# since when is fat healthy?



## kellykelly (Jan 27, 2012)

xerxes is thinner, when he was young he was starved enough where it was supposed to cause enough damage where he can't gain weight easily and has high metabolism...

if you put a hand on him and apply pressure you can feel his spine/ribs but no bones are sticking out and he was confirmed healthy by the vet. he's just a thinner individual...

a woman had pet xerxes yesterday and gave me this speech about how I was starving him and that kinda bs because she could feel his ribcage on him as opposed to her lab where all you feel is fat.

since when is fat healthy? I'm not talking about a couple pounds, I'm talking 5+-10-15 lbs.
like you see a dog like this and most people consider it healthy/normal:









from this link, credit to owner. not mine: http://dogsarethecoolest.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/fatdogonsand.jpg


but a dog like this is looked at as too thin/unhealthy:









photo from this link, credit to owner. not mine: http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s144/falscheechos/001-2.jpg

are bigger dogs really the standard for health now? it seems wrong...dogs shouldnt have their bones poking out but really, this is concerning if people think this is normal/healthy to have a dog that weighs 10 or more pounds more than they're supposed to?


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

I will never allow my dogs to get fat! Shar-pei are easily obese breed and I'm happy to say that my girl is very fit. And my chihuahua, her spine ripples show a little. She's my mini pit bull I say because shes got big butt muscles. There is a thread on this forum under the pictures section where we all posted pics of our in shape dogs. And in shape does not mean over weight.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

No one would consider the dog in the first photo a healthy weight. Not even people in minnesota. If anyone says that dog is healthy, I call bull$$it.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

People suck. When Tessie went in for stitches a woman said to her husband in the waiting room, "That dog is SKIN and BONES. She needs to learn how to feed a damn dog properly!" when her dog was in for sores on his stomach because his stomach dragged on the ground (dachshund). I have an Italian greyhound so they are skinny naturally. I have to feed her 10% of her body weight to keep anything on her.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Oh man, I would have lost it Caty. 


I get it with both Murph and Abbie on a weekly basis. 




















I'm considering making a t shirt that says "My dog isn't too thin, yours is just too fat."


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I thought I saw an obese yellow lab in the first photo!?!? Anywho, I can't see how anyone in their right mind would think that the first dog is healthy. It doesn't even look like a dog anymore...more like a pot bellied pig.


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## kellykelly (Jan 27, 2012)

xellil said:


> No one would consider the dog in the first photo a healthy weight. Not even people in minnesota. If anyone says that dog is healthy, I call bull$$it.


hopefully not all of Minnesota but my neighbors do. 2 of the 3 labs in the neighborhood are about 10-15 lbs overweight, sadder thing is this one house. this one girl has a chihuahua that weighs 30lbs and a border collie that weighs 100, it's upsetting to see. 

@malluver1005 yeah, the top pic was different for a sec. I originally posted the wrong comparison picture by accident. :I


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

You get verbally attacked by people pretty much every time you go out in public.

Dogs are running loose all the time, pestering you and chasing you up trees even. The police refuse to help because the dog that you AREN'T walking is a pit bull.

A man sprints across the park and maces your dog in the face as you work calmly with him.

And now your neighbors think a dog that is at least 80 pounds overweight is normal.

My imagination is stretched, even for the internet.


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

Meggels, you totally should make that shirt!

Well my husband family tries to shove food down my throat, its lame. And they are overweight. Haha So I know how the dogs are feeling.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

The fattest dogs I have seen, yet, are a 68 lb. beagle and a 200 lb. rottie!!


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

I get it with Bonnie a lot:








Especially online, because some photos make her look skinnier than she really is, like so:


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## kellykelly (Jan 27, 2012)

xellil said:


> You get verbally attacked by people pretty much every time you go out in public.
> 
> Dogs are running loose all the time, pestering you and chasing you up trees even. The police refuse to help because the dog that you AREN'T walking is a pit bull.
> 
> ...


I do not understand, why does this stretch your imagination?


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Meg you should. I'd buy one. :smile:

Abbie looks healthy.. like a naturally slim dog. Is Murph slim for a frenchie? I find the stocky breeds so hard to judge!!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Rebel is still fat. Maybe losing 1/2 pound a month, maybe not. I am hoping running around in all the pastures will get the last 10 pounds off. He has the slowest metabolism of any dog I've ever seen. It's like watching a 200 pound man eat a tomato every day, and that's it.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

malluver1005 said:


> I thought I saw an obese yellow lab in the first photo!?!? Anywho, I can't see how anyone in their right mind would think that the first dog is healthy. It doesn't even look like a dog anymore...more like a pot bellied pig.


