Obesity in Dogs, Cause and Prevention.

A dog which is the ideal weight will have a slightly tucked stomach area so that you can see where the ribs end and the abdomen begins. There should only be a slight covering of fat over the ribs so that they can easily be felt but do not show through the skin. The dog should feel muscular and fit.

Obviously this is easier and more pronounced with some breeds, you can clearly see if a Boxer dog is over weight but Rough collies have so much fur it's hard to see where one part of them starts and the other ends. With very fluffy dogs you have to rely on the ideal weight for the breed and by feeling at the body. If you can get hold of any fat then the dog is over weight. 

Prevention: Cut down on calories. Just the same as for people, dogs put on fat when they consume more calories than they use. Do not feed your dog any type of junk food, neither that which is meant for humans nor that for dogs. When you want to give your dog a treat or training treats use pure foods such as chopped ham, chicken or small pieces of cheese. Not burgers, pizza or packets of crisps. For one thing its very hard to regulate how much you are giving dogs when you feed them this type of food - a Labrador will wolf down a slice of pizza just as quickly as a piece of ham - and it teaches them that human food is better than dog food. This will lead to begging, which will tempt you to give them more treats because the dog looks 'sad' and a vicious cycle starts.

Make sure your breed of dog is getting the right amount of exercise to burn up those calories before they become fat. Many dogs are lazy by nature and wont run just to keep fit, so when you let them into the garden by themselves they will likely plod about then come back in again. On the other hand if you go out as well and play with them then they will happily run around having fun.      

Treatment: Gradually remove all unhealthy food from the dogs diet and stick to dog food, your dog wont miss human food and even if he refuses to eat dog food for a couple of days when he gets hungry enough he will eat anything. Follow the guidelines of your particular dog food to see how much it recommends you feed and stick to this rigidly.  

Obese dogs should never be put on to a strenuous exercise regime straight off. As this can damage joints and over exert the muscles. Build up the exercise gently and watch for any signs of difficulty breathing or over heating.