Need Help Figuring Out The Correct Weight For This Boy

[jetcitywoman]

Hey experienced people, I am confused by our foster-soon-to-be-ours. For whatever reason they didn't enter his weight into greyhound-data, but Trackinfo shows him racing at 66 pounds (on average). When we first got him in late November, we took him to the vet to get a weight and he was 61 pounds. He looked underweight, so we've been feeding him up a little, trying to get him up to his race weight at least. I try to keep my dogs about 5 pounds over race weight, plus or minus 2, depending on how they look.

 

So for the last week or so we think he's looking just about perfect. Can see his last two ribs, just about what everyone here would agree is a good weight. Took him to the vet again for a weigh-in and he's up to 63. I'm a bit befuddled. Is it possible they raced him too heavy?

 

I'll try to get some good pictures to show you guys, but... I can't imagine his correct weight is below race... very confusing. Thoughts?

[macoduck]

Don't go by racing weight.

Greyhound Crossroads has a good guide. http://www.greyhoundcrossroads.com/index.php?page=weight

[jetcitywoman]

I read that link and it sort of uses the race weight recorded in greyhound-data as a point of reference too. He's sort of an average size male, but without using his race weight as a reference point I'm not sure where he should be. Is he good at 63 or is that underweight? Should he be 70 or will that be overweight?

[greytpups]

http://www.greyhoundinfo.org/?page_id=1096

 

This may help

Edited February 12, 2017 by greytpups

[GreytHoundPoet]

He was probably in fitter condition when racing and his muscle could have easily made up the extra weight. Every retired hound that I've had was at their healthiest weight at or under their racing weight, depending on fitness level and age. It isn't uncommon for them to be at their healthiest weight under racing weight if they are leading normal pet lives and not performance lives.

Edited February 12, 2017 by GreytHoundPoet

[greysmom]

Unless you're going to race him, his race weight should *only* be a reference. Nice tuck up, good muscle tone, good appetite, and not a lot of extra poundage that you can feel/see are better guides.

[GeorgeofNE]

It's the adoption groups who tout the "five pounds over race weight." Not the professional trainers, vets, etc.

 

Some dogs race heavy, some dogs race lean.

 

George lost significant muscle mass over the the years once he was adopted. He weighed less than race weight but looked good. Buck barely raced at all, and I'm having trouble keeping his weight down. He's just one of THOSE dogs.

[jetcitywoman]

I understand and agree with everything you guys are saying. He looks good, so he's probably fine. But I tend not to notice slow weight gain or loss with my eyeballs until the gain/loss is around 7 pounds or more, so I like to have an actual numeric metric. When I finally do notice that the dog looks too thin or thick, I'll take him/her to the vet or a Petco and get the weight measured to verify if my thoughts are right. If I don't do that, then I'll be another one of those people walking around with obese dogs.

 

I agree 1000% that the race weight is only a point of reference, not one of the ten commandments, but I think it's a very convenient point of reference so I like to use it. It takes into consideration that dog's size and fitness. I do discount the fitness once he's my pet because he's not racing anymore, but it's still a good point of reference for a dog of his size. Without that you have to go by breed standards, and then... well, he's between 65 and 95 pounds so he's good, right? (Meaning there's too much variance in the breed standard because it doesn't take into account the dog's bone structure or size.)

[cleptogrey]

i wouldn't be that concerned about what the scale says. i have set my dogs up different ways on the vet's scale(at the same weigh-in) and there were 3 different weights! the vet tech was amazed. feet need to be planted securely and not too far from the edges, all about the same distance from the edges of the scale. always weigh the dog twice, that's what i do. go by the excellent referral linked above. remember these are swift lean streamline sighthounds. i personally cringe when i see a greyhound who looks like a lab. my dogs filled out but stayed at their racing weight, muscle to that tad of covering that keep them from looking like they have missed more than one meal. also, if the dogs over eat loose stool will result. be aware that summer and winter weights vary as well, mine generally loose 3-5#s during the summer. they gain it back as winter actives change.

[Guest Sportingfields]

This is subjective, it depends on what the pet owner sees when looking at their own dog. Some see obese as healthy and others see every rib showing at 20 paces healthy. I kept both my Greyhounds and Whippets somewhere in between those extremes. Hip pointers don't show and a light covering of meat over their whole rib cage while still keeping their tuck. You couldn't see any ribs while they were standing still but could easily feel them when petting them. We all know muscle weighs more than fat. Once the grey is retired, few people keep them exercised enough to main the health and shape they had at the track. So I feel you need something to use as measure of proper weight, track weight give or take a few pounds either way will have you in the right ball park, without the dog looking like it blew up like a marshmallow or anorexic.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Sportingfields

[Guest DarkHorse]

KB raced at 75 pounds give or take, but his ideal weight as a pet is about 70-72. Cole, on the other hand, raced around the 68-70lb mark and seems to have settled around 62-65. He was very muscular when racing, and although he's retained some of that muscle, the bit he's lost obviously weighed a lot.

 

On the other hand, Miss Araley raced at 57lbs and we always kept her around 60-62lbs. She was a little small when we got her and definitely needed at least a little extra weight. We knew she was sick if she got below 60lbs, even though she raced lower than that.

[jetcitywoman]

Darkhorse, thanks for that comparison. I've had my two greys for over 12 years now and had no idea that their pet weight could be lower than race weight. This particular dog confused me also because I got him from a previous adopter who told us that she believed in keeping her dogs AT race weight, so she'd been feeding him one cup of food a day. There's a thread elsewhere here that I created to talk about that. We don't know what her exact idea of a "cup" was, but ours is the scoop that came with this dog food bin and we've been feeding him 2 level cups twice a day to get his weight up.