I think what you see is an obese yellow lab INSIDE that other heavily obese dog... he ate it for dinner.. :heh:

But seriously, I cannot believe that anyone, anywhere, would ever think that first photo is healthy... people definitely think fat dogs are healthier than lean dogs, but that first photo is WAAAAAYYYYY beyond fat!


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

kellykelly said:


> xellil said:
> 
> 
> > You get verbally attacked by people pretty much every time you go out in public.
> ...


I think it's because that is more drama than a episode of Days of Our Lives... lol


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I guess the neighbors all get together and look at fat dog photos on the internet and say how healthy they look. That photo comes from a web page of fat dogs:

Fat dogs | Lolosad pictures

Bad form to post a photo without credit.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Looking at that web page, I'm not sure those dogs have a whole lot on Snorkels when I first got her:




























In these photos she was 16 pounds and had already lost two pounds. She is nine pounds now - lost half her body weight.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Geez she sure was a fatty!! Lol... glad your whipped her into shape :wink:


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

I agree! And oh my, that dog is so not going to be able to get up! Haha. Man, what I would give to adopt that dog and put him on a diet...

Buck (who is on the thin side still at the moment) is back up to a good weight and we still get comments on how he is too thin. He only needs maybe a pound or two more (at his current size but he IS still growing and has a TON of filling out to do).


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

All of my dogs show ribs and other than my sister, whose animals are all overweight, nobody has said anything bad about them, they compliment and the vets adore their weight.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Solution.. everyone get long haired dogs :biggrin: Bishop is thin and I've never once had a bad comment about his appearance, other than the time I tried to trim his ear hair and butchered it.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I actually find that website pretty sad. I think it's all photoshopped but it's sad people find humor in something that really negatively affects dogs.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Caty M said:


> Solution.. everyone get long haired dogs :biggrin: Bishop is thin and I've never once had a bad comment about his appearance, other than the time I tried to trim his ear hair and butchered it.


HAHAA, till you have a "plank" of a 10.5 month old go jumping into the ocean with a TON of fat Labs and you are looked at like you are HORRID cause he is "Oh SOO skinny!!!" :wacko:

(I DID tell that woman that said that, well actually he is a VERY active, properly fed and very good weight 10.5 month old Border Collie....none of that can be said about your Chocolate Labs! :tongue1


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> I actually find that website pretty sad. I think it's all photoshopped but it's sad people find humor in something that really negatively affects dogs.


Yes, I didn't see the comments at first. Mean people out there. And it is definitely photoshopped - there is one dog on there that is twice as big on another page out there on the internet. 

I've never seen dogs quite like that, but I am trying to get my cousin to give me her lab mix. She got her from the pound three years ago, and I hadn't seen her for a year and a half. When I saw her last week, I was almost as shocked as looking at those photos - the dog is huge, probably needs to lose forty pounds or so. Of course, when you never get out of the back yard and live on cheap food and table scraps, you get fat. It's just sad, she's such a sweet dog. I could run alot of that weight off her out with with proper food and lots of time in the fields.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Caty M said:


> Meg you should. I'd buy one. :smile:
> 
> Abbie looks healthy.. like a naturally slim dog. Is Murph slim for a frenchie? I find the stocky breeds so hard to judge!!


Yeah, he's pretty lean for a frenchie. Frenchies typically don't have a defined waist. They are sort of like a sausage lol. 

This was murph right before I got him. Very beefy. This is what a "show" frenchie looks like, much fuller in body. I wouldn't necessarily say they are fat...but he's definitely lost weight since I've gotten him. When I went to visit my friend (whom I got him from) in June, she looked at him and goes "HE IS EMACIATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!'











And now:


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Well I think he looks great now! Though he was pretty damn cute before too! LOL

So many breeds are shown fat, labs.. even pointers that I saw in the ring looked overweight.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

He looks like a little body builder now LOL. He's SO muscular and I don't know how in the hell he is, because he's the laziest damn dog.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Does he play a lot of tug? Tess got much more muscular when I started playing it all the time.. though she is violent when she plays it, yanking SO hard I am surprised she has any teeth left and shaking it like mad, haha


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## Serenity (Dec 30, 2011)

Heart, Joint , bone issues where does one begin? That is NOT healthy


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

Oddly I get more comments on Lily (who is at her idea weight and so muscular you can see it through her freaking husky fur no less...) than I do on Scout who is also at her ideal weight, but has a genetically bony topline. Maybe because Scout has such long hair? She's normal everywhere, but her topline though... very, very muscular and solid girly. Meh it just bugs me permanently I think because I am so angry at the hoarder who "bred" those dogs. Every related dog I've seen a pic of has the same topline despite many of them being overweight. Just sad, I'd rather my goofy girl be as healthy and long lived as possible than try and make her fit an unrealistic expectation her genetics can't fulfill.

