I have just come back from a long walk with Breeze and I have a bad back and a broken toe, but still took her out.

There was an elderly woman with two walking sticks as she can hardly walk and a Rottie by her side. The dog is 5 years old and really overweight,  :rolleyes: and I mean really overweight, but its hardly surprising seeing that her owner can't really give this dog the exercise its needs. As we walked off I thought about offering to take her dog round the woods with us so that she could have a really nice walk, but she was already starting to get back in her car. I am sure that this woman is a good owner, but if that was me, I would get someone to help me walk my dog.

Breeze hasn't started to fill out yet and I never want her to get that fat. We walk her twice a day for about 40 mins in the morning where we also do some training on our walk  and approx 40 mins to 1 hour in the evening. When we decided to get a Rottie, we read up on how much exercise they need.

I just wanted to let you know that made me a little sad for this dog.

I met a lady with two grossly obese cavs on one of our walks a few months ago I haven't seen her for a while which makes me think her vet was right that they wouldn't make it till christmas my groomer said there are worse things than being fed to death but looking at my 2 cavs they are so happy bouncing around it seems a shame to cut there life short like that especially when there are people out there who will walk your dog for you if you are unable.  Having lost a cav this year I feel strongly that you do not get enough time with your dogs so why cut it shorter

Maybe this lady and others in her position might be interested to hear about the Cinnamon Trust http://www.cinnamon.org.uk/home.html.

To be honest I very much doubt the lack of exercise is the main culprit here -overfeeding is. My MIL had a cavalier twice the weight he should be (and yes he died) and it made no difference whatsoever when the next door neighbours started to take him out for regular wood walks for hours. Because he was still fed too much. In fact he still gained a lot of weight despite the exercise.

That is a possiblitity, but she admitted that her dog was fat. I asked her when her girl started to fill out out of curiosity and during the conversation she told me that the dog does not eat much. Maybe its a combination of both too much food and not enough exercise.

Remember neutering can also have a hand in dogs putting on weight, some dogs need their food intake practically halving to make up for the change in the body. If that is not done along with a little extra exercise it is easy for them to soon pile the pounds on, it is a worry I will be having soon, having seen other bitches pile on the pounds, I know it does not happen to all but some dogs and bitches are quite prone.

But, some dogs are just not exercised enough, my in-laws dog was one of them, he was supposed to be a JR and had the body of a Bulldog, he was horrendous no amount of vets advice would stop my in-law from feeding the dog our human food and treats, I was amazed he lived to be 10 years old, he could not even jump up he was so fat, I totally refused them any of my future pups after seeing what they did to their own dog, caused quite a ruckous, but some people will not learn that dogs food is not pizza, bread, chips and cake!!! :-(

I have a lab aged 9 yrs who i asked about on here the other week and if people saw her they would say she is over fed and grossly overweight. She weighs 41 kgs. After advice on here i had a blood test done and she is now on medication for her thyroid and is losing weight.
There could be an underlying medical problem for this dogs weight and as someone else said spaying can be a problem.

Please don't be over critical though I suspect lack of exercise might be the main contributor in the case you mention.  I have an extremely overweight dachsie.  Her food is closely monitored and she exercises regularly - walks and a lot of playing as the dogs have almost a whole room to themselves in the rear of our living room as well as the garden and a dog flap.  But we just can't get the weight off of her - in fact under the vet she still put on weight and as a pup she and her litter sister were very chubby (a bit more than just puppy fat) but we just thought the breeder had overfed them as they were both the same.  Our middle dachsie is underweight - and no they don't swap dinners as the weighty one is fed in the crate.  Only our youngest seems to manage to maintain his weight.  Tara has seen a different vet since we moved and had bloods but we are all extremely mystified.  Also tried several different weight reduction foods - both vet and pet centre recommended.

i have to admit my rottie is on the 'chunky' side
however although i monitor his diet carefully & he has no treats apart from at training when he only gets a few crab sticks & hot dog slices(low fat :P), but because of his orthopaedic probelms his exercise is limited & he often ahs to have long periods of lead walks only, which means he is not burning off the calories, he does go hydrotherapy & works on the underwater treadmill twice a week as low impact exercise.
i know they are a breed which is predisposed to weight gain & i am trying my damndest not to let him get fat!
my vet is happy with his weight , but says we need to watch to ensure he doesnt gain, he has a waist & a 'tuck up' but is more hefty thatn i would like so i can see how easy it would be for a rottie to get fat.
my other dog eats far far more, hasthe same exercise (if not a bit less) but is very lean.i am in a bit of a catch 22- i know being big doesnt help his orthopaedic problems (He is a naturally very big rottie anyway- 55 kg at the last weigh in & is taller than any other rott we have ever met) But because of all his problems he doesnt get the exercise i know he ideally needs:(