<p>Good morning, I am hoping somebody on this forum has some expertise in the area of dog weight. We have two dogs, 11 yr old small Beagle and almost 2 yr old Corgi mix. They both eat a grain-free, human grade diet and are feed by calories for ideal weight. The Beagle is of normal weight, despite stealing the puppy’s food every chance she gets. I thought the puppy was a good weight also, based on visual inspection and her closely monitored diet. So, we went to the vet yesterday and she wants my puppy to drop 7 pounds, from 47 to 40 lbs. She says that with her short Corgi legs, she needs to be lighter. The thing is, she is not fat, she is very thick bodied, with well defined muscles. I asked the vet what she was basing the 40 lbs on and she just said it was better for her to be lighter because of her long back and short legs. My question is this, since she is a mutt and we don’t know what she is mixed with besides Corgi, is there any way to determine ideal weight based on body measurements and bone density. I have searched the web and haven’t found an answer. By the way, she is much bigger than a Corgi. She is very thick and I strongly suspect that she has Bulldog in her. She does the classic Bulldog stance, which looks pretty funny with her long body.</p>
<p>It’s not that I don’t trust my vet’s judgement, I just would like some confirmation of what her ideal weight should be. Also, everybody that I know that goes to my vet has an
overweight dog. They are pushing a weight loss prescription dog food that they sell. So,
any breeders or vet techs out there that can help? Thanks!</p>
<p>I have a dachschund. I hear the same thing about his weight, short legs and long body. I don’t believe having short legs makes any diffence. Are they saying if they just had long legs, they could support more weight? I don’t understand. How?</p>
<p>I have a 14 lb dachsund mix (mutt) that my vet says should way about three pounds less. She looks like a bowling ball (cute, but still way too round). She gets 1/2 cup of dry Iams food in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening. She also gets walked almost every day (about 3/4 mile). But…no matter what I do, she just doesn’t drop the weight. I hate to reduce her food because she’s already licking the floor looking for crumbs. Am I feeding her too much dry dog food?</p>
<p>Well… I admit, we take a low tech approach when our dog does get tubby. A little less food, and longer walks (which are also good for me ). Can’t say if she really needs to lose the weight, but I would not be conned into buying special food to do it.</p>
<p>Southmom - we have a Cavalier who weighs 25+ pounds. He is larger than normal so he wasn’t that overweight but the vet said no more than 1 cup per day. He happens to love frozen green beans so that is what we feed him to fill him up. The vet said this was fine. I give him one cup of food in the morning and then 2-3 handfuls of green beans spaced out during the day. It seems to be working.</p>
<p>DO NOT, and I repeat, NOT go with “diet” dog food. I got it for my first dachshund (do I see a pattern here?) and let’s just say that it went through his digestive tract a little TOO well. I think vets are very conscious of the weight issue and dachshund back problems, although DachsII was slim, he still developed problems, had unsuccesful surgery. DachsIII (not his real name) is absolutely skinny because he has no interest in food. I wish I had that problem. However, he has back issues too and goes for accupunture regularly. The easiest part about having your dog on a diet is that YOU are in charge. No chance of him rummaging around in the frig. However, you do have to listen to the whining!</p>
<p>Fishymom, how much exercise do the dogs get? It seems to me (heck, I’m a pet owner of all of about 2months!) that the dog weight equation/factors should be :
Quality of food + quantity of food + amount of exercise</p>
<p>Do you feel you can make improvements in any of these areas? Sounds like the food type is good. Describe the quantity of food on a daily basis and the average amount of exercise a day .</p>
<p>Mitwinmom on the right track. There is something called ‘the Green Bean Diet’ for dogs. Basically you mix in 1/2 cup of canned green beans (mine won’t eat the raw ones) with a smaller serving of their regular food. The green beans add bulk which makes the dog feel full without adding much in the way of calories. Make sure you use low-sodium canned. We also add pumpkin (<em>not</em> pumpkin pie mix) for a little extra fiber. Our dog loves that stuff. </p>
<p>Southmom – Counterintuitively, dry dog food has more calories (generally) than the moist. Maybe change one of your pup’s meals? Read the labels to double-check. </p>
<p>We also have a mutt that is a few pounds over optimum. She’s much better than she was when we got her as she’d had heartworms and wasn’t supposed to run or walk much til after her treatment. Now she dances (it’s so funny) down the beach, chasing the gulls, and has muscles in her legs! But if she doesn’t feel full she’ll eat the leaves in the yard or anything she can find – a consequence, I suppose, of having been a street dog. We seem to have found a balance for her now.</p>
<p>We have labs. We up exercise, reduce kibble and add frozen green beans to add bulk to their bowls. Reduce kibble slowly, adding more beans. I also soak kibble in hot water so it swells a bit.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. Abasket hit the nail on the head with the the three factors, quantity and quality of food plus exercise. I think we do well on all three. Stella gets 2 or 3 long walks of 3 miles every week. She also gets several short walks daily as well as regular vigorous play sessions. As far as quantity of food, she is fed based on calories needed for body weight, so I know we are right on track there. She also loves frozen green beans and we use those as treats. She also gets unflavored low or no fat yogurt and raw pumpkin. Her other food intake is minimal. When viewed from above, she definitely has a “figure”, with a narrower waist. Her ribs are not visible, but easily felt. She does look like a sausage because she is long and thick bodied, but I don’t think she is fat, I just think that is the way she is. I just wish I could find an ideal body weight calculator, based on length, chest measurement and bone size to give me an idea of what she should weigh.</p>
<p>Hmmmm…I’m heading to the grocery store this morning so I’m definitely going to pick up some green beans! For those of you who use the canned or frozen green beans - this doesn’t cause plumbing diarrhea, does it? That would not be fun for either the dog or for my floors…</p>
<p>fishymom, I also have a corgi that has some weight issues ( I was warned that they tend to pack on the pounds if not careful ) She has been on the same food that the breeder feeds her corgis , though we switched to the lower calorie version and dropped the volume …we also have another corgi and he has not had a weight issue , even though he eats more and has same level of activity.
