my staffy is 26 inch's high and weighs 38kg (6 stone) i thought he was just an average sized dog until someone pointed out that he is too big and that i should put him on a diet, he is muscular but not fat he has a defined waist and a large chest......i'm really interestd in what other people think is my dog overweight and if he is what can i do to help him loose a few of his extra pounds.

Are you sure that youve measured his height correctly, the standard for a staff is 14- 16 inch, so 26 is the size of a labrador !!Maybe  he is a cross, his height relating to his weight sounds fine and if he has a waist then i wouldnt worry.

The height for labradors from the breed standard is
Size Ideal height at withers: dogs: 56-57 cms (22-221/2 ins); bitches: 55-56 cms (211/2-22 ins).

& for a SBT

Size Desirable height at withers 36-41 cms (14 to 16 ins), these heights being related to the weights. Weight: dogs: 13-17 kgs (28-38 lbs); bitches 11-15.4 kgs.

26 inches is the top size for a male GSD

I would say your dog is definately a cross breed....the chances of him reaching twice the standardheight and being pedigree are very very remote IMO.Dogs do grow taller than their breed standard but not by that much
Archer

i guessed his height, i've re-mesured and he's 20 inch. he's not a cross as i have all his papers ans have him registered with the kennel club.

20'' although way above breed standard is not unheard of.
Archer

i can send a pic...you can tell he is 100% staff and he's big!

i would like to see a pic of him
bobbie3917@aol.com

i will have to scan one but as soon as i do i'l send you one. probably be tomorrow as most of the good pics of him are on my phone.

"20 inch is still very tall for a staff, Where did you get him from, what kind of dogs are in his pedigree etc.

Can I ask where you are measuring him too? Are you going from the floor to the top of his head or the top of his shoulder?

Karen

i would like to see a picture of him too thats extremely tall for a stafford !!!

Thats a good point Kazz , the weight still seems an awful lot, my boy is 19 kg at 15 inch and hes a stocky lad !!

I was thinking they must be measuring to top of head. My husky is 21 in hard to believe a staffy is only an inch shorter.

yeah the weight is well out as my boy is 25 KG and 17" he is not at all fat but that is still well out

i'm measuring him to his withers as with a horse. when i figure out how to post a pic i will. i can't get a good one of him standing though as he won't stand still long enough....anyone who wants pic please email me at sarah_howe@hotmail.co.uk and i'l send you a couple...as it now appears he is overweight any idea what i should feed him, i don't want to cut his food down too much.

What are you feeding him, and how much? (Don't forget to include any treats you give him ;) )

Remember, the breed standard for the staffy says that males should be 12.5 - 17 kg.

17kg does seem a little small, that would mean he would have to loose half his body weight. he has minced chicken in an evening, scrambled eggs for breakfast and always has dried food down, he does not have many treats but he does love mashed potatoes on a sun.

How much of all that does he get? How many eggs, and are they scrambled with butter? How much minced chicken? And what dried food, and what quantity?

Probably the best thing you could do is to look on the packet of whatever dried food you give him, work out the quantity needed for a 20 kg dog, and only give him that per day. Personally I wouldn't leave it down all day, but rather divide it into two and give him half for breakfast and half for supper. And either drop the scrambled egg and chicken, or give him less of the dried food to compensate for it.

He gets 1/2ib of minced chicken a diced carrott an occasionaly has pasta mixed with it. he gets 2 eggs scrambled with 1/2 soya milk 1/2 water no butter, dried food is pedigree complete for working dogs as he is out most of the day and he usually has a mug sized serving in his bowl that lasts him all day.

I suggest you cut out the egg and pasta completely.Feed him twice a day...1/2 his dry feed and a small amount of chicken each time.
My dogs get approx 3/4 lb of fresh meat a day ONLY ....no mixer or complete and maybe 1 or 2 small treats EACH WEEK.They are a medium sized breed who should be 21'' high and approx 20-23 Kg in weight.
Archer

your staffy is heaveir then my large stocky setter male and as tall as my girlies!

He's much heavier than my dalmatians too! (My biggest one is 24" at the shoulder and weighs 26kg.) But then, he's eating more than them ...

