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Is my border collie correct weight


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Hi Kaamiru, The weight you mention, which would be about 36 or 37 pounds, is not too heavy at all for a border collie. Many of them weigh more than that by a couple of kilos. From the photos you sent she looks to me a bit on the thin side, but it is hard to tell from a photo.

 

Look at her from above while she is standing. She should have a clearly defined waist, but not hollowed out. Feel her ribs. You should feel them easily with light pressure. There should be a slight covering of flesh over them. If her ribs are easily felt with only a light touch, she is too thin. If it takes quite a bit of pressure to feel her robs, she can lose weight.

 

At her age she is not fully filled out to her adult weight, and may gain a bit more, which is healthy. Just keep an eye on the ribs and the waist and you will do fine. She certainly doesn't need to be put on a diet.

 

And by the way, she is very beautiful.

Welcome to the border collie boards. Stick around. Lots of great information here.

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Welcome to the Boards.

 

There's no way to answer that question from age and breed alone. Border collies can vary a lot in size, so what's fine for a tall, heavier boned could be morbidly obese in a fine boned, smaller dog.

 

Regardless of size and weight, each dog should be evaluated individually. Since the fur's covering her frame in the photos and her ribs can't be seen, I wouldn't hazard a guess based on what I can see in them.

 

Here's the body condition chart that vets use. IMO, border collies should be on the thin side, in the 3+ to 4 range. You'll have to use your hands to show you what your eyes can't see beneath the fur, but I like to be able to feel ribs and spinal protuberances by just running my fingers over them. If I have to apply any pressure to feel either, the the dog is overweight and food gets cut back a bit.

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Im not sure how to check it . If I dont put any pressure I wont feel nothing besides the fur . Some places can feel ribs easily, like chest or so b but near spine to feel her ribs I need to put little more pressure, bot in breasts cant feel any couse she have muscles there. It depends too on her position if she is lying its more difficult to feel ribs than when she is standing.What spots on ribs should be felt easily ? Im not sure either how to check her waist her fur is pretty long and thick.

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If my dogs are standing and I pet them, I can feel their ribs. I have to push a little harder to feel the spinal protrusions on their backs. I don't really feel them at all between their shoulder blades, but further back on the spine, definitely. And I can feel the pelvic bones a bit at the lower back right before the tail begins.

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If my dogs are standing and I pet them, I can feel their ribs. I have to push a little harder to feel the spinal protrusions on their backs. I don' really feel them at all between their shoulder blades, but further back on the spine, definitely. And I can feel the pelvic bones a bit at the lower back right before the tail begins.

 

Yeah, basically this - with the caveat that build matters. Molly's spine is easy to feel even if I can't get to her ribs at all (I don't *know* exactly why but there it is). But basically if you rub your hands along the dog's sides, you should be able to feel ribs without having to apply a lot of pressure or dig around for them.

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One of my dogs is like that, too. In her case it's because she's part sighthound and even if she gets a little pudgy otherwise, her spine and hipbones are very prominent.

 

But she's got a very distinctive sighthound build, and Molly's also very lanky and fine boned. But, yes, build can affect it somewhat. But with even a barrel chested breed like a pug or a bulldog the ribs should be a lot easier to palpate than most are.

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One of my dogs is like that, too. In her case it's because she's part sighthound and even if she gets a little pudgy otherwise, her spine and hipbones are very prominent.

 

But she's got a very distinctive sighthound build, and Molly's also very lanky and fine boned. But, yes, build can affect it somewhat. But with even a barrel chested breed like a pug or a bulldog the ribs should be a lot easier to palpate than most are.

 

Oh, for sure. I mostly just mean that ribs are a more fair indicator to judge by than hips and spine. I don't think rib coverage varies as much with the dog's build (actually I mostly assume you ALWAYS want to be able to feel ribs without digging, but the second I say that there will be an exception :P)

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  • 2 years later...

Hi.  Hope it's okay if I jump on this thread as it came up when I did a search to ask if our (supposedly 5 month old) smooth border collie (male) should be as heavy as he is.  He is currently 12.8kg (or 28.2lb) which seems to be off the charts I look at.  He is fit and active, has a well defined waist and recently transitioned onto adult Skinners (mainly because I ordered the wrong version!)  I weigh out his food but do sometimes add a bit of egg or sardine etc to his teatime meal as a treat.

I seem to spend my life researching it on the internet and am getting no further so would love it if someone with experience could help!

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