Over at Dawg Business, there’s a campaign this year to encourage people to have their dogs at a healthy weight, and she’s encouraging people to show their dogs’ waistlines and talk about why keeping your dog in shape is important. It’s something we take very seriously here, because we’ve seen first hand how dangerous canine obesity can be.
A lot of times people think it’s funny to comment about our Greyhounds and how thin they are. I also know that a lot of people are uncomfortable with Greyhounds being at a healthy weight, and I’ve seen a lot of Greyhounds that gained more than the recommended five pounds after their racing days are over. My husband’s grandmother fed Hawk, our second Greyhound, until he threw up all over her floor. However, I know what they are supposed to look like and what’s a healthy weight for them, and I generally ignore the people who think it’s their business to talk about my skinny dogs.
Before we had Lilac and Blueberry here, we had our first pair of Greyhounds, Treat and Hawk, and we fostered dogs straight off the track until a home was found for them. One afternoon I got a phone call about picking up a dog named Xena who had been surrendered by her owners. When I got to the emergency foster mom’s home to get her, I was stunned. She barely looked like a Greyhound. The poor girl literally looked like a stuffed sausage. It broke my heart. On top of that, for two days she’d been living with the emergency foster mom who had decided that she should only have one cup of food a day so she’d lose weight. I took the poor creature home with me and we began working on getting her back in shape.
Xena lived with us for a couple of months, and she was making great gains in her weight loss. We began feeding her the appropriate amount of food and only one treat at night before bedtime. There was no more feeding her while someone cooked in the kitchen or giving her a cookie every time the cookie jar was passed. She also started getting walks every day and going for runs at the baseball diamond on Saturday mornings. Slowly, she was getting back into shape.
I was beginning to really fall for her and starting to dream about her staying at our house. Then a couple came to meet her, and I knew they were perfect for her. They were retired, active and loved to travel. Xena would want for nothing. We let them take her for a little walk down the street and I saw her looking at them adoringly. They fell for her right away, and I’m not surprised. She was an extremely sweet girl. Most importantly, they were committed to helping her get the rest of the weight off.
A couple of months after they took her home, we got a phone call. She’d begun having terrible pain in her neck. She was prescribed crate rest and steroids to help her recover. It’s a testament to her adopters that she continued to lose weight during that time. Not only that, but they cancelled all their travel plans for the summer to get her the best treatment she could have. I was glad they’d adopted her, because we certainly weren’t in a position to get her the care that they were getting for her. She recovered and they kept up the work.
However, a bit later, health problems struck again. The excessive weight she’d carried had taken its toll. Complications arose and after a short stay at the University of Illinois Veterinary College, she passed away from a heart attack. Xena was only nine years old at the time. She’d only lived with her family for two years.
Xena’s story is always at the back of my mind, and we are careful about what our dogs eat. I’d rather have them a little on the lean side than overweight. I know that for a lot of people, food equals love, but sometimes you cross a line. Our dogs will never say “Oh no, really, I shouldn’t have that last cookie!” That’s where our responsibility as their caretakers comes in. Just like sometimes telling children “no” is a good thing, not giving in to puppy dog eyes can be the best thing for your dog. So please, show us all your dog’s waistline and tell us if your dog is currently working towards a healthy weight or why you keep them at the weight that you do.
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All of our dogs have been on the lean side and had nice waist lines. I wish it was as easy for me to maintain a slim waist line as it seems to be for our dogs
The right weight is very important. I hope others will see the wisdom in your words and your story. And to say no is love.
Blessings,
Goose
mum thinks you are so right. she is appalling at taking care of herself but red hot when it comes to me. I am just 2 kilos above my racing weight but certainly not too skinny. she thinks with all the strain my joints have been under when I was racing it’s really important that they are now not burdened with too much weight. Deccy x
Not fair! Henry’s bed head coat completely obscures his shape. Zachary once again gained weight this full, I swear overnight, and is back on fat dog food until he finds his waist again.
Good cautionary tale. One of my childhood dogs was an overweight lab who ended up with bad legs and maggoty paws. My parents eventually put him on a diet but it was already too late.
yeah I have conversations with people about Barbie’s weight all the time! I get a bit sick of it especially when their dogs have fat rolls above their tails. It is obscene sometimes.
Great post. Like you I have people suggestijg I am not feeding Polly enough (had it with So9ng as well).
Another factor to remember is if your dog has been spayed/castrated they require less food, otherwise they will gain weight.
What a sad story about Xena. A powerful warning about the dangers of allowing dogs to become overweight.
So sad for Xena’s owners – but she clearly had two wonderful years with them and they did all they could, as did you.
I know from personal experience that just two years or so with a wonderful greyhound is still worth the heartache when you have to say goodbye…. even if it is too soon.
For a lot of new greyhound adopters, especially ones with a single dog, it doesn’t occur to them that their dog is overweight until they come to a greyhound event or drop off at my house for the weekend, and get a side by side comparison. Poor Parker wonders why his treats are always smaller than the greys.
I think some of the problem/fault goes to the companies the produce the dog food! If I fed my dogs what they suggest my dogs would be so overweight. Now let me see if I can get them to settle down and sit while I get their waistline picture! Gracie has a lot of hair but Henri has a lovely waistline!
I have a close friend who had two doxies that had both gained weight till their bellies touched the floor. they begged for treats constantly and always got them…they’d conditioned my friend well…Sadly, this weight caused major health issues to the female and she recently passed, well before her time. My friend is now comitted to taking the weight off the male and though it’s difficult is having success through reduced feeding and increased exercise. It’s a lesson learned in the worst possible way. i hope that posts like this, and Jana’s year-long campaign can bring the message to those who need to hear it
This is a great post. It is really sad how many dogs that you see are overweight and just unhappy with carrying it around. Our guy is 150lbs and continuing to grow even after we changed his diet and increased his exercise. But then again, he is still a growing pup and comes from large (healthy large) stock.
