Ideal Weight Question

[jb777]

8 1/2 year old female BC at 22 inches height ?

 

lifespan weight variations from 32 lbs to 52 lbs.

 

where would the ideal weight be?

 

and is 52 lbs overweight for a 22 inch tall female?

 

thanks

 

does she look overweight here in these photos?

[Gideon's girl]

My 22" BCs are in ideal weight at 40 lbs. Yes, she looks overweight to me. Ideal weight is lean. Here is a good way of judging for yourself. Make a fist. With your finger tips, gently feel your knuckles. This is how an underweight dog's ribs feel. Now open your hand and turn it palm side up. Feel your knuckles from the palm side. This is how an overweight dog's ribs feel. Now turn your open hand over, palm down. Feel your knuckles on the back of your open hand. This is how the ribs of a dog in good weight feel.

[Maralynn]

Ideal weight depends on bone structure, i.e., heavily boned dogs will be heavier than fine boned dogs.

 

But the ideal weight for my 22" female was 38-40#

[PSmitty]

Yes, to me, she appears overweight in those photos. And 52 lbs at 22" tall sounds too heavy, although as Mara pointed out, bone structure can play into it also.

 

Just for comparison, Will is about 22" tall, and he weighs 37 lbs.

 

Jack (not all BC) is somewhere around 24-25" tall and weighs 50-51 lbs.

[mum24dog]

Our 22in (ish) BC dog came to us at 8 months and about adult height then. He weighed 32 lb and looked like a toast rack, (Had to do the maths to convert from kg. I can't visualise dog weight in lbs.)

 

He is now 7 1/2 years old and weighs just under 42 lb which is round about his ideal weight.

 

I don't know many BCs that wouldn't be overweight at 52 lbs, especially bitches, although I do know a very tall dog that isn't fat at nearly 60 lbs.

 

It's hard to tell from photos but jb777's dog does look quite podgy to me.

[jb777]

Here she is in 2011. Weight was probably 36 lbs.

 

38-40 sounds about right, maybe 42 tops.

 

I've read some threads where people have said their BC got up to 50 lbs during off season months.

 

I was just wondering, to make sure.

 

I don't like what I see from photos I took of her in May of this year. Not sure why I went blind to her weight? Cause for many years she was at a normal weight. But again, this weight gain was topped at 52 lbs after 7 months. That sounds like a long time, but it was a blink of an eye for me.

[jb777]

also 36 down to 32. that is a bad sign from what I've read. sure wish I made that VET trip a year ago instead of the choices I made. maybe the same thing would have happened (hemangiosarcoma), but at least maybe I would understand what happened. or maybe we never understand even when we think we should.

[maggiesmommy]

Yes, to me, she appears overweight in those photos. And 52 lbs at 22" tall sounds too heavy, although as Mara pointed out, bone structure can play into it also.

 

Just for comparison, Will is about 22" tall, and he weighs 37 lbs.

 

Jack (not all BC) is somewhere around 24-25" tall and weighs 50-51 lbs.

 

Huh. This thread has made me realize that my Maggie (11 months, 21 inches, 41 lbs) may actually be slightly overweight. I would have thought that your dogs were underweight because of how much abdominal tuck they have, but if that's expected in healthy BC and BC mixes, I may need to rethink what I thought Maggie's ideal weight was. She was extremely underweight when I got her so I've just been packing the pounds on her without realizing that I might be overdoing it!

[Gideon's girl]

All breeds, including English Bulldogs, should have a nice tuckup. Most BCs seem to have a tuckup like greyhounds and whippets, minus the curved spine. I can encircle both of my BCs waists with my fingers even with the extra equipment that my males carry.

[maggiesmommy]

When I adopted her, her spine and ribs were severely protruding, and we had her on a prescription weight-gain diet at the shelter, and I've kept feeding her almost double the recommended amount of puppy food. It had never even occurred to me that she was actually getting too fat at this point. I'm glad I saw this thread because I'll need to get her to lose some weight (or at least stop gaining).

[Journey]

Maralynn is right. Bone makes a difference. My not quite 22" bitch is ideal at 47 pounds.

[rlwzgd]

Gret is a smidge over 22, she looks good at 34lbs, but her frame is very delicate. Such a wide range!

[OurBoys]

Maralynn is right. Bone makes a difference.

 

I agree. JJ is 22" and his ideal weight is 52 lbs. Once you work your fingers through his double undercoat you can feel his ribs.

 

Structure makes a difference too. Jake is 21" and his ideal weight is 42" but he has a long body. Josie's ideal weight is 35 lbs even though she is only 19". She has the barrel chest of an Aussie but has a nice tucked waist of a Border Collie. I can feel the ribs of both of them.

[Cindy Evans]

I have a 20 inch bitch that is perfect at 37 lbs and another at the same height that is perfect at 30 lbs. I also have two at 18 inches that have a four lb difference in weight.

[PSmitty]

It's also true that "ideal" is in the eyes of the beholder. I'm sure that there would be some people who think my dogs are too thin, and I might look at their "ideal weight dog" and think it's fat.

 

I keep my agility/flyball dog(s) lean for a reason, it's obviously much easier on their bodies to not be lugging around any extra weight. (trust me, I know! lol)

[OurBoys]

It's also true that "ideal" is in the eyes of the beholder. I'm sure that there would be some people who think my dogs are too thin, and I might look at their "ideal weight dog" and think it's fat.

 

That's true. Unfortunately, there are a number of owners who think their overweight dog(s) is/are at an ideal weight. I think sometimes when I take one of mine to the vet the vet has seen their quota of overweight dogs for that day because they make comments like "(fill in the blank) is at a great weight!" or "(fill in the blank) has great muscle tone!"

