Had another comment on my Goldens weight again last night and I'm getting a bit fed up with it.  She's 15 months old and weighs about 26kg, I keep getting comments about how thin she is!!! She is just about the perfect weight for her build and age, she is full of energy and will run and run if given the chance. 

The woman who made the comment last night had a 4 year old Golden who weighed apparently around 50Kg and was waddling along while mine was running up and down through the undergrowth having a great time.  I keep seeing these very overweight Goldens and Labs.  It seems that a lot of the owners round where I live just have no idea what a dog should look like and how it should behave (in the running around sense).  Perhaps vets etc should start running a campaign on this issue.

I get that also where I live there are to many obese Dogs where we live.Rolo is 30 kg and tall and thin ,in my opinion just right and like you say can run around with no problems.
Gill

I'd just say to them that actually my dog is the correct, fit and healthy weight and that theirs are overweight :d :d

Goldens won't usually fill out until fully mature anyway, which can take 3 years. My last bitch weighed 27 all her life and she wasn't skinny but just right. :) 50 kgs is just SICK, she wants reporting to the RSPCA......

I know it was 50kg because she told me the dog was on a diet (after a visit to the vets) and had so far lost 7kg!  I suppose at least she was trying to get the dog back in shape.  What I don't understand is why the dogs are allowed to get that big, this one is so big it can no longer run, it was fairly extreme.  What gets me is the number of Goldens and Labs you see that are still young but no longer run around and play because of their size.  People seem to think it's normal.

I did meet a woman with two Goldens last week who both looked fit and healthy, one played with my dog for a bit, it was quite a bit slower than mine but that was because she was 11 years old, so there are some people who look after their dogs.

You at least have the satisfaction of knowing your dog is in good condition and healthy.  I hate to see grossly overweight dogs plodding around.  Some owners do simply kill their dogs with kindness, ie overfeeding and too many treats. :(

Owners with fat pets most of it is down to pure ignorance!

I'm not so sure Poohbear - they must realise that their dogs are very overweight and it isn't hard to make the connection between overeating and weight gain.  Most dogs are just like most of us in that respect! :)

With one exception tho Annie - they don't have the keys to the cupboard and they don't buy the food :D :D

wish someone would 'rescue' me from the cupboard :D :D :D - nasty nasty naughty cupboard !!

Yep wish someone would mange my intake the way I do my girls :D  I can do the loose weight thing about every 10 years, just can't seem to keep it off for more than a year or so. :(

Somewhere along the way we (meaning society) have equated food with love.  Not to mention the hundreds of ways supermarkets and food companies try to tempt us -- and mostly succeed.    If you love your pet - you feed it, a lot and probably a lot of junk too. 

I am constantly arguing with my *skinny* husband to stop giving the dogs so much extra food.  They are Cairns - otherwise known as the labs of the terrier world when it comes to appetite.    The weight on my dogs is good (okay, one could shed about 1/2 kg) - but it's because I have had to cut down a lot on their regular meals.   My husband cannot walk the dogs or play with them because he has breathing problems - so for him giving them treats is important.  At least what he gives them is not junk. 

Sadly - I must love myself a lot! 

whenever i visit my mum she gives me loads of food and its all the sort of stuff i wouldnt buy myself as i dont want the temptation(i wish she would give me the money instead) but the point is its her way of showing me affection and thats whats happening with these overfed dogs.

Oh lord I must be the most self loving creature ever :rolleyes:

lol @ Brainless :D

I sympathise with the human weight thing.

When I was in school [many moons ago]a friend had a Cocker Spaniel bitch who was that fat her back was flat you could have eaten your meal off it, she was the same age as our own Cocker at the time but looked ancient and could hardly walk,we would take both dogs out for a walk together but I had to go to her house first because the dog couldn't manage it to our house without colapsing, she died at 8yrs old and ours at 13yrs. My Mum was really angry at how they had let her get.

I have had a cocker of my own since and was determined he would never end up that way and he never did in his 161/2 yrs.

Yep wish someone would mange my intake the way I do my girls :-D

Oh me too. My dogs are never overweight, but me myself......the less said the better!

:D  My dogs eat much more healthily than I do as well :D

having "inherited" an obese cocker spaniel and struggled without very much success to get the extra weight off him for the next 4 years, I'd never, ever, let a dog of mine get overweight. The irony being that people are literally killing their dogs with their so-called "kindness" when they allow them to get fat.

