Is it just me or are we seeing more and more fat dogs on walks?  I am defo seing more fat chidlren and people in general.... but fat labs and terriers is news to me... must add always owned by overweight people :-(  Poor dogs!

im fat :( but i make certain my dogs arent!! i hate seeing overweight animals

I am overweight too but my dogs arent either ..I have a thyroid problem and on meds so dont presume everyone sits at home stuffing thier faces !!

> must add always owned by overweight people

A sweeping generalisation if ever I've heard one! 

If your goal is to inform people of the need to maintain healthy weight levels for dogs then make a reasoned argument by all means, but try not to alienate us all first :)

> but fat labs and terriers is news to me... must add always owned by overweight people

Ooops someone dropped a gooley :(

Yep lots of fat dogs about but I have to say that a lot I see are owned by skinnies.

Love manifests itself in the strangest ways, I certainly wouldn't presume that just because an owner is plump and the dog is plump that it's all down to a greedy owner. :)

> but fat labs and terriers is news to me... must add always owned by overweight people :-(  Poor dogs!

also labs are prone to being weighty. i think you have to be experienced to recognise when this happens. pet owners think its normal whereas a lot of experienced owners know they are easy to gain weight and need to be monitored.

I'm  fat and if anything my dogs are skinny. My old vet told me almost all the overweight pets he saw belonged to skinny people. His theory was they fed their own food to their animals rather than eat it themselves. Especially older people.

My children are all normal weights.

>also labs are prone to being weighty. i think you have to be experienced to recognise when this happens. pet owners think its normal whereas a lot of experienced owners know they are easy to gain weight and need to be monitored.

adding on to that, pet dogs are generally neutered which means their food intake / exercise levels need to be monitored even more strictly

I'm fat, but I make sure as hell my dogs aren't, my Border is on a "diet" because he looks like he has put on a pound or two (but isn't actually fat by any means!).

Foofoo, I'm sorry but you really put yourself on the firing line with that comment, what a stupid thing to say!

Nicki xx

I agree that a lot of pet dogs (and even some show dogs) are overweight, and agree that it's often because the owners don't adjust food when pets are neutered. I don't think we can say it's anything at all to do with the owners size though! I'm fat but all 5 of my dogs are in lean, hard condition :-D I wish someone monitored my food intake and exercise regime the way I do for my dogs :-)

> and agree that it's often because the owners don't adjust food when pets are neutered

I also adjust my dogs' food level according to the time of year as they just aren't as active in hot weather, so I cut the food down. Also, as they get older :) Nothing can beat getting used to the 'feel' of your dog and cutting the food down just as soon as they seem to be putting on weight. One of my dogs has a thick coat, so judging her weight by looking at her doesn't work. She has also put on a lot of muscle in the past year as she is getting a lot more off lead exercise than she was - her weight has increased slightly, but the vet agrees that she isn't at all overweight :) :)

Daisy

> I wish someone monitored my food intake and exercise regime the way I do for my dogs :-)

Oh yep same here, constant battle with my weight, but dogs kept just so. 

Fat dogs are a pet hate of mine  and especially fat show dogs as the owners and judges should know better.

> Nothing can beat getting used to the 'feel' of your dog and cutting the food down just as soon as they seem to be putting on weight.

Agreed :-)  My hounds are always lean no matter what they eat, but the two collies seem to put on weight very easily. I check their ribs etc every day before breakfast and adjust their food accordingly.

> I check their ribs etc every day before breakfast and adjust their food accordingly.

hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee
if someone did that to me i would never eat!! hee hee hee

Saw some awfully fat Staffies at the vets on Monday night...cute but sooo fat!! Their owners were quite fat too funnily enough!

We got our Samoyed girl as a rescue and she was so overweight. You wouldn't even believe she was the same dog now...luckily I managed to get her down to the correct weight. People dont realise how much damage they are doing by overfeeding...Megs has a heart murmur which I am sure was caused by her weight :-(

Sadly people also try to "bulk" up their dogs. Bully breeds etc... trying to make them look bigger. But oblivious to the health risks.. Labs actually lack the receptor that tells them they are "full up", so always act hungry.

