Does This Weight Make Me Look Fat?

[Guest cocomom]

Hi all

 

I am reaching out for some help on deciding a good weight for Coco. Her racing weight was 64, her weight at the time of spay (done by adoption group) was 67, her weight with hook worms was 61, and her weight today is 70. How do I know what weight is right?

 

Coco had a bad case of hookworms shortly after her gotcha date, and it took weeks to get resolved in that time she dropped to 61. After a lot of rounds of Panacur, she started gaining weight and is now at 70 pounds. I am concerned that it may have been too much of a good thing and that she needs to lose a couple or more pounds ( I also live in a 3rd floor walk up so I am mindful of the strain on her joints). but she sort of looks like she is at her pre-adoption weight. Thoughts?

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GUIDANCE!!!

 

Below are some pictures of Coco at different stages.

 

Adoption group pre-gotcha picture

 

 

After Gotcha day with hookworms

 

Today

[Houndmommy03]

No advice but wanted to say she is a beautiful hound.

[cometdust1]

She is a beautiful girl. I think the 67lb pic looks like the best weight for her.

[krissy]

Hard to tell in that last photo... angle and lighting aren't the best but I think she looks gorgeous in the first picture. That's where I would want her, personally. If you think she looks heavier now (more coverage over the ribs) then I would get her back down to the 67. She's probably okay at 70, but it is a hard picture to tell and I admittedly like to keep my hounds on the leaner side of normal.

[Guest RMarie]

What Krissy said.

 

We had a very similar situation with James, though his weight drop was due to the wrong food and not worms. He raced around 70, dropped as low as 60, and is back up to 70. I can't really see his last rib anymore, so I've been cutting his food back a bit to get it to pop out.

[Guest sireltonsmom]

Rule of thumb I understand, is they like greys to gain at least 5 lbs over racing weight. Mine are both a bit above that and have ribs and tuck and I see ribs on your girl so I think she's perfect. Rough when they go up and down due to sickness but I think you're doing fine with her. She's got the tucked tummy too. Enjoy her!

[PrairieProf]

Rule of thumb I understand, is they like greys to gain at least 5 lbs over racing weight. Mine are both a bit above that and have ribs and tuck and I see ribs on your girl so I think she's perfect. Rough when they go up and down due to sickness but I think you're doing fine with her. She's got the tucked tummy too. Enjo

 

 

This "five pounds" is terrible advice as a blanket thing. Wish people/groups would stop repeating it. Some dogs need to gain weight but many are perfect at their racing weight or, as they lose muscle, might even need to be beneath it. Also five pounds is a very different thing on a 55-60 pound girl vs. a big boy!

Edited September 6, 2013 by PrairieProf

[Gryffenne]

I've always heard it was a % of the racing weight gained to get to the retired weight.

 

When Sammi raced, she was listed at 66 pounds, came to me at 75ish. Because of where she broke her hock, they recommended never going above 76. She did gain up to 84 a year ago due to medication, but we've since gotten her back down to her 74-76 range. Can see ribs (can REALLY see them if you're holding food that she has found desirable ) and she has a tuck, tho at 10.5 she's lost some of the firmed muscle tone in it. She goes into the vet next month for her check up & shots. I am wanting to talk to the vet then about her weight & her age. She doesn't have the muscle tone that she used to, so I am curious as to what weight is now ideal.

[Remolacha]

 

This "five pounds" is terrible advice as a blanket thing. Wish people/groups would stop repeating it. Some dogs need to gain weight but many are perfect at their racing weight or, as they lose muscle, might even need to be beneath it. Also five pounds is a very different thing on a 55-60 pound girl vs. a big boy!

exactly! every dog is different, some need to gain weight, some don't, a few even do best in retirement at less than their race weight. also, different trainers have different ideas of "ideal" race weights, and lastly, some dogs gain weight easily, some don't, so that is a factor as well.

 

OK, sorry for the lecture , OP, I don't think she looks terrible in any of those pictures, but if she were my dog, I'd keep her at around the 67lb weight.

[Guest cocomom]

No advice but wanted to say she is a beautiful hound.

