# Trying to make me out to be the bad guy :/



## Jordan S. (Feb 2, 2010)

So my dog Chocolate is 11-12 + years old(we don't know for sure since he's adopted, but we've had him since I was in 2nd grade, almost a decade ago, and he was fairly young looking when we got him, though not a puppy) and as he's gotten older his metabolism has slowed down quite a bit, and he gains weight with the snap of a finger. After having our vet get on my parents frequently due to Chocolate's weight, (he was about 4 pounds overweight for a while), I finally decided to take action and get Chocolate trim. He's a complete mutt, but I'd say his size is comparable to that of a large beagle, and he weighed 26 pounds in the beginning and for the past year and a half we've been able to keep him at a trim 22-23 lbs. 

Heres a couple pics of him I took just now





















Ever since we gotten his weight down, we've received mixed comments from my friends and family, some saying he looks healthy and fit, others saying he's too skinny, whenever I get one of those comments I usually brush it off, telling myself they probably have overweight dogs themselves and don't have a clear idea of what body condition is ideal. However a couple days ago I had my friends over my house for new year's eve to watch a movie. I got up and went to feed Chocolate, currently I'm giving him 1/3 cup of TOTW twice a day w/ a couple pumps of grizzly salmon oil, a lot less than what the bag reccommends but it seems to work for him. I also give fresh food meals on certain days of the week in place of kibble like raw egg yolks(no whites), canned sardines(salt-free), and raw chicken RMBs, in small quantities of course.

So as I was walking towards the door Chocolate starts twirling around and jumping up and down, as he always does when I'm bringing his food out, and friend told me "He seems so hungry Jordan, how much are you feeding that him, and I told her, 1/3 of a cup. So she walks over to his plate and goes "That's all?" poor dog, no wonder he always looks so starving. I responded by saying "He's always hungry, dogs in general are always hungry". She then says innocently, "why don't you give him enough so that he'll at least be full", now knowing Chocolate, I can tell you that if given the choice, that dog would eat himself into oblivion. There are certain dogs that self regulate to a degree, Chocolate is definitely not one of them! If I free fed and just left a bowl out filled to the brim, the entire thing would be gone within a couple hours and he would have gained 3-4 pounds within a day(he gains weight FAST when he's overfed). Then all three of them start to chime in telling him "Come on, give him just a little bit more food, it's new years for god sakes, please Jordan", and I tell them, no. ASo they proceed to go behind my back, dig in the cabinet and give them a full 1/2 cup more, I quickly scooped up the plate after he'd eaten a couple bites and told them to stop. Then one of them chimed in and said "It's good to keep them at a healthy weight, but feeding him less isn't the way to do it, you just have to excercise him and I'm thinking :suspicious: (Of course they walk their tiny jack russell daily, but they free feed her, she's a couple pounds overweight with no waistline, the've even admitted she needs to shed some weight) and despite being 5 years younger has to work to keep up with Chocolate on walks. 

I've had a few people tell me they thought Chocolate was too skinny, but I dunno, the way my friends went about it made me feel embarrased and insulted. Going behind my back giving my dog extra helpings as to save Chocolate from the evil animal abuser. I doubt that was their intention but I felt like they were purposely aggravating me(especially when they gave chocolate the more food without getting an ok from me, knowing that I'd react in a way that would make me come across as a scrooge). 


Anyways that's my lengthy rant, have you guys had something similar happen to you?


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

There's another thread right now about this very thing.

I think Chocolate looks great. he is a cutey and looks really young to me.

We are used to fat dogs so a thin one looks abnormal - just like more and more people are fat, more and more dogs are fat.

We can't define the management of our own dogs by what other people tell us unless it makes sense that we change something. 

And feeding him behind your back is like dating your girlfriend behind your back. It's sneaky and pathetic.

You do what you know is right.


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## chewice (Jan 1, 2012)

My daxi is 24 lbs and he gets about the same amount of food a day. And the extra stuff you put in is probably the same calorie level as all the treats my parents give him!


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Yes, in fact I have.

Some of my friends do not take my dogs diet seriously. I had to physically stop my friend from feeding Mikey a paper cupcake wrapper! It was chocolate to top it off!


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

I have a few friends who mention that Duke is pretty skinny. I reply by saying he is actually a healthy size, and we're just so use to seeing fat labs that he looks underweight. More often than not, people will respond with "yeah I suppose I do usually see fat labs.." and then I don't really care what they think after that. I did up Duke's food a TINY bit when my husband said he didnt like feeling Duke's rib's SO much (I'd be cutting back because I fed him a bit much when we started, he has trimmed up and looks good now) and I know my husband knows what Duke is meant to look like, so I took his concern into consideration. Now I think we're feeding the right amount (he is no longer losing weight, just keeping steady)

It's difficult to deal with, when you've so clearly told them why you feed that amount, and that your dog is actually a healthy size, not an overweight porker. It's funny how often, since being a member of this forum, I look at other people's dogs and think "christ that is a FAT dog" lol I never would've thought much of it before.

