Keeping your dog at the right weight throughout its lifetime is very important as weight affects both health and quality of life.
Being overweight or underweight can lead to very serious health problems and can put your dog’s wellbeing at risk.
Checking your dog’s weight and using our body condition scoring chart on a regular basis will help demonstrate if you’re feeding them the correct amount.
More than 20% below ideal body weight
> Ribs, spine and hip bones are very visible
> Obvious loss of muscle bulk
> No fat can be felt under the skin
More than 15% below ideal body weight
> Ribs, spine and hip bones are visible
> Obvious loss of muscle bulk
> Little fat can be felt under the skin
> Ribs, spine and hip bones easily felt
> Visible waist and abdominal tuck
> A small amount of fat can be felt under the skin
More than 15% above ideal body weight
> Ribs, spine and hip bones are hard to feel
> Waist barely visible with a broad back
> Layer of fat under the skin
More than 20% above ideal body weight
> Ribs, spine and hip bones extremely difficult to feel under a thick layer of fat
> No waist can be seen and belly may droop significantly
> Heavy fat pads on lower back and at the base of the tail