Overweight Dogs Doing Dogs Sports

[Henrietta]

Wow, if I was in dogs sports (hoping to get into agility at some stage), I would appreciate if someone told me my dog was overweight.

Mind you, I think I would know, I am rather strict and maybe a little paranoid about weight.

But if someone told me whether it be the instructer (and you hope they would) or a classmate, I would be completely mortified, but willing to take advice definitely.

ETA - I love this new dog sports subforum

Edited July 28, 2007 by Emmala

[Guest Clover]

Clover didn't you tell me Todd needs to lose weight ages ago.

Yes i think so.

I am waiting for Clover to tell me she has had enough, but at nearly 9 years old she is still able to run and she enjoys it and does not need to be thrown over the first jump to get going .

[2tollers]

Clover's looking better now than I've ever seen her. She's doing it easily.

[Kowai]

Alot of people take one glance at my dog and think he's overweight! You can feel his ribs though and he never shows signs of being too heavy when running around.. He has so much energy it's crazy!

He used to be so much larger though due to my family feeding him when I wasn't looking

I think overweight dogs should be able to participate in dog sports, but I agree that they should have lowered jumps and maybe shouldn't be at it for so long.. I think its great exercise for them!

--Edit--

Just to clarify, my dog is a healthy weight now its just people think he's huge! I've had him on a diet and he's managed to lose the weight he had before, and now whenever anyone who knew him before sees him they say how great he looks

Edited July 30, 2007 by Kowai

[Sayreovi]

I think overweight dogs should be able to participate in dog sports, but I agree that they should have lowered jumps and maybe shouldn't be at it for so long.. I think its great exercise for them!

Its exercise but not a great one, for an overweight dog the jumping of both agility and flyball would be too much on their back/joints no matter what height the jumps are at. The best exercise is more walks preferably off lead and drop back on the food!

Dog sports are for fit healthy dogs not fat ones IMO.

FWIW i have a dog that alot of people think is fat so some who have seen him may think i am being hypocritical, but he is actually big boned and carries alot of coat. He is at his optimum weight and would look disgusting lighter just the same if my medium boned boy has extra weight.

[Staranais]

I think people have different ideas about what is overweight and what isn't. I keep my SBT with his last few ribs showing - my vet thinks he's verging on "too thin", but then again a few months ago one of the instructors at tracking suggested he was too fat.

I suspect it all comes down to what type of dog you're used to seeing - vets see lots of pets that are overweight so a conditioned dog looks abnormally skinny, whereas people who are used to seeing trim working farm dogs might mistake a stocky SBT as fat?

Anyway, I agree that overweight dogs shouldn't be able to compete in dogsports. They put themselves at much higher risk of injuries, especially when jumping.

Obedience (in non-jumping classes) might be an exception, since there's less activity than in most other dogsports, therefore less potential for injury.

[LilBailey]

Clover: You are more than welcome to become the fat natzi at Weiners. there is a few there now that could do with a diet. The old red girl is doing great but we also make sure that she only competes at a level that suits her. She only jumps 8" and doesn't have to run a full days copetition. Un like a few dogs I know that come in and out of retirement because the team needs another dog to run

[J...]

Vets can be a bit lax on dog weights I reckon - I had a bit of trouble with Darcy's weight when she was younger, always carrying a few kgs more than necesssary - every vet who seen her commented on how good her condition was, despite me stating I was unhappy with her weight. Her last proper vet weigh in was 24 kg at about 14 months old.

I dropped into the vet quickly the other day and asked to borrow the scales, she's now down to 22 kg and still carrying probably a 1/2 to maybe 1 kg more than I'd like her to carry... then again maybe I'm too used to straight working kelpies (not lab x kelpies!) ;) Instructor tells me she's fine

[sidoney]

I think there is also a "don't want to hurt the feelings" factor, at least there was for me the other day when I unexpectedly met up with one of my ex fosters and her owner. She looks great and happy but is a bit porky, not badly porky, but overweight. Too heavy for dog sports IMO (he doesn't do any). I didn't think it was the place for me to be critical of the way he was caring for her, especially since it had been some time since I'd seen either of them.

