# How can you know if your dog is over weight?



## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

I have a german shepherd that is now 108 pounds maybe 110. I cant feel his ribs at all but he does not look all that bad. at least no one in my family thinks that. Like they say if you can feel his ribs then he is too skinny. and he might be cold cause fat is something that worms him up. also I could not find any articles about it here. if anyone can send me some diagram or a very good visual explanation that I can show my family, I will really appreciate it. And I dont know how to post the pictures. If anyone could help. I am new to this forum. Cause he is not that quick any more and when throwing the ball to him, he lasts like 10 minutes if I throw hard. It use to be like 20-30.


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## todd pavlus (Apr 30, 2008)

This should help.

http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/f22/ideal-weight-pictures-10062/


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

But how does it feel. Like the things too look for. Like on the last picture I see that the ribs are not showing but how should it feel when petting him on the side? Should every single rib be felt but not seen?


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Nick Kurkov said:


> But how does it feel. Like the things too look for. Like on the last piture I see that the ribs are not showing but how should it feel when petting him on the side? Should every single rib be felt?


I like the see ripped muscles and the outline of ribs when they are moving. If regular people are telling you your dog is skinny then your dog is prolly at a decent working weight. 

You should at a minimum be able to FEEL the ribs, I'm a little concerned that you can't.

This is a pic of my dog that is in great shape and at working weight. Notice how tight he is... that's what you want for a working dog.


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

thank you. But why if he is not a working dog but I just really want him to be healthy. Should I still feel all the ribs slitly. Like I can kind of feel where his ribs end. But thats it. and plus he is a german shepherd. they have a much bigger coat. oh and how did you upload the picture?


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Nick Kurkov said:


> thank you. But why if he is not a working dog but I just really want him to be healthy. Should I still feel all the ribs slitly. Like I can kind of feel where his ribs end. But thats it. and plus he is a german shepherd. they have a much bigger coat. oh and how did you upload the picture?


If you can't feel the ribs then your dog is probably fat.

If it's not a working dog then just make sure the dog is well exercised. I run my dogs at least twice per day if I'm not at training, then I don't run them at all and keep them in crates for a couple of hours before so they have extra juice.

With heavy exercise I feed all of my large dogs 1 1/2 cups of food in the morning and evening.


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## Michael Breton (Aug 25, 2008)

Nick, your dog is a pork chop .

You should be able to easily feel his ribs and he should have a visible waist - not a straight line, but a tuck.

When you come to class this weekend I'll show you. There are a couple dogs in class, GSDs that are at a correct weight. Tell your mom to stop sneaking him treats when you aren't looking. 

I'll show you how to upload pics as well. The dog is getting killed with kindness and it will take a toll on his joints later in life.

You can check out a couple of my dogs to see what an ideal weight for a Mal is and then try it with your dog. The comment that when "regular" people think your dog is skinny is right on. Most pet people have chubby dogs.


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

Ok, I posted some pictures in my profile pics. But I feed him raw. just wondering how much should he get. I heard 3 percent of his body weight. But that is his ideal budy weight. like he is 108 and you cant feel his ribs. like a inch of fat over them. I think he should be like 95. so should I feed him like 2.25 pounds of raw meet?


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey Michael. I know. I think I know how he should be its just I want my sister to read this from all sorts of people so that she gets it too and then we both will tell mom. I felt Zeus and all the rest of the shepherds that are freindly in the obedience class.


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

He's fat


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## Sheri L Marlin (Feb 18, 2009)

I think you can FEEL the ribs on a pretty fat dog if you try. On a healthy GSD you should be able to feel all the ribs and see the last one or two. They should have a definite waist. It's just as important to keep a pet trim as it is a working dog ......... maybe more even important since they don't get as much exercise. IMO.


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## Michael Breton (Aug 25, 2008)

Look at Bjarki in my protection class. He is perfect. You can see his ribs just a little until he starts to gas then you can see them clearly. His hip bones are barely visible, but you can still feel them. He has a pronounced tuck in his waist from the side and from above. Same thing with Tika in your OB class. I have seen a chart at the vet that shows skinny perfect and overweight. I'll take a pic of it with my phone and email it to you to show your sister.

