People are always telling me that my lab looks too skinny. He was the runt of the litter and weighs about 63 lbs, but we never feed him scraps. He's seen 2 vets that have said he's perfect, but I'm getting sick of receiving dirty looks from people who look at me as if I'm starving him (it's usually from owners of big, barrel-looking, obviously obese labs). How much should a small-frame lab weigh? He's always hungry, but even the owners of the fat labs say that theirs are always hungry too.

if hes always hungry and looks lean enough that youre getting looks!!! it might pay you to give him a bit more with his meals --are his wormers up to date ?

Trust the vets! Obesity is the most common health problem in UK dogs, so most people never see a dog of a healthy weight! And being on the lean side will delay or prevent joint problems. Worm him with Drontal plus every 3 months, and I'm sure he'll be fine.

You should be able to fairly easily feel his ribs when you run a hand along his side, and there should be a distinct "waist" between his ribcage and his hips when you look down on him. If you can SEE his ribs when he's standing, he's too thin.

All my dogs have been permanently hungry! If allowed, one would eat a full bowl of food, go out, throw up and come back to start again! As a rule, labs like their food, so don't go by his appetite. If you do that, you'll end with the more common wobbly lardball!

Try and find someone who does Field or Working trials with their Labs and see how they compare to yours, I know of two beautiful looking WT labs who can go over a 6' scale without hesitating, most of the show labs I have seen would probably have difficulties getting over 3' :)

Christine

I wouldn't worry if he is happy and healthy !

You are right though there are a lot of over weight Labs out there and ALL Labs are always hungry ! If your Lab turns its nose up at food you know there is something wrong !!

I must admit during the winter I tend to feed a little more than normal but then when spring comes I put them on rations to shed the winter puppy fat so they can fit in their bikini's for there summer hols ! :D !

Lucy

If you really want to put a few pounds on him, try some whole minced lamb breast. The butcher will mince them fine for you- bones and all, at the end of the working day. Very cheap and effective for weight gain. They often dont like it at first if they are not used to raw meat, just give a tablespoon for a few days till he gets used to it, then perhaps a couple a day, along with his usual diet. I agree with others though that most of the labs you see are overweight. As long as you can feel his ribs easily and he can swing his front legs like a pendulum, without meeting a fat lump behind the elbow and moving wide in front then I expect he is fine and not putting on too much weight.

To give you some sort of comparison, "The Flower", who is a very big lady, standing 3 inches over breed standard in height is also a big boned dog. I always reckon her working weigh is around 71lbs. During the closed season her weight tends to balloon to around 77/79lbs and to me, at this time she is positively fat and ends up on a diet! A small boned dog could easily be down to 63lbs and to a working person would be absolutely ideal!

Jeangenie has given you good guidelines to go by. To me, I want to be able to feel the ribs, blurred through the flesh. If they are hard edged then I would want a bit more covering, if I could not easily feel them then I would figure it was too fat.

Regards, John