I'm also currently feeding my brothers dog a raw food diet too (my brother moved in with us, and he told me to help him switch his dog to raw) and I am feeding him 2% of what I think would be an ideal weight for him (about 3-4 kilograms lighter than he is now) and I think my brother will probably start to think his dog looks too thin... but he does know he needs to lose weight, so hopefully it'll be fine!


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Oh that's so annoying. The last 20lb kibble fed dog I had ate just under half a cup a day and I always heard about how I was starving him. I think people that feed crap kibble also have very skewed ideas of adequate feeding amounts, AND healthy body condition. 
People have this skewed idea that food=love. 
I have gotten comments about my in shape pack being too skinny, I just brush it off. I know they're healthy.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Unfortunately fat dogs are normal, so normal that people have forgotten what normal should be :-(

Most dog owners really do believe that dogs are just like people with the same feelings etc. they can not get the head around the fact that the can not self regulate.

To these people I suggest they look at children and fast food and see if they can self regulate :-(

Finally people believe the crap on the back of the packet which over estimates any how, and that some have the gall to put on an amount for "normal dogs" and a higher amount for "active dogs" really bugs me. 

I don't get a lot of she looks skinny directed at my pup. I just get that she has a lot of growing to go. I don't know what they will say in 5 years time


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

I have gotten those comments before. I had a guy go on and on at the dog park about how lean Dude is. He was being obnoxious about it and it started to feel like he was trying to get a point across without saying that my dog was underweight. Dude is a couple of pounds underweight right now but he doesn't look unhealthy. It isn't enough for anyone but me to notice. He then also admitted that he had never seen a smooth collie so I pointed out that rough collies always look chunkier because they are poofy while you can clearly see Dude's body. 

I also had people tell me that I was starving Buck because he is lean. He is also a puppy at his gangly, awkward stage so that doesn't help. He is starting to thicken up already though. He has crazy muscles. Raising a dog on raw is much different than raising one on kibble (well, Pedigree, anyways *hangs head in shame*). I have NEVER had a dog with Buck's muscle tone.


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## Mondo (Dec 20, 2011)

Better too skinny than too fat. People call on of my dogs fat all the time, he's just a fur ball so you can't tell. He's been to a few different vets and invariably the vets will say "I thought he was fat, but after feeling his ribs he's perfect." On our walks people will often comment, over Christmas a lady said the same thing "He's fat." Whatever. I know my dogs. One of them is fat, but not the one they think. The fat one is fed the same as the leaner, smaller one. He is slowly trimming down.

I seem some godawful fat dogs. That to be is abuse. 

Walking my dogs around the neighborhood we get barked at an awful lot from yards, or through doors and windows. It amazes me how few dogs I see being exercised. I see folks with huge dogs take them to the park, do a little one block circle to let them relieve themselves and walk home again. The lack of exercise most dogs get is alarming. At least around here. In the summer time on a nice day, wow, suddenly there are dozens of dogs out. One thing I learned from my dogs is that most days are nice enough to walk. 99% of the days are nice enough. Heavy rain is about the only time that they let me know -- the weather sucks today.


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## Serenity (Dec 30, 2011)

I've never gone by the serving suggestions. My dogs are in perfect health. If you can feel her ribs but cant see them then shes fine!!! I think shes adorable and looks great in the pics you posted.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

He looks fine to me. Maybe explain to them that the food you're feeding is much higher calorie so he doesent need to eat as much of it as the lower quality brands.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

I think Chocolate looks great! I dont know whats with peoples obsession of over feeding pets 

My mom is like that too, so I know exactly where your coming from. I switched my cats to a high quality all canned diet recently because I dont want to feed kibble anymore. They have always gotten mostly canned anyway so it wasnt much of a switch. But my mom felt bad because she thought the cats would starve and went behind my back and bought purina cat chow *rips out hair* when I found the bag of food I FLIPPED. She used to also secretly feed my pug benny bully liver treats, which when she gets too many she gets serious diarrhea, so I knew my mom was doing that behind my back too. Nothing will ever beat the time she also gave Ruby a whole bag of greenie pill pockets within two days because ''she was cute so I wanted to give her treats". Worst week ever of cleaning cannon butt off the carpets.


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## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

They look great. People just have no self control when it comes to feeding dogs... hell, most don't have self control with themselves!


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