LOOKS LIKE MY BOY WILL HAVE TO DIET THEN

I think so too. It'll give him extra years of life, as obesity is a major cause of premature death in dogs as well as people.

i did'nt realise he was overweight until i read something on here about the average weight being 17kg, my vet has never siad his weight was an issue.

Does he look overweight to you?  I would like to see photos of him too.

Even bulldogs (notoriously 'stocky') are only meant to be about 25kg ...

Look I am not meaning to be funny here but are you sure you have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. I have seen staffs at 17-18" but any much larger than that have all been crosses.

What dogs are in his pedigree?

Karen

hi all i have seen a pic of the said dog and yes he is a stafford and a nice 1 at that.  from the pic i would say he was about 15" if that as he looks shorter than my bitch Tara and she is 15"
he does look a little on the large side but not to fat

Perhaps his owner's getting kilos and pounds mixed up? I've seen a three-stone cocker spaniel and she was massive! :( A six-stone staffy must be spherical.

Hi I too have just seen a picture and I agree he is all Staff and a nice one too. But he is a little over weight but he is not I would say as tall as his owner believes. He could do with loosing a little weight but there again couldn't we all ;)
And he has a great name and looks very much loved.
Karen

How much excercise does he get? road walking ie on lead at a controlled pace is perfect for Staffs. And I would as Archer suggested cut out pasta egg etc, it will make a major  difference to his life. Either go for dried food or fresh my two Staffs get 1/2lb raw meat (fresh beef) each a day with a handful of biscuit or they have chicken and brown bread.  My older bitch gets twice the ammount of biscuit with her meal as the pup does because she does twice the ammount of excercise but the pup is gradualy increasing her excercise now she is 9 months old.

Karen

he spends most of his days lounging around at home but we go for an hour long walk in an evening and 1/2 hour in a morning before i goto work.

In that case either quicken the pace so he is breathing "harder than he does now" or try something different such as chasing a ball up and down a hill or walking up a hill on lead. If he is comfortable with his excercise then he is not getting much out of it by the seems of it. Variation is the key then and try cutting his food slightly. Replace treats with fruit bit of apple or similar. Or weigh his dry food and take 1/8th away and keep that for treats so it is counted in his daily allwance.

Karen

Just like us, he needs to get out of breath at least once every day. If he's not panting at some stage during his walk, I'd speed it up a bit.
:)

JG you have said in two lines what I couldn't say in 22 (approx)

Karen

Hi, Sarah i have seen the pic, id bet money he is around 15 inch, it was hard to tell if he was overweight, but if you definatly weighed him properly then he is obese !!

Sarah x

Sarah
to measure him get hiim to stand against a door frame.Sit on the floor next to him so you are level with him and use a felt tip pen(which will wash off) to mark his height onto the door post.Hold the pen so it is horizontal and just ret it lightly on his shoulder .
Then take a tape measure and measure the distance from the floor to the mark you have made.
I will send you a mail...I would LOVE to see apiccy of your boy
Archer

Sarah, I wonder if he's been accurately weighed? To weigh him, pick him up, stand on the scales with him and make a note of the total weight. Next, put him on the floor and weigh yourself. Then subtract your weight from the weight of you holding him. Do you get a different result?

i will weigh us both tonight and post the result tomorrow....i must admit i think i must have got it wrong somewhere as my niece is 2an 1/2 stone- he is heavier than her but i doubt by 3 an 1/2 stone.

right the results are in.

He's 16 1/2 inch tall and he weight 30kg. i weighed him twice and both times i got the same weight so i'm 99% certain this is correct, we went out for almost 2 hours last night had o lovely long walk i think it did him the world of good. thanks for all your great advice. x

Wow, what a difference, an instant 8kg loss! :D  Must be a bit of a relief for you, less for him to lose!  In addition to what the others have suggested, I would suggest taking him off the Pedigree Performance.  From what you've described, he's not active enough to constitute being fed a working dogs food which has extra fat and protein added to it to keep working dogs in good condition and if ihe's not burning it off, it will more than likely just be contributing to his weight issue.  If you're happy that he's doing well on the Pedigree, introduce him to one of the ordinary varieties (or the weight maintenence one ;) ) and keep up with the increased exercise and you should notice a difference in him. :)