When I brought my pugs Frank & Beans home last summer, I didn’t think about their weight for a while. 3 days in, I noticed they weren’t eating or going to the bathroom so we went to the vet. The vet explained that they weren’t eating because of anxiety from the move, and that was causing the potty problems. He also threw in “they could stand to lose a few pounds” and said that their round bellies and sides meant they were too heavy. I didn’t know much at all about dog weight loss, or how to assist an overweight dog with getting to a healthy weight. I decided to do as my vet suggested and give them time to settle into our home before making any big changes.
If you are concerned that your pet might not be at their perfect weight, ask your vet. They will be able to let you know if your pet is truly overweight. I had many well meaning pet owners tell me that my dogs were both at a great weight but my vet says they could lose a couple of pounds each to be at their perfect weight. Many pet owners just don’t realize that their pets are actually overweight, but 50% of pets are overweight according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. Even being a few pounds overweight can be a problem, especially for smaller pets. According to the Pet Weight To Human Weight Calculator, a boston terrier that is 3lbs overweight, is the same as an adult human being 19.7lbs overweight!
I am the perfect size for this box! Does that count as being the perfect weight?
If your dog is overweight, don’t just let it go, but don’t fret too much. There are several steps that you can take to help your dog find its perfect weight.
Get active with your dogs. My pugs don’t handle heat well, so we go for walks late at night or in the early mornings during warm weather to avoid the heat.
Look into a high quality food aimed for overweight pets. Hill’s® Science Diet® Adult Perfect Weight dog food is designed with a blend of natural ingredients that help pets burn calories, even if they aren’t particularly active. More than 70% of pets lose weight within 10 weeks when put on this kibble.
Avoid too many table-scraps. This cool treats translator puts human food scraps into calorie/size perspective for dogs. I was still surprised at how quickly the human food adds up for dogs!
Make “losing” feel more like “winning”. Hill’s has introduced the 10 Week Turnaround program that encourages pet owners to feed their dogs Hill’s® Science Diet® Perfect Weight food for 10 weeks. Share your success over the 10 week period, and you’ll be entered to win the bi-weekly prizes as well as a grand prize (of a years worth of cat or dog food!).
This post is sponsored by Hill’s and the Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s Science Diet Perfect Weight Food, but Emily Reviews only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.
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Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
This post currently has 11 responses.
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Emily
Awe I am sorry to hear that. With my two pugs I am always comparing and contrasting them. They aren’t related but have lived together since one was just a couple of months old and the other was a year and they are 9 and 10 now so roughly 9 years. They are very different in a lot of ways. My heavier one stands about an inch taller and has a longer back length than the smaller one so although he weighs about 3-4lbs more than the other I assume part of it is natural because he is also taller and longer even though its only by a little bit. Its hard to tell what is genetic and what isn’t, I guess. I just ask the vet because I figure he is the best person to tell me if they are at a healthy weight or not.
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since i have pugs too, i know that it can be a little tough to keep them at a healthy weight. i watch what i feed them, limit table scraps and make sure they get some exercise too.
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The pugs were my first dogs that I got as an adult. As a kid my mom had a variety of dogs at different times and they would of course clearly show that they wanted food if it was meat or something with a lot of scent to it. So I am still surprised sometimes at the strange foods that my dogs are interested in. Of course, we don’t let them have any but even things like crackers, cake, store bought bread, soup, etc. Things that have little to no smell and are so far from meat-y. Silly pugs.
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Hello cute little dogs!! I love their names by the way. That’s a super cool and valuable tool _ especially the treat calculator. Love that idea.
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My sister has two dogs that are sisters and one is overweight and one isn’t. I’m sure you can figure out which one is the naughty food stealer.
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Alaina Bullock
Thanks for the information! Our cat seems to be getting a bit on the plump side, so I guess I’d better check into feeding her a better diet!
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Asking your vet doesn’t always work unfortunately. Many vets are afraid of offending (and losing) their clients by telling the human their dog or cat needs to lose weight. You really need to do the rib test (http://www.doghealth.com/nutrition/hands-on-guide-to-checking-if-your-dog-is-at-a-good-weight) and be honest about it. If you can’t easily feel your dog’s ribs, then he needs to lose weight.
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I know people with very overweight dogs who are aware and basically just aren’t willing to do anything about it. So I completely see how for some vets it isn’t in their financial best interest to tell all pet owners with overweight pets that their pet is overweight if they come in for something else. But it would seem to me that if a pet owner came in and specifically asked “is my dog at a healthy weight?” then they would be the type of pet owner who does care and wants an honest answer, i’d be shocked to see your average vet lie in that situation. I’d be switching to a new office fast if I thought my vet would withhold the truth from me at all. Sadly, I’m sure there are pet owners who assume that if the vet doesn’t nag them about their pets weight that they are OK which is definitely not the case. Thanks for sharing the link, that’s a great resource.
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I had 2 bichon frises since pups and they were brothers. One was always a little bigger boned but he got fat compared to his brother. I never had a fat animal before. He did exactly the same thing as his brother so I think it is in the genes. He was just different. He died 4 months ago from cancer and I am not sure where it happened so fast and then gone so fast. They are 12 years old now. I think it is just like people.