 

jb, a dog can gain weight even if you don't feed them a lot of fat. JJ was our first Border Collie. I loved have such a smart dog. We took him to basic, intermediate and advance obedience classes. We did our "homework" almost every night. He definitely got his share of treats. Weight gain sneaks up on you. DH & I kept telling ourselves JJ's weight gain was muscle because we also played Frisbee and ball with him a lot and took him on hikes. His foster mom finally set me straight. I put JJ on a diet. He lost his extra weight and maybe it's overkill but I check to make sure I can feel his ribs every day when I pet him.

[Gideon's girl]

I do the rib check daily too.

 

And on the topic of the wide range of perfect weights, muscle weighs more than fat. A heavily muscled thin dog can weigh a lot more than an overweight fat dog. Weights are just numbers, they don't tell the whole story.

[Pippin's person]

That's true. Unfortunately, there are a number of owners who think their overweight dog(s) is/are at an ideal weight. I think sometimes when I take one of mine to the vet the vet has seen their quota of overweight dogs for that day because they make comments like "(fill in the blank) is at a great weight!" or "(fill in the blank) has great muscle tone!"

 

When I had Zac at the vet recently they mentioned how trim and fit he was multiple times (he's a good sized dog and weighs 46lbs)--I thought the same as you, particularly when they compared him to the average lab

[PSmitty]

I do the rib check daily too.

 

And on the topic of the wide range of perfect weights, muscle weighs more than fat. A heavily muscled thin dog can weigh a lot more than an overweight fat dog. Weights are just numbers, they don't tell the whole story.

 

I hear/read this a lot, but the fact is, muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle. But it is that muscle is more dense than fat, therefore it takes up less space. That's how a very muscular dog (or person) can weigh more than their appearance would indicate.

[Gideon's girl]

I hear/read this a lot, but the fact is, muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle. But it is that muscle is more dense than fat, therefore it takes up less space. That's how a very muscular dog (or person) can weigh more than their appearance would indicate.

Yes, I realize a pound is a pound, duh. Equal volumes weigh differently though. That is why I specifically mentioned physique. Seriously!?!

[Alchemist]

When I took Ross in to the vet last week (mild conjunctivitis), the vet told me he seemed too thin. We saw the person I train with a couple of days later (an Open handler), and she assured me he was just right. Shouldn't let him get any thinner, could maybe let him get one pound heavier, but no more.

 

My regular vet always tells me he's exactly right.

 

Sometime I'll try to get a shot of each dog (in Duncan's case, soaking wet). They both have a good "waist" (viewed from above).

 

 

Here is a good way of judging for yourself. Make a fist. With your finger tips, gently feel your knuckles. This is how an underweight dog's ribs feel. Now open your hand and turn it palm side up. Feel your knuckles from the palm side. This is how an overweight dog's ribs feel. Now turn your open hand over, palm down. Feel your knuckles on the back of your open hand. This is how the ribs of a dog in good weight feel.

 

Thank you, Gideon's girl; that's the best description I've ever seen. I need to share this with DH (who constantly worries I'm letting the dogs get too thin, only to have our trainer tell me that Duncan is a pound or two heavy when I let DH take over the feeding).

 

 

sure wish I made that VET trip a year ago instead of the choices I made. maybe the same thing would have happened (hemangiosarcoma), but at least maybe I would understand what happened. or maybe we never understand even when we think we should.

 

 

jb777, I wish you would stop beating yourself up. You can't attribute your dog's hemangiosarcoma to her having been overweight. There's just NO connection from everything I've read. There does seem to be some genetic predisposition toward developing hemangiosarcoma, which would explain why some breeds are more predisposed than others. As this article says, though, "the greatest risk factor for cancer is 'being alive'". Perhaps someday we'll be able to detect it earlier, and we'll have more effective ways of treating it. But for now it's one of the least treatable forms of cancer in dogs. I don't think your dog would want you to be castigating yourself for something beyond your (or anyone else's) control. If she could have a wish, I bet it's that you could seize the joy you gave each other, and eradicate everything else from your thoughts.

[border_collie_crazy]

Happy is ideal at 30lbs(but often weighs in at less then that), Misty was also ideal at 30lbs. Happy is 21" tall and Misty was 18" tall. Happy is built like a Whippet. Misty was smaller, but stockier in build. I don't take any stock in weight as a measurement of a dogs size lol

[Gideon's girl]

jb777, I wish you would stop beating yourself up. You can't attribute your dog's hemangiosarcoma to her having been overweight. There's just NO connection from everything I've read. There does seem to be some genetic predisposition toward developing hemangiosarcoma, which would explain why some breeds are more predisposed than others. As this article says, though, "the greatest risk factor for cancer is 'being alive'". Perhaps someday we'll be able to detect it earlier, and we'll have more effective ways of treating it. But for now it's one of the least treatable forms of cancer in dogs. I don't think your dog would want you to be castigating yourself for something beyond your (or anyone else's) control. If she could have a wish, I bet it's that you could seize the joy you gave each other, and eradicate everything else from your thoughts.

THIS!!!

[PSmitty]

Yes, I realize a pound is a pound, duh. Equal volumes weigh differently though. That is why I specifically mentioned physique. Seriously!?!

 

Yeah, seriously. You said, "muscle weighs more than fat". *shrugs*

[airbear]

Yes, I realize a pound is a pound, duh. Equal volumes weigh differently though. That is why I specifically mentioned physique. Seriously!?!

 

Well, actually, you said:

... And on the topic of the wide range of perfect weights, muscle weighs more than fat. A heavily muscled thin dog can weigh a lot more than an overweight fat dog. Weights are just numbers, they don't tell the whole story.

 

So seriously, I think Paula was well in her right to make her response.