We were advised to feed her green beans in addition to her kibble , so she gets a small can of low salt beans twice a day with her dog food. She has dropped a few , but still could drop a few more. She is a very food driven dog ! I will give her carrots raw too , but no human food at all
My girl is Stella too !</p>
<p>it sounds like you are feeding your dog too much! I have a 24 lb jack russell mix who gets 1/3 cup 2x/day. I also have a super active 70 lb tree walking terrier mix who runs 3-4 miles/day who gets 1 cup 2x/day. The only way to lose that weight is to reduce the amount of food you are giving them.</p>
<p>@radannie, not sure if your comment was meant for me, but if so, my dogs are fed based on caloric intake and ideal body weight. All their food is measured and all calories are accounted for. The dog in question is fed based on an ideal weight of 40 lbs with a typical level of activity. She has been fed this way since she was 10 weeks old. This vet has always thought she was too heavy, even when she was a puppy. The vet from the pet rescue were we got her has not once said she was overweight and he saw her regularly through her first year.</p>
<p>Igloo, I guess the short legs with long back make them more susceptible to back issues and extra weight can exasperated the problem. I have had dogs my entire life, Dachshunds, Maltese, German Shepard, Boxer, Catahoula Leopard Hound and Beagles and this is the first time I have had a vet tell me one needed to lose weight.</p>
<p>my pooch has added a pound or two this winter–and he was already in need of losing 1 or 2. so, now i am looking at 3-4 pounds of weight loss for him. i am hoping that i can curtail all the other family members who like to feed him his treats!!! and most importantly i am hoping we can walk more and more and more now that the snow and ice are gone! </p>
<p>i will say that he does seem to be pretty hungry at times–i do feed dry kibble 1/2 cup 2 times a day–but once in a while i can find him scouring the kitchen floor for crumbs.</p>
<p>I compete in dog agility, which gives me a particular view on dog weight. In fact, I almost never see a dog outside of agility that I do NOT consider to be fat. My vet is delighted with my dogs’ weight–and they are ten pounds lighter than the “average” standard poodle of their height (one dog is 51 pounds, the other 52). So please take what I’m saying with that in mind. (I’ll also note that my vet says most dogs are overweight–she also competes in agility.)</p>
<p>For MOST corgis of my acquaintance (keeping in mind that the corgis I know compete in dog agility), 40 pounds would be obese. Yes, they are basically labs with short legs, but most labs are also too fat.</p>
<p>Can you easily feel the dog’s ribs? I mean, if you put your hand on the dog’s side, are there ridges where the ribs are, or are they covered in a layer of fat? Try pinching the dog’s skin up between your fingers: how much fat is there? You want your dog to have a very thin layer of fat.</p>
<p>Corgis are notoriously prone to back and neck problems, related to the dwarfism that causes their disproportionately short legs. Keeping the dog’s weight down will help with that as well as improving his lifelong health.</p>
<p>I was also going to mention the rib test. I have another breed that is prone to weight issues (an elkhound) and I am working very hard to keep my boy on the slim side. (My last elkie was overweight and suffered from arthritis in her later years.) We walk about four miles a day, play at the dog park when time permits and I give him a cup veggies with his dinner. I’ve read that cruciferous vegetables are good for dogs in the same way they are for people (cancer prevention), so I alternate green beans with broccoli. (If you feed canned green beans be sure to rinse the salt off.)</p>
). Can’t say if she really needs to lose the weight, but I would not be conned into buying special food to do it.</p>