I hope the tale of Xena brings to light the issues that an overweight dog can have.
What a heartbreaking story about Xena, but one that must be shared. Obesity kills and it should not be taken lightly.
Thanks for sharing her story:)
This is such a great post. Xena’s story is heart-breaking but makes a great cautionary tale.
None of the dogs of my childhood had weight issues. Of course, they were played with constantly and got their dinner and not much else aside from the occasional treat. My first dog as an adult was a big Lab and we did have to watch his weight as he aged. A typical Lab, he would eat everything and anything but we NEVER let him get fat.
I cringe at so many Labs I see today who are grossly overweight. I want to share your post with everyone of them to get them to understand the consequences of what they’re doing to their dog.
We know that a proper weight is so important for German Shepherds too because of their high risk of hip dysplasia. Bella has so much thick hair that it can be hard to tell what is body and what is hair, lol. We only see her real size after a bath.
However, we are adamant about not feeding her table scraps, and we try to reduce her dry food on training days when she gets a lot of cheese and treats. We also break most of her treats into small pieces when we use them for reward-based training. The funniest part? We once gave her a small bowl of beef broth after we cooked a stew, and she had the most disgusted look on her face as she lapped at it because she never gets something like that. Ha!
Great story to illustrate the emotions behind the negative side of overweight dogs. You know we whole heartedly believe in keeping Chester and Gretel (well, any dog really) at a healthy weight. I have gotten a couple comments like “what is wrong with them. They are so skinny” too. I explain that is what Dachshunds should look like. It just goes to prove that a lot of people just don’t know any better.
We have nice trim waistlines. And we agree, being chubby is not healthy
Benny & Lily
I feel so bad for poor Xena and the people who adopted her. Only two years to enjoy her company – I’m sure they were heartbroken. It’s a good reminder that, even if you help them get in shape later, carrying that extra weight really takes a toll on a dog’s body. It’s not fair to them to overfeed them to make ourselves feel better – and in the long run it may cause us to feel much, much worse. All your pooches are looking nice and healthy to me – good work!
Your pack is a perfect example of perfect when it comes to weight and such…and looks;)
Unfortunately doxies seem to be the worst breed in weight…I have never seen a brred with so many over weight dogs.
Believe me, these puppy dog eyes don’t work on mum. We only gets ONE treat a day too.
Puddles
Thank you so much for joining the campaign!
Dogs should not get sick. Never. Ever. Keeping them thin can at least assist with that, though, of course, it is not “cure all”.
Well, you all have lovely hour glass figures
I’ve always tried to keep my dogs lean, to help prevent arthritis.
Chewy RUNS! so much and so fast that I have a hard time keeping weight on him. I’d actually like to see him gain a pound or two, but I don’t see that happening until he’s 7 or 8 years old. I’ve heard that a lot of other high drive/compulsive spinning shelties have the same problem. He’s 90% fur, so no one thinks he’s skinny, but he’s a bean pole.
You make some extremely good points here and I’m sorry about Xena. At least the last couple years of her life were happy and healthy. We tend to over-treat here at my house. To counter act that, I only get the small treats, then break them into smaller pieces. So far my dog’s weight is kept steady because he’s so active. However we have an older cat whose weight has recently begun to grow. So, I’ve cut back her allotment of kibble a bit. Happy Thursday!
Mama watches my weight but has to fight with dadddy who gives me lots of treats. I have put on some winter weight but once spring has sprung we will get to work on that…can’t wait!!!!
~Ryker
My Vickie watches our weight faithfully. She knows how important it is for us. We loved yoru posts on this because Squeeze Cheese Larry would come visit us and everyone said that he must not be well cared for because he was so thin. But WE know he was a perfectly lovely Greyhound. He passed away a month ago and eh was like 13 years old.
He was a great dog. We are ramgling now…..
Stop writing My Vickie….stop
Its obvious that you take very well care of your pack! I too like to lean on the thin side vs thicker side when it comes to our dogs.
One of my fosters a couple of years ago was a bounce. She’s my one failed foster (out of 15 so that’s not too bad). Anyway, she was terribly overweight. She looked like a snausage. I have had her 2 years now and she has lost 9 lbs. She’s 9 years old and looks great. You can tell she feels great too. She is playful and runs around like a youngster.
I am fanatical about measuring out and weighing my dogs’ food. None of them are overweight. I like mine a little on the lean side because we do so many dog sports. So it’s much better for their joints and overall health for them to be leaner. I bought a dog scale so I could keep up with their weight at home between vet visits. Too bad I’m not very good about for myself.
I’m not very good about being policitally correct when I am talking with a dog owner whose dog is overweight. It just slips right out of mouth. I try not to just say, your dog is fat. I do TRY to say your dog is overweight or needs to loose some weight.
Your dogs weight looks perfect. I am very obsessed with keeping my dogs weight a tad under if anything. Too many broad back Cavaliers exist and with MVD in this breed, diligence to keep their weight down is imperative. Sad story on Xena but she was loved and lived a happy life for those 2 years I am sure.
What an important post. Food as love is a dangerous thing…both for humans and our pets.
I’m catching up, and your posts are so good that I have to comment on all of them! We are always getting comments about how thin our Labs are… that they don’t look healthy. Well, I’m with you. We keep them lean on purpose. The only downside that we’ve ever run into is that they don’t have a lot of reserve fat if they get sick. But, like you, I’ll take that risk if they can be healthier for their whole lives from staying fit. Great post – but it’s so sad about Xena.
Your dogs all look great. Diet is so important for us all!