Ditto Jake is lean and Whistler is as well, walking about 6 miles a day we should be thinner but age makes you heavier than you were in your prime. But yes I note fatter dogs as well, not good.

I think sometimeskids make fatter dogs as they will feed them!! there a softer touch than adults. Our two get 1 meal a day, about 6 small "shape" biscuits and a chewey dental stick thats it!!
Any odd bit of cheese is training food only and really tiny.

Humm, might try that with OH and me, remind me where are they exactly?.

but fat labs and terriers is news to me

I've been seeing over weight labs in particular for years and years, people buy them and don't know the first thing about just how much exercise they need, how quickly they can pile on the pounds and how strong they can be too.

Must admit though my vet is brilliant at coming down tough on dogs becoming over-weight, they are really on it. :-)

Well all the ones I have seen have been owned by overweight owners, not I was merely saying what I have observed.  Really cant see why I have put myself on the firing line for saying what I have seen.  If I see a thin person with a fat dog I will let you know :-)

BTW this wasnt a dig at overweight people :-)

Really cant see why I have put myself on the firing line for saying what I have seen.

The upset is that fat people do not make fat dogs, that is a statement that really isn't true at all and why everyone was defending it. Often fat people are not that way through eating at all. :-)

However, I can see to an extent where you are coming from and what you have been noticing and how you have put two and two together and made 5. :-)

You would expect dog walkers to burn off all those excess calories and become thinner, because you've noticed many don't your thinking they must be over-eating instead.

Dog walking is good for the heart and at getting the muscles and blood circulating so is healthy, but unless we jog or walk fast it does not help us to loose weight, often after a dog walk people are too tired to do any other exercise to pump the heart and bring on a sweat. I can't tell you the amount of people over the years I've heard say I got a dog to loose weight - it doesn't work.

It would be an interesting survey to find out if dog walkers end up putting on more weight due to having no energy to do anything physical afterwards and thinking they have done their limits.

Luckily I play squash and get roped in to playing basketball with the boys, but I can easily see through other friends how after a dog walk they sit down shattered afterwards.

Dogs like us also need to run not just walk otherwise they too can put on weight. So it is nothing to do with food, both human and dog need to run.

Fair point... :-) 

However excess calories + not enough exercise = weight gain (fact). 

I appreciate some dogs and people (a small %) will have a medical condition however that doesnt give people an excuse.  Where were the overweight people during the war? You cant deny it has incresed alot!!  And before anyone says how can I say that?... I am on meds for underactive thyroid and have been for 2 years...  and since joining Slimming World I have lost weight - my thyroid is under control now so no excuse.  Before that I had put on 4 stone from eating too much of the wrong food and being lazy... I hope you realise I am not a skinny minny being sizist :-)  Alot of the students are back at the University now and I have seen the rise in very overweight girls especially, it seems its OK to have your belly hanging over your trousers for all to see.

Where were the overweight people during the war? :-D :-D

I don't think many of us will disagree with you there.

We have become very lazy, we drive, we sit and watch tv, we have machines to do everything for us, we hardly do much exercise, most good diets just take us back to the basics fresh meat, fresh veg and fruit, anything else is just excess not needed and we have a lot of 'rubbish' foods out there today, you don't need to eat much of it to put on weight if you don't work your body a little too.

It's just the same with our dogs a good diet and a good work out, sounds so easy doesn't it? :-D

P.S. Bravo on the weight loss, well done!

Judging back the lack of backlash to that comment most agree ha ha ha

i lost loads of weight last xmas and had a great summer wearing clothes i have not been able to get past my knees for last few years, but then i messed it all up and started putting on the weight from october last year and im now back to fat again, and was all because i got a car again,
i got rid of my car before this one in march 2007 and i got a mountine bike and i walked and rode everywhere, i felt great ,
then my friend gave me her car she couldnt afford to run it and it needed lots of repairs,
iv gone down hill since then really iv got depressed fat and anti social i hate being surrounded by people cant stand shopping i get really anxious and almost have panic attacks where i have to just leave the trolly and get out away from people i feel like i want to scream it awful realy it is im a bit funny like that anyway car or no car fat or thin i cant do public transport at all id rather walk even if its a good few miles away im going , but id have to have good shoes on and an ipod going so as to avoid hearing whats going on around me,
i cant stand people on buses that rub up against you or being brushed past by anyone in a supermarket or hearing people behind me in a que chewing or making slurping noises in my ears it REALLY Rattles me i get hot and aggetated people chewing seems to go pinging right though my ears i litrally will flinch if i hear it, :-(,
Aint i weird lol :-o, 