It's not Marina is it because her dogs were way over weight. They look so much better now that they dropped weight I hope she is keeping it off.


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey Michael. Ya they are a little better but stil you cant feel their ribs too. I tried. But ya. I gave Andrey the website and he should join pretty soon. He thinks though if you feel the ribs that they are too skinny. But man, I think their Muha can be such a cool protection dog. he has a strong bight and almost always uses the back teech. Like when he comes to our place, all the balls are like torn up. And if he was normal in weight he would be like perfect. what do you think? oh and i send you a message here about your request for translation.


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

ya chris, there in the pic he is like 105. now he is like 5 pounds more. and I have a question. Like he eats alot of skraps from the table like after the day care. and I think he is suppose to eat like 2.25 pound every day. So should the scraps be included in the 2.25 or should I raise the over all weight for the day since it is not meat but maybe like soup which is not that dense?


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Stop worrying about the weight of the food. Different dogs of the same weight can vary considerably in what each needs to be healthy. 
If the dog is fat, cut back on food!


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

The only problem is that these scraps are not weighed and so you dont really know how much the dog ate during the day. He might eat like all the corn dog scraps and then a bowl of soup and then a yogurt that the kids did not finnish and then his 2 pounds of meat on top of that. So no one knows how much he eats. I think its like 3 to 3.5 all together. But thank you.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

just let him eat the daycare scraps and don't feed him anything else.


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## todd pavlus (Apr 30, 2008)

3.5# of raw a day sounds like alot.... plus table scraps!!! Cut it down to 2# of raw a day. Sounds like the dog could lose 10 - 15#


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## Skip Morgart (Dec 19, 2008)

Looked like the dog could stand to lose 15. It's a simple process. The dog needs to move a little more and eat a little less each day. Don't overly dwell on the exact number of pounds of food you feed. Keep treats to a minimum.


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## Chad Byerly (Jun 24, 2008)

A cool technique for explaining proper weight is to make a fist, and pass your other hand across

1) your knuckes
2) the back of your hand (above knuckles)
3) the fingers (below knuckles)

For most dogs this feels like their ribs, if they're

1) underweight
2) overweight
3) proper weight


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## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

I went through trying to convince people my coated GSD was overweight. Everyone made the excuse that it was all hair not fat. It wasn't until the breeder told my husband "you should be able to feel the ribs and I am not sure she has ribs" that I got everyone on board to getting her to a healthy weight. (she dropped 17 pounds)

Do whatever it takes to get the weight off and keep it off. If you can't get the family to stop feeding table scraps, then you cut back on the regular feedings until you see results.

Your dog will thank you with a much healthier, happier and longer life


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Outside of working dog circles, people are so used to seeing fat dogs or having their own fat dogs, that any dog at the correct weight looks 'wrong'. Labs, goldens, rotties, gsd's... I'm sure there's other breeds, too, have to be among the worst for obesity among pet owners. A lean, healthy dog looks 'too small' to people accustomed to seeing 100+lb examples of a dog that should weigh 70 lbs.

And yes, the pounds go on slowly, so sometimes it's hard to notice that the dog's weight is creeping up to an unhealthy level. Excess poundage is a great way to make a young dog seem old.


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## Skip Morgart (Dec 19, 2008)

leslie cassian said:


> ...... Excess poundage is a great way to make a young dog seem old.


 
and a great way to make any dog die early.


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## Nick Kurkov (Feb 15, 2009)

Thank you everone. man it helped. Thanks Kate. So what was the difference in the activity level and obedience and protection? anything changed?


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## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

You can't go by how much food you feed on raw, you have to go by the dog's activity level and condition- the rib test as people have already told you. Younger dogs that aren't full grown might need more, outside dogs will need more, dogs that are worked hard will need more. As an example, my 4 yr old GSD who is very active and weighs about 90lbs gets less than 2lbs a day. It doesn't matter what you do with the dog- obedience, protection, agility, whatever. It's all about how hard the dog is worked. If you train agility every day for an hour your dog will need more food than a dog that gets protection training twice a week. If your dog gets obedience training every day for a hour but never really runs hard, he's not getting much exercise and you need to step it up and cut back his food. 100+lbs for a GSD is too much.


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