Finding your dog’s ideal weight… is it really all that important?
A fourteen year landmark study confirms…
Dogs fed to “ideal body condition” lived 1.8 years longer than their overweight litter mates 1.
That’s a bonus of nearly 2 extra years of life… just for keeping your dog close to his ideal body weight.
OK… so, where do you go to find your dog’s ideal weight?
Where Not to Look for a Dog’s Ideal Weight
Well, when I first went looking for the answer to that question I thought my job would be easy. I thought I would just look it up in some book… and voila… I’d instantly know my dog’s ideal weight.
But I was wrong.
You see, nearly every website, every list, every table I came across gave ranges of weights…. broad ranges… not pinpoint numbers.
Take a look at this example…
The American Kennel Club suggests an official weight for female Labrador Retrievers of… “from 55 to 70 pounds”.
Wow! That’s a huge discrepancy… a difference of over 27 percent!
And what about all those mixed breeds… dogs like our Bailey? Where do you go to look up their ideal weights?
You see, that’s the problem. There’s no clear reference. Because dogs come in so many builds, shapes and sizes… how could there be?
Yet you still need to have a target weight… or (at the very least) a reasonably narrower range to shoot for.
The Ideal Dog Weight System
Used by Veterinarians
Here’s a scientific solution that works for all dogs…
The very best way to determine your dog’s ideal weight is to use the exact same 9-point scale used by veterinarians… the Purina Body Condition System2.
The Body Condition System uses two simple techniques to rate the state of your dog’s body…
- Visual inspection
- Palpation (using “touch” to judge body condition)
By using your senses of sight and touch… you assign your dog a number rating of 1 to 9… from thinnest to heaviest. Or to be more practical… simply choose one of these three basic categories…
- Too Thin (1-3)
- Ideal (4-5)
- Too Heavy (6-9)
Your rating will be based upon comparing your dog’s appearance to a standardized diagram… and “palpating” (feeling) for his ribs and frame.
Don’t worry. It’s a lot easier than it sounds.
Where to Find Body Condition Diagrams
Use these diagrams to discover your dog’s current body condition.
If your evaluation suggests your dog is too heavy or too thin… just add or subtract a reasonable amount to his current weight to estimate what you feel his ideal weight should be.
Then, plug this estimated ideal weight into my Dog Food Calculator to reveal a suggested daily serving size.
Yes… I know it’s just an estimate. But it’s also your best “scientific” guess… for right now. Over time, you can adjust this “estimate” until you eventually arrive at your dog’s ideal weight.
By the way… this is a process in medicine we call “titration”. It’s the concept of adjusting something (like a drug) up (or down) until you achieve the desired result.
Ask for Professional Advice
Of course, your veterinarian can be the very best source for specific advice. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help in determining your dog’s ideal weight.
One way or another… having a specific weight goal to aim for can make a real difference in how long your dog lives.
And if you love your dog as much as I do… that can be a very good thing.