BUT at least my dogs are Fit not fat !! :-D

Edit to say i did make my Ellie fat one few year ago and it was all due to the extra treats id give while cooking dinner with her watching id trow her titbits all the time and slowly she put on the weight its easly done with pets i think by alot of people luckly i did take notice and realized what id done by overindulging her i stopped it and put her on the science plan diet from my vets and she looked great a few months later i wont let her get that way again, wish someone would put me on a science plan diet and withhold all other titbits lol iv not got alot of will power, i wish some one would kick me out of my car to lol

I'm sorry but I would have to disagree that there wasn't fat people in the war. Am I right in thinking that you are talking about WW1 & 2? IF SO, how on earth would we (well most of us!) know?! We weren't there!!

I'm sorry but this has really gotten my goat, me and my partner (who is himself trim) go to great lengths to keep our dogs in the best physical condition possible, and just because I am fat it doesn't mean that I sit on my arse in front of the TV eating cream cakes all day, this is just peoples ridiculous stereotypes.

I put on 6 stone in 3 years.

It takes 3500 calories to gain a pound in weight.

I calculated for me to have gained the large amount of weight I did was the equivalent to eating two slices of toast a day more than my bodies requirements.  Sadly many of us do not have a body that is precise enough to gauge bodily needs by appetite, and many of our dogs are the same so need intake monitored carefully.

For us humans add in lack of willpower, and also busy lives that encourage mindless eating (as in not allowing the body to realise it has eaten.  Add to that that for many fo us food fulfils other needs than nutrition, our incrteasingly prosperous and sedentary lifestyles, and you ahve the obesity problems of the developed world.

also everyones bodys are differant 2 overweight people can go on the same low cal diet and one could lose weight the other may not lose a pound , this was the case with me and my friend back in 2000 , we both stuck to the same diet cut out fat we ate very healthy she lost 2 stone i lost nothing,
then i got really angre with myself and i started using this Air walker i had got from littlewoods i walked on it twice a day for an hour each time and the weight just dropped off withing a few weeks it was totally nuts i could not belive it, thats when i realized that my body needs lots and lots of exersize and if im doing that i can pretty much eat what i want within reason of course,

im now doing very little exersize walking the dogs in the morning for an hour and then at lunchtime and im not eating that much of a bad diet but still my weight is stuck ,
i really have to work hard at it,
last year with no car i realy was doing A LOT of exersize and that worked well but the minute i stop the weight comes back on,

> Judging back the lack of backlash to that comment most agree ha ha ha

I'm not so sure about that.  You are completely entitled to your own opinion and can express it in any way you choose.  You have however touched on a sensitive issue and many people, who already feel subjected to harsh stereotypes, will not be willing to engage in a debate with you.

To address your comments about the war however there is plenty of photographic evidence from WW2 to suggest that not everyone was thin BUT, one also needs to consider the circumstances of the time - social, economic, and emotional.  To compare the 1930's/40's with today is perhaps a bit naive.  There certainly is a problem with obesity today but the solutions are far from as simple as you imply.

Oh well, I'm slim - running around after 5 children and 5 dogs may have something to do with it lol but I guess really it is just the way I am made. My kids and hubby are also slim, and our dogs are a healthy weight too :-)
Have seen plenty of overweight dogs around too but have never really noticed whether their owners tend to be fat, skinny or whatever.

> For us humans add in lack of willpower, and also busy lives that encourage mindless eating (as in not allowing the body to realise it has eaten.

Not to mention food being so over processed these days and sugar added to almost anything. 

How many people spend money on all those over processed over packaged low fat foods trying to lose weight and don't even realise they have a huge amount of sugar added to make it palatable. No wonder people feel frustrated when they think they are trying so hard.