Meh, my vet always raves at how awesome they look and how healthy they are, so everyone else can just suck it! 
I had a tech who has an overweight kibble fed showline GSD try and tell me how Scotu needs to gain weight once... as her dog was hanging out behind the counter because she was having issues with her fur falling out. Yeah real healthy there!

One of my best friend's has a Lab/RR mix. He was 35lbs overweight when I met him, had been fed Purina his whole life, and had undiagnosed thyroid issues. When she changed from Purina One to Beneful he got violently ill, vomiting, diahreah, the works. So I had her switch to what I fed at the time (Evo) and he shed twenty pounds within a couple months. It was such a drastic life improvement for him. Anyway he was having random aggression issues and I suggested she get his thyroid tested and sure enough! The vet never would have tested his thyroid if they hadn't insisted on it and considered him very healthy even though he was still overweight at that point. When I dogsat for her over the summer, I cut his food back to 2 cups a day and he finally lost that last 15lbs and is now in the best shape of his life (has maintained for two years!)... He's now on Orijen instead of Evo for various reasons, but is the healthiest he has ever been. He has some arthritis from being so overweight and probably also because he's a mutt so those hips probably aren't the healthiest, but if he were still eating purina he would be a geriatric dog instead of an extremely healthy active 8 year old dog. He is a glorious sight to behold with those lean muscles. And his coat is like a silky smooth puppy coat instead of that dry brittle, falling out mess. That change he went through really nailed home how important food is for anything living thing.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Ugh, fat dogs are my biggest pet peeve.


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## Imgliniel (Sep 1, 2011)

meggels said:


> Oh man, I would have lost it Caty.
> 
> 
> I get it with both Murph and Abbie on a weekly basis.
> ...


You know what Meggels, I think with abbie her colloring makes it look worse. She seems to have a change in her coat color right where her tuck is, and everytime I see this picture I have to look twice because it makes her waist look smaller then it is.


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## ShanniBella (Jul 1, 2011)

I hate people who are so used to fat pets that get over fed and under exercised that they think my dog is starving to death! This is my fat dog! A conditioned pit bull :-/


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Caty M said:


> Does he play a lot of tug? Tess got much more muscular when I started playing it all the time.. though she is violent when she plays it, yanking SO hard I am surprised she has any teeth left and shaking it like mad, haha



No lol  This dog literally doesn't do anything. As i type this he's passed out next to me. He sleeps 90% of the day, he eats, he likes to chew on his bones, but besides that, he's so lazy. My mom nicknamed him "The Lump". 


maybe it's from going up and down the half flight of stairs to our basement apartment so many times a day. He goes for walks every now and then, but not a lot.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Imgliniel said:


> You know what Meggels, I think with abbie her colloring makes it look worse. She seems to have a change in her coat color right where her tuck is, and everytime I see this picture I have to look twice because it makes her waist look smaller then it is.




Her tuck is very extreme, there's some skin there but she does have a very curvy body, almost like a whippet or a greyhound.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Maybe she is a lurcher x bluetick! :wink:


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

People stop me ALL the time to tell me to feed my dogs more. Granted, they are skinny right now. But even so, A) they're Boxer puppies - they're going to look thin, and B) the solution is not - as was memorably suggested to me last week - to feed them each a peanut butter sandwich a day until they are fatter. :/ I LOVE it when people tell me they're too thin and that I should feed them. Like, really? You think that FEEDING THEM would help? REVOLUTIONARY! :eyeroll:

At any rate, the vet thinks they were both in perfect weight (before their Xmas weight loss), and I'd rather have them looking a little thin than being fat and having all the attendant health problems.


Lila (last week - she could stand to gain a pound or two, but is in the range of healthy):










Malcolm before Xmas (pic is grainy, so he looks a little thick around the waist, but had a good tuck):


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

I get the pitying comments about how I have such a small rotti and that theirs used to weigh 150 lb etc. But the some of them have slowly begun to change how they view her as she keeps up with the fittest of labs and collies which is unheard of in the overweight rotti brigade.

I wish people would simple learn what healthy is. It drives me mad :-(


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I think Rottweilers are almost always fat. At least, most of the ones I have seen look fat.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Yeah, some breeds I think have the tendency to gain weight.. labs, bassets, rottweilers, dachshunds, bulldogs, pugs etc.. I don't see many fat boxers ever or many fat danes. Apparently IGs gain weight easily but I haven't seen it.. LOL


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I've seen some fat boxers  And I tell my mom all the time that she's letting Cooper (our 5 year old) turn into a hippo LOL.


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