in the waist area they are a perfect weight. If you can feel their ribs but no indent than I would say they are still good maybe stand to loose a pound or two...cant feel their ribs...they need a diet
My sheltie Baxter is 18.5 inches tall and weighs 36#. He is at his proper weight after almost a year of dieting.
It's hard to tell without seeing the dog if it's overweight. At 18in tall though I wouldn't say he's a great deal overweight although that depends on his build and bone structure. Can you feel his ribs by lightly running your hands over them? Does he have a well defined tummy tuck underneath in front of his back legs? Is there a definite waist line if you look at him from above although this can be hard to see if you sheltie has a very full coat. If you feel or see all of these can he's probably not overweight. He's just a very large sheltie as is my Baxter.
1/2 cup of food is not very much for a sheltie of his size. If he is overweight and can't lose weight on that amount try a food with a lower fat content and if you haven't done so yet you might want to have his thyroid checked. thyroid problems can be common in shelties.
It's hard to tell without seeing the dog if it's overweight. At 18in tall though I wouldn't say he's a great deal overweight although that depends on his build and bone structure. Can you feel his ribs by lightly running your hands over them? Does he have a well defined tummy tuck underneath in front of his back legs? Is there a definite waist line if you look at him from above although this can be hard to see if you sheltie has a very full coat. If you feel or see all of these can he's probably not overweight. He's just a very large sheltie as is my Baxter.
1/2 cup of food is not very much for a sheltie of his size. If he is overweight and can't lose weight on that amount try a food with a lower fat content and if you haven't done so yet you might want to have his thyroid checked. thyroid problems can be common in shelties.
Caro
Moderator
Shelties dont really need a lot of food. But dry food is calorie packed. If you want to give him as much to eat I would look at very low calorie options. Veggies are great - mine get a lot of vegies, mainly pumpkin or cooked frozen vegs. Many dogs will eat vegies raw (mine dont unfortunately). You can also try replacing a whole meal with a bone to chew on. I often do this with mine when its hot, they get a small bone to chew on for breakfast so only get one meal a day. Also try lite canned food - more bulk for less calories, although it is more expensive.
Treats can also add a lot to a dog's diet. Many treats are high calorie - high in fat or sugar content to make them more desirable. Switch to using his daily kibble allowance for treats or try veggies as treats.
And I agree - get his thyroid checked.
Treats can also add a lot to a dog's diet. Many treats are high calorie - high in fat or sugar content to make them more desirable. Switch to using his daily kibble allowance for treats or try veggies as treats.
And I agree - get his thyroid checked.
Overwieght
I have had his thyroid checked and they say it's fine. I feed him Natural Balance reduced calorie food which says it has only 6% fat. At a light touch, "no" I cannot feel his ribs...so I know he is some overweight, I just don't know how to get him to loss. I walk him everyday(2miles), I don't want anything to happen to him because he continues to gain weight. How much per day do you feed yours & what food...PLEASE, help.
I have had his thyroid checked and they say it's fine. I feed him Natural Balance reduced calorie food which says it has only 6% fat. At a light touch, "no" I cannot feel his ribs...so I know he is some overweight, I just don't know how to get him to loss. I walk him everyday(2miles), I don't want anything to happen to him because he continues to gain weight. How much per day do you feed yours & what food...PLEASE, help.
I feed my 16" boy as much as he wants, because he is so active he burns it all off.
I feed my 15" girl 1 cup a day, same with my 14 1/2" boy.
I fed my 15 1/2" boy 1/2 cup a day, and he was healthy on that. Any more (even with exercise) he put on weight.
I feed Diamond Naturals, and supplement with Nupro.
Caro
Moderator
Mine get 1/8 -1/4 cup of kibble in the morning (or a bone) and I cook dinner, but if I dont cook they get 1/2 small can of Nutro. Its probably less than half the recommended daily amount, but they do get treats when we train (3x a week). Both my 16+" in male and 13" female get the same, and they are both very active. My male puts on weight very easily though. You really do need to look at what you are feeding between meals - even rawhide has calories (about 4cal/gram for the low fat variety)
dawns2shelties
Forums Sage
You may want to test for Cushings disease. That's our next step with my girl Gypsy since her recent T5 test came back normal, I understand how worried you are since I am currently going through the same thing. Gypsy also had a luxating patella that needed surgery shortly before her first birthday so I really worry about the weight gain causing her pain etc. By the way Gypsy is 3 and although most info says Cushings occurs in older dogs I read it usually isn't diagnosed until later because that's when the more serious symptoms start occurring. I'll be posting updates as I find out more if you want to keep a look out for them or you can IM me if you have some questions.
I thank you all so very much for the suggestions. I will check at the Vet for this cushing thing, and I am going to try meat and vegetables instead of kibble. Dawn, I would like to talk with you but I don't know how to do this IM thing...I do have questions.
Thank you all very much,
David:
Thank you all very much,
David:
Silaria
Forums Sage
My male is 14.5 inches and 18 pounds but he's not overweight, you can feel his ribs and he has a waist. He gets 3/4 cup of food a day PLUS treats (which is why he only gets 3/4 cup of food).
*Caro is right on when she said, 'You really do need to look at what you are feeding between meals'. It is so easy to overlook the Milkbone here, rawhide there, and this scrap from the table because you're cute. It's easy to overlook because we overlook these things for our OWN diets.
I'm not saying you do feed him a large number of treats. Just suggesting you be aware of the treats he gets. If you do any training, make sure to give him less food on those days to compensate for any treat rewards.
*Caro is right on when she said, 'You really do need to look at what you are feeding between meals'. It is so easy to overlook the Milkbone here, rawhide there, and this scrap from the table because you're cute. It's easy to overlook because we overlook these things for our OWN diets.
I'm not saying you do feed him a large number of treats. Just suggesting you be aware of the treats he gets. If you do any training, make sure to give him less food on those days to compensate for any treat rewards.