A weight discussion: how far is too far?

[Renee750il]

Shiva always worried me so. Charley was OBSESSED with having the biggest dog, but Shiva was much lighter boned and structurally smaller than Kharma, so he kept her fat -- to the point of rolls above her tail -- so that he could say she was bigger (weighed more) than Kharma. At 6 she was already having some joint problems, although it's hard to know how much of that was actual joints and how much of it was the cancer already working on her.

 

[MandyPug]

Edit: Another interesting thing is that around here, I rarely see overweight dogs. Maybe some certain breeds like pugs, or Frenchies but in general, people keep their dogs very thin. Even breeds like labs or Cattle dogs which are usually shown to be tubby or outright fat on TV/calendars,are in awesome shape, you can see the last 3 ribs and they're very muscular. So maybe it's not that popular to overfeed dogs here (in Vancouver/BC).

The exercise/healthy culture is bigger out there i think, good temps all year and beautiful places to walk and explore. Plus it seems more dog friendly out your way.

Out here most dogs are overweight, i get told i'm starving izzie and she doesn't even look that thin.

 

[stardogs]

I was just thinking about this and I think I can summarize my feelings on the topic of conditioning by saying this: I will never be a body builder no matter how hard I try and I, personally, think body builders are meh; give me a nice runners build (for myself or for eye candy ) and I'm happy! Same applies to my dogs!

VS.

 

[Laurelin]

I was just thinking about this and I think I can summarize my feelings on the topic of conditioning by saying this: I will never be a body builder no matter how hard I try and I, personally, think body builders are meh; give me a nice runners build (for myself or for eye candy ) and I'm happy! Same applies to my dogs!

VS.

I agree completely. the breeds I tend to have anyways are not going to gain that muscle mass, if they get muscle, it's going to be lean.

 

[Renee750il]

That's why there are so many different types and breeds

I've always found distance runner type physiques somewhat . . . well, they totally turn me off.

 

[skittledoo]

Here's Bamm shortly after I got him. He was skinnier than this when I brought him home, but this pic was taken after he had gained a little bit. Still too skinny for him IMO.

And Bamm now. His fur hides a lot and makes him look chubbier than he is. He is more in the normal range though I'd like to tone his muscles a bit since he is slightly chubbier than I would like him to be.

Cricket is about where I want her weigh wise, but I really want to work on her building a little more muscle tone. She's lean, but doesn't have hardly any noticeable muscle definition and I'd like her tuckup to be a little more defined.

 

[PWCorgi]

Yuuuuum.

Seriously, nothing is sexier than a cyclist (very similar to the above figure) with tattoos. *drool*

Anywhoooo, back on topic

 

[Renee750il]

Love the sweatshirt, BTW

 

[stardogs]

Hehe PW he's an Australian triathlete who won Kona in 2009 iirc. And yes, never hurts to have some human eye candy in a thread I figure.

 

[CharlieDog]

I tend to like runners/bikers more than weight lifter types as well. It's all personal preference, especially in keeping dogs, and as long as the dogs are happy healthy and not stressed, it's up to you.

I keep Enzo on the thin side. She's a Lab, so I've gotten used to comments about her being emaciated, too skinny, don't I FEED my dog for christs sake?! and I just ignore it. When Enzo is zooming laps and butt tucking around the park, and their dogs are laying around because they're too fat, I feel like, I'll probably get to enjoy my dog for far longer than they will, and that's what matters to me.

Ozzy is kept in the normal range. I can only see his last few ribs if he's flat out, but he's got some serious thigh and chest muscles. I should probably keep him a bit leaner, but he seems to feel the cold in the winter when he goes swimming, so I let him gain about half a pound to a pound or so. I don't worry about it, because when summer hits, he goes back to being ripped with playing flyball and disc dog stuff at home.

I haven't had Knox long enough to really get a feel for how he'll do with weight and conditioning, but he's a GSD, and his coat hides EVERYTHING. You can see his ribs because he's a sable, but when I got him he was a hair too fat, and he was a bit flabby. He was at a good weight, but he had no conditioning at all, he couldn't keep up with the other dogs, he got tired really easily. Now, he can run around for much longer, and he's actually building some really rock solid chest/shoulder and thigh muscles.

 

[CharlieDog]

And I forgot, Enzo is a TERRIBLY HARD keeper. She can eat four cups a day plus a can of wet and not gain weight. It's ridiculous. I have actually enforced restricted exercise because she was just NOT gaining weight. She really was too thin there for a minute. I don't like to see hip bones jutting out, and her muscles were not where they normally are. I started keeping a coat on her outside, dewormed her for everything in the book, although all fecals and blood tests came back negative for parasites, upped her wet food intake, and restricted her time at daycare, and she's put the weight back on, and is building muscle back.

Ozzy, on the other hand, is really really super easy to add weight to. He's one of those dogs you can look at for the day, say "hey blue dude, you're looking a little sausage like today, how about you get a cup less" and then after a few days, he's back to normal. Plus, my mom likes to share her dinner with him, a little bit too often.

It's really an individual dog thing. If I shaved Enzo down, she could probably look like some of these APBTs that have been posted Her fur is just a bit too long to showcase her physique.

 

[PWCorgi]

And I forgot, Enzo is a TERRIBLY HARD keeper. She can eat four cups a day plus a can of wet and not gain weight. It's ridiculous. I have actually enforced restricted exercise because she was just NOT gaining weight. She really was too thin there for a minute. I don't like to see hip bones jutting out, and her muscles were not where they normally are. I started keeping a coat on her outside, dewormed her for everything in the book, although all fecals and blood tests came back negative for parasites, upped her wet food intake, and restricted her time at daycare, and she's put the weight back on, and is building muscle back.

