Hi everyone. I'm getting a little worried about Harvey's weight - I wouldn't say that he is super fat but he's gaining a round tummy. He's a CKCS weighing around 7.2kg but he is a small example of the breed. He was neutered back in June and since then, he has such an appetite. I have been feeding him 40g Arden Grange lamb with rice in the morning and 20g Arden Grange with half a pack of Natures Menu mixed in for his evening meal. The feeding guides for Arden Grange are: dog weight 5-10kg to be fed between 123 - 185g per day and Natures menu's guides are dog weight 5-10kg to be fed 1 pack per day. He has 1 good walk a day which mainly consists of him bombing around the park off lead. I just wondered if anyone could advise me whether I am feeding too much.

Thanks

Hayley

The vets I work for tend to ignore numerical weights, but go by appearance. When you stroke his sides can you feel his ribs without too much difficulty? If there's no fat over them, a dog's too thin. If you need to push hard to feel the ribs below a layer of fat, the dog's overweight and should be fed less; in this situation cutting the total food quantity by a quarter to a third would be a good start. Castration is notorious for encouraging weight gain, and castrated dogs generally need much less food (about a half) than an entire dog.

My JD looks so small when he is in the ring yet weighs in at the correct weight of 7 kgs He's been 7 kgs for most of his life & hasn't an ounce(or should that be a gram LOLOLOLOL)of fat on him, he is in really "hard"conditopn as he exercises with my BC & was described by one of our vets as the most well muscled Cavalier she had ever seen(& she's seen 100's over the years), he can fit through a small cat catflap !

Thanks for your fast replies.......Hmmm I had to dig deep to find those ribs JG, no seriously I can feel them but I do have to apply a bit of pressure - I think he really does need to lose a little. Its easy to forget about the 'extras' that we feed isn't it, I'm here harping on about the daily amounts that I feed him but I forget about the little bits of cheese that I may give to him when making a sandwich or the bits of gingerbread men that my little boy insists on saving for Harvey....Its that little face that looks up at me as if to say 'please give me some - I'm starving' - all that needs to stop NOW! He adores cherry tomatoes and carrot so I will start giving these as little treats instead.

I have found once neutered the sad fact is they need less yet are always hungry.

Mine at 20kg only get 200g of Arden Grange and precious little else.  the spayed girl gets about 170g.

> he can fit through a small cat catflap !

LOL

Our fully grown (upwards but not quite outwards) 11 month setter puppy could up to a couple of months ago get though a standard cat flap, untill she got stuck and took it though with her, she can still, when I last spoke to parents, get though the hole!

We don't have cat flaps anymore. We have cat holes after our IW stuck his big head through them and came away wearing them as necklaces! :)

Well he needs a new catflap as Abbie,our late GSD)broke this one & it's only just hanging in there. LOL thinking of getting him a posh automatic one for Xmas-not that I spoil the dogs of course :) :D ;)