Thank you! You are very sweet to say so. I think she is a looker too, but I am completely biased.

Hard to tell in that last photo... angle and lighting aren't the best but I think she looks gorgeous in the first picture. That's where I would want her, personally. If you think she looks heavier now (more coverage over the ribs) then I would get her back down to the 67. She's probably okay at 70, but it is a hard picture to tell and I admittedly like to keep my hounds on the leaner side of normal.

Sorry. It is really hard to take a picture while she is on the leash as she moves so much. Here are some shots I took today at noon. Thank you for your help!

 

Thank you all. I will get her back down to 67.

[krissy]

She's probably at the very upper limit of normal. If she was my dog I'd consider her fat and would drop her back down to her adoption weight. But I like lean dogs.

 

This is Summit. This is an old picture but his condition/weight have really never fluctuated since I've had him. He's happy at this weight. I feed him 3 cups a day. When I first got him I was feeding 4 cups a day, but I've since discovered that he holds the same weight regardless of that extra cup and just makes more poo. Of course, when I first got him he got fewer treats because he wasn't training at the time, and since then he gets lots of extras for agility and obedience training. Probably makes up that extra cup of food.

 

 

And then Kili fluctuates a lot as a pup. Every time she has a growth spurt she gets super skinny. The first photo is from about a month and a half ago when she was in a growth spurt and got super thin. This is a little skinny for my liking, but I accept it because she's a teenager she she's going to look like a beanpole from time to time.

 

 

And here she is a few weeks later after filling out:

August 18 (her 1 yr birthday)

 

And last weekend:

Edited September 7, 2013 by krissy

[Guest k9soul]

I think she looks okay now, but would be a tad more ideal to maybe lose a couple pounds. I always have such a hard time getting accurate looking pictures of my black dog because the lighting against her black color can really make her look different from photo to photo. I have taken photos before where she really looked pudgy because of how she was standing and how the light was hitting her

[Guest blueberri]

I'm another in favour of the "look at your dog" approach, and determining by their shape and structure what weight is appropriate.

 

We were advised by our adoption group that both our pups should be 2kg above race weight, minimum. That puts Sparky in the overweight category (actually, very overweight!) and both pups, once their physiques adjusted to the energy requirements as a pet, are healthiest at below race weight. ie, Sparky was 33.6kg when retired, and is now 29.5-30kg, with between two and four ribs visible depending on the meals, fine tuck and good muscle definition... and Willow was 26.1kg when retired, and two months later is now 23kg, with most ribs lightly visible, and very prominent tuck and musculature. Their vet has pronounced they are in excellent shape and "clearly at the right weight". Sparky has been 32kg with me, which was during his back injury issues, and his weight went from around 25kg (steroids just melted the weight off!!!) to 32kg several weeks later, and yes, he looked skeletal at 25kg, and podgy at 32kg.

 

Because they are raw fed, it's quite easy to adjust and alter meals to cater to their weight. Funny I can do this with my dogs and not myself? (I could afford a few laps around the track)

 

 

Of the photos, the first one to me shows the nicer lean physique. The hook worm pic to me shows a sick dog, poor coat, too many ribs visible, wary face. The last pic is a bit too heavy... when the legs start looking like chicken drumsticks rather than those long flowing lines, it's time for a little less kai. What a beautiful coat your pup has!!!! So shiny

 

It's all part of the overall picture... she's the picture of health, but a smidge too much food. Easy to tweak

 

/waffle

[Brandiandwe]

I think it also depends on the dog's body shape and build. Brandi puts on weight quickly, but even when she's very lean, her ribs and hips stay well covered. She's got a good tuck and is very fit, she just never looks ribby. Hermon and Paige are both quite ribby and Hermon has a spine showing. DH wants me to put weight onto him, but his hips and ribs are spot on. It's just how he carries the weight.

[a_daerr]

She definitely looks best in the first picture. Gaining weight is a slippery slope for dogs, even greyhounds. I'd try to get her back down to about 65 if possible.

