Too heavy?

[Josht87]

Cato is a 2.5 year old European doberman. I just took him to the vet to weigh him and he’s 53kg (116 lbs).

he doesn’t appear to be fat, but I’m slightly concerned that this is too heavy and am considering dropping his food a bit. He is currently and has always been on a raw diet.

will post some recent photos of him. Just curious if you guys/girls think he looks too beefy or not?

Thanks

 

[MyBuddy]

Sorry, I think he is a little bit overweight. 116 lb is high. And by the look of him he can take off a few pounds. He's very handsome! But he can come down in weight. I would start cutting him back. What are you feeding him and how much? Others will be chiming in with their opinions soon.

 

[Josht87]

Yeah I think I can take 1-2kg off him and let that muscle come through a bit more. I’m feeding him 2kg of meat per day. He gets a base of chicken on the bone, 500g of ground beef. Cooked fish or a tin of sardines. And some giblets or offel.

 

[Dogs4Life]

Boy he sure looks like a solid dog!! I would honestly prefer on the lighter side just for easier wear/tear on his joints, muscles, etc... I would NOT however call him fat...... especially to his face!!

 

[Josht87]

Boy he sure looks like a solid dog!! I would honestly prefer on the lighter side just for easier wear/tear on his joints, muscles, etc... I would NOT however call him fat...... especially to his face!!

Yeah, I gave him the implant a few months ago that stops him producing testosterone. Since then he’s put on a bit of weight. I don’t think I reduced his food enough... my inclination is to get him down by a few lbs but I just wanted to double check that was the correct decision.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

He definitely needs to drop some weight. It will be easier on his heart and joints but he is a beautiful dog.

You are feeding him over 4lbs of food a day and I think it should be a lot less unless of course he is doing a lot of exercising and training.

I adjust my twins food according to how much physical activity they will be doing that day.

Mine get 4lbs a day if they are doing a lot of training and physical exercise. On days where exercise is minimal I will give them 2.5lbs a day.

Increase his physical activity and decrease his food by a 1lb a day and he will start to develop the nice fit look. You need to see the 3rd rib and easily palpate (feel) all his ribs.

How tall is he?
Sure is a handsome boy!!

 

[Josht87]

He definitely needs to drop some weight. It will be easier on his heart and joints but he is a beautiful dog.

You are feeding him over 4lbs of food a day and I think it should be a lot less unless of course he is doing a lot of exercising and training.

I adjust my twins food according to how much physical activity they will be doing that day.

Mine get 4lbs a day if they are doing a lot of training and physical exercise. On days where exercise is minimal I will give them 2.5lbs a day.

Increase his physical activity and decrease his food by a 1lb a day and he will start to develop the nice fit look. You need to see the 3rd rib and easily palpate (feel) all his ribs.

How tall is he?
Sure is a handsome boy!!

Thanks for the reply.

He’s 28 inches at the withers. Maybe just a touch over.

he does do quite a bit of exercise every day. Probably about 3 hours of running through the forest and playing with other dogs on average... sometimes more. But I think he definitely could do with losing a bit of weight. Just wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing by feeding him less.

Will do as you suggested and update this thread in a month. Hopefully will get that nice definition coming through.

 

[NamVetJoe]

While I agree he looks like can lose a few lbs. My first impression of the second picture WAS NOT. He is fat but that big boy is THICK

 

[Josht87]

While I agree he looks like can lose a few lbs. My first impression of the second picture WAS NOT. He is fat but that big boy is THICK

Haha, well he certainly is thicker than the average dobie. His dad is also a big boy. But even so I think he can loose a few lbs. Not a load, just enough so get some extra definition.

 

[JanS]

He's a handsome boy but definitely needs to take off a few pounds. Even with his muscling, you want to see more tuck to the tummy than that.

 

[NamVetJoe]

Not to go off on a tangent, but damn does not our doberman tummy tuck make then look like superheroes?

 

[LifeofRubie]

My boy was probably about that height but he was in the mid-to-upper-90's weight wise. He got about 2.5lbs or raw/day if I recall but he wasn't quite as active as what you're describing. He was also a rescue so he had a BYB type build to him and not put together as well as Cato. I agree he could afford to lose a bit.