 

When we got him, he was very thin, well-defined muscles, hip points, vertebra and most ribs showing. Not emaciated, but clearly too thin. Now he's looking about right. She hadn't had him very long. He retired somewhere around the end of 2015.

Edited February 14, 2017 by jetcitywoman

[Guest DarkHorse]

Darkhorse, thanks for that comparison. I've had my two greys for over 12 years now and had no idea that their pet weight could be lower than race weight. This particular dog confused me also because I got him from a previous adopter who told us that she believed in keeping her dogs AT race weight, so she'd been feeding him one cup of food a day. There's a thread elsewhere here that I created to talk about that. We don't know what her exact idea of a "cup" was, but ours is the scoop that came with this dog food bin and we've been feeding him 2 level cups twice a day to get his weight up.

 

When we got him, he was very thin, well-defined muscles, hip points, vertebra and most ribs showing. Not emaciated, but clearly too thin. Now he's looking about right. She hadn't had him very long. He retired somewhere around the end of 2015.

 

I think it's more common for the boys to settle in under race weight, because (in my experience), they have more muscle when racing and lose it unless they're kept quite active in their pet home. Also, top tier racers seem to lose more weight than the ones who aren't so good. Cole was a pretty good racer and had the muscles to match but as he stopped running so much (and not for lack of opportunity) he lost weight quickly. Meanwhile, KB still has a lot of his original butt muscles - but he wasn't a very good racer.

 

ETA: We've fed a pretty consistent amount twice daily for our dogs despite the varying weights: 1 cup for Araley, 1 and 1/3 for Cole and Dexter, and 1 and 2/3 for KB. We'll often drop 1/3 cup during the worst of the summer as they put on weight otherwise, but there hasn't been a lot of variance.

Edited February 15, 2017 by DarkHorse

[XTRAWLD]

To be honest, I'd go by what his condition looks like. Since you can nicely see 2 ribs that's pretty good! Does he have a "sexy hour glass figure" when viewed from the top? Can you maybe include some pics? Also, is he a picky eater? Is he famished when fed?

 

I tend to think that racing weight is a performance weight to stay within a class (I think?) and might not be optimum for every dog (which I also believe might lean more towards being underweight - meaning the dog should probably weigh more than that when retired). As his muscle will deteriorate by not being on the track (and since it weighs more) I'd keep him at a minimum 66 lbs if possible. Kasey was incredibly slim all his life and could not pack on weight for the life of him no matter how hard I tried. Satin balls worked somewhat, and really helped when he was sick and kept his intake up. He was also at a 66 racing weight, but I often struggled keeping him near 62. I was told by the vet that if looking from above you don't see a "triangle" by his hips than he's in ok shape and isn't underfed. You want a nice roundness there.... Ryder looks at food and gains weight.....so....it indeed can be tricky! Good luck!

[sobesmom]

He's lost muscle since he's not training daily. Muscle and fat by volume have different weights. If your dog looks good, and is healthy and active - call it good. Don't fuss with the scales or bother to compare to compare to race weight.

[GreyPoopon]

I don't have much to add to the comments, but I did want to relay a little story: I brought home a retired broodie on October 1. She was 60 lbs, which is close to her "racing weight" (61 lbs). She looked like a sausage. A few weeks of walking later, she looked great. She still weighed 60 lbs. She apparently hadn't moved much in the few weeks before adoption--she was recovering from an emergency c-section and spay. Walking was enough to build up her butt muscles and tone up the rest, and the redistribution of the weight made her look much fitter. I recently noticed that she looked a bit thin. She was 58.2 lbs. I've increased her food slightly so that she gets back to 60 lbs.

[GreytHoundPoet]

To be completely honest with you, I don't go by weight. A conditioned dog at 60lbs can look different at a less-conditioned 60lbs. I go by body condition and adjust accordingly. If my healthy, sound dogs don't look like they could chase a bunny (or plastic bag) and come off the field still sound and ready to go again I adjust their diet and exercise. Of course I take any health changes into consideration so my seniors with health issues are kept trim but not as conditioned.

 

As an example, she is right around 52lbs in each one of these pictures. She has some recurring bones and ligament issues that result in her not staying sound so she's obviously retired from the field and has gone a bit soft since she's not being conditioned as a performance dog anymore. She's also a young "senior" according to veterinary standards.

 

Edited February 17, 2017 by GreytHoundPoet

[Guest Sportingfields]

GreyhoundPoet, your girl is beautiful. The bottom picture on the right is how I kept both my greys and whippets, what "I felt" was a good weight for my dogs whom were walked daily but didn't have the opportunity to be active coursers in their retirement, as yours are. I'll have to get onto my other computer to add pix of my crew.

[Guest Sportingfields]

FWIW Just sharing two of our angels

 

 

I kept Ella between 28-29# which was good for her bone structure & where her breeder kept her, she measured in at what the top of what females should be.

 

 

 

Logan is about 4# over racing weight in this pix, due to us moving and not getting the dogs enough exercise. A month later with a huge fenced yard to play in and long walks he got his waist back. The slope he is standing on makes this big boy look even larger, he raced at 83#

Edited February 18, 2017 by Sportingfields

[GreytHoundPoet]

GreyhoundPoet, your girl is beautiful.

 

Thank you!