[sobesmom]

I've asked these questions myself. Experience has taught me - in general - being able to feel, and see a shadow of ribs is good. If you can't see or feel ribs - a grey is heavy. If all the ribs stick out WAY visibly - too thin. Dragon-spines - backbone sticking out predominately - usually means a dog is too thin.

 

Those are the rules I go by. I gave up pounds over racing weight, or percentages a long time ago - because every trainer races their dogs differently - some lean - some heavier. And each dog has it's own healthy weight - somr run thin - some heavy. And - age factors in.

 

If I run my hands down a dog - and feel ribs, but see meat on them - it's good. If you can't feel ribs - cut back.

[GeorgeofNE]

 

This "five pounds" is terrible advice as a blanket thing. Wish people/groups would stop repeating it. Some dogs need to gain weight but many are perfect at their racing weight or, as they lose muscle, might even need to be beneath it. Also five pounds is a very different thing on a 55-60 pound girl vs. a big boy!

I SO agree.

 

I think she looks best in the first picture.

[XTRAWLD]

I determine good weight by look of ribs. I want to see 1 well, and just a hint of the 2nd.

 

We got Kasey at 66, his max I think was 72, his lowest was 62. At 62 he was unhealthy as you could imagine, but you could totally see that he was not at an ideal weight, panting, ribs and spine showing. Now he has the last rib a little visible and I see very little of his spine and hip bones. Years off the track, IMO puts the weight gain in other places, because he just doesn't have the same muscle as he did before. His May weight is 69 lbs and he's absolutely perfect right there. Took a while to get it right and maintained though. He drops it really easily. He's 10 years old.

 

Ryder is pretty much solid. His May weight clocks him in at 72 lbs and it's a little too much for him. I have kept trying to get him to gain weight because I don't like to see his hip bones so much, but he just won't put weight on there! I cannot see his ribs, so i know he's a little too thick for my liking and we have scaled back. He's so food motivated! He will be 6 years old next month.

 

Anyway, I go by the ribs I see. If I don't see any, scale back the feeding, it I see too many it's a sign of worry and increase the food or take to the vet for health eval.

 

I don't see any ribs on your girl, nor any hip bones, so I'd scale it back slowly.

Edited September 9, 2013 by XTRAWLD

[Guest cocomom]

Thank you all for your generous advice! Coco is doing super well. I cut back a little ( just getting 3 cups plus treats). I think I am going to aim for 66 as her goal weight. I can already see more ribs on her. Thank you

[Wonder]

Don't go by weight, go by looks.

[Guest nonna49]

I look at my greys from above...are they sort of hour glass shaped, following their 'tuck'. Is their spine visible? Nubs or dinosaur ridges? Can I see hip bones? Nubs or well defined? I look at them from the side, spine, ribs, hip bones looking for too much of a good thing. Is their coat shiny? Are the inside of their gums and ears pink? My vet and I monitor weight to calculate medications more than we do to judge their overall health.

[sobesmom]

Thank you all for your generous advice! Coco is doing super well. I cut back a little ( just getting 3 cups plus treats). I think I am going to aim for 66 as her goal weight. I can already see more ribs on her. Thank you

Good for you. As long as you've got a handle on it - you'll be fine. Don't stress too much about the exact number - as she looses muscle tone (many greys do as they aren't training all the time - and age - not yet but over the next 5 plus years) the number for the same look might change. 66 sounds good for now.

 

My Diana (age 9, retired to me at 2) still has more ribs showing than most people like to see, but due to age and slobby muscles, she actually weighs 15 lb. over her race weight. YEP. 15 over. When she gets in her "moods" and stops/slows eating for a week - the dragon-spines appear like crazy. I've spent years trying to bulk her up, so I'm not going to fuss about the scale now. She's healthy.

[Batmom]

She looks fine in both the "pre-gotcha" and "today" pics. You can see a little hip, a little spine, a little rib.

[RedHead]

 

She looks fine in both the "pre-gotcha" and "today" pics. You can see a little hip, a little spine, a little rib.

I thought so too. I didn't really notice much of a difference between the two. A few pounds is no big deal as long as she doesn't keep going up!