Is your dog over weight?

[horsesense]

I actually felt my heart hit my stomach. Luke is a huge part of me/my family. That probably sounds rediculous to some.
I have a pad-lock on the gate, but with the kids being on holiday and thier friends coming over to play I just thought it was easier to leave off. The relief I felt when I pulled into the driveway and saw him trott off the porch towards the truck cant even be discribed. Esp. after the crappy news we all woke up to on New Years day.. Alls it would take is somebody offering up a scrap, or a crumb of something once delicious and Luke would be gone. Im his 2nd Alpha, food being his 1st... Hes home where he belongs now, we even celebrated his 4th BD last thur.. I grilled him up a nice steak, and the girls bought him a stuffed duck. (He loves those things)..

[His Wife]

Luke (our 4 yr. old English lab) is a bit overweight. He weighs 83 lbs.
I thought we lost him last week. One of the kids left the back gate open. I went out looking all over the place for him without any luck. Guess who was waiting on the front porch when I got home? Not only a handsome Labby, but a smart one too. Thank God!!!

Nice to see you, horsesense! My retriever is about 95lbs (of pure love).

I bet you were pretty worried seeing the gate. So far I've lucked out....but there's a gate I have to watch where the neighbor kids come over and open it (because they are unsupervised-ugh). They love my dog....and I've even thought about putting a padlock on it. I'm glad your dog loves you so much and had the common sense to stay where the food and love is! That would have been heartbreaking, even for me to hear, and it's your dog!

[horsesense]

Luke (our 4 yr. old English lab) is a bit overweight. He weighs 83 lbs.
I thought we lost him last week. One of the kids left the back gate open. I went out looking all over the place for him without any luck. Guess who was waiting on the front porch when I got home? Not only a handsome Labby, but a smart one too. Thank God!!!

[His Wife]

I got dibs on the "Cheerleader Whisperer....er"!

Even the male ones?

[Kapaibro]

I got dibs on the "Cheerleader Whisperer....er"!

So your first clients are the girls from the Panthers team, and the Highschool chickies from Texas?

[stnzed]

There's all kinds of "whisperers" today, yes?

Anyhow....my husband tells me my dog is slightly over weight. She's not fat, she's fluffly. Geeze Louise....there's a huge difference. I'm not giving her any pills either. I just need to cut out on her milkbones....but how? She does so many cute things every day.

I got dibs on the "Cheerleader Whisperer....er"!

[Kapaibro]

Just a note for those of you with larger dogs.

When I was back home in NZ, we had a large sheepdog/bull terrier cross (he weighed in a t 65kgs).
As with most large dogs, with age he started to develop arthiritis. Our vet told us of a study that was being conducted at the local veterinary school(Massey University, best equine school in the Southern Hemisphere).
They needed large dogs who were showing signs of arthiritis. We took Nuisance to the University and got him entered in the programme. They were studying the effects of a green-lipped mussel extracts on athritic dogs.

Anyway, the pills worked a treat, and he went from having a hard time getting into the truck to leaping about like a puppy. We kept him on the pills for the rest of his life, and he never ever showed signs of stiffness again (he died of skin cancer)

If your dog is large boned and showing signs of arthiritis, I suggest asking your vet about green-lipped mussel extracts (or glucosamine) to help alleviate their symptoms.

[His Wife]

My precious puppers aren't obese or overweight by any mean's, and I couldn't imagine giving them a pill to fix it. Not when you should be exercising them in the first place and watching what they eat. You do it because it's in their best health interest.


On a sad note, my pups are getting older, and I'm having a real hard time with the realization that in a few years they won't be with me anymore. I think going through that will be harder on me then losing my dad.

I'm closer to my dog, Sophie Jo, than some people. I've lost 3 prior. It hurts deeply. I'm always glad I had each one a part of my life though. Dogs are just a great part of the family. I've also had cats too, and even though I can enjoy them, I have a much deeper bond with my dogs. This is the first dog I've ever had that was all chicken. She needs me... My neighbor dog has nipped her about 3 times now----out of jealousy----he's a great dane. I would not want a nipper either. I got this one for her demeanor and being able to be around children. So kids come around----and SophieJo just lights up and thinks she's one of the kids. She has no idea she's a dog. How can we not love them?

