Obesity

This week I was driving tharough London and I kept noticing many dogs that we went past were overweight or obese . Now this truly upsets me because no dog deserves to be put through the effects of what being overweight does to its body. In this post I'm going to touch on the effects of dogs being obese and the things you can do to prevent it.

Causes:

- the simple way to put is it that if you feed your dog too much then they will become overweight. 

- this can be worked out by calories in and calories out. If these are imbalanced then your dog will either put on weight or lose weight.

- each dog is slightly different so it will be down to the owner to work out how much to feed their dog and the correct diet to have their dog on.

- if you are unsure of what diet you should have your dog on it is always very simple to ask your vet. They will know the what you should be feeding the your dog.

- to tell if your dog is overweight you should stand straddle over them and feel down either side of their rib cage. You should be able to feel the ribs under the skin without having to push hard. Also you should see a waist to the dog.

- here is a graph of how to tell if you dog is obese.

Effects:

I'm not going to go into detail of all the effects obesity can have on your dog but just seeing all of these effects I hope you realise how serious this problem is.

- type 2 diabetes 

- damage to joints bones and ligaments.

"  Approx 25% of overweight did develop serious joint complications" http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=694

- heart disease and increased blood pressure.

- difficulties breathing 

-decreased stamina 

- heat intolerance 

- decreased liver function 

- increased surgical and anesthetic risk.

- reproductive problems 

- digestive disorders 

-decreased immune function 

- skin and hair coat problems 

- increased risk of cancer 

- decreased quality of life and life length.

From all of these I hope you can comprehend the massive effect that being obese has on your dog. 

Prevention:

To help prevent your dog becoming overweight or obese everytime you go to the vets weigh your dog and ask for the vets advice and opinion on your dogs weight.

There are always simple ways to try and combat a dogs weight. Walk it more or encourage more play. Feed it less however be careful with dramatically changing the diet and if you do seek a vets advice first. Or just cut out treats and be careful with edible chew good because they normal contain a lot of sugar. Of your dog is so overweight that it does have joint problems there is therapy like aqua therapy to help the dog lose weight and use is joints.

I hope this has given you an insight into the effect that having an overweight dog can have on a dogs life. And I hope to see less dogs with their bellies rubbing the floor.