Canine Caviar Beaver cans are the sh!t for putting weight on dogs. It is literally just calories in a can.

 

[Bahamutt99]

A lot of cardio will give you a lean (often "flat") dog, where resistance will give you a thicker muscle. But those things are still genetically influenced. My dogs will never have the bulk that an American Bully has, and an AmBully will never be able to lean out the way my dogs can.

Terra was getting a lot of cardio here. She was lean, but she didn't have any "pop" at all.

And here she is far into a weight pull program. This is as lumpy as you will ever see her. I frankly think it looks really good on her, and in the future will incorporate a lot more weight into conditioning programs. If she was just a touch lighter, she would be spot-on, IMO.

With regard to genetics, here's my old dog Priest (RIP). He's bred differently than Terra, so there's no disguising the fact that he has a bulkier muscle. And being male was a factor, too. He conditioned like a dream, but he just didn't have the long, lean muscle type.

 

[kady05]

A lot of cardio will give you a lean (often "flat") dog, where resistance will give you a thicker muscle. But those things are still genetically influenced. My dogs will never have the bulk that an American Bully has, and an AmBully will never be able to lean out the way my dogs can.

That's how my dogs are.. mostly lean muscle. We go to the park (well, not as much currently since it's cold) 4-5 times a week and go 3-4 miles each time, and they're running 75% of that time. I've never done any other type of conditioning with them.. I'm sure Wilson would look really nice if I did! Piper is just naturally muscular, and all the running makes her look really nice. Sako's still a pup, no telling what he's going to end up like when he's finally done maturing.

 

[Sweet72947]

I think my opinion would echo most here, I like to see a rib or two (perhaps three, it depends on the dog's structure), and depending on the way the dog is build you may see a little spine, but I do not like seeing hip bones. However if the dog is healthy-looking and well-muscled I will assume he is well-cared for, whether I see hip bones or not.

I don't have a recent pic of Daisy to the side, but this is a pic of her from last summer, and she was tubby. She is a bit leaner now, but could lose a few more lbs.

This is a pic of Daisy when she was younger, and I liked her weight in these pics. She doesn't have much of a tuck-up, she's built a bit stocky, but I think she looks good in these pics. Her ideal weight is 75lbs.

Benji would often look fat because of his coat, like in this pic:

But make him nekkid and you could see that he was at a good weight. He was always well muscled. Benji's weight was very easy to maintain as he knew what "not hungry" was, unlike Daisy the canine garbage disposal.

And Rocky, well, you can't tell because of the thin layer of terrier hair, but he is all bones and muscle. Get your hands on him and you can feel every bone in his body. We'd like him to gain more, but he never does. I think a lot of that is because he's still young and he's quite active.

 

[Xandra]

Edit: Another interesting thing is that around here, I rarely see overweight dogs. Maybe some certain breeds like pugs, or Frenchies but in general, people keep their dogs very thin. Even breeds like labs or Cattle dogs which are usually shown to be tubby or outright fat on TV/calendars,are in awesome shape, you can see the last 3 ribs and they're very muscular. So maybe it's not that popular to overfeed dogs here (in Vancouver/BC).

Yup I made the same observation! (though I wouldn't say very thin) Most people here are in pretty good shape too, perhaps the value of being fit has crossed over to dog-keeping.

 

[Dekka]

I am going to have to disagree with that. There is a big difference between an extra 5, 10, or even 15lbs or more of fat hanging off of a dog, around their mid section, and a lean dog with muscle encased joints.


Sniper (jrt)

Well it depends, there is also lots of science that shows animals being kept, or humans being kept at thin very muscled states is unhealthy. This is why human athletes, race horses etc have periods where they are 'let down' and not kept in such extreme condition.

See to me while I don't think Sniper looks unhealthy per se, I wouldn't be comfortable keeping a dog that thin. Simply due to the fact the dog has no extra buffer. As BB pointed out, a dog who is that thin can go from fine to on deaths door if they get sick as there are no reserves from which to draw. I think that weight would be fine if you were building up to a big race or something, but not to stay at for long periods of time.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

Honestly I have trouble seeing that as a healthy, all-the-time weight. It's very easy to get too thin.

Like there have been posts of these same dogs that made me think, those are too thin for my taste.

However, there have been other posts where the dogs look thicker and healthier.

I, personally, have no desire to keep my dogs so lean that if I miss a meal here and there, or they god-forbid contract a gastro-illness, they will get too boney over night. It's too easy to fluxate when you run the dogs close to that line and often, like Dekka said, believed to be unhealthy to remain that lean (supposedly it is stressful for the body).

I prefer a bit of weight, but like I said, it's a good thing not all dogs are owned by the same person, there are many ways to own them and no singular way is perfect and without issue.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Yup I made the same observation! (though I wouldn't say very thin) Most people here are in pretty good shape too, perhaps the value of being fit has crossed over to dog-keeping.

Erm, sorry I meant thin in a healthy way. Not emaciated but really fit with low body fat. Not too thin but in really good shape, actually close to working condition in a lot of breeds. Especially since I was in whistler just 2 days ago and the dogs there are in tip top shape!

 

[Doberluv]

I like to feel their ribs, but not see them...unless they're running and turning and the sun is shining at the right angle to make a glint off perhaps a rib or two. But no...I don't like seeing dogs where you can count every rib.