 

[Josht87]

Thanks for all your replies!

Have already started cutting his food down. Will continue to do so over the next 2-3 weeks and hopefully we’ll see some decent results. Will see what happens and keep this thread updated.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Thanks for the reply.

He’s 28 inches at the withers. Maybe just a touch over.

he does do quite a bit of exercise every day. Probably about 3 hours of running through the forest and playing with other dogs on average... sometimes more. But I think he definitely could do with losing a bit of weight. Just wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing by feeding him less.

Will do as you suggested and update this thread in a month. Hopefully will get that nice definition coming through.

At 28” tall I would definitely try to get his weight down into the low mid 90’s then see how he looks. Hip and joint damage can be devastating when he gets old

 

[Josht87]

At 28” tall I would definitely try to get his weight down into the low mid 90’s then see how he looks. Hip and joint damage can be devastating when he gets old

I think low 90s would be way too skinny for a euro doberman as thick as him. That would be a loss of almost 30lbs.

I will deffo try to get 2-3kg off him though.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I didn't make time to weigh in the other day, but what a handsome, studly dude!

Boy that musculature in the shot where he's up on the wall! I mean, muscles bulging on either side of his spine! He's got the "lat" action goin' on the side there, it looks like.

So yeah, I agree: Not fat, but I do get an overall sense of, like, weighed down. Anyway, I'm really more complimenting you on him than anything.

My first Dobe was 28 1/2" and topped out at 96 lbs. and no fat to be found. Like LifeOfRubie said above, my guy had a sort of BYB build He was somewhat stocky and had a fairly wide head, His chest was kind of shallow, and he didn't have any (as the standard refers to it) "exaggeration of muscle or bone." I'd say that if my boy had a nice deep chest like yours, and was in the hard shape he always was in, he would have weighed 105-108.

The interesting thing is that your guy there may keep maturing physically and filling out some more for the next year– year and a half!

 

[Rits]

will post some recent photos of him. Just curious if you guys/girls think he looks too beefy or not?

Can we see a recent photo to make an accurate judgement? In those pictures he doesn't look as heavy as you say he currently is, but I'm assuming that photo isn't recent based on your comment. A stacked photo from the side at eye level would be better, too. But I agree, even then he looks like he could lose some weight so I'm curious what he looks like now. Good for you for checking and keeping an eye on it!

 

[Josht87]

I didn't make time to weigh in the other day, but what a handsome, studly dude!

Boy that musculature in the shot where he's up on the wall! I mean, muscles bulging on either side of his spine! He's got the "lat" action goin' on the side there, it looks like.

So yeah, I agree: Not fat, but I do get an overall sense of, like, weighed down. Anyway, I'm really more complimenting you on him than anything.

My first Dobe was 28 1/2" and topped out at 96 lbs. and no fat to be found. Like LifeOfRubie said above, my guy had a sort of BYB build He was somewhat stocky and had a fairly wide head, His chest was kind of shallow, and he didn't have any (as the standard refers to it) "exaggeration of muscle or bone." I'd say that if my boy had a nice deep chest like yours, and was in the hard shape he always was in, he would have weighed 105-108.

The interesting thing is that your guy there may keep maturing physically and filling out some more for the next year– year and a half!

Thanks very much!

Yeah he is a handsome boy, and very muscly. He does a lot of exercise and eats a lot of meat!

But even so, I think he’s carrying a few extra pounds which can’t be good for him. I think he’d benefit from a little less bulk and it would probably make his muscles appear even bigger.

 

[Josht87]

Can we see a recent photo to make an accurate judgement? In those pictures he doesn't look as heavy as you say he currently is, but I'm assuming that photo isn't recent based on your comment. A stacked photo from the side at eye level would be better, too. But I agree, even then he looks like he could lose some weight so I'm curious what he looks like now. Good for you for checking and keeping an eye on it!

Hey,

those photos are only 2 weeks old, so pretty recent. Because he’s so thick he tends to look smaller in photos than he is in real life. He’s a big boy!

but here’s a photo from today just so you can see.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I am wondering what length crop he has.

Getting tired of questions yet?