I'm lucky enough to have a dog who isn't particularly food orientated (the OH reckons the dog takes after me!!) and whilst he's got a healthy appetite for his meals, he's never been indulged with unhealthy titbits and, to be honest, he's not displaying any signs of deprivation as a result.

However, I'm always amazed at the number of people who make such ill-informed and rude comments about other people's dogs especially when they're trailing a 4-legged barrel of lard on a lead themselves. I can't say I've ever suffered from similar disparaging remarks but maybe I just have an unapproachable sort of look! ;)

As you say roz, it can be incredibly hard to shift a dog's extra weight, especially as they aren't too keen to exercise.  Very sad. :(

My mum also over-feeds everyone.  My bro and I were always bought sweets everyday and my mum would always overload our plates. My dad and I were always overweight and my dad developed Diabetes about 18 years ago.  When my kids were small my mum always brought them sweets and I would put them in the cupboard and eat them myself because I have a sweet tooth and also didn't want my kids to develop the same.  My OH is very trim and happily my children have grown up the same.  I haven't changed and am still overweight.  My mum and dad were over yesterday and with no little kids to treat my mum brought leftover meat and sweet biscuits for the dog.  I told her she is doing the dog no favours and especially not her teeth so she only gave her the one.  Thank goodness this only happens once in a while, I dread to think what the dog would look like if she lived with my mum.

BTW my mum is about size 10 and is still very active.  When you are overweight exercise is hardwork and not enjoyable.

My Mum and Dad are always giving me big bars of chocolate and if I protest say "haven't you got any willpower?" - cruel Mum and Dad!!! :D :D

hi
i know how annoying this is- i have had people stop their cars to tell me that my dog is too skinny & i should feed her properly!!
how rude are some people- i would never dream of telling someone with areally fat dog that their dog is overweight & they should put it on a diet
she is/ & always has been a very fit & active dog, & as such is very lean.
i think as you say the preoblem is that we see far too many overweight dogs nowadays & people accept the overweight ones as the norm
i have even had people tell me that retreivers are supposed to be 'chunky' :rolleyes: when i have explained that ALL dogs no matter what breed should have a waist.
at the end of the day, you know that you are in the right & have a happy healthy dog.
my girl is know 9 & very active (she is a dane) despite health problems & i truly think that if she was an overweight dog i would have lost her to these problems years ago.
ignore these silly people

Our previous girl was very slim due to being a poorly girl (only lived until 18months).

One day the next door neighbours friend knocked on and asked to speak to OH.

Conversation went something like...... by the way are you feeding xxxx properly only me and neighbour are concerned that she is very thin. OH kept calm (I couldn't have) and said something like yes we feed her the right amount and if she will eat more we give her more but you are aware she is poorly and doesn't always eat alot.

Now we have two dogs the lab is slightly overweight so we are trying to get her to loose some. How overweight is 29.7kg for a lab?
The retriever is the opposite she is very slim and we have seen the second glance's of the odd person or two.

One of the vets at the practice where I work says that measurable weight is immaterial; it's the build of the individual dog that's important. If you can feel but not see your dog's ribs, if she has a tuck-up underneath, and a waist between ribs and hips when looking down on her, then she's about right.

i have had people stop their cars to tell me that my dog is too skinny & i should feed her properly!!

aagh!!!!   Unbelievable!!!!   lol.... wow.... I think you win the 'meeter of rudest people contest'!

She's 15 months old and weighs about 26kg, I keep getting comments about how thin she is!!!
Funny you mention this!  I was always told my last dog was too thin..the vet said he was perfect!  People are just too used to seeing very far dogs! 

But this week I was told my 16 month old Aussie is way too thin. He is actually too thin.. we were told if we show him the judge will mark him down for this... which is true ...but I think he would get marked down more for being silly and just mucking around!  :rolleyes:

I whish I was too thin. :(

My youngest boy looks thin but he's the heaviest of all my dogs, think it may be his long legs though as they are about twice the length that they should be :d  He's actually just tipping the top of my breeds weight although he looks as though he should be tipping the lowest part.

I'm the same though, everybody says to me that I'm skinny and that I must be about a size 8.  I'm almost 11 stone and I'm a size 14 !!

I'm the same though, everybody says to me that I'm skinny and that I must be about a size 8.  I'm almost 11 stone and I'm a size 14 !!

..that's sooooo unfair!!!!  ...I've crept up to  almost 11 stone ..but no one ever says I'm skinny!  

:d :d  I'm quite tall though and the fat must be evenly proportioned!!!!