> Ooops someone dropped a gooley :-(
>
> Yep lots of fat dogs about but I have to say that a lot I see are owned by skinnies.
>
>

Ooops someone dropped another googley!!!  Skinnies?  That could be deemed by some as being as bad as saying 'fatties'! :-)

I'm slim, but by no means 'fit' depending on people's defintion of.... however, my dogs are fit and in good shape and ... ha ha... fit for function!  They're agile, athletic and could go for miles, more than me anyway! :-)

i dont buy low fat meal ready made meals not since i learned i can have beans on a granary toast  and its less fat that some weight watchers meals , i did used to buy their bread for my son as he eats alot of bread then i looked at the salt in it nd i thought it was high so i dont bother buying it now

Am I right in thinking that you are talking about WW1 & 2? IF SO, how on earth would we (well most of us!) know?! We weren't there!!


Just to clarify on this point, we don't need to have been in either war :-D It is well documented and often commented on by our health service and governement at how they are buckling under the strain of the rise in obesity and people becoming overweight in this country and in many others particular over the last 20 years, we have plenty of graphs and charts to show the continual rise, so it is a fair enough comment to say that during the past there was not this major problem, lifestyle, lack of exercise and rubbish food are definitely to blame for the rise, simple as. :-)

The human race comes in all different shapes and sizes, many people are big boned, many small, just like our dogs, but as more and more dogs are sitting around at home and not exercising enough they too suffer at the hands of our lifestyles.

>Dog walking is good for the heart and at getting the muscles and blood circulating so is healthy, but unless we jog or walk fast it does not help us to loose weight,
>It would be an interesting survey to find out if dog walkers end up putting on more weight due to having no energy to do anything physical afterwards and thinking they have done their limits.

If somebody is doing enough walking that they actually feel tired from it, they should be burning off the calories.
A steady paced 20 min walk (3 miles per hour) will burns off approx 90 calories (for a person weighing 160-170lbs). The heavier you are the more calories you burn while walking. Walking is a GREAT way to help shift the pounds and is what helped me shift over 3stone.

Excess weight is due to consuming more calories than one burns and works the same weather you are very active or a couch potato. ( I personally am a lazy, couch potato )

Trouble is many people like feeding their dogs to excess! Wesee so many clients who are obsessed with feeding their dogs. One woman with a dog in perfect condition keeps coming in and complaining that her dog won't eat its breakfast. Dog is not skinny, so could it be she just isn't hungry? Another dog who is 6kgs over weight, and the owner keeps complaining that he won't eat unless he adds cooked lamb and gravy to the dry food! Well again he's not skinny so he must be getting enough. If you suggest stoping the tit bits added to it and just feeding dry they say oh but he won't eat it and will get depressed and he doesn't even eat much of the lamb! One client started her dog who was double its body weight on a diet but 2 weeks laer came off it because she decided she liked her dog this way, despite the fact it kept falling over and not being able to get up! I could go on and on, i get so cross about fat dogs because it simply isn't neccessary. People simply can not understand that if their dog is overweight 9 times out of 10 it is because it is getting too much food for the amount of exercise it is getting. If you suggest cutting down the dogs food they look at you as if you are suggesting they starve the dog!

Ok my attempt at humour has not worked!  How would most of us know?  I am sat in a room with an 86 year old so I think that is good enough!!!  I am fed up with people making excuses for people being fat.    IN the 80's there was 1 maye be 2 fat kids in a class/form at school, I know it is more now - I see it.  Obviously I may have hit a nerve with the overweisght people and that is fine - if the cap fits!. Dogs should not be fat and neither should kids... this is in the hands of the owners and parents. Make excuses for your weight gain.... fine but do not use me as a scape goat and if I have hit a sore point!!!!!

One word = "Rations" does the trick!

I am fully aware that there are more obese people in the world than ever before, but I doubt very very much that there was no fat people in the times of the World Wars, I myself have seen pictures of my grandads side of the family, and his mother for one was huge!

I do not know how the comment that more and more dogs are sitting at home and not exercising enough and are suffering at the hands of our lifestyles can be associated with fat people though when as mentioned on here by lots of people, they are fat but there dogs are in sound physical condition?!

Hey FooFoo thats fine, its a shame we are not all as damn perfect as you hey!

And just for the record, NOBODY has to make excuses to anyone for being fat. Least of all to someone they have never met over a forum!

