Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:09 pm Post subject: How much should a lab weigh???
Just wondering how much your lab weighs now. Indi is now 10 months old and weighs 33kg. I am getting sick and tired of being told she is fat! I want to know what is an acceptable weight for her age! They say she is fat and yet they never tell me how much she would weigh that would be acceptable!!! The vet says she is a big dog but been there a few times and has never mentioned her weight to me the last few months she has gone! Im just sick and tired of it and want to know what is an acceptable weight. Yes she is carrying a little more fat round her tummy but she is mid phantom pregnancy and her belly has gone down dramatically in the last week but isnt back to her normal shape.We run her/walk her once a day and she has roughly an hour a days lead exercise. She is currently being fed royal canin puppy food as we are weaning her onto adult food - that is once she eats biscuits again after her illness. She has food for a 26kg dog so we take into account the amount of treats she has on walks etc. Does anyone know if there is any info online to help me track her weight/height to see if she is overweight!
A Lab should weigh enough so it's ribs are covered in a blanket not a duvet or a sheet.
As for how much the scales should say....Well that's like asking how long is a piece of string. They are all so different, with some being very lean at 32kgs and others being overweight at 27kgs.
Take a good look at her. Does she have a definite waist, does she have a tuck underneath (so tummy up higher than her ribs)? Then feel her. Can you feel her ribs easily when you run your hand over her, without having to dig your fingers in. If you can answer yes to these questions, then she is the right weight for her size.
As for what my Labs weigh...
Mojo is 27.5 kgs
Pickle is 26kgs
Una (not strictly mine but I did raise her) is 29kgs and out of the three, although they are the same height, is definitely the slimmest looking.
But then all of them have a good dose of working blood in them and are far less heavily boned than most show type Labs.
Dogs very so much I don't know if such a chart exists
However the best advice I had was to go by the dog's condition - you shouldn't SEE her ribs but should be able to FEEL them when you run your hand shoulder to hip. You should be able to see a tuck up to her tummy from her chest looking side on, and from above you should be able to see a "waist" of some sort.
Your lass is not in prime condition right now and will be carrying extra because of her hormones - preparing for the puppies she's not going to have
Once she settles she could be moved onto adult food, and if she's really hungry you could pad out her kibble with veg eg cooked carrots which will pass through.
And do you actually measure her food? I used to think Megan was OK and getting the right weight of Eukanuba (Large Breed Light) by using a measuring cup, but when her HD/arthritis was diagnosed and I was asked to try and get a couple of Kilos off her (34Kg) we starting weighing it on the scales, and just by doing that is gradually fell back to 30Kg and she hasn't looked back. Have you got some photos of Indi so we can have a look?
This is Megan now aged 9
and when she was about 3 - you can see she has an extra pad of fat just above her tail.
Indi's food has been weighed with scales since we had her at 8 weeks!!! She i fed for a 26kg dog and she is 33kg!!! So its not like we are over feeding her! Normally you can run your hands over her chest area etc and you can feel her ribs but they are visible when you look at her. And she tucks up after the waist.
thanks - i know that is what she looks like normally and yes she is carrying a little more weight at the min but thats due to the phantom and as soon as that clear we will get her out running a bit to get rid of her tum! hehe x
I think she looks just about perfect! It's amazing how weight alone can't be used as a measuring stick within a breed - Tess has a very similar shape, and she's 25kg!
I have no idea why people have been saying to you that Indi is fat
Mind you, I have to say that I think some people seem to pair the words "labrador" and "overweight" by default, so perhaps they're not actually LOOKING at your dog.
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