Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:47 pm Post subject: Is cooper overweight?
Hello all
I would appreciate your opinions.
Cooper is now 1year old and he weighs 44kg! Now I can feel his ribs when I run my hand along him with some pressure.
Over Xmas and new year he was on strict rest because of a cut pad so I think he may have got a bit podgy but it's so difficult to gauge when you see him everyday, it's hard to notice differences.
I have put some pics of him that I've just taken (the last 2 are from the weekend at the beach)
I told his breeder how much he weighs and she was shocked and said he needs to lose 10kg. But I don't think she fully appreciates just how big a lab he is. Way taller and much more heavily built than any lab we have come across.
He is from 100% show lines.
He gets fed 300g of JWB large breed kibble (adult) split over 3 meals.
He also gets a kong a day filled with either half a banana, half a pouch fish4dogs salmon mousse or whizzed up raw carrot, plus maybe a handful of training treats.
He gets walked on a long line for 1 hour in the morning and for an hour at fast pace on roads at lunchtime everyday. (about 6km a day -according to my pedometer)
Am I feeding too much? Exercising too little?
A website for dog food calculator reckons for an ideal weight of 34kg he should be having 1500 calories a day. But I'm guessing he will need less than this to be able to get to that weight.
Anybody know how many calories in the JWB lamb and rice large adult kibble?
If he is overweight then I'm more than happy to get him right but I want to do it properly. I felt so bad when breeder expressed such horror.
Max is older than Cooper, he was 2 in September and currently weighs 44kg too. He's also from 100% show lines and looks exactly the same size as Cooper.
He was at the vets just before Christmas and I asked the vet if she thought he was overweight too. She said that he's a big lab but that she'd be happier with him a couple of kg lighter and that 42kg would be about right for him. You can feel his ribs but he's never really had a distinguished waist.
The only thing I can say is that Max didn't weigh 44kg when he was a year old. I've read posts from other people on here saying that you should be able to feel his ribs as if he's got a blanket over them. I would say at this moment in time that Max probably has a thickish blanket over his ribs but not a quilt
I must admit we're finding it hard to get Max's couple of kg's off. He gets plenty of exercise and we don't overdo his treats.
Thank you Catherine
Yes, cooper is probably the same with a thickish blanket covering. But we can see his muscle definition on his hind legs. He has a very deep chest but that is solid bone.
I personally think that 10kg off him would make him look too underweight, but then who am I to argue?
He is a handsome lad
When we got Ellie she was nearly 7 months old and she is a year old now and out of interest I measured her height, weight, chest and neck measurements each month to see how she was growing and I am glad I did. As she changed in shape following her season where her excercise levels were way down but she ate more as I was doing more training with her indoors and at that time it was very food orientated.
I found that Ellie gained weight quickly when I fed her the recommended daily allowance so I have a slightly smaller measuring scoop and she has 2 level scoops a day split over 2 meals. Her weight then stabilised.
I have also reduced the food based treats and switched to play rewards but for certain things will still do high value food treats.
Perhaps reducing his daily rations will go some way to losing a couple of kilos as he is getting well excercised so he gets a nice blanket back.
He is also a big lab and although I think he is overweight (his weight has been a a battle since he was castrated) but I don't think he is grossly overweight! Our vet has also been kind as far as his weight has been concerned.
Before he was castrated he was 37 kilos at 16 months and I would prefer to see him about 40 kilos, especially as he has bad elbows. Attached is a photo of him taken this week and one taken when he was about a year old (37 kilos).
Personally I think your lad doesn't look overweight at all. After a visit to Crufts two years ago I was quite taken aback at how small some labradors are!
If im going to be honest id say he needs to loose a kg or 2. I think 10kg would make him look ill. I like to be able to see shape in dogs but thats a personal thing.
Does he swim? Hydrotherapy is a great way to help them loose wight.
Someone suggested to me feeding the 2/3 of the boys food in the morning as they are more active during the day and feed the rest at the evening meal.
Cooper is definitely a very big boy, but i wouldn't say he looks over weight. looking at the photo's, if i was a guess your weight man at the fairground i would have put him at around 38 kilo's, and Cooper would now have a goldfish in a bag.
Paddy, my last dog was a very big boy and weighed 43 kilo's, some say Toby is big, but he only weighs about 34 kilo's.
Cooper looks lovely, and if he is over weight, a bit of exercise will put him right, Toby does get a lot of walks and i think this is keeping him slim.
Gary and Toby.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
[/img][/img]img]