Day1 - I will have to check that show out on the dog whisperer on National Geographic sometime. Thanks.

[Day1BroncoFan]

My precious puppers aren't obese or overweight by any mean's, and I couldn't imagine giving them a pill to fix it. Not when you should be exercising them in the first place and watching what they eat. You do it because it's in their best health interest.


On a sad note, my pups are getting older, and I'm having a real hard time with the realization that in a few years they won't be with me anymore. I think going through that will be harder on me then losing my dad.

It's sad when you have to let a pet go, I've had to do it more than once. It's a decision of not letting them suffer as opposed to keeping them as long as you can. Definitely not an easy decision to make. I'm sure you'll do the right thing, that is the best thing for the pet.

[silkamilkamonic]

My precious puppers aren't obese or overweight by any mean's, and I couldn't imagine giving them a pill to fix it. Not when you should be exercising them in the first place and watching what they eat. You do it because it's in their best health interest.


On a sad note, my pups are getting older, and I'm having a real hard time with the realization that in a few years they won't be with me anymore. I think going through that will be harder on me then losing my dad.

[Day1BroncoFan]

There's all kinds of "whisperers" today, yes?

Anyhow....my husband tells me my dog is slightly over weight. She's not fat, she's fluffly. Geeze Louise....there's a huge difference. I'm not giving her any pills either. I just need to cut out on her milkbones....but how? She does so many cute things every day.

Have you ever watched the "Dog Whisperer"? That's one of my favorite shows. It's on National Geographic. I know I've learned a lot from watching it, sometimes it isn't so easy to use it in real life as he makes it seem on the show.

[Day1BroncoFan]

That's what I have a retriever! SophieJo..... and she runs and plays all throughout the day with her neighbor dogs. They bark for her to come out
and play. It's rediculous really, but true. That dog couldn't get more exercise.
Plus, I can't get her to go for a walk. She's so use to her yard, she gets
frightened to go beyond the gate. I love that dog. She's BIG CHICKEN.

Since your dog had Husky....maybe different personality?

When we first got her we lived up in the mountains above the desert. She and the other dogs had free reign to do what they wanted. There were other dogs they hung around with. They ran all over the place all the time, went for walks with us and she was kind of heavy set. She was just like that for some reason.

She was definitely no chicken. She used to protect the Collie we had, he was a big chicken. There were some dogs up there that weren't so friendly. She was as friendly as any Retriever to people and had energy to spare.

[xX-Bronco-Xx]

My huskies look fat because of their fur during the winter.

During the summer they shed and they still look fat.

When I throw them into a swimming pool, they look anerexic. :thumb: (not really but they do look skinny)

[His Wife]

We used to have a dog, part Retriever and part Husky, we couldn't keep her skinny no matter what we tried. I would not have given her this anyway. We didn't give her many treats or stuff like that. Just one of those "big boned" gals I guess.

That's what I have a retriever! SophieJo..... and she runs and plays all throughout the day with her neighbor dogs. They bark for her to come out
and play. It's rediculous really, but true. That dog couldn't get more exercise.
Plus, I can't get her to go for a walk. She's so use to her yard, she gets
frightened to go beyond the gate. I love that dog. She's BIG CHICKEN.

Since your dog had Husky....maybe different personality?

[Day1BroncoFan]

There's all kinds of "whisperers" today, yes?

Anyhow....my husband tells me my dog is slightly over weight. She's not fat, she's fluffly. Geeze Louise....there's a huge difference. I'm not giving her any pills either. I just need to cut out on her milkbones....but how? She does so many cute things every day.

We used to have a dog, part Retriever and part Husky, we couldn't keep her skinny no matter what we tried. I would not have given her this anyway. We didn't give her many treats or stuff like that. Just one of those "big boned" gals I guess.