How to tell if my Golden Retriever is overweight and healthy?

Hello. Your picture seems to show a very healthy young dog, but without being able to feel how prominent the ribs & backbone can be palpated, it is impossible to ascertain his condition. A dog, under a year of age, should have some muscle & fat protecting the underlying skeletal structure. With just a little pressure, you should be able to feel ribs & backbone, not sharp points. That is a better way to tell than just by weight because size & bone structure can affect things. If there is a fairly good layer of flesh on your dog, he should be just fine. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While every dog is different, that is quite small for a 5 month old Golden Retriever. I highly recommend that you have Daisy evaluated by her veterinarian for further assessment. They would be able to check what may be wrong so that it can addressed. Best of luck!

I calculate about 1,400 kCal per day for a moderately active 75 lb dog with an ideal body condition. An overweight dog who is a couch potato would need fewer calories. The appropriate amount of fat varies but is usually between 20-30% of the calories. Unless Rowen requires a very low fat diet I probably wouldn’t worry about the extra fat from the fish oil. The appropriate dose depends on what you’re using it for and the EPA and DHA contents of the particular capsule.

Aww Eva is so cute! She looks to be at a healthy weight for her size. As with people, not all puppies grow at the same rate and it’s not always linear - they have growth “spurts” just like people. Also, not all Goldens are built the same- some are petite and slim, some are beefier. Most important is that she is a healthy weight for her frame. Your vet can always help with this but we also have a healthy weight tool. This will be most accurate for adult dogs but it can help if you’re worried. https://www.petcoach.co/healthy-weight-calculator/ Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Eva!

It looks like his weight and body condition are good, though its difficult to evaluate that without being able to put my hands on him. (the hair can be deceiving) . When you run your hands over his chest you should be able to feel his ribs easily but they should not be prominent. When you run your hands along the sides of the abdomen back to the hips, you should be able to appreciate a "waist," but the bones of his hips should not be prominent. His spine (backbones) over his lower back should not be easy to feel. Without a walk-on scale like your vet has in his office, the best way to weigh him is by picking him up and weighing yourself on a bathroom scale. Then subtract your weight. (please be careful!! I don't want you to injure your back picking him up!) I hope that information is helpful for you. If you are continuing to feed a home cooked diet, consider checking out the site www.balanceit.com. This website will help you ensure that you have a balanced home cooked diet for Bear. Thanks for asking PetCoach!

Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your pet when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So it could be that he only picked up one flea at the groomer or several, even if you do not find any more on your dog. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). Here is a selection of effective flea preventatives: Spot-ons and/or chews Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) As for being overweight: You should take your dog to the vet for an exam, as he may have a thyroid condition very common to Golden Retrievers. This can be ruled out by a blood test. Your vet can then also advise you on which food would be best for your dog and how much exercise he would need in order to lose weight.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to PetCoach. When we calculate the daily caloric requirements for dogs, we use a calculation called RER, or resting energy requirement. For a 75 lb dog, this value is 985 kcal/day. Since he is young and active, we multiply this amount by a factor to account for this. In his case, his total calories that he should ingest per day is between 1200-1300. This should help him maintain the weight he is currently at. Here is a link to a reputable website that offers lots of nutritional information: http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/pet-nutrition-basics/. I hope this is helpful!