I agree.... just hope they dont all jump on the band wagon to defend fat people!

judge not, lest ye be judged eh?

hummmm I think the comment that was first made may have been taken too personally.

They made a show about fat pets as well. It is true in the society today. Human beings are becoming heavier. NOT a personal dig at anyone. I commend people doing something about it. What really urks me is the ones who DONT try and better themselves.

The world has become too busy... Packing food with bad crap. Even if you go out of your way to buy healthy products, producers hide crap in the food that shouldn't be there. Also, fast food is easy. I am not saying all heavy people eat fast food. Again this isnt aimed at people willing to loose weight.

Biologically and physiologically people eat too much. If you eat more calories than you burn off your body will store the triglycerides as "energy". Sadly, we arent hunter/gatherers anymore so there isnt a need to eat more than we need to. I think deep down its still an animal instinct to do so. BUT we dont need to.

Obviously I may have hit a nerve with the overweisght people and that is fine - if the cap fits!. Dogs should not be fat and neither should kids... this is in the hands of the owners and parents. Make excuses for your weight gain.... fine but do not use me as a scape goat and if I have hit a sore point!!!!!

I am sorry but to me this is a dig.  Yes, more often than not people are fat because of their own doing, but that does not mean that they are not trying to do something about it, that they should have to defend themselves to anyone, or that they are by any means lower class citizens.

I think it is very narrow minded to make the assumption that fat people sit at home eating fry ups and cakes in front of the television all day, some may, but not everyone. Just like as previously mentioned all thin people do not eat a macrobiotic diet and run ten miles a day.

I am leaving this post now because the more discriminative rubbish I read on it the more annoyed I get.

My dogs are healthy and happy and I am healthy and happy (I know, how can I possibly be, I'M FAT!!) :-)

Nicki xx

I've put on one and a half stone in 4 months due to my bad back etc.  Fortunately I live near a water park so I'm able to drive my dogs there, open the door, let the dogs swim, then I have to drive to the field and let them out for a run.  Not much exercise for me, but they are still fit and healthy LOL!

I've kept eating fairly healthily all of this time but the weight has piled on.  Hopefully with my phsio etc over the next few weeks I'll be back up on my feet soon and the weight will fall off, I can dream!

thats terrible! I have had back injuries before and they are horrible :( Hope your physio helps

me neither!had to laugh!

> What really urks me is the ones who DONT try and better themselves

Why? What difference does it make to your life if someone else is overweight? What right do you have to tell them to 'better themselves'?

People do all sorts of things that are bad for them, some smoke, some eat too much, some engage in dangerous sports - is this any business of yours?

I don't like people smoking in my presence, but there are strong medical facts that they could be harming my health by doing so. What harm is a fat person doing you? You can't die from passive obesity!

There was an article by one of the regular Scotsman columnists last week, she was talking about her friend (a famous person who happens to be obese) and how complete strangers berate him in public for it - I find it an incredibly sad reflection on modern society. You can bet that any fat people alive during the war were not subject to such attacks - people had more manners then.

i had a moan to my body builder son,about not being able to resist food,especially in the evenings,expecting a roasting,but he was quite sympathetic,as he has to diet down and his girlfriend struggles too.he said none of us have a particularly easy life,or posh cars,or money to burn,so who could blame people for relaxing with some nice food that gives you pleasure?its not a crime,there are worse things!i think he s right!

What harm is a fat person doing you?

I bet his is going to get to some people. But everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Well, not physical harm. I travel quite a bit across the pond and I really don't understand why I have to pay if my bag is 3 Kgs over weight, when someone who is obese doesn't have to pay for excess baggage? They are still allowed the same amount of baggage as everyone else, but out weigh most on the plane. So if I am fat I don't have to pay more? hummm

And the NHS is there to treat everyone. People who don't look after their health are at risk & are prone to more ailments. Taking up/wasting people's time and money. Which ends up making the health service crappier. That not only goes for obese people, smoking, binge drinking etc. I think they should have to pay a small monthly fee. The health system would benefit from it.

How is stating stats and facts about how society is getting bigger an attack on obese people? They do it to themselves. Way back when, being big was a sign of wealth. Money=food=big.