Mind you, when I was instructing agility, I did mention dog weight - that is more of an environment where you would.

Perhaps vets might be letting it go if it's borderline porky.

[Kowai]

Vets can be a bit lax on dog weights I reckon - I had a bit of trouble with Darcy's weight when she was younger, always carrying a few kgs more than necesssary - every vet who seen her commented on how good her condition was, despite me stating I was unhappy with her weight. Her last proper vet weigh in was 24 kg at about 14 months old.

I dropped into the vet quickly the other day and asked to borrow the scales, she's now down to 22 kg and still carrying probably a 1/2 to maybe 1 kg more than I'd like her to carry... then again maybe I'm too used to straight working kelpies (not lab x kelpies!) ;) Instructor tells me she's fine

Hey nice work!

'

At his heaviest my Staffy was 29kg ;) ;) This was a combination of myself giving him too much food out of ignorance, and my family giving him treats outside of meal times!

It's been a hard road to weight loss. It's so hard to get friends and family to stop giving treats to my dog!! ;) Thank god now I'm in my own place so I can control his diet so much better, and I know better too how much I should be feeding him.

My dog is now down to 23kg, the lightest he's been in years! He actually has a nice, muscular looking neck now and from the top he has a waist! He could probably stand to lose another 1-2kg I think.. At the moment though he looks so much healthier and better looking!

--Edit--

Its so hard telling people their pets are overweight... A rescue dog of mine who now lives with my nana has either a) put on weight or b) looks more overweight because my dog is now thinner! My and her dog both were roughly the same size before.. Now she just looks so overweight ;) I know she doesn't get much exercise, my nana isn't strong enough to walk her and she only gets walked when my parents take their dog over, and I think my nana is lonely and loves to give her treats/pamper her a little.. I mean she lives in a good environment and is loved.. But she so needs to lose the weight! ;)

Edited August 3, 2007 by Kowai

[alanglen]

All very true and overweight dogs shouldn't be competing at full heights!

That being said be a little sensitive towards these people and their dogs, I was teased yesterday that one of my girls was too heavy to compete. She is as slim as she has been since having pups, can feel all ribs and on a blood profile shows signs of underfeeding if she is dropped even one kilo lighter. She is perfectly where I need to have her and is doing great. She also got 3 passes from 5 runs yesterday! and then came home to play games and go for a run with the others!

I am extremely keen to curb the obesity problem in pets but watch that you pets are well enough fed to perform the high workload being asked of them! Don't want to start the opposite trend!

ps love the dog sports forum too!

Regards

Alanglen

[Poodle wrangler]

Do you think owners of older dogs who are really "past it" are too close to their dogs to see it? Maybe a trusted/ respected person having a gentle word could help them look at the situation more objectively?

The denial about fat dogs is unreal. My FIL's dogs are morbidly obese and all the family say things like, "it's all fur" (Maremma) and "he's actually lost weight since we moved to the property" (lab that's as wide as it is tall, and elderly ;) ). The humans aren't big, so I don't know why the dogs are so fat?

I'd never had a problem with our older dog's weight, but he's now slightly overweight and he's getting it off asap. It "snuck" on with the arrival of a larger breed pup. OK, at first I put it down to fur, but the ribs don't lie. When in doubt, wash your dog . I've overfed him.

I've recently noticed he's slowing down on longer walks off leash (otherwise healthy). If being overweight makes a difference to a pet dog on a 1 hour brisk walk, I'd hate to think what it does to a dog doing agility or flyball. It takes very little extra food to get weight on a dog < 10kg.

Have you ever seen fat humans doing well at athletics? I think most would be "underweight" if you look at those height-weight charts.

Are owners not responsive when told why the weight is a problem for the dog?

I guess it's about changing their whole outlook about what's 'normal' for a dog sports dog?

As far as the joints go, many people who get joint replacements are huge and have not lost weight b4 surgery despite being told to do so. Losing weight is one of the biggest things you can do to improve painful joints. It's a sad state of affairs if you're on bedrest and are too fat and unfit to lift your own bum off the bed with assistance! Sorry, OT.