My Lab may be fat

YLLWLAB

Hey im 18 and recently got a job out of state and didnt know anybody in the new town so my dad recommended i get a dog to keep me company. My family has never had a dog i mean ive never been around dogs much except at friends houses. Anyway im a semi-pro angler and i luv hangin at the lake so i read on the comp that a lab would be the best suited dog for my active lifestyle. So i got an 8 wk old yellow lab from a guy i work with who has two labs he hunts with. 'Bill' my lab is 10 months old now and he is awesome, somehow i pottied trained him in the first 2 wks and he knows sit, stay, rollover , and shake( still cant figure out how i taught him any of that im that dumb about dogs). Anyway he goes with me everywhere and we are at the lake every weekend and he even goes with me to work(ok im rambling to sum it all up he is 10 times smarter than me and extremely active). Anyway my problem is that im with him all the time and dont notice it but several ppl i fish with have been tellin me he is overweight. i mean he dont look it, but i took him to the vet and he weight 80.0 lbs exactly. so i looked on the web and some ppl said that their labs weight only 70.0 lbs and they were way older than "bill" but the guy i got him from said Bills dad weighed 115 lbs and was perfectly healthy. I honestly dont know anything on this matter so help me out plz.

Pepper

Can you post a picture?

YLLWLAB

Yea srry bou that

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YLLWLAB

not a very good one but it was taken about a wk ago, the rest i have are just puppy pics

Pepper

He doesn't look fat, what'd your vet say?

How much do you feed him and what do you feed him?

Maybe he's just a big ol' boy

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rosemaryninja

Have a look at your dog and run your hands down his sides. You should be able to feel his ribs, and he should have a visible "tuck" in his tummy when viewed from the sides and from the top. If you can't detect either of these, it means he's overweight; if his ribs are showing, he's underweight.

YLLWLAB

Vet didnt really say it was a young woman and she acted kinda nervous around him it was weird. I feed him pedigree for active dogs and i feed him a bowl in the mornin and a bowl when we get home from work. the bowl is about the size of ur average dog bowl. i fed him active dog because he is really active and i thought he would need the extra protein u think i should take him off of it.

YLLWLAB

I found another one its a little better angle

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rosemaryninja

Pedigree is actually a pretty lousy brand of food. It contains a lot of fillers, but not a lot of real nutrition. Think of it like feeding a kid McDonalds every day. It would fill up his stomach, so he wouldn't starve, but it wouldn't necessarily be very good for his health.

As for his weight, he looks a little bit hefty from the back, but it could just be his build. Try the "feeling ribs" test that I mentioned in my earlier post.

YLLWLAB

what kinda food should i get, that walmart sales lol i live in a small town in arkansas not alot of options

rosemaryninja

I suggest you visit Walmart and see what brands they have available. If I'm not wrong, Walmart sells a brand called Maxximum Nutrition -- it's not wonderful, but it's definitely decent.

YLLWLAB

sweet thanx dude

Mac'N'Roe

hehe, she's a girl ...but she's given you some good advice. If the pics were a little bigger, we may be able to tell a little better. I like to be able to detect a LITTLE bit of rib in mine. Not protruding, but I have bullies and they tend to be on the leaner side (if I'm not mistaken).

I've heard Maxx Nutrition is good food that's available at Walmart. If you cannot feel the ribs, try measuring the portions a little more carefully and maybe cut it down about a cup or start with half cup and see how it affects the dog (half a cup per portion). It sounds like you may be feeding too much if you fill up a dog bowl twice a day. My Roe, for example, only gets 1 CUP of food a day. Mac and Gabi get 2 2/3 cups per DAY. If I fed them a full bowl twice a day they would be HUGE!

YLLWLAB

srry bout the dude thing lol wasnt payin attention; and ill try that new food as well; the reason i was feeding two bowls a day was because how active he is. I mean i live on a lake and in a normal day he prolly swims for a couple hours and then i throw the tennis ball around with him about an hour or more so i was thinkin he was burnin alot of fat so he would need a protein rich diet. But ill cut him back some thnx for the info guys and gals i appreciate it

Patt

I personally like my dogs on the slim and trim side. It's easier on their joints and heart. If he's active remember it's harder to get around if you're heavy. Sorry I can't tell his weight by your pics. Two bowls of food a day is quite a bit. Here's a link for you to see just how he shapes up to the weight chart. He should be #5 on the chart.

http://www.placervillevet.com/canine...0condition.htm

Zollow

My mom lives in a small town, so I understand the Wal-Mart only situation. Small towns will often have farm/feed stores. Mom gets her dog food at one and feeds Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's Soul, which is actually a rather decent food. The Wal-Mart where she lives sells the Maxximum Nutrition brand (it's Wal-Mart's "premium" store brand) and also sells Rachel Ray's Nutrish. Nutrish isn't the best food on the market either, but it's better than Pedigree, IAMS, etc. I've also heard that some Wal-Mart stores have a brand called Natural Life, which is above average. Mom's does not sell this brand.

So, if your town's like my mom's town, I would:

*Check the farm store
*Otherwise get Nutrish, Maxximum Nutrition, or Natural Life from Wal-Mart
*Feed the amount suggested on the bag. A full bowl is probably too much.

Your dog looks like a great guy!

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