"Your Lab is overweight!" Is this going to be the story of my life?

[Laurelin]

Yeah, labs generally do have to gain weight to go from conformation to other competition. Our handler had labs and they'd have to put on weight to even get considered. It's like that in a lot of breeds. I can't figure out why- dogs don't look good fat.

And even field bred labs shouldn't have a huge tuck up. It's just their build, they're supposed to be stocky. Our field dog was a rather stocky guy himself (though quite a bit leggier than many show dogs I see nowadays) They are however also supposed to be athletic and not fat like you see in many shows (I've seen some awful conditioning on labs at shows).

 

[SizzleDog]

Here's a picture of Augie where you can get a side view of him. As you can see, he's a blocky fellow, but he's not at all squishy. He's VERY solid, and as other's have mentioned, his coat does make it hard to see ribs.

See, to me he looks a little squishy. But that may very well be the photo, I know it can be deceptive.

I also think my definition of solid is different than some...

 

[jess2416]

I agree with Sizzle...

but I dont like the "stockiness" of bench labs to begin with, and I even think that the dog in the pic Acoop posted is too big.. but thats JMO...

and BTW your dog is adorable

If I was to ever get a lab, this is what I would expect it to look like

and be able to do this

 

[Boemy]

The vet was clearly irritated by the female mastiff's condition. The dog had to lose 30 lbs of "show weight" to get to what the vet considered a healthy weight. The vet did say in her opinion the weight contributed to the injury and she had her doubts about the owner keeping it off after therapy.

:yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

That's crazy!

 

[SmexyPibble]

I've had a few comments that Georgia is too skinny, when she isn't. Mostly I've just got comments on how in-shape she is. Having quite a bit of experience with Boxers, and chatting with quite a few Boxer people, the majoirty of Boxers are overweight dogs, and they, like Corgi's according to Erica, say that "it's just a Boxer thing"... when, really, hun, it's NOT. I try my hardest to keep Georgia in shape, moniter her diet and exercise and muscle carefully.

When I first got Elly I got comments that she was too skinny all the time. She was a little underweight, but after a short period of time I got her to the right weight.. and I still get comments that she is too skinny, when she is certainly not too skinny. She is a narrow field type lab, certainly not stocky, but she is definetly NOT too skinny.

It annoys me a bit when random people tell me stuff about my dogs. Like..oh that's dog's got to be this breed, because I know one when I see one.. or, your dog is too skinny, I have a Boxer and she weighs this weight so your dog should be that weight, too... blablablablabla.

Your dog looks great. He's adorable!

 

[Punkygirl0101]

I have gotten comments that my dachshund Cartman is skinny. From people who are used to seeing watermelon shaped dachshunds, and not healthy lean fit dachshunds.

 

[mrose_s]

Harry's a very weird shape aswell. Much like a bench lab. He has very little tuck up, short legs, long neck and long tail, which makes him hard to judge because all our other dogs are built much more like athletes.

He's matured now (almost 3!) and he's endedup quite a heavy dog (he's shorter than Buster but 8kg heavier) he's just such a different shape. Atm he's in quite good shape I think, I can easily feel his ribs and he's been getting out much more and his muscle is building up. he looks fantastic. But just too look at, he could look overweight.

 

[Dizzy]

I much prefer the field labs to the show labs.

I do like the seal like quality of the show labs though - they have smooshy faces.

Labs are NOTORIOUS for getting overweight.

I prefer a lean looking dog, no blubber at all. If you're concerned, then UP his exercise and cut his food back a touch. Even with a seriously thick coated lab you should be able to get a good feel if you work your fingers into his coat. Also, just see if you can grab a handful of his side. All the labs I have known, that were overweight, you can pinch an inch!!! And it wasn't just fur - I know how thick is can be......!!

The pic is a little deceiving because he is bending his head, if you could get a still side shot, or one from above to show his waistline that'd help!

 

[Miakoda]

I admit I'm not a Lab person. And it's really hard to get an accurate judgement from that picture.

But speaking as a vet tech, he looks either a bit overweight or just not toned up.

I understand that my breed of choice can obtain a very muscular physique quite easily, but I hold all my dogs to that standard. I'll try to get a good picture of Annabelle, my Rottie, but I hold her to the same standards: must have nice tuck, must have nice muscle definition, must be able to easily feel the ribs and see the last 2 on each side when moving....etc.

 

[SubrosaX]

I admit I'm not a Lab person. And it's really hard to get an accurate judgement from that picture.

But speaking as a vet tech, he looks either a bit overweight or just not toned up.

You are correct, he is not particularly well toned, and I do think some of his "squishy" look may be due to the fact that he's only 11 months old, and still looks pretty puppyish. I can't wait to see what he looks like in a year! So far, Augie looks very similar to his dad, who in my opinion, is absolutely gorgeous. I'll see if I can dig up a picture of him.

I like the field-type Labs a lot too, I don't consider them "skimpy" at all. The main reason I chose Augie is because his breeder puts a high priority on breeding for good, mellow temperments, along with conformation. Also, her dogs don't look like bench hippos :lol-sign:

 

[ihartgonzo]

Auggie is super duper adorable!

I agree with Dizzy's advice... he does not look overweight, to me, but he does not look quite "lean". It's a very good idea to keep puppies/young adults as lean as possible, bordering on ribby. I was a fanatic about Fozzie staying fit as a puppy, because extra weight on those growing joints can really effect the rest of their lives. A premium food can also make a huge difference as far as being healthy, lean, and muscular. What is he eating?

I think Trav looks great!!! Particularly for her age. She clearly has a waist.

 

[lizzybeth727]

You are correct, he is not particularly well toned, and I do think some of his "squishy" look may be due to the fact that he's only 11 months old, and still looks pretty puppyish. I can't wait to see what he looks like in a year!

You know, I work with a lot of young labs (10 months and up... best we can tell as most are shelter dogs), and usually when they're just under a year they look very long and lanky. Kind of like teenagers - they're tall and skinny. In fact we usually have a hard time putting weight ON the dogs when they're this age, we do what we can but they usually don't start really gaining until they hit about 14-16 months old.

 

[SubrosaX]

Auggie is super duper adorable!

I agree with Dizzy's advice... he does not look overweight, to me, but he does not look quite "lean". It's a very good idea to keep puppies/young adults as lean as possible, bordering on ribby. I was a fanatic about Fozzie staying fit as a puppy, because extra weight on those growing joints can really effect the rest of their lives. A premium food can also make a huge difference as far as being healthy, lean, and muscular. What is he eating?

He's eating Pro Plan Chicken and Rice at the moment, plus a NuVet daily supplement. I pretty much went this route because the breeder was feeding Pro Plan, and I don't want to change his food before doing some research.

It's true, Augie is not exactly "lean." He's really solid, but not well toned yet. I'm working on it He looks very much like his dad already, and I'm hoping he'll be just as gorgeous. Here's a pic of Augie's daddy, Joey

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[Dekka]

Hmm I would do some research pretty quickly...

Most dogs I know on low qual food like proplan are squishy feeling. We used to feed our old dog Alex pro plan. ... he was squishy.. not fat just squishy till we switched him. It actually costs less to feed a high quality food as you aren't feeding all the floor sweepings from grain mills. So with less fillers you feed less.

 

[lizzybeth727]

Very handsome!

It's clear that he is toned. You can see muscles on his thighs and shoulders, and he has a bit of a waist. Judging from this picture, I wouldn't say he is overweight, and I certainly wouldn't say he's "flabby"! He looks great.

 

[SubrosaX]

Hmm I would do some research pretty quickly...

Most dogs I know on low qual food like proplan are squishy feeling. We used to feed our old dog Alex pro plan. ... he was squishy.. not fat just squishy till we switched him. It actually costs less to feed a high quality food as you aren't feeding all the floor sweepings from grain mills. So with less fillers you feed less.

To be honest, I was kind of surprised the breeder was feeding Pro Plan. I guess I always thought of it as a lower quality food, but supposedly, a lot of breeders swear by the stuff. I fed my old Labrador, Huck, Science Diet at first--which he hated---then Avoderm, which he loved and so did I. He did great on that food. I may switch Augie over to Avoderm, but I know there are a lot of other great foods out there too. I'd be curious to know what people around here are feeding their dogs.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I think breeders get discounts on Pro Plan if they buy a lot of it.... or something....

 

[Dekka]

I know of breeders who feed proplan.. the whippets came on it. THey got taken off as soon as we left.

 

[Zoom]

I don't like ProPlan at all either, but my Lab board has this thing with it and the anecdotal evidence about it seems to suggest that something about it does really well for Labs in general.

I loved how Virgo did on Innova though, so much better than anything else.

 

[drmom777]

I think breeders feed Pro=Plan for two reasons.

1) Purina supports a lot of dog sports, and they like to support them right back, and PPro-Plan is their best grade of food.

2) If you join their club, Purina sends you free puppy packs to send home with puppies, sends you a nice quarterly magazine about dog breeding for various purposes, and if you save weight circles and feed a lot of food, they send big coupons.