Dr. Justin Shmalberg answers this question for us. Dr. Shmalberg is a board-certified specialist in both the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) and in the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation (ACVSMR), Shmalberg is also a Clinical Associate Professor and Chief of Integrative Medicine Service at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Shmalberg tells us Many people ask what the ideal weight is for their dog, but the truth is there is no magic number for any canine. The best guide you can use to manage your dog’s weight is by watching your dog’s body size and adjusting portions and diet accordingly. Use this handy chart to see if your dog is underweight, overweight, or just right!
Is your dog underweight?
If you can easily feel your dog’s ribs and hip bones, your dog may be underweight. Look from above though for the easiest tell. Do the top of the hip bones and bottom of the rib cage jut out visibly? (If your pup is extra fluffy, it’s easier to tell when they’re wet after a bath, or simply by feeling).
If your dog is underweight, you’ll want to increase its portions slightly (and slowly!). If your dog eats fresh food from NomNomNow, simply let us know and we’ll choose an appropriate target weight to put into our algorithm to healthily increase portions.
Is your dog the ideal weight?
The easiest way to tell if your dog is the ideal weight is by looking at the definitions of overweight and underweight dogs, and ruling out that your dog is neither. A dog at a healthy weight has a soft outline of their rib cage, and their belly tucks up between their ribs and hind legs.
Is your dog overweight?
As much as none of us want to admit that our dogs may have a little extra to love, more than half of dogs in the US are overweight– so statistically speaking, this category applies to the majority of our four-legged friends!
An overweight dog will be lacking the noticeable belly tuck that ideal and underweight dogs have. When looking at your dog from above, you may notice a bulge outward between the rib cage and hips (this should gently curve inward on a healthy dog). When feeling the ribs, you’ll notice thicker padding on them.
As much as we love feeding our little ones, their being overweight puts them at a higher risk for life-threatening diseases, joint issues, lower energy levels (which means less play-time together!), and a lower quality of life. The best thing to do is to notice when our dog(s) fit in this overweight category and take steps to gradually reduce portion sizes (and stick to them, even when they give you those adorable pleading Chi